Chakras: Another Tool for Healing

What do you think of when you hear the word chakra? Spinning wheels? Crystals? The rainbow? New age buzz word?

The chakra system is described in texts dating back thousands of years. Ancient wisdom often continues to ring true centuries later. As the spectacular scene in All That Jazz tells us, “everything old is new again.”

Take acupuncture, for example.

Acupuncture is the ancient science of balancing chi (energy through the body) by inserting thin needles into specific prescribed points in the body. The practitioner targets meridians of the body and treats deficiency or excess along specific channels.

For example, the acupuncturist might treat a deficient spleen channel or excessive dampness in the liver channel. This may seem a little esoteric to more traditional medical approaches, but there is an abundance of clinical trials demonstrating the efficacy for numerous conditions.

The chakra system is similar to the meridians of the body acupuncture treats. There are concentrations of acupuncture points that coincide with the nadis (the 72,000 energy channels traveling through the body) and the chakras.

Because we have seen the evidence continuing to emerge about the efficacy of acupuncture, we can extrapolate that chakras, which are associated with nerve centers, exist despite not being able to be imaged on MRI. Those who practice energy medicine understands their existence from embodied experience.

What is a chakra?

Each chakra is an energy center, which communicates with the other energy centers. Together, the energy centers create an energy system. There is an energetic profile, physical manifestation, and energy processing at each chakra.

For example, have you ever noticed how your body feels when you cuddle a baby or a puppy? Your chest warms with an expansive energy. This is nourishment for the heart chakra.

When you get a “gut feeling” you shouldn’t walk down a street, you are getting information from your sixth chakra (intuition) communicating with the third chakra (self-confidence) which gives you the courage to listen to your intuition.

Like many practices, there is variation in the systems depending on the tradition you study. I have studied the work of Caroline Myss for years and had the pleasure of attending her workshops. She teaches the seven chakra system, but you might see five, nine, eleven, or other numbers of chakras referenced by other teachers.

Some people will see spinning wheels or stuck energies when meditating. Having a history of being more kinesthetic than visual, I’ve never seen these spinning wheels but feel energies in my body:

• swelling in my heart chakra when a baby cuddles with me
• deficiency in my throat chakra (expressed physically as coughing and my throat closing) during an argument
• feeling my root chakra ground toward the earth when I imagine my sitz bones plugging down when sitting.

During personal reflective moments, I have noticed patterns of both deficiency (being stuck in a fear pattern) and over-activity patterns (codependency).

Blocked chakras

As Judith Anodea describes in Wheels of Life, we can have dysfunction in a chakra. I think of this as similar to musculature which can show up in the body as overuse or underuse.

The goal is to clear patterns that no longer serve us in the physical, mental, and emotional bodies. Clearing stuck patterns creates room for new growth. Strengthening our deficient areas allows for expansion and greater self-confidence. When we operate from a more grounded and self-loving place we can show up for our loved ones and communities from a more embodied and powerful place.

You did not cause your pain or illness

Sometimes people think there was something they did or did not do to cause illness or chronic pain. I do not believe this is true.

It is very important to me that I communicate this piece clearly. In fact, it’s so important that I have not discussed chakras for the past nine years on my website. You did not cause illness or chronic pain.

Sometimes there are factors that are in our control and something could have been prevented, but sometimes we experience things that have no explanation.

Sometimes people are trying everything in their power to heal and don’t seem to gain traction. It’s not because they didn’t “wish” it hard enough or are not “manifesting.”

Please do not fall into the shaming place of “If only I had__than I wouldn’t have___.”

Please do use this information as another creative way to interact with your energy system, create new self-care habits, and strengthen your meditation practice.

Chakras for wellness

The chakra system is another tool we can use to pause and notice where we might be leaking power and where we need to recharge. We can then use breathwork, movement, and yoga postures to energize areas of the body that are associated with the chakras.

For example, when energizing and grounding through your first chakra, try Mountain Pose. Visualize the soles of your feet as magnets pulling you down toward the core of the earth and feel the steadiness of your body. You can also try this in sitting with your sitz bones grounding you.

The seven chakras

First chakra: Root

Second chakra: Sacral

Third chakra: Solar

Fourth chakra: Heart

Fifth chakra: Throat

Sixth chakra: Brow

Seventh chakra: Crown

Want to dive deeper?

Explore more about your chakras through guided meditations with my free 7-day series.

Each day you will receive a guided meditation for each chakra, starting with the first chakra. It is my hope that you find the meditations to be a soothing, calming experience in which you glean more info about yourself and your energetic system.

To join, please sign up here. The chakra email series will be released August 1.