If you haven’t heard of the word chakra before, this word or term or understanding has been around for thousands of years. It is a Sanskrit word, and the literal meaning is “wheel”.
There are seven main chakras that run along your spine. They start at the root, or base, of your spine and extend to the crown of your head. Each chakra has a different color, a different vibration. Each one spins differently and connects different parts of the body. Some believe you have at least 114 different chakras or energy centers in the body.
Our four life energies
Chakras play an essential role in our four life energies. Physical energy, mental energy, emotional energy and spiritual energy. These are all related and overlap to work with each other.
Our chakras can become stuck or blocked which means they have a lack of energy flow which can affect our four life energies. When we go along our life path there are things that create an imbalance in our chakras which cause us to get away from our true divine self. When they are balanced, our chakras can contribute to our immune system and enhance our bodies ability to heal itself. What creates an imbalance in our chakras could be toxic food elements, negative people, negative thoughts and actions, being hurt by others, and just generally going along our life path. So we must balance these regularly to keep our energy aligned.
Small vortex’s in our bodies
Think of chakras as a small vortex within your body lined up with the area of each chakra. They start at the base of your spine and go all the way up through the top of your head. You may have seen a picture of someone doing yoga. It will usually show a person will have their legs are crossed in meditation and you will see the chakra colors and zones going from the spine all the way to the top of the head.
That’s a great way to imagine what chakra’s look like in our bodies. I always say we have the soul, but we also have the body that carries us around this earth plane. Those chakras are vital in order to create the healthy life that we want. Whether it’s using your voice or trusting your gut or opening your heart or standing up for yourself, all these chakras are affecting the things that we do in our life.
Out of alignment
People always ask the question how do you know something’s out of balance? There are several ways to look at it. I think it’s a constant thing that we always have to rebalance our chakras and our energy centers. I have had to address my root chakra lately, so I have been swimming to re-establish my connection to mother earth. It’s that connection that I want, to be on this earth plane and be able to experience life that way. Some people want to know what chakras to start with. I always recommend starting from the root and moving all the way up. If you know there’s one certain area, like your heart’s really closed, or you just don’t trust anybody. By working on that particular area can also really help create the balance for you.
We all want to be more intuitive and more aligned in our lives. In order to do this our first focus on balance. Our chakra system provides a way for people to balance themselves, to be able to feel spirit more, and to feel energy and to connect to our true selves versus walking around in a fog.
The techniques that I suggest or are very some very easy things that you can do to balance and wrap your head around the entire concept. I really try to KISS-keep it simple sweetie, so that anyone can begin to use this as a way to understand. I will give you 5 things things you can do for each chakra to get in balance. Take your time and start at the root.
Root Chakra
The root chakra moves the slowest. It’s the color red and at the base of your spine. I remember years ago when I was in my early twenties, I was going through a lot of transitions and the I was really drawn to the color red. It makes sense now. but at the time I didn’t understand what chakras were. If you’ve gone through a lot of changes in your life in the last couple of years, the root chakra needs attention.
Pay attention if you have any injuries to your legs, for example if a knee is a problem, or your feet have issues. If you keep tripping or bumping your legs. These are all symptoms or signs that your root chakra is not as balanced as it could be. A feeling of insecurity, or lacking energy could also mean your root chakra needs attention. If you are receiving judgement from others, that judgement can also create an imbalance in our root chakra. Guilt and shame arise in this area. Our root chakra helps our strength that we need to support us when we go through really difficult times. I always joke to go hug a tree but seriously-this is a great way to connect with the earth.
- Yoga pose-Childs Pose
- Food-Root vegetables, Spicy foods or red foods
- Walk outdoors barefoot-connect with earth
- Wear red clothing
- Use a gemstone Mala for Meditation-Empower
Sacral Chakra
Our second chakra is the sacral chakra and that is the color orange. This is where our creativity is born. It is also tied to our emotions and working harmoniously with others. Most of the time we just don’t give attention to that part of our body. I find that this can be really imbalanced when there has been issues of sexual abuse. It is also characterized by someone who hasn’t felt good about their sensuality. Sometimes when people have fibromyalgia or issues with pregnancy or hormone levels, this can mean that the second chakra could be imbalanced. If there’s something that doesn’t feel healthy regarding that part of your body, the sacral chakra is something to really look at. If you have issues with addiction or over indulgence on balancing our sacral chakra can help. When in balance you will feel comfortable in your own skin.
- Yoga pose-Butterfly pose
- Foods to eat-Nuts, orange foods or liquids
- Gardenia essential oils
- Wear orange clothing
- Genstone mala for meditation Release
Solar Plexus Chakra
The third chakra, which I always think is so important, is in charge of our gut feeling, or intuition. It’s the color yellow and resides in our solar plexus. This is a very important one to work on if you are struggling with trust. If you’re trying to be more intuitive, you’re working on connecting with your loved ones or spirit, many times we don’t trust. What will happen is we get this feeling, and we don’t trust it, and then we analyze it. For me, I’ve had to really learn to trust that what spirit wants me to receive, and it’s not for me to change. Sometimes people want to control an outcome, when we cannot always have control.
Really the universe knows much more than we do. I think what happens as we navigate life, we make choices and we feel like we couldn’t trust a situation or an individual, in consequence, we stop trusting our gut. We give up our gut feeling and our ability trust. I tell the story about the first time I got married, I was walking down the aisle thinking, “I shouldn’t do this”. I didn’t trust my gut and of course it didn’t last but I blamed my partner versus recognizing that it was my fault because I did not trust my intuition. It took a while to rebuild that trust in me again. We use our gut for almost everything we do. If you really want to be more intuitive, trust the process of the universe, trust yourself.
- Yoga pose-Sun Salutation or Plank Pose
- Foods-Yellow foods, grains, spices ginger and turmeric
- Laughter-watch comedy
- Wear yellow
- Meditation gemstone Mala-Cleanse
Heart Chakra
The color of the heart chakra is green and pink. When it is out of balance it can create emotional instability and inability to discover purpose and passion. We have a tendency to go logical with the heart. Have you been hurt by someone, and are you afraid of finding new love. Love and compassion for yourself, and your own personal journeys is essential to balance here. Understand what unconditional love means, but also, loving things. What is it that really helps your heart sing? You will actually get more things done when your heart has that joy. When we achieve balance it brings peace, bliss and one can receive and give love wholeheartedly.
- Yoga pose-Cobra or meditation with hands at the center of your chest
- Green foods or warm soups and broth
- Wear green
- Essential oils Lavender or Jasmine
- Gemstone meditation Mala Heart Healing
Throat Chakra
The throat chakra is our fifth chakra and is lighter blue in color. Are you using your voice and are you listening to others? How many people have had things with their thyroid, or sore throats, or have coughed a lot? All these things stem from our throat chakra. Do you want to be able to hear your guides, your loved ones. Then you will want to make sure that you take time to listen to when people talk. I feel if you are worried about your value, if people are not listening to you, or if you feel you’re not really being heard, this is the chakra balance. Be authentic and speak your truth. If you feel like you’ve been judged a lot in your life and not listened to, this is also why to work on this chakra.
- Yoga pose-cobra or camel
- Foods-Blueberries or blackberries
- Coconut water or herbal teas
- Essential oil-frankincense
- Meditation Mala-Expression
Third Eye Chakra
Perception, intuition, wisdom, creativity, and inspiration are all tied to the third eye chakra. It is the color indigo. It is located in the center of the forehead. My third eye is obviously very active. This is where I have that little movie that goes on in my head. Many don’t trust what they’re visually getting, and that’s where the third eye chakra really helps create that balance.
For me, it’s building another language where I’m able to download or see things to be able to explain, or be shown, from a loved one who was crossed over. If you are not balanced, if you don’t feel like your root chakra or your throat or your third chakra is an alignment, this can create some issues in receiving information in your third eye. All of the sudden you may get this idea and see it in your third eye your mind.
- Yoga pose-child pose or downward facing dog
- Purple or blue foods
- Wear indigo
- Chocolate
- Gemstone meditation mala-Spiritual Connection
Crown Chakra
Last but not least is the crown chakra. That would be on top of your head. How many of you sometimes will feel those goosebumps that go down your body, back of your neck? That’s your crown chakra. It is the color purple. You really want to use that energy to help balance all your chakras. You want the root chakra and the crown chakra to all plug in together. It’s like a string of Christmas lights. Think of it like you’re plugging them all in and that they’re all working. That way you know if one is disconnected and as you know, there can be a light bulb out when it gets disconnected, it’s going to mess up your lights. If one of them is not connecting right, then it does create an imbalance.
How do we move forward? How do we create the life we want? One easy thing to do to help with balancing all chakras is just go take a shower and imagine those colors coming down your body. Balancing chakras can be very simplistic and then you can also work on each one in more detail. To help balance the crown chakra, fasting and detoxifying can help clear the mind to better gain that connection to the universe.
- Fasting or Detoxing
- Yoga-seated meditation poses
- Lotus incense
- Violet or purple foods
- Mala for meditation-Energy balance
This gives you a like a little appetizer about the energy of chakras. I do have a Chakra Balancing kit that can help you balance all your chakras. Honestly, this is something that you’re always going to be working on and balancing. We have a body that we take care of that we nurture, feed and rest. We must also nurture our soul and chakras that are vital to what we want to create in this world and how we want to heal. Balancing and thus healing your chakras can lead to a more productive, fulfilled life.
Check out the Chakra Balancing podcast on Spirited Straight Talk, I include a special Heart chakra meditation.
Namasté
Deb Sheppard
