What Exactly Are The Chakras and how to balance them?
Acting as your body’s energy system, chakras are linkage points between the physical body and emotional bodies that make up the energy field around you. The chakras are located along the spine, running vertically and centered across your body. We have more energy centers in our bodies than we can count, but the seven main chakras are the ones universally recognized. Each chakra corresponds to a different color and purpose, and allow us to thrive when they are balanced:
Crown (White): Connection to ourselves, the Universe, and every being. Breaking free of karmic cycles, unconditional love, ability to live in the present, compassion and kindness. Balanced in mind and body.
Third eye (Purple/Violet): Intuition, psychic abilities, inner wisdom and sight, higher consciousness, connection to inspiration and reality, ability to think clearly.
Throat (Blue): Communication, speaking your truth, how you express yourself, spiritual connection to your guides and your soul.
Heart (Green): How you give and receive love, how you forgive, strong sense of awareness, healthy relationships with others.
Solar Plexus (Yellow): Excellent will-power, confidence, goal-oriented, strong sense of purpose and clear sense of self, ability to respond instead of react.
Sacral (Orange): Sensuality, emotions, passion, sexually empowered, creativity.
Root (Red): Survival and basic needs, strength, being centered and present, feeling safe and at home in the world.
Why Should You Balance Your Chakras?
If a blockage occurs in a chakra, the physical body and emotional bodies become imbalanced.
When your chakras are off-balance or blocked, this will have a negative impact on your overall well-being and happiness. In general, symptoms of anxiety and depression may surface, you become irritable, and much more susceptible to negative energy and feelings. You may become easily fatigued and have trouble falling or staying asleep.
When a particular chakra is unbalanced, it will have negatively impact your mind, body, and spirit:
Crown: Depression, lack of empathy, close-mindedness, confusion, victimization, not being present, unable to connect with others.
Third eye: Difficulty accessing your intuition, judgmental, dismissive, headaches, sadness, disconnection from reality, anxiety.
Throat: Social anxiety, fear of public speaking, fear of judgment and not being accepted, unable to communicate your needs.
Heart: Trust issues, difficulty forgiving others, grief, anger, bitterness, unhealthy emotional boundaries, apathetic, negative self-talk.
Solar Plexus: Low self-esteem, insecure, feeling lost, poor will-power and lack of self-control, loss of motivation, fatigue, addictive tendencies, manipulating others to serve your needs.
Sacral: Blocked from joy and creative expression, unhealthy sex life, fear of expressing yourself or showing your true personality, frustrated.
Root: High anxiety, fear, feeling unsafe in the world, struggling for balance, procrastination, feeling disconnected from your body.
How Do You Balance Your Chakras?
When you balance your chakras, you’re helping to boost your mental and physical health while correcting this out-of-whack feeling you may be experiencing. One way to do this is by meditating and visualizing a glowing orb in its equivalent color hovering over each chakra. Go through them one at a time or focus on one in particular that may need extra attention.
For those who may find it difficult to visualize, you can also balance your chakras by placing an appropriate crystal (typically based on color or purpose) on each corresponding chakra for at least 20 minutes. This works to balance and recharge the physical and emotional bodies. Make sure you’re in a quiet place without disturbances, stay relaxed while keeping an open heart and receptive frame of mind. You may even play soft meditation music in the background if you find it helpful. This also works best if your crystals are cleansed to ensure they’re only providing you with clean, positive energy.
Here are some crystals you can use for each chakra:
Crown: Quartz, rainbow moonstone, or magnesite
Third Eye: Amethyst or labradorite
Throat: Sodalite or lapis lazuli
Heart: Rose quartz or aventurine
Solar Plexus: Citrine or tiger’s eye
Sacral: Carnelian
Root: Obsidian or black tourmaline
Other Chakra Resources: Judy Hall’s Encyclopedia of Crystals is an entire collection of crystal and stone descriptions, and explains which correspond to each chakra. It also gives an overview of the other chakras besides these seven and how to balance them. The company Zenned Out also has Goddess Discovery Books which explain the chakras and come with cut-out cards that provide insights into each chakra.
Stay balanced!
