"Through our chakras, we perceive the health of our environment, including the people in our lives."
- Sandi Brackeen
We get energy from several different vibrations-including color-used in various body parts. Our primary energy centers connect to significant organs that govern other body parts. Each of these main energy centers is a chakra. Chakra is a Sanskrit word that means wheel. Chakras form a wheel-like spinning vortex that whirls in a circular motion creating a vacuum in the center of our spiritual being that balances us.
Our body contains hundreds of chakras that are the key to the operation of our being. There are seven main chakras which are the energy centers in our body. These "spinning wheels" draw in information through colors, stones, candles, or even someone else's aura. Through our chakras, we perceive the health of our environment, including the people in our lives.
The seven main chakra centers align along the spine. Therefore, if there are disturbances, this shows in the chakra's vitality level. Also, each of the seven main chakras is an intelligence center. So each chakra is not only associated with physical health but also controls aspects connected to our emotional, mental, and belief system. Blocked energy in one of the Chakras can cause illness, so it's essential to understand what each chakra represents and what we can do to keep this energy flowing freely.
We'll start with the 1st chakra, the Root Chakra. This chakra represents our foundation and is all about feeling grounded and secure. The root chakra is at the base of the spine in the tailbone area. To help balance chakras on an intellectual, emotional, physical, or even spiritual level, we must bring the chakra in tune with the universal energy balance. We can use the color, candles, and stones mentioned here. Choose the one that resonates for you.
The primary color that coincides with the root chakra is red. For example, red candles represent health, courage, energy, life, passion, fertility, and physical strength. They are invigorating and increase magnetism which aids grounding and allows for their use in defensive magic. Rose quartz, garnets, and rubies will also help you bring your root chakra into balance. Ruby is associated with Mars, the Sun, love, healing, and the root chakra.
To a lesser degree, black also resonates with the root chakra. Several black stones, such as hematite, obsidian, and tourmaline, aid in grounding and security and can help balance the root chakra. Black candles also help with protection and can destroy evil or negativity, binding, repelling, and healing.
The Sacral Chakra is based in the lower abdomen, about two inches below the naval, and relates directly to our feelings and sense of well-being. It's closely aligned with our sexual and pleasure responses and connects with our reproductive organs and creativity. An imbalance in the Sacral Chakra can result in various physical ailments, including digestive problems, decreased sex drive, hormonal imbalances, and lower back pain. This imbalance can also result in emotional and psychological issues such as sexual problems, irritability, a lack of creativity, shyness, insecurity, and guilt.
Bringing the Sacral Chakra back into balance makes you feel more compassionate, creative, passionate, and vital. Balancing one chakra can also help you balance all your chakras, enabling you to feel more at ease with yourself and the world around you. One way to balance the Sacral Chakra, as with all your chakras, is through color.
Orange is the color of the Sacral Chakra, and you can use
to help you achieve this balance and tune your Sacral Chakra.
Chakra stones such as
It will help bring your system into balance. Essential Oils such as Ylang-Ylang. Sandalwood can also help balance your Sacral Chakra. Chakra candles and meditations can also help you balance your Sacral Chakra and all of them.
Chakra meditation has been used for thousands of years to consciously focus our inner light and bring it into our chakra centers. Meditation helps increase the light within our energy fields, and at the same time, it helps release anything that isn't vibrating in proper alignment with the higher frequency of light we are trying to call in.
Sit in a comfortable position. I've tried lying down but always fall asleep, so I recommend sitting. As with most meditations, clear your mind of the mundane by making your mind blank - you can picture all the space in your mind as a whiteboard if it helps you. That way, if your mind drifts back to the mundane things of your day-to-day life, you can erase the board. Another option is to concentrate on your breathing. You can also picture yourself walking down several long flights of stairs to help you reach a meditative state.
Once you have achieved this state, there are a few things you can choose to do to bring the light of balance into your chakras. First, you can picture a pure white light pouring into you from all the energy around you, or you can pull grounding energy from the earth below, depending on what chakra you try to balance. Next, visualize energy and light collecting in the chakra you want to balance and picture it spinning. Chakras are the wheels of light that balance our psyche, so if they are not spinning correctly, you will feel out of balance. Continue this meditation for at least 20 minutes before you bring yourself back to your day-to-day life.
This week our topic is the Solar Plexus Chakra, which is located appropriately enough in the Solar Plexus and is related to digestion, the liver, the gallbladder, the spleen, and the nervous system. It is also the ego center and governs issues of personal power and the mental or intellectual aspects of the consciousness.
We stimulate our chakras in several ways, including through our thoughts. The Solar Plexus Chakra is particularly susceptible to our beliefs and views because of its connections to our intellect and ego. Our thoughts determine our outlook on life, and how well-balanced our sense of self is determines our self-esteem. Therefore, balancing this chakra can tremendously impact our quality of life.
Too much self-esteem can lead to unwarranted pride and trying to gain power that is yours neither by right nor by having been earned or make you domineering or aggressive. On the other hand, too little self-esteem can lead to giving away too much power to others, feeling unworthy, indecisiveness, feeling like a victim, feeling powerless, having inferiority issues, being timid, being sarcastic, pessimistic, and having an inferiority complex.
On the other hand, a balanced Solar Plexus chakra can help us feel comfortable with our personal power and be confident, humorous, practical, alert, optimistic, self-sufficient, charismatic, determined, and in control. To achieve this, try surrounding yourself with the elements associated with the Solar Plexus chakra, and include some affirmations in your morning ritual.
The color of the Solar Plexus chakra is yellow, so if you feel your Solar Plexus chakra is out of balance, try surrounding yourself with yellow stones such as yellow selenite, citrine, topaz, yellow zircon, and amber. You can apply this yellow through the same stones or even through yellow gold jewelry. In addition, you can burn yellow candles, wear yellow clothes, or even paint a room yellow if you have recurring trouble with this chakra.
Another way you can work on balancing your solar plexus chakra is through affirmations. There are many affirmations that you can find, or you can create your own. One of the best ones I have always remembered comes from one of my all-time favorite movies from when I was a kid, "If a Man Answers," with Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin. She said her mother always told her, "If a woman tells herself I am beautiful, I am lovely, she will be." You can apply this type of affirmation to any area of your life.
Some of the better affirmations I've heard and used are listed here:
Always remember, "Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny." - Mahatma Gandhi.
The fourth chakra, the Heart Chakra, directly affects our ability to love. Located in the center of the chest, just above the heart, it has to do with our inner joy, inner peace, and ability to be compassionate and accept others unconditionally. The heart chakra acts as a focal, or balancing, point for the other chakras and helps maintain the healthy balance of your entire chakra system.
Imbalances in the heart chakra can affect your heart, lungs, circulatory system, and immune system and can even lead to cancer. This kind of imbalance can also lead you to be suffocating or cold and distant in your relationships. It can lead to jealousy and bitterness and make you distrust those closest to you, leading to arguments and estrangements.
A balanced heart chakra reveals your nature's compassionate, generous, romantic side. It allows you to accept yourself and adapt to situations and people healthily. As a result, you're more loving and happy, more confident and friendly, and more at peace with yourself and the world.
The heart chakra is green, so wearing gemstones such as jade, emerald, malachite, peridot, aventurine, moss agate, and kunzite can help you maintain balance in your heart chakra. Also, burning green candles, wearing green, or just going outside in nature where it's green can help balance this chakra. When you meditate for the heart chakra, you'll do best outside, surrounded by greenery, if possible. If this is impossible, and you want to meditate before your altar, use a green altar cloth or candles. Anything green will help you establish the balance within your heart chakra.
Some schools of thought also use pink for the heart chakra, so you can use rose quartz, tourmaline, kunzite, or morganite in the same family as emerald and aquamarine. For your meditation, you can blend the green and the pink if you have roses or access to roses. Try having a green salad or green leafy vegetables, and then take some quiet time in the garden, particularly if you have any pink flowers for the best blend.
The heart is all about your connection to the world and other people and your ability to love yourself, others, and the world in general. Protect it.
"The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart." Buddha
The fifth chakra, the Throat Chakra, affects our communication ability and is located in the throat or Laryngeal Center. It affects our lungs and all of our respiratory systems. Our speech and self-expression are natural reflections of the health of our Throat Chakra. Therefore, the throat chakra also affects our confidence and ability to find our voice. It can even affect the balance of all the other chakras since it is crucial to our ability to express our feelings.
We are calmer and more caring when we have a balanced throat chakra. We can be more loyal and trustworthy and better express our creativity through art, writing, public speaking, photography, or any creative medium. The chakras build on each other, and our energy travels from the root chakra up through the sacral and the solar plexus to the heart, the throat, the crown, and the third eye. If all the chakras are balanced, we are grounded and enjoy life. Our ability to create the world we wish to have is more accessible, and we are at peace with ourselves and the world around us.
If one of the chakras is out of balance, our sense of well-being deteriorates, and we lose our connections to life. For example, an imbalance in the throat chakra can lead to dental issues, addictions that involve the mouth, such as smoking or overeating, inner ear infections, and even deafness. If our throat chakra is out of balance, we are more likely to tend toward shyness, gossip, and fear of self-expression. This imbalance can lead to misunderstandings as we cannot convey our feelings clearly, leaving us disconnected from the rest of the world and the people around us.
Balancing the throat chakra can take many forms. The color of the throat chakra is blue, so of course, wearing blue, surrounding yourself with blue, using a blue altar cloth, or wearing blue jewelry such as sapphire, lapis lazuli, blue topaz, aquamarine, and turquoise can be instrumental in healing the throat chakra.
Healing can also come through expressing your feelings, whether writing in a journal, learning an instrument, or just listening to music you like. Any creative expression or enjoyment of creativity, your own or someone else's, that lifts your spirits can help you balance your throat chakra.
The throat chakra is also associated with intuition, so as with most of the chakras, meditation, and affirmations can help with healing. Soothing music and sounds can help you find your balance in the throat chakra. We must find balance in all our chakras to prepare ourselves to accept what the universe has to offer.
Always remember, ""Self-expression must pass into communication for its fulfillment." - Pearl S. Buck.
The 6th Chakra, or Third Eye Chakra, is related to our ability to use our intuition, see the unseen, and use our imagination. It controls our sixth sense and the celestial body. It is alternately called the Brow Chakra, but that seems a bit simplistic to me. It is based in the brow area but includes the brain and is the seat of your essence. This chakra governs our search for meaning in life, our sense of spirituality, and our emotional energy.
The chakras affect our emotional and spiritual well-being, but the 3rd. Eye chakra is at the core of our spirituality and beliefs about life and our place in it. Therefore, ensuring that this chakra is balanced is critical. Through the 3rd eye, people see ghosts, auras, and other phenomena unseen by our physical eyes. Through this chakra, we can also receive messages from the past and future.
With a balanced 3rd eye chakra, our mental capacity is more developed, and our minds are sharper. Our health is better overall, and we can focus. A balanced 3rd eye chakra allows us to use our intuition and imagination and build confidence and trust in ourselves. A balanced chakra enables us to receive those messages from the past, future, or even the other side of the world. Our ability to perceive the physical and ethereal world is enhanced when our 3rd eye chakra is balanced.
An unbalanced 3rd eye chakra leads to daydreaming and trouble sleeping. It can make us anxious and fearful of asserting ourselves. When this chakra is unbalanced, we tend to tune others out, leading to disorientation. People submerge their natural lives in a fantasy world and often have an unbalanced 3rd eye chakra.
The color of the Solar Plexus chakra is yellow, so if you feel your Solar Plexus chakra is out of balance, try surrounding yourself with yellow stones such as yellow selenite, citrine, topaz, yellow zircon, and amber. You can apply this yellow through the same stones or even through yellow gold jewelry. In addition, you can burn yellow candles, wear yellow clothes, or even paint a room yellow if you have recurring trouble with this chakra.
Another way you can work on balancing your solar plexus chakra is through affirmations. There are many affirmations that you can find, or you can create your own. One of the best ones I have always remembered comes from one of my all-time favorite movies from when I was a kid, "If a Man Answers," with Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin. She said her mother always told her, "If a woman tells herself I am beautiful, I am lovely, she will be." You can apply this type of affirmation to any area of your life.
Ways to Balance the 3rd Eye Chakra:
"I feel there are two people inside me - me and my intuition. If I go against her, she'll screw me every time, and if I follow her, we get along quite nicely." Kim Basinger
The Crown Chakra will be the final chakra in the series, and we'll jump right into it momentarily, but I want to talk for a minute about the importance of balance, not just in your chakras, but in everything we do. One of the main ideas behind Paganism is that of balance. There is so much evil in the world that we must be good to maintain the balance. That's not to say that anyone is perfectly good or evil, but to me, a part of the path is to help those who cannot help themselves.
I'm not saying we need to give away all we have or go out and fight crime, although if that is your path, I admire you greatly. However, we need to take to heart the belief that whatever we send out comes back to us and make sure we seek to put forth the best of ourselves, not only for our well-being but also for the well-being of others. Our ability to balance our thoughts, beliefs, and chakras is a big part of how we help maintain the balance that nature and the universe need to function correctly. It's also what enables us to reach out to others. Our bodies, emotions, and spirit are balanced when our chakras are balanced.
The Crown Chakra governs our ability to connect spiritually to the universal and the divine consciousness. It is located at the top of the head and influences our ideas and perception of beauty, our own, and others. It makes us feel bliss and affects our brains and central nervous systems.
With the Crown Chakra in balance, we are mentally strong, creative, idealistic, giving, non-prejudiced, aware of the world, and aware of our well-being. We can feel gratitude for the blessings and love around us.
An imbalanced Crown Chakra will leave us confused, mentally unstable, unable to connect to spirituality, or addicted to spirituality. We tend to overthink things and ignore personal needs. It can also leave us inflexible and angry over our inability to connect spiritually. Mental illnesses can be a result of an unbalanced Crown Chakra.
As always, meditation and surrounding yourself with the colors of the Crown Chakra, which are violet, and bright white, will help you bring your Crown Chakra back in balance. The gemstones are amethyst, lavender quartz, and violet jasper, and for the Crown Chakra, in particular, you can supplement the healing with deep breathing, incense, and smudge sticks.
It's easy to let our chakras get out of balance, but if we focus on being aware of how each of them feels, we can keep them balanced. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I like to think of each of them as a wheel that spins, sometimes faster and sometimes slower. You never want to let the wheel stop, and you can use that as the focus of your meditation if you like and picture each chakra wheel spinning quickly and smoothly. I find it easiest to start with the Root Chakra and work my way up, but another method may work best for you. The important thing is that our chakras must be balanced for all our energy centers to function correctly.