About chakras

During a healing the seven major chakras are assessed to ensure they are in alignment with one another, that energy is flowing between them without disruption, that they are in balance and that information moves freely between them.

Chakras are energy centers in your body. Clearing chakras promotes a healthier experience in the body and sets the intention for harmony and balance in how you experience life.

Chakras were first mentioned in the Sanskrit Yoga Upanisads nearly 3000 years ago and have been referenced ever since. For this reason, you may see chakra descriptions that use the Sanskrit names, such as Muladhara for the Root Chakra.

There are seven major chakras in our bodies that act like electrical transformers; they bring a high-energy current down to a level that we can use in our body. They are also sensors, processing information within you and your environment. How you react to and interpret that information produces choice that define your aura (see Reading auras) and your reality.

Each chakra holds an energetic theme that defines our experience in the body.

• 7th - I understand - Crown Chakra

• 6th - I see - Brow / Third Eye Chakra

• 5th - I speak - Throat Chakra

• 4th - I love - Heart Chakra

• 3rd - I do - Naval / Solar Chakra

• 2nd - I feel - Sacral Chakra

• 1st - I am - Root Chakra

Chakras have color, which is the vibration of their energy frequency, that shifts and changes as can their size and intensity depending on what someone is feeling or going through.

Major Chakras

Below is a description of the major chakras listed in order from top to bottom. A healing often focuses first on the Root chakra located at the base of the spine and then moves upwards, but healings are different from session to session.

Crown Chakra

This chakra is located on top of your head and is the control center of all the other chakras within the body. It connects us to our higher or devine self and to our own knowledge and answers. When it is healthy and running at its best, it can manifest goals into psychical reality from a belief, intention, or image in our mind. When out of balance, we suffer from our attachment to our beliefs, have less access to our own spiritual information and thereby limit our joy in life.

Brow / Third Eye Chakra

This chakra is located behind the forehead near the pituitary gland and is the center for inner vision, intuition and clairvoyance or sixth sense. This is the space from which we focus on and see the bigger picture in life, and the space from which we attain wisdom using our higher knowledge and awareness. When out of balance, it can affect our ability to think and to make decisions using our own wisdom, imagination and intuition causing indecision.

Throat Chakra

This chakra is located at the throat and is the center for communication and self expression in all forms. It holds the energy of personal creativity and the expression of one's true inner self. When out of balance, we may have difficulty speaking our truth or speaking from our heart.

Heart Chakra

This chakra is a bridge between the lower chakras that tie us to the physical world and the upper chakras that tie us to higher energies and self knowledge. It holds the energy of our emotional life and relationships, and it is associated with our compassion and healing. When out of balance, we can feel disconnected from others and from nature.

Naval / Solar Chakra

This chakra is located at the solar plexus and is the center of our personal power. It is from here that we feel contentment, trust, willpower and motivation. The Solar Chakra is also about our personal transformation and balance, because it runs energy for our ability to be confident and in-control of our personal lives and how we relate to the world around us. When out of balance, it can affect our sense of self-worth, self esteem and feeling accepted.

Sacral Chakra

This chakra is connected to our emotions and sexuality, and holds the energy of change and growth. It is from here that we feel a deep sense of creative enthusiasm and emotional security. It is about our sense of abundance and general well being, and also relates to pleasure and sensuality. When out of balance, it can affect our ability to accept other people and be open to new experiences in life.

Root Chakra

This chakra is located at the base of the spine/tailbone and connects us to the earth and into our physical experience. It runs the energy of survival, family/tribe and physical security, which is tied to our health, sense of belonging and prosperity. The Root Chakra represents our personal foundation in life. When out of balance, it can affect our feeling of being grounded.

All of our major energy channels move through the Root Chakra: our connection to earth energy and to cosmic energy, and our grounding. When energy is running freely through these channels and through the Root Chakra, we feel that we have a secure place in the world.

Minor Chakras

In addition to the seven chakras mentioned above there are also minor chakras located throughout the body that help move energy. Sometimes the following chakras are mentioned during a healing.

Hand Chakras

These are located on the palms of the hands, one for each hand, and are the expression of our creative energy. We have energy channels running from our Throat Chakra down our arms and out of our hands. When blocked or sluggish they affect our ability to create in the physical world.

Feet Chakras

These are located on the soles of our feet, one for each foot, and pull energy up from the earth through channels in our legs to our Root Chakra. The earth energy washes energetic debris out of our Root Chakra and then fountains back down to the earth. The Root Chakra pumps some of the earth energy up through our other chakras helping to clean and clear them.

This is a continuous cycle of energy moving through our Root Chakra and body helps to keep us feeling grounded and anchored in the here and now. It also helps us move stagnant and foreign energy out of your system. Stagnant energy could be old emotions that were not fully released at the time and that we are now ready to let go of. Foreign energy, which is not your energy, could be your mother's attention that sitting in your space for example and that you are now ready to release.

Want more?

See Reading aura layers

For a deep dive into the seven major energy centers, see "Anatomy of the Spirit: The Seven Stages of Power and Healing" by Caroline Myss.

It is with gratitude that the descriptions of the major chakras reference information from this site: http://naturalchakrahealing.com