From 1500 to 500 BC we find teachings of the chakra systems in the ancient Vedas texts of India.
A chakra on the human body is a spinning disk or wheel of energy. In our bodies, there are 7 main chakras that run along the spine, each of which holds and carries a specific energy.
While there are seven main chakras, there are as many as 114 over the entire body. The seven main chakras are listed below in ascending order. They are of equal importance, location on the body has nothing to do with value. Each one is part of our spirituality and human makeup.
Root Chakra – Red
Base of spine, perineum. Our foundation and ability to be grounded. Survival, financial independence, and nourishment (money and food).
- Element: Earth
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Sacral Chakra – Orange
Lower abdomen, sacrum. Connection with others. Abundance, well-being, pleasure, creativity, sexuality and sensuality.
- Element: Water
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Solar Plexus Chakra – Yellow
Solar Plexus, just above belly-button. Will power, personal power. Autonomy, purpose, humor. Self-worth, self-confidence, self-esteem.
- Element: Fire
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Heart Chakra – Green and Pink
Slightly to the left of the center of the chest near the heart. Love, joy and inner peace, compassion, acceptance, contentment.
Element: Air
Throat Chakra – Blue
Throat. Communication, our voice (our opinions, who we are, our attitudes) self-expression, creativity, logic, kindness, reliability.
- Element: Sound, Ether (Spirit)
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Third Eye Chakra – Indigo
Forehead just above the spot in between the eyes. Intuition, imagination, clairvoyance, forgiveness, wisdom, and the ability to think and make decisions.
- Element: Light
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Crown Chakra – White
Top of the head. Spiritual connection, beauty, spirituality, bliss connection to all love.
- Element: Cosmic Energy
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Dr. Laura Berman clarifies how chakras work in the following explanation:
“A chakra may be a wheel or a vortex, but it operates like a ball of energy interpenetrating the physical body. The chakras themselves are not physical; you can’t see them on an X-ray.
They are aspects of consciousness, and they interact with the physical and energetic body through two major vehicles, the endocrine system and the nervous system. Each of the seven chakras is associated with one of the nine endocrine glands, and also with a particular group of nerves, called a plexus, making them important elements in healing.
Thus, each chakra corresponds with particular parts of the body and particular functions within the body controlled by that plexus or that endocrine gland, which is the key to understanding how chakra healing methods work.”
Knowing this system and working with it benefits us, so that we can help our own bodies be healthy and assist with the well-being of others. Our bodies are always communicating with us and giving us information that can improve the quality of our life.
Here is an example of a step-by-step process to balance the throat chakra…
If we have the common ailment of a sore throat, our body is communicating with us in its language. With a sore throat we can take a moment to see where we may need to express ourselves.
What do we need to say?
We can listen, hear or feel into the throat and discover what it needs us to communicate and express. We can make a note of it and then express it in writing, conversation, dance, or a song.
There are many ways to share our voice.
We can use the color of the chakra as part of color therapy. Knowing blue is the color of this chakra, we can wrap a blue cloth or scarf around the neck to bring the area back into balance. We can visualize blue going to the area. We might like to try blue fruit teas and honey to help the throat.
Of course, you may wish to visit your trusted doctor to learn what else may be happening in the throat that is causing discomfort and incorporate that information into the healing work.
We want to keep our chakras balanced and spinning in the way that promotes their and our highest good so we can feel and do our best. Balancing them will help us to live as thriving humans not just surviving ones.
Veronica Schultz
