Chakra Healing: A Beginner's Guide to Self-Healing Techniques that Balance the Chakras

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AN OVERVIEW OF THE CHAKRAS

In this chapter, I’ll introduce the chakra system— what chakras are, how to feel them, how they work, some myths and warnings about chakra healing work, and how to safely engage with your energy centers. You’ll learn about each chakra’s individual characteristics and the possible causes for energy blocks, as well as what happens to your physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health when your chakras are in—or out—of harmony.

What Are Chakras?

You are already familiar with your physical body. You know how it feels to flex or extend an area of your body; that your muscles are attached to your bones; that your nerves signal to your limbs, torso, and head; and that what you eat and drink affects your health. In these ways, you can already see how aspects of your physical being are connected to each other, and how your perceptions through touch, smell, taste, sight, and hearing inform each other, creating your life experiences.

However, your physical body is not the only body you have. Whether you’re studying chakras or quantum physics, you come to learn that everything is energy, with its own vibrational frequency. From the most basic atoms that create our cells, organs, bones, muscles, and bodily systems to the most expansive planet in the solar system, everything is made up of energy. And that energy has many names: qi, ki, chi, prana, mana, Odic force, bioplasm, and life force energy, among many others.

The energy body is the human energy field that extends beyond the physical body. Much as your physical body consists of many layers—your nervous system, musculature, and skeletal system— with intricate, overlapping functions, your energy body also consists of many interacting layers. Like your physical body, each layer serves a specific purpose and the layers work collectively as one. Together, the layers of your energy body are called your aura. Your aura interacts with your physical body as well as your energy centers, or chakras.

The word chakra is derived from the Sanskrit word cakra, meaning “wheel.” It was first mentioned in the Vedas, ancient Hindu texts that date to around 1,500 BCE. Throughout history, many cultures—including the Egyptians, Hindus, Chinese, Sufis, Zarathustrians, Greeks, Native Americans, Incas, and the Maya, among others—have all known these energy centers, or the chakra system, to be a reflection of the natural law that exists within the universe and an intertwined counterpart to our physical selves.

Chakras are energy vortexes that exist within each of us. These energy vortexes transport energy from the universe around you into your aura and body, as well as between the physical body and the layers of your aura. You can think of your chakra system as similar to a spiritual bloodstream. Blood carries oxygen, nutrients, and hormones throughout the body; helps regulate and balance the body; and protects the body by removing waste products and clotting when the body is harmed. Much in the same way your bloodstream connects and supports your many other physical bodily systems, your chakra system connects and supports your physical self and your energy self.

All living things—humans, animals, plants, trees, even the Earth—have a chakra system, a living system of energy vortexes, that exists within them. There are seven major chakras in the body, as well as several minor ones. Each one is associated with specific organs and glands, physical functions and dysfunctions, and emotional, mental, and spiritual issues. We’ll get into more specifics about each later in this chapter.

When we get in touch with the energy within our chakras, we connect with ourselves more fully, and learn how to heal ourselves on all levels, creating true holistic healing. This is why mindfulness-based practices, such as meditation, help connect the mind with body and spirit, why certain physical activities can help clear your head and feel more centered, and why cultivating your spirit heals your mind and body.

It is all connected.