What are Chakras? And How Do you Balance Them?

If you have been around the spiritual space for a time, you’ve probably heard of chakras. In fact, they’ve even made their way into many mainstream areas today, but you’re not alone if you don’t fully know what they are or what it means to balance them. In this post, we’re going to break it all down for you.

We will answer the question: What are chakras? And we will also give you some much-needed information regarding how to balance or clear your chakras. And hopefully, you’ll walk away feeling more informed about it all.

In Sanskrit, the word “chakra” means “disc” or “wheel”. This refers to the spinning discs of energy centers in your body. Each one corresponds to a specific set of nerve bundles or major organs. This is why if you’ve ever taken a yoga class or had Reiki energy healing, you’ve heard the chakras mentioned.

You’ve probably also heard that these chakras are to remain “open” and unblocked. But what does that mean and why is it so important to your health? The chakras help impact your physical and emotional well-being and when you keep them open, it helps promote physical, mental, and emotional well-being for each of these areas of the body.

Understanding the Chakras

Now let’s dive a little deeper into understanding the chakras. There are seven main chakras located within the body. There are other chakras that exist, but we are going to stick to these seven for the purposes of this post.

They run through your body, up your spine, beginning at the root, or base of your spine, and running up the spine to your crown. We will discuss each one in further detail below. These chakras also have colors assigned to them to help you differentiate and remember them. Sometimes you may hear people refer to the chakra by its color, rather than its name.

For example, they may say “purple chakra” instead of crown. If you remember each one and the color that corresponds to it, you’ll be fine no matter which one they use. There are also many helpful tools, like books and charts, that have images to help you. Now, let’s explore each one.

Crown Chakra

The crown chakra, also called Sahasrara, is located at the top of your head. It represents your spiritual connection to yourself and to others, as well as to the universe itself. This chakra also plays a role in your life purpose. The crown chakra is associated with the color purple.

Third Eye Chakra

The third eye chakra, or Ajna, is found between your eyes, slightly above them in the forehead area. You’ve probably heard people mention the “third eye” before. The color associated with this one is blue. The third eye chakra is tied to your intuition and your gut instinct about things. It is also linked to imagination and creativity.

Throat Chakra

The throat chakra, called the Vishuddha, is located in your throat (as the name implies). The color associated with throat chakra is a lighter blue than the indigo blue of the third eye chakra. This chakra is connected to our ability to communicate. If you’re struggling to express yourself well or feel like you are not being understood when you speak, it could be due to a blockage in your throat chakra.

Heart Chakra

Next is the heart chakra, or Anahata, which is located near your heart, in the center of your chest. The heart chakra color is green, and this chakra deals with your ability to show love and compassion. Additionally, this chakra corresponds with empathy and forgiveness.

Solar Plexus Chakra

The solar plexus chakra, or the Manipura, is found in your stomach area, lower than the heart, near your gut. It is responsible for confidence and self-esteem. The color associated with the solar plexus is yellow. This chakra, when balanced, helps you feel more in control of your life.

Sacral Chakra

Then we have the sacral chakra, which is orange. It’s also called the Svadhisthana, and it located below your belly button. You will find sexual and creative energy here when the sacral is balanced and open. It’s also linked to how you relate to your own emotions and the emotions of others around you.

Root Chakra

Finally, we have the root chakra, or Muladhara, which is located at the base of your spine. The color associated with this chakra is red. Root chakra gives you the foundation of life, helps you feel grounded, and when balanced, helps you to feel better capable of facing challenges. It is responsible for your sense of stability and security.

What is a Blocked Chakra?

We have talked above about having “open” or balanced chakras. What does it mean when a chakra is blocked or unbalanced? First, the terminology means the same thing. Different people just use different words to describe it. You can use the ones that feel most comfortable to you.

If you look at the chakras in terms of how the energy flows through them and through your body, it may make more sense to use the terms “balanced” and “unbalanced”. This is because a chakra can have both too much and too little energy flow through it. Both will cause problems in the person, but in different ways.

If the chakra is low in energy, you will have difficulty expressing the qualities that are associated with that chakra. But if the energy is too high, you’ll have the opposite problem which could manifest as dominance or overbearing force in your life.

How do these blocked chakras impact your health?

A lot of people don’t realize that blocked or unbalanced chakras can impact your health in a variety of ways. In general, the location of the chakra can help you to know what part of your body it can affect, but this isn’t always an exact science either.

Unbalanced chakras can result in anxiety, depression, sadness, anger, fear, stomach troubles, problems with specific organs or muscles, or problems with specific systems of the body.

What causes your chakras to become unbalanced? There are different things that can cause it, but your diet can contribute, as well as poor posture, self-destructive behavior and more.

How to Unblock the Chakras

Something you will hear a lot about in the spiritual space is unblocking the chakras. What does this mean and how can you do it?

When you’re looking to create a balance of the chakras within your body, the best way to do this is through:

• Specific yoga poses
• Meditation
• Breathing practices for the flow of energy
• Reiki healing
• Attunement with tuning forks

Another thing to keep in mind about the chakras is that they can change daily and with your mood. One may greatly resonate with you today, but tomorrow or next week, it could be another. As you learn a holistic approach to health and wellness, you will be able to take steps to keep them balanced. However, you will also learn to trust your intuition when it tells you a specific chakra needs a bit of work to get that flow of energy moving once more.

Check out our 7 chakra reference guide.