CHAKRA is a Sanskrit word meaning “wheel.” It refers to a spinning vortex of energy that can be found emanating from predominant positions in and around the human body. Chakras have been understood since ancient times as gathering places of prana energy which is a flowing life force that informs the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of our human experience.

Quantum mechanics shows us that energy is always flowing and particles are never at rest; even in a resting state there will always be non-zero kinetic energy. And since all matter is energy, even when you are physically at rest, you are constantly in motion from a sub-atomic level. Beyond your physical body, you have an etheric subtle body that remains at a higher vibratory state and thus is not visible to the eye. That subtle body is home to your chakras, where energy naturally coagulates at seven central points that span from the base of the spine to the top of the head. There are also minor chakras throughout the body and aura, including the hands, feet, fingertips, shoulders, above the head and below the feet. There are 72,000 nadis or channels of subtle energy that roam the body in its entirety. It is customary to consider first the 3 main nadis (Sushumna, the central nadi through which Kundalini passes up the spine, as well as Pingala and Ida on either side of the Sushumna, which crisscross the spine and form in a way the ascensional highway of the root chakra located at the level of the coccyx up to the crown chakra of the top of the head.

Chakras receive, assimilate and project frequencies of electromagnetic energy from in and around us, interacting with the electromagnetism of the earth. The energy impacts our physical system through chakra points along the spinal column and distributes subtle energy through the body by means of the nerve pathways and the circulatory system. In this way all of the organs, tissues, and cells receive the energy for their various uses.

Balancing the chakras brings us into our CORE:

C - consciousness

O - organized

R - in relation to

E - energy

The core is where the chakras run from the crown to the base of the spine, creating a rainbow of vibrations that bridge the connection between the earth and the cosmos. Life force energy brings the mind and body together and allows them to interface.

Just as a computer is useless without electricity, chakras contain the energetic CHARGE that activates our systems and programs. As we increase or decrease the charge, we effect the energy currents that flow through our body, behaviors and environment. As with all energy flowing through the system, we are in our highest health and alignment when our chakras are balanced and we are able to harvest our charge to utilize it when we need it.

When our charge of energy is not flowing freely, we can experience a deficiencies or excessive traits. These may result when a chakra is blocked and the reception and expression become distorted. Childhood traumas, cultural conditioning, limited belief systems, physical or emotional injuries, unhealthy habits or lack of attention may contribute to blockages. These difficulties may develop into coping strategies, which become chronic patterns which anchor into the body as defense structures.

The charge of each center serves a different purpose, and so when our charge hits up against a blockage in the flow of energy, it needs to be released but cannot pass, and so it projects out in an unhealthy way. It may come up as a pain in the body, a bottled up emotion that explodes into anger, or an anxious mind. We’ll feel ourselves become uncomfortable and either increase our energy response and lash out in order to fight the stress, or decrease the energy and shut down it in order to withdraw from the situation.

We can also view this as a pattern of avoidance or overcompensation. Avoidance leads to a chakra deficiency and overcompensation leads to chakra excess. A bully who compensates for insecurity by dominating others exhibits an excessive 3rd (solar plexus) chakra; or a person who has trouble taking action in their lives may have a deficient 3rd chakra. A frightened person who talks constantly and doesn’t truly listen to others would have an excessive 5th (throat) chakra; or a deficient 5th chakra if they have difficulty speaking up for themselves. A densely overweight person may may an excessive 1st (root) chakra, using body weight to feel protected and grounded; or a deficient 2nd (sacral) chakra if they find they are using food as a mechanism to soothe or avoid their emotions.

Healing these imbalances is actualized through inner and outer-world tasks that strengthen certain areas of our lives. An excessive chakra needs to discharge energy - moving energy from the inside out, and a deficient chakra needs to receive and charge energy - taking energy from the outside in. These imbalances can be approached verbally through discussion, physically through movement, spiritually through meditation, emotionally through exploration of feelings, visually through images, aurally through sounds, working with an energy healer to use energy medicine techniques to help the body direct its flow of energy.

Understanding the chakra system is important because by recognizing when and where our life force energy is out of balance, we can take steps to bring more harmony into specific aspects of our lives.

Based on their location in the body, the chakras have become associated with various states of consciousness, archetypal elements, and philosophical constructs. The lower chakras, for example, which are physically closer to earth, are related to the more practical matters of our lives - survival, movement, action. They are ruled by physical and social law. The upper chakras represent the mental realms and work on a symbolic level through words, images, and concepts. Each step up the ladder moves from a heavy, well defined vibrational state to a higher, subtler, freer form.

Each energy vortex has a different vibratory rate - a different density of prana - and therefor each chakra along the central line of the body is associated with a particular color, as our eyes perceive it. Color is the visual translation of light broken down into different wavelengths. The slowest vibration of visible light, red, is associated with the base (1st) chakra, and the fastest and shortest wavelength of vibration, violet, with the crown (7th). Each of the other colors (2nd - 6th chakras) represent steps of vibratory rates as visualized as a rainbow of colors between the them.

The beauty of the chakra system lies in its multidimensionality.

While they cannot be seen nor held as material entities, the chakras are evident in the health of our physical bodies, the patterns manifested in our lives, and the way we think, feel and handle situations that life presents us. Just as we see the wind by way of the movement of the leaves and branches, the invisible energetic flow of our chakras are revealed by what we create around us. 

Below is a is a summary of our 7 primarily chakras: