Chakras 101 - A Lens to Cultivate Wellbeing
Chakras refer to energy centers in the body.
There are differing opinions about how many chakras exist in the body, depending on the lineage and tradition. For the sake of this post, we’ll focus on the 7 primary chakras.
In this blog post, we’ll explore the basics of chakras and how they can provide insights into cultivating your wellbeing.
What Are Chakras?
Chakras symbolize different aspects of your mind, body, and spirit. While they’re symbolic, chakras are also physical. For example, they can be felt with sensitive hands in a craniosacral session.
While working with the chakras isn’t my primary treatment approach in craniosacral therapy, I do recommend chakras as a lens to explore possible connections between physical ailments and emotional or spiritual issues.
The 7 primary chakras start at the pelvic floor and rising upward along mid-line to the top of the head.
Sometimes energy is free-flowing through your chakras and other times energy gets blocked. This blocked energy can manifest as physical challenges and can affect your emotional wellbeing.
Example - Chakras & Hip Pain
For example, many of my clients seek craniosacral treatment because of chronic hip pain. They’ve had this pain on and off for years and have seen many practitioners for help – doctors, physical therapists, acupuncturists, and more.
If their condition hasn’t responded to these approaches, working with the chakras can provide a fresh perspective as to potential roots cause of their pain and ideas on how to move forward.
Let’s dive into hip pain to explore how you can work with chakras to support your healing.
The hips are part of the Root Chakra, which relates to the lower body - your feet, legs, pelvis, and lower intestines. On an emotional level, this chakra is all about stability. When your Root Chakra is open and balanced, you feel supported and secure in life. When this chakra is blocked, fear becomes a predominant emotion; your nervous system often shifts into “fight or flight” mode. You’re on edge even if you don’t need to worry. Sleep is oftentimes challenging too.
If you have hip pain, it can be worthwhile to explore how secure and supported you feel in life.
Do you feel safe? Financially stable? Do you feel like it’s okay to take risks or are you always playing it safe? How afraid of change are you? Do your loved ones provide emotional support?
When answering these questions, get real with yourself.
You can see how your mind responds, but also give time to see how your body responds to these questions. Your body holds your unconscious beliefs and emotions, which are often ignored and are key to balancing your chakras.
While these questions are worth diving into, they don’t negate the fact that physical structures are also compromised. That’s really important to understand about the chakras.
When energy in a chakra gets blocked, it affects the physical tissues. And if you have an injury – say a sprained ankle – this creates blocked energy in the first chakra, with cascading effects on your psycho-emotional state.
The mind, body, emotions, and psyche are interconnected. And the chakras are a powerful lens to understand this relationship.
Let’s explore each of the chakras in more detail.
1st: Root Chakra
The Root Chakra is located in the perineum. While that’s where it’s physically located, this chakra also relates to the lower intestines, pelvis, legs, and feet.
If your ankle hurts, for example, this pain can be a result of blocked energy in the Root Chakra. The reverse is true. If you sprain your ankle, this can lead to blocked energy in the Root Chakra.
A malfunctioning Root Chakra is often associated with sciatica, elimination problems, and not feeling safe. Oftentimes, this lack of feeling safe is unconscious; you might be physically safe and you might think you’re safe, but your body and emotions feel otherwise.
On a psychological level, the Root Chakra relates to survival. When your Root Chakra is balanced, this manifests as feeling safe, grounded, and productive.
A few ideas to support your Root Chakra:
Focus on feeling your legs and feet when you’re stressed
Journal about your sense of security in this season of life
Take your shoes off and stand in grass for 10 minutes daily
Comfort yourself when you’re feeling scared, as if you’re talking to a child
Eat red fruits and vegetables (e.g. tomatoes, red peppers, radishes, raspberries, cherries, apples)
2nd: Sacral Chakra
The Sacral Chakra is located in the sacrum, at the base of your spine. The Latin root of the word sacrum means sacred. This bone is considered the sacred launching pad of our spiritual energy. In addition to the sacrum, this chakra relates to the womb, genitals, kidney, bladder, and low back.
When imbalanced, the Sacral Chakra can manifest as sexual, fertility, or urinary problems. Rumi said, “You have the energy of the sun in you, but you keep knotting it up at the base of your spine.”
This chakra relates to creativity, sensuality, and sexuality. When balanced, you feel bonded, connected to your desires, and are able to enjoy life’s pleasures.
A few ideas to support your Sacral Chakra:
Acknowledge your feelings instead of ignoring them
If you can’t easily connect to your feelings, start by noticing sensations in your body which can be entry-points to your emotions
Dance to at least one song daily
Journal about what you’d love to do with your life and time, rather than what’s expected of you
Eat orange fruits and vegetables (e.g. sweet potatoes, carrots, pumpkin, apricots, mangoes, cantaloupe)
3rd: Solar Plexus Chakra
The Solar Plexus Chakra is located in the Solar Plexus, near the midline of your diaphragm. On a physical level, it relates to the digestive system, liver, and gallbladder.
When malfunctioning, this chakra can manifest as poor digestion, fatigue, and hypertension. Psychologically, the Solar Plexus Chakra relates to your will. When balanced, you feel radiant, energized, and connected to your personal power.
A few ideas to support your Solar Plexus Chakra:
While journaling, write down what you’d like to accomplish in 6-12 months and then create small daily actions that help you work toward that goal
Get somatic coaching to help this process and embody your potential
Eat yellow fruits and vegetables (e.g. squash, corn, onion, yellow pepper, banana, lemon)
4th: Heart Chakra
The Heart Chakra is located in the heart and also relates to your lungs, arms, and hands. When functioning poorly, this chakra can manifest as asthma, coronary disease, or lung disease.
As you might expect, the psychological element of this chakra relates to love, compassion, and devotion. When balanced, you feel loving, accepting, and tolerant.
A few ideas to support your Heart Chakra:
Notice when and how you judge yourself and others, try not to judge this judgment, and see if you can extend compassion to yourself and others when you become judgmental
Practice the metta meditation, such as this one.
Eat green fruits and vegetables (e.g. spinach, broccoli, cucumber, avocado, kiwi, grapes, guava)
5th: Throat Chakra
The Throat Chakra is located in the throat. In addition to the throat, this chakra relates to the ears, mouth, neck, and shoulders. When not functioning well, the Throat Chakra can manifest as throat, neck, and shoulder pain.
Psychologically, this chakra relates to expression, creativity, and communication. Given its location between your head and heart, this chakra is all about a clear passageway between the two. The Throat Chakra wants you to express your inner truth. This chakra also relates to boundaries and your sense of space. Many of my clients who are workaholics and are always busy struggle with this chakra.
When your Throat Chakra is functioning well, you’re able to maintain boundaries and you’re able to freely express yourself and hear.
A few ideas to support your Throat Chakra:
Start a journaling practice if you don’t already have one, where you write in a stream-of-consciousness manner
If journaling is unlikely for you, consider working with a therapist or coach so you can express what’s inside through your voice rather than writing
Eat blueberries
6th: Third Eye Chakra
The Third Eye Chakra is located just above your eyebrows in the center of your forehead. It’s body parts include the eyes, eyebrows, and base of your skull. When imbalanced, the Third Eye Chakra can result in vision problems, headaches, and nightmares.
Its psychological function relates to intuition and reason. When balanced, this chakra helps you use your imagination and think with flexibility.
A few ideas to support your Third Eye Chakra:
See if you can remember your dreams each morning from the night before
Learn how to draw or paint
Read fiction
Let yourself daydream
Journal about your vision for the future, for yourself, your loved ones, your community, and the world
Eat purple fruits and vegetables (e.g. cabbage, eggplant, plums, figs)
7th: Crown Chakra
The Crown Chakra is located at the top of your head. It relates to the central nervous system, cerebral cortex, and cranial vault. When this chakra is blocked, you can feel depressed, confused, and alienated.
Psychologically, the Crown Chakra is all about transcendence, spirituality, and understanding. When open and balanced, you’re able to develop spiritual awareness.
A few ideas to support your Crown Chakra:
Get an hour of fresh air daily
Cultivate a spiritual practice, where you can connect to the vast unknown
This could be through meditation, spending time in nature, gazing at the stars, a creative practice, etc.
Drink lots of water
Somatic coaching and craniosacral therapy are both avenues to balance your chakras and improve your wellbeing. Reach out to me here to learn more about working together.
This gorgeous tree represents the growth that’s available when working with the charkas. Doing inner work through craniosacral therapy and somatic coaching can strengthen your roots and connection to self. This in turn allows you to show up more fully and meaningfully in your life.