My husband likes to say that along with...Chakra Kahn. His attempt at humor. I do love him...so I give him an obligatory chuckle. So what are chakras anyway? If you had asked me ten years ago I would have told you it some phony scheme invented by soothsayers and snake oil salesmen to get you to part with your money. Way back in the 1990s (remember them?) I went to psychic and she told me that my chakras were blocked and that she could unblock them for $60 a session and that I would need multiple sessions to get them unblocked...um...yeah right...the only thing blocked here is you...from my wallet! I left her office and never went back. I had no idea what a chakra was back then. Perhaps if she had taken the time to explain the chakras and specifically which of mine weren't working then I would have listened a little more...nah...I wasn't ready for that esoteric stuff back then.
It was many years and a couple of panic attacks later that I began to learn about chakras. I had just received my first reiki attunement and my reiki master recommended that we begin to learn about the chakras on our own because this is where we would be doing most of our healing work. She explained them a little and it intrigued me. Since then, I have read books and taken courses on the chakra system...and I still feel like a novice. I do feel that I am acquainted with them enough to share what I know with you...so I am happy to condense what I've learned into hopefully a quick read about the chakras....
In a nut shell, chakras are spinning vortices or disks of energy. They bridge the gap between the spiritual and manifest parts of ourselves. The seven main chakras are aligned with the spinal column beginning at the tail bone and run their way up the spine to the crown of the head. Each chakra has its own special function. Every single thing that happens to us from the moment we are conceived (bad or good) gets processed through these chakras. When the chakras are all balanced and in alignment we feel good, we are motivated to achieve our goals and dreams and have enough energy and love to help others too. We are helping to make the world a better place. When the chakras are sluggish or blocked, well, that is how we feel. We feel stuck, angry, frustrated. We don't know how to not feel this way...and it leads to a cycle of negative thinking which only disrupts our energy system even further.
The chakra system is our spiritual roadmap or GPS system given to us by the Universe. It directs us on how to leading happy productive lives and how to live out our life's purpose. Wow! That is a tall order! If these spinning disks of energy are so important then why has no one ever told us about them? Good question! I have asked myself that a number of times. If we spent more time working on keeping our chakras in good working order the rest of the stuff would fall into place. Now keeping them in good working order is easier said than done. It takes dedication, habitual practice and attention to do this, however, it is totally do-able. If it wasn't I wouldn't bother writing this blog.
So now you are thinking...Ok, Mary Kate, I am intrigued...but you still haven't really explained them. Right...well we could be here for hours, days, weeks talking about each one. To keep it brief, I will give you the spiel that I give my reiki clients the first time they come for a session.
We are spiritual beings housed in this heavy (and I don't mean fat) body. The spirit part of us is connected to Heaven, the Universe, The Upper Room, All That Is....whatever you feel comfortable calling it. The heavy body part connects us to earth. Earth is where we have chosen take our spirit around for a spin and our body is the vehicle we are using to make the journey. Besides cruising around collecting things like houses, handbags and cars, we are here to fulfill a soul purpose. One which we agreed to before we got here. As spiritual human beings (and I don't mean spiritual in the religious sense....just that we are all ultimately pure energy) we are connected to Universal Life Force Energy (the energy that comes from God and the Universe) and we are also connected to Earth Energy (because this is where we are). We need both of these energies balanced and flowing through us to have the spiritual fuel to achieve our goals and life's purpose. So this is where the chakras come in...
The chakras pull and process this energy. Each chakra processes the energy and then sends it to the next chakra. When we experience something negative either emotionally or physically, that energy can become disrupted. We have seven main chakras and many minor ones throughout our body. The seven main chakras run up the spinal column beginning with the Root Chakra which resides at the base of the spine. This is the chakra that helps us ground that spiritual side of us into our physical body. It's our sense of safety and security in this world...both physically and financially. If this chakra is deficient (oh yeah, bonus, chakras can either be deficient/slow/sluggish or excessive/too fast/out of control) one can have a lack of discipline, feel spacey or paranoid. Physically one might be underweight or, in its extreme, anorexic. If this chakra is excessive, one may be over eating or obese, they might fear change or have rigid boundaries. Now not all attributes will apply for either deficient or excessive chakras...they are just possible attributes. Example: If we are having money troubles...this is the chakra that it will show up in. It may show up in other chakras too depending on specific circumstances.
Next, we journey up to the Sacral Chakra, this chakra is located below the belly button in the sacral area (hence, the name). This is our pleasure, creativity center. It's where we experience our sexuality, emotion, intimacy, our love of food, art, creativity. When its deficient, we may feel cut off from our sexual side, frigid or emotionally numb. If it's excessive we may be addicted to sex, drugs, alcohol. We may be overly emotional with vast mood swings and poor boundaries. These are just basic examples...the list can really be quite extensive when a chakra is out balance. I just want to give you and idea.
The next stop on our tour is the Solar Plexus Chakra. It is located just under the rib cage in the solar plexus area hence the name...all of the chakras also have Sanskrit names but that it is a story for another time. The Solar Plexus Chakra is where we experience our sense of self esteem. It's where our confidence and ego reside. When its balanced we feel confident and have a balanced sense of personal power. When its deficient, we have low energy and low self esteem. When its excessive we can be overbearing and dominating. We all know someone who needs to be right all the time...and needs to have the last word. Those people have an excessive solar plexus chakra (and probably throat chakra too). I bet you are already spotting when a chakra is out of balance.
Next stop on the quick whirlwind tour of the chakras is the Heart Chakra...and it resides...not exactly over the heart...it resides in the center of our breastbone in the heart area. This chakra is all about unconditional love...both on the giving and receiving ends. When its balanced we are loving, compassionate, peaceful. When its out of whack, we are cold, lack empathy, judgmental, critical or in the opposite direction...we are co-dependant and clingy with poor boundaries. Again, I bet you can think of people you know who fit either of those descriptions.
Stop number five on our tour is the ever popular Throat Chakra...guess where you find it? Yup...your throat...good guess. This is the seat of our communication. This is where we speak our truth in a loving compassionate non confrontational way. This is where we also experience being a good listener. We all probably know someone who likes to talk over other people to the point you can't get a word in edgewise...those people have an excessive throat chakra. Gossiping and lying are also malfunctions of this chakra. Conversely, you may know someone who hardly speaks at all or has a weak a voice. If you watch Seinfeld they had a whole episode on low talkers...those people you can hardly hear. Can you guess whether low talkers have a deficient or excessive throat chakra? Answer is at the bottom...
Next we move on up to the Third Eye Chakra located between our eyes...just above the nose. This is our where we experience our intuition. It is our seat of higher knowledge. You have probably experienced a time when you had a hunch about something then you followed it and it turned out you were right. That is you listening to your intuition. Our society pretty much encourages you to turn off this spiritual GPS feature...if you can't see, smell, touch, taste or hear it...it doesn't exist, right? Wrong. There is a whole world beyond our senses...but that is a story for another time. People with an underactive Third Eye have trouble visualizing, can't remember dreams, have a poor memory or on the flip side they have lots of headaches, trouble concentrating, and nightmares.
Our final stop on this tour is at the top our head...the Crown Chakra. This is our center for understanding and transcendence. Its our spiritual connection to God or Source, our open-minded intelligence, our ability to perceive and assimilate information. When its deficient we can have learning difficulties, a rigid believe system, we can be materialistic, depressed or fixed on only one way of doing things. When its excessive we can develop a spiritual addiction or become overly intellectual. We can be out of touch with our body...feeling spacy. The term "living in ones head" comes to mind.
So there you have it...the seven chakras in a nutshell. There are other minor chakras too. For instance, you have chakras on the soles of your feet and hands. I use my hand chakras to perform reiki. After reading each of the descriptions, do you know which of yours may deficient or excessive? With a little practice you will begin to intuitively know (using your third eye chakra) which chakras are out of balance. So what do you do when they are out of balance? There are lots of things you can do. You can practice yoga...yoga and the chakras go hand in hand. You can also meditate. I have mentioned before that Insight Timer (not a paid endorsement) is a fabulous app with scads of meditations. You can look for guided meditations that specifically balance any one or all of your chakras. I personally love Davidji! You can learn to use crystals or essential oils. You can learn energy work or you can come see me. I would be happy to look at your chakras with you and talk about the ones that need rebalance. We will then re-balance them using energy work. The trick is to keep your chakras in balance. Before leaving me I will always give you advice on what you can do to keep them balanced. I will give you practical tips...you won't need to chant or burn things to send up to the Gods (unless you want to).
The chakras system was given to us by the Universe to help us navigate the earth plane. It is your spiritual GPS system. I encourage you to learn more about the subtle energy system. What I've explained here is just the tip of the iceberg. If you want to learn more, I recommend any book or online course by Anodea Judith (not a paid endorsement) or The Chakra Bible by Patricia Mercier. If you want to learn more about reiki, shoot me a message. I do both in person (with masks) and Zoom chakra balancing and reiki sessions. You do not need to be in the same room with me to receive the benefits of reiki...again...a story for another time. If you are curious, send me a message and we can chat about it more. I love talking about energy! Stay healthy and balanced, my friends!
ps...if guessed that low talkers have a deficient throat chakra...you are already well on your way to understanding the chakra system! Good for you!