When it comes to chakra healing, do you immediately think of woo-woo touchy feely stuff or more technical aspects of the inner workings of energy flow?
Chakras are very popular today and have been aligned aligned to the extreme woo-woo to deep scientific energy and matter with complex formulas that explain them. Wherever you fall in the knowledge or belief about chakras and their energy, the general agreement is that there is certainly something that influences us to behave, feel, and experience life the way we do. Why not chakras?
Let's start at the basics to understand how this comes together and what you can do to balance your chakra energy to have this aligned energy flow working in your favor. I'll also explain the spectrum of woo-woo to science to help you choose the level of chakra work that can help you and the right practitioner type to support you in the process.
What are Chakras?
Chakra is a Sanskrit word meaning wheels. This is why they are often depicted as circles in diagrams. It may also be where the saying "wheels are turning" when describing someone working on something big in their life.
Chakras help us feel in balance with ourselves and across our pillars of health (mind, body, emotions, and spirit). They are energy centers stemming from the top of our head to the base of our spine. Think of each one like their own little sub-station of energy production that are strategically placed to support our overall energy use in a day. With their position they align with different organs and body systems and influence how each of these work. Each energy center has distinct types of energy that support different functional energy that flows throughout the nervous system so the body works as one unit in harmony.
You need different types of energy because of the complexity of your being. A certain energy is needed for creativity that is different than the energy needed to connect with other people we have relationships with for example. Yet you do need both to creativity solve people problems for example. Each of us has different levels our chakras work at in producing these energy types and how they interact with each other. This contributes to who you are and your general general overall. Ultimately, it all works together to influence who we are, how we feel about certain stimuli and what we belief is right for ourselves.
"The beauty of chakras is that they invite us to consider our health across all our pillars (mind, body, emotions, and spirit) when addressing a need and not at individually or at a surface symptom level." -Amy Kramer, Board Certified Naturopathic Doctor
Common Chakra Name | Sanskrit Name | Location | Purpose - Function | Color Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Root Chakra | Muladhara | Base of the spine | Relates to emotions of survival and stability in the world, with others, your higher power, and with yourself | Red |
Sacral Chakra | Svadhishthana | Below belly button | Associated with our ideas and acts of pleasures and creativity | Orange |
Solar Plexus Chakra | Manipura | Stomach area | Linked to feelings of personal power and self-confidence | Yellow |
Heart Chakra | Anahata | Center of the test | Tied to love (all types) and compassion | Green |
Throat Chakra | Vishuddha | Neck region at throat | Associated with our communication, voice and personal truth | Blue |
Third Eye Chakra | Ajna | On the forehead between the eyes | Related to personal intuition and wisdom | Indigo |
Crown Chakra | Sahasrara | Top of the head center | Connected to spirituality and consciousness | White or Violet |
Chakra Energy and Your Health
Understanding chakras can lend to meaningful support for your health and give you an edge to healing and goal progress. Since chakras fall into the energy medicine realm there can be certain aspects of this modality that blend in an array of their uses for healing and therapeutic support that changes the approach for how they are used in healing and the techniques involved. This is also what gives them that characteristic as being aligned with both woo-woo fanfare and the more intensive study of energy.
In the natural medicine area where I work, chakra work is used in helping clients and is individualized based on their comfort and curiosity of the modality. I believe each individual should participate in the selection of the right aspects of natural medicine that feel best to them and we use that. I'd rather have a client tell me they are uncomfortable with something than try to use it on them have it be a bad experience or feel it didn't help them. While I believe energy medicine works and is beneficial, there are modalities within it that may not be for everyone and that's ok. We each respond to nature differently because we are uniquely designed.
The ways in which chakras can be used in your health care also varies based on your individualization. In general they promote evenly flowing energy across the body which in turn supports our responses to stress. It is here we see the most common practice of chakra energy medicine by the general public. More intentionally, though is the use of this energy modality in supporting deeper healing work. For example, someone with a chronic disease can find pain management support with chakra energy medicine use. We can also support less severe needs such as not sleeping well, emotional and trauma based healing, and general health goal support.
Chakras are a useful modality because of their versatility in application and uses for our health. This is where though we need to ensure the practitioner we use for this type of service is trained from a reputable source. Given the popularity of chakras anyone can claim to know how to do it but misuse of this therapy can result in lower than possible results or none at all. You can also experience increased stress, damage and discomfort if the person applying the therapy lacks the necessary training. I believe it is important to recognize chakras are energy medicine and like any other medicine modality must be treated with care and respect to allow it to be of value and benefit to everyone.
How do Chakras become Imbalanced and Misaligned?
Just like your car with its multiple parts that allow it to run, brake, start, and turn off, your chakras must all work independently and at the same time in orchestration with the others. The timing must be perfect to create this balance of harmony that extends throughout the body and across the pillars of health (mind, body, emotions, spirit). This is the point where we feel our best, have the energy we need, our mood is stable, and we feel content with a clear mind. If one of these energy centers is not running optimally it will affect that specific area as well as the rest creating that imbalance.
We become imbalanced or misaligned in our chakras from multiple sources. By far the most common cause is stress, and usually chronic stress. Other sources can include our diet with high processed food product intake, dehydration, illness, trauma, grief, loneliness, pollution, chemicals, and spiritual disconnection. Again, its where an area of our life that relies on the energy center closest to it is not working at its best. Something has knocked it out of balance and created a timing misalignment in that area and across the other chakras.
How this most commonly plays out is lets say initially, it may only feel like a headache but you otherwise feel fine. You push through a mild headache because you have a lot to do that day. Your body that night because it didn't receive the support it needed for the headache begins to hurt elsewhere, let's say you just feel really tired from the day. So a couple things are going on at this point, one our Crown Chakra and/or the Third Eye are imbalanced from the headache. The other chakras are beginning to notice the imbalance by the end of the day and they are responding by pushing energy to the Crown or Third Eye to help. As a result, they too are becoming lower in their own energy.
In our busy stress filled life this example is not only common but it is chronic. We can go days, weeks and even years feeling like this and ignore it all because our obligations in life. We push through, ignore the signs of discomfort until they become too much. The body continues to send signals that are louder and more severe the longer this goes on. Ideally, we want to address these things as early as possible to prevent the longer, more chronic illnesses and diseases that can occur. I'm not saying we should become hypochondriacs about our health but we certainly need to be more attentive and attuned to the messages our body is sending us.
When there is imbalance we may just feel off or it could be more severe. This greatly depends on how long we have been enduring imbalances. Aligning your chakra energy points helps your body work optimally. It helps your body defend you best against threats and navigate stress in our day a little easier. In my opinion, life is hard enough at times without my body working against me too.
"In my opinion, life is hard enough at times without my body working against me too. This is why maintaining balance across the chakras becomes an important regular part of preventative health care routines." - Amy Kramer, Board Certified Naturopathic Doctor.
How do you balance and align Chakras?
There are DIY to more advance techniques for balancing chakras. I encourage my clients to explore self-support options once they are familiar with how to decode the messages of their body.
The easiest method is to use crystals in the form of wearable jewelry. Certain crystals and stones are naturally aligned to the specific chakra areas. Simply wearing the aligned crystal can help provide that natural alignment for day-to-day or minor chakra imbalances. You can add aromatherapy to this method with the use of quality essential oils. There are specific aromas that enhance the energy of the crystal and amplify the energy in the body.
Stepping up from the simplest technique can also include the use of crystals, essential oils, singing bowls, pranic therapy and Reiki. This is where working with a trained professional in holistic and natural medicine is important. Just like other health care approaches, the quality of the professional will maximize the outcomes you can realize.
When I work with a client on balancing chakras, my approach is to first test overall the chakra energy using muscle response testing. From there we target the chakra most out of balance and work from the smallest imbalance to the largest. This approach allows the body to gradually start to work with me and do the work of healing itself. It also prevents the body from experiencing too much stimulation or stress at one time further complicating the problems.
There are times when multiple sessions are necessary if the stress levels are bigger than what can be corrected in a single session. Each time we use the techniques that the body is most in need of to support its healing journey and create the balance in the chakras.
At no time should the process of balancing chakras be painful or uncomfortable. If it is you should alert the practitioner immediately so the session can be paused. This is again where it is important to use a trained professional.
What Happens After Your Chakras are Balanced
Immediately after the session, the first experience of the clients I work on is usually deep relaxation. Where a client has come to me with heavy imbalances I can usually detect some level of relaxation and even a little smile.
You may experience sleepiness after a chakra balancing session. The body has just undergone significant work and while you may not have felt a thing your body worked intensely. Honoring what you experience after a session is key to helping the body recover and continue healing after the session.
My general instructions to clients after a session is to drink plenty of water to help the body flush toxins that were loosened during the session. I also recommend they take it slow the rest of the day, take a nap if you're able and move in a way that feels right for you body. Let your body tell you what it needs and provide it. Just because the session is over, your body is still shifting energy long afterwards. For at least the next 24 hours let your body guide you in support it needs.
What Balanced Chakras Mean and Feels Like
Once balance is restored in all the chakras, there are changes in how we feel. This can influence our overall health and well-being as well as support progress on important health goals we are working on.
The best way to describe what having balanced chakras feels like is centeredness, calmness, and peace of mind. I often describe it to clients as the Goldilocks experience where you find the right chair, right temperature, and right comfort specific to you. Things just fit, flow, and freely move and you are at a point where you choose how you respond to them or not.
When you first experience balanced chakras you may feel a little lightheaded or dizzy even. Your body is adjusting to this new found energy flow. It is important to not overdo it doing this time. It should not be uncomfortable at all and you will feel renewed. I caution against overdoing it so that your body has time to build a reserve of energy and create longer lasting balance.
Working with your chakras on a regular basis introduces health on a new level. It is like a check-up for your own energy battery.
Supporting your health holistically and naturally is what we do at Dragonspit Apothecary. Book your in-person or virtual appointment to get started today.
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