Before you can dive into balancing and healing your chakras, you need to have a foundational idea of what each of the seven chakras is. Each chakra is represented by a different color and part of your body. The chakras affect different aspects of your physical, mental, and energetic health. Here’s a brief introduction to the chakra system:
Muladhara (Root) Chakra
The first wheel of energy is the root chakra. It is connected to the earth element and represents our basic needs for food, water, and shelter. When this chakra is balanced, you’ll feel calm and grounded. When it’s out of balance, you’ll experience feelings of insecurity, fear, and stress. Remember when we talked about realigning the root chakra for Earth Day? You can find that post here.
Color: Red
Location: Base of your spine
Element: Earth
Swadhisthana (Sacral) Chakra
The sacral chakra connects you with your emotions and the emotions of others. It also plays a role in your creativity and sexuality. When it’s in balance, you’ll feel a sense of pleasure and fulfillment. When it’s out of balance, you might feel like everything in your life is out of control.
Color: Orange
Location: The lower abdomen
Element: Water
Manipura (Navel) Chakra
This chakra gives us our sense of personal power. It helps you feel confident, assertive, independent, and full of willpower. When this chakra is out of alignment, you may experience low self-esteem and digestion issues.
Color: Yellow
Location: Above the belly button
Element: Fire
Anahata (Heart) Chakra
The heart chakra affects your ability to give and receive love — to others and yourself. If you have an open heart chakra, you’ll feel compassion and empathy. But, if your heart is blocked up, you may have trouble letting others into your life and may experience feelings of unworthiness.
Color: Green
Location: Center of the chest, above the heart
Element: Air
Vishuddha (Throat) Chakra
The throat chakra is the first of the three spiritual chakras. It helps you be authentic and truthful. It not only helps with your communication and expression of yourself, but it also enables you to listen to others with an open mind. When this chakra needs a little extra attention, you may experience an inability to express yourself or communicate your truth, needs, and wants.
Color: Blue
Location: The throat
Element: Space
Ajna (Third-Eye) Chakra
The third-eye chakra gives you the ability of intuition and to see the bigger picture. You’ll feel capable of facing life’s challenges. If your third-eye chakra is out of alignment, you may feel cynical and untrusting.
Color: Dark Blue
Location: On the forehead, between the eyes
Element: Light
Sahasrara (Crown) Chakra
The crown chakra is the seventh and final wheel of energy. It represents your divine, spiritual being. When the crown chakra is balanced, you’ll feel more connected to everyone and everything around you. If this chakra is out of alignment, you may start seeking happiness outside of yourself.
Color: Violet
Location: In the space above the crown of your head
Element: Cosmic Energy
Building Awareness of Your Chakras
This is a lot of information about the chakra system. The best way to digest it all and begin your journey connecting to each chakra is to focus on one or two chakras at a time. Once you have an awareness of those chakras, you can begin to build awareness of the others.