What are Chakras?

Chakras are energy centres within the human body. According to many Eastern cultures, we all have a life force running through us and everything in our world. The word chakra is derived from the ancient Sanskrit meaning of ‘wheel’ and essentially translates as ‘wheel of spinning energy. Chakras can therefore be thought of as spinning wheels of energy, radiating through the whole of the body and represent the crossroads of the material and immaterial world and relate to the mind, body and spirit being as one.

There are seven main chakras within the body, running centrally and in a vertically straight line from the top of the head to the base of the spine. These seven chakras each have their own specific location within the body and can be thought of as junctions which then spread energy outwards through the rest of the physical being.

When our chakras are open and spinning freely, we feel healthy and balanced. As chakras represent the whole person – mind, body and spirit, it means we feel well in our physical body and also emotionally stable and at peace. However, one or more of our chakras can become blocked or closed completely meaning that vital energy cannot pass through. Chakras can become stagnated or blocked for many reasons but, when they do, they often present with symptoms in both the physical and emotional body, therefore affecting the entire person.

Often times people can present with common health issues that, after medical assessment, cannot be attributed to disease but the health problem continues. Upon closer inspection and understanding of the individual chakras, it is interesting to see that a person may be suffering with a blockage in one or more of their chakras which has contributed to the ailment. By re-balancing the chakras and allowing the body’s energy to start flowing again, relief is often found. The connection between the emotional and physical body is something most people do not give much thought to but, any internal emotional stress can manifest as physical symptoms within the body and by treating the symptoms, we are only dealing with half the problem. By being able to identify the emotional stressor and subsequently healing it, can we truly heal the infliction.

TAKING A CLOSER LOOK...

As we have seen, there are seven main chakras. Each is located in a specific area of the physical body and represents a range of organs and bodily systems, ideals and attributes, as well as governing different emotions.

*PLEASE NOTE – this table and its contents is for information purposes only and not to be used as a medical diagnostic tool.