The Chakra Energy System - The Soul Journey
The Chakra Energy System represents the main energy centers within the human body. Each chakra is associated with a different physical, emotional, mental and spiritual element. Working with the energy of our chakras can promote physical, mental and emotional healing and growth.
For those that are on the inner work path, adding the chakra energy healing to your Inner Work Practices can provide a deeper path to healing. The energy contained within our chakras work in unison to create our life-force energy. These energy centers can serve as our archetypal map that depicts our individual spiritual maturation process through seven phases of childhood development.
As the wheel of life ebbs and flows, it’s not difficult to miss one of these crucial steps during our youth. Working with the energy of our chakras can provide clarity and understanding as it takes us back to the beginning, to the root cause of our suffering. Facilitating healing and balance within mind, body, and soul.
The chakra system connects our internal energy system to our physical body, and each chakra corresponds to different body parts. Understanding this connection can help manage pain and illness. Even something as simple as repeating colds are messages from our inner self that we need to change direction in our lives. it could be a simple change, or it could be indicative of a larger change needing to take place.
When we ignore the small aches and pains and they continue to grow, we need to examine why this is happening. There is a good chance we need to pause and reflect and see what is working or not working in our lives. If we do so, we may discover that we have not really been feeling like ourselves lately.
Our chakras are connected to our mental and emotional health and well-being. We may start to feel depressed or despondent, or we may frustrate more easily, or we may start to feel as if our life does not have meaning. Working with the energy of our chakras can help guide us to the root cause of our feelings so we can work through them and rebalance our energy.
The chakras also represent the storehouse of all of our collective and personal experiences. When we experience trauma and pain in our lives and do not work through these feelings, the wounds continue to fester. As we get stuck in these painful memories it stops the flow of energy between our energy centers and we begin to experience some of the physical, emotional and mental symptoms resulting from this imbalance.
There are many ways to work with the energy of our chakra system, but the goal is the same, to keep our chakras open and in balance so the energy flows easy and effortlessly throughout our physical body.
We have a total of Eight Chakras within our energetic makeup: the Root, Sacral, Solar Plexus, Heart, Throat, Third Eye, Crown and Universal Connection/Soul Star. Below are the details for each chakra to help you on your path to healing.
Root Chakra (Muladhara) – First Chakra
Location: Base of spine (at the coccyx)
Color: Red
Crystals: Black Obsidian, Black/Red Hematite, Black Tourmaline, Black Onyx, Red Garnet, Red Jasper
Crystal Meanings: Stones used for Protection, Grounding, Stability, Physical Energy, Will Power, Security.
Essential Oil: Cedarwood, frankincense, sandalwood, lavender
Food: Potatoes, carrots, beets (anything with roots); Protein Rich foods like beans and nut butters; Tomatoes, Strawberries, Red Apples
Physical Body: Physical body support, base of spine, legs, bones, feet, rectum, immune system, adrenal glands (cortisol).
Physical Symptoms: Chronic lower back pain, sciatica, varicose veins, rectal tumors/cancer, depression, immune related disorders.
Meaning: This is our foundation and represents survival, security, grounding, stability, vitality, physical identity, and tribal beliefs. It is our roots from which true health, well-being, and empowerment grow. Serving as the foundation on which our physical and energetic body and every chakra is built upon.
Emotional/Mental Issues: Physical family and group safety and security. Ability to provide for life’s necessities. Ability to stand up for ourselves. Feeling at home. Social and familial law and order. The Root Chakra is the foundation of our emotional and mental health.
Symbolic/Perceptual Connection: The Root Chakra orients us in our physical world with our five senses, seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, tasting. It represents our need for logic, order, and structure. The first chakra is grounded in our physical senses, so we receive literal perceptions which causes us to take things literally, in black and white. As we transition from childhood to adulthood, we can embrace symbolic perception and view the symbolic meaning of our past experiences and relationships.
Primary Fears: Fears of physical safety, physical survival, abandonment by the group and loss of physical order.
Power: Groundedness
Primary Strengths: Tribal/family identity, bonding, and the tribal honor code, loyalty, and support that give one a sense of safety and connection to the physical world.
Balanced: When Root chakra is balanced, you’ll feel a deep sense of peace. You’ll feel safe, stable and secure, that all your core needs are met. You will have focus and presence. You will feel grounded and connected to yourself and others and feel a sense of belonging. With healthy adrenals, you will feel passionate, playful, and creative. All total body healing starts here.
Out of balance: Emotionally: Feeling unsafe, unstable, anxious, and fearful; feeling ungrounded or even dissociated erratic behavior; depression and lack of motivation; living in “survival mode”; negativity and cynicism. Physically: feeling disconnected from our bodies and like our lives are out of control. Like our basic needs are not being met, financially or physically. Spiritually: inability to trust in the Earth to support and nourish you; doubt about your place in the universe; existential crisis or crisis of faith; loss of will.
Overactive: Becoming easily annoyed, angry, short temper, lashing out, frustrated, impatient or aggressive; Making decisions from a state of fear; Struggling with depression; Feeling heavy in your body; Being rigid and inflexible, having tunnel vision or limited focus; Being in a state of wanting and feeling unsatisfied; Overindulging, being greedy, hoarding with money, possessions or status; Becoming materialistic placing more value in physical world/appearance rather than spiritual one and thus, neglecting inner growth.
Spiritual: Soul Life Lessons connected to the Root chakra relate to the physical and material world. The first chakra represents tribal power and our connection to family and groups as well as community bonds, it establishes our identity and sense of belonging within a group of people. This chakra is where we process and transform energy, thoughts and experiences related to security, safety, personal and ancestral history.
Sacral Chakra (Svadhisthana) – Second Chakra
Location: 2 fingers below navel
Color: Orange
Crystals: Carnelian, Orange Calcite, Peach Moonstone, Sunstone,
Crystal Meanings: Stones used for Creativity, Cleansing, Intuition, Sexuality, Reproduction, Desire, Emotion
Essential Oil: Clary Sage, Sandalwood, Lavender
Food: Peach, Carrots, Gala Apple, Black Cherry Tomato, Mango, Honey
Physical Body: Sexual organs, large intestine, lower vertebrae, pelvis, appendix, bladder, hip area.
Physical Symptoms: Chronic lower back pain, sciatica, reproductive organs, OB/GYN problems, pelvic/lower back pain, sexual potency/dysfunction, urinary problems. Large Intestine: digestive disorders such as constipation, diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, weight gain/loss.
Meaning: This chakra governs relationships, creativity, physical desire, passion, and emotions; Sensuality, sexual intimacy, and giving and receiving pleasure; Creativity and unstructured expression; Healthy emotions and the inner child; the Divine feminine; Synchronicity.
The sacral chakra represents the realm of communication, material desires, exchange and finances. If this energy is used improperly, addiction to sex or gambling can result. As the center of reproductive ability, the sacral chakra is also the home of artistic creation.
Emotional/Mental Issues: Blame and guilt. Money and sex. Power and control. Ethics and honor in relationships. Creativity and artistic creation. This chakra represents our need for relationships and our need to control aspects of our physical environment.
Symbolic/Perceptual Connection: This chakra is connected to relationships and gives us the ability to develop personal identity and our psychological boundaries. This is also where we develop personal strength in relation to the physical world and material desires such as money, sex, people, or addictive substances.
The energy of this chakra gives us the power of self-sufficiency and our survival instinct of being part of life. With a healthy ego, we have the inner strength to find our place in the world without being controlled by material desires. We can set healthy boundaries and do not negotiate or sell ourselves for materialism.
Primary Fears: Fear of loss of control, or being controlled by another, through the dominating power of events or conditions such as addition, rape, betrayal, impotence, financial loss, abandonment by our primary partner, professional colleagues. Also, fear of the loss of the power of the physical body.
Power: Creativity
Primary Strengths: The ability and stamina to survive financially and physically on one’s own and to defend and protect oneself; the fight or flight instinct; the ability to take risks; the resilience to recover from loss whether of family members, partners, property, occupation or finances; perseverance, the power to rebel and reestablish a life; and personal and professional decision-making ability and talent. Sexuality, sensuality, being open and receptive to sexual intimacy.
Balanced: Creativity, emotions, sexuality, passion, and joy. It helps with transformation, letting go, and accepting change. Stronger ability to connect with yourself and others, increase in creativity, greater sexual intimacy, passionate about life, feeling fully present with your own body, stability, the ability to handle stress with confidence and ease.
This chakra helps us tap into our internal reservoir wellspring of inspiration and experience the beauty around us. It is the home of creativity and our ability to create and add to the collective of life. It is your biggest emotional center that regulates your interaction and communication of your emotions with others.
Out of balance: Detachment, isolation, anxiety, loneliness, low libido, lack of creative inspiration. Creatively blocked, sexually repressed or emotionally unstable. Self-depreciation, making jokes at your own expense; pessimism; depression. Excessive fantasizing about future that isn’t yours, laziness.
A closed sacral chakra can make you feel detached from your own emotions as well as feel the emotions of the people around you, you may feel isolated and anxious to be alone yet lonely. With a persistent belief that you do not belong or that you are not a creative person it feels like you are stuck in a rut. Sexual repression also leads to blockage.
Overactive: With overactivity in this chakra, you exhibit being consumed by and drowning in emotions, being emotionally tempestuous, and using escapism to avoid life. Engaging in inappropriate expressions of sexuality/sexual addiction; rage/overacting; argumentative; codependence; substance abuse. You may try to retain a sense of control by lashing out and exhibiting controlling and manipulating behaviors toward others.
Spiritual: Soul Life Lessons connected to the Sacral chakra relate to relationships, sexuality, work, and physical desire. This chakra is focused on relationships, and this includes our relationship with ourselves as well as our relationships with others. The energy of this chakra creates a shift from that of our tribal family unit to discovering relationships that satisfy personal and physical needs. It is where we begin to discern relationships and our external world.
Solar Plexus Chakra (Manipura) – Third Chakra
Location: Upper abdomen
Color: Yellow
Crystals: Yellow Calcite, Citrine, Yellow Jasper
Crystals Meaning: Stones used for Ambition, Intellect, Personal Power, Protection
Essential Oil: Lemon, Cedarwood, Lavender
Food: Banana, pineapple, yellow squash, yellow split peas, corn, flaxseeds, Ginger, Turmeric, Cumin, Fennel. Whole grains (not refined).
Physical Body: Abdomen, stomach, upper intestines, liver, gallbladder, kidney, pancreas, adrenal glands, spleen, middle spine.
Physical Symptoms: Arthritis, gastric or duodenal ulcers, colon/intestinal problems, pancreatitis/diabetes, indigestion, chronic or acute, anorexia or bulimia, liver dysfunction, hepatitis, adrenal dysfunction. Kidneys: fatigue, lower back pain, and urinary tract infections.
Meaning: This chakra is linked to personal power, will, self-esteem, inner strength, inner confidence, and determination. Taking responsibility for one’s life, taking control; Mental abilities, the intellect; Forming personal opinions and beliefs; Making decisions, setting the direction; Clarity of judgments; Personal identity, personality; Self-assurance, confidence; Self-discipline; Independence.
Emotional/Mental Issues: Trust. Fear and intimidation. Self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-respect. The ability and confidence to care for ourselves and others. Personal honor and responsibility for making decisions. The solar plexus chakra is our personal power center, the magnetic core of the personality, ego, and our personal code of honor.
Symbolic/Perceptual Connection: Although the Solar Plexus chakra is considered one of the three survival chakras, this chakra is actually a bit more complex as it also represents duality and the shift from an external focus to an internal focus. We start to internalize the world around us and focus less on how we relate to others and more on how we relate and understand ourselves.
Primary Fears: Fears of rejection, criticism, looking foolish, and failing to meet one's responsibilities; all fears related to physical appearance, such as fear of obesity, baldness, or aging; fears that others will discover our secrets. Some of the deeper fears associated with this chakra include the inability to trust oneself or others.
Power: Self-Respect
Primary Strengths: Self-esteem, self-respect, and self-discipline; courage; instincts; intuition; ambition, the ability to generate action, and the ability to handle a crisis; the courage to take risks; generosity, ethics, and strength of character.
Balanced: Confidence, healthy self-esteem, emotional stability, strong sense of personal power, assertiveness, consistent energy levels, advocates personal needs, supports own emotional needs, good digestion, strong immunity. You will experience a strong sense of identity and purpose.
Out of balance: Low self-confidence, low self-esteem, negative self-image, victim mentality; Feeling helpless, like you are not good enough, powerless, irresponsibility; Being obsessed with minute details, seeing life through a filter of plus and minuses while losing sight of the whole picture; Lack of clear direction, lack of purpose or ambition; Making plans or having a lot of ideas without finding efficient ways to realize them, feeling stuck.
Overactive: Competitive, bossy, power-hungry, self-centered, stubborn, manipulative, aggressive and/or angry; Excessive control and authority over your environment and people, misusing your power.
Spiritual: Soul Life Lessons connected to the Solar Plexus chakra relate to self-esteem, personality and ego. It represents our need to become individuals and find our place in the world outside of our tribe.
This chakra is also our center for gut level intuition and our day-to-day guidance through life in the physical world. This is where we digest food on the physical level but also the digestion of thoughts and emotions on the mental and emotional planes. This chakra governs the power of transformation and assimilation.
Heart Chakra (Anahata) – Fourth Chakra
Location: Chest
Color: Green lower heart; Pink upper heart
Crystals: Green Calcite, Green Aventurine, Green Amazonite, Emerald, Jade, Peridot, Rose Quartz (pink), Rhodonite (pink), Rhodochrosite (pink)
Crystals Meaning: Stones used for Love, Compassion, Emotions, Balance, Universal Consciousness
Essential Oil: Lavender, Rose, Frankincense
Food: Leafy Greens and Veggies, Kale, Spinach, Chard, Cabbage, Basil, Thyme, Cilantro; Cucumber, Celery, Peas, Avocado, Green Tea.
Physical Body: Heart and circulatory system, lungs, shoulders and arms, ribs/breasts, diaphragm, thymus gland, arterial blood.
Physical Symptoms: Congestive heart failure, myocardial infraction (heart attack), mitral valve prolapse, cardiomegaly, asthma/allergy, lung cancer, bronchial pneumonia, upper back, shoulders, breast cancer. Arterial Blood: carries oxygen and nutrients from the heart to the body tissue: weakened immune system, fatigue, and dizziness.
Meaning: The Heart Chakra represents love, compassion, and forgiveness. Giving and receiving love, empathy, compassion, accepting self/others, managing stress, unconditional love, joy. It represents our ability to love and connect to others. It creates a bridge between our upper and lower chakras.
Emotional/Mental Issues: Our Heart Chakra contains our emotions and feelings of love, hatred, forgiveness, compassion, hope and trust, resentment, bitterness, grief, anger, self-centeredness, loneliness and commitment. This chakra represents our emotional perceptions and when used in unison with our mind, can guide us in determining the quality of our lives.
When we are children experience a complexity of emotions and when processing our feelings we react, at times in an extreme way. Our challenge as adults is to find the capacity and the inner strength to develop a stable emotional landscape of which we can act consciously with love and compassion.
Symbolic/Perceptual Connection: The Heart Chakra represents our ability to let go and surrender to a power greater than ourselves. In doing so, we accept our emotional struggles as extensions of a grander plan at work in our lives. A plan designed to facilitate our spiritual development and maturity.
When we let go of the emotional pain from our experiences, and our need to know why, we open ourselves to the healing energy of forgiveness. We can release our need for vengeance and retaliation and free ourselves from the prison of hate. We can reach a state of inner peace and balance.
Primary Fears: Fears of loneliness, commitment, following one’s heart; fear of inability to protect oneself emotionally; fear of emotional weakness or betrayal. Loss of fourth chakra energy can give rise to jealousy, bitterness, anger, hatred, and an inability to forgive others as well as oneself. If we do not have a strong foundation of love it creates an inner landscape where fears, anger and resentment can develop in place of love.
Power: Love and Compassion
Primary Strengths: Love, forgiveness, compassion, dedication, inspiration, hope, trust, and the ability to heal oneself and others.
Balanced: When the heart chakra is in healthy alignment you will feel surrounded by love, compassion, and joy and connected to the world around you. You will feel open to all experiences in life, and it will feel like challenges, especially in relationships, flow through you and are resolved with ease.
An open-heart chakra allows us to see all of the beauty and love around us, and truly connect to ourselves, our loved ones, and the natural world. This chakra also helps direct love back to ourselves to truly be able to love and accept ourselves and our bodies.
Out of balance: You have a fear of intimacy; You find it difficult to trust yourself and others; You may isolate yourself excessively; You feel insecure, lonely, closed off emotionally; You have difficulty forgiving yourself and others and you hold grudges against people you love; You frequently feel jealous and resentful; You’re overly defensive; You put yourself in the role of the rescuer or victim.
Overactive: Being overly empathic; Putting yourself before others all the time; Sacrificing your needs to please others; Inability to set boundaries in relationships; Codependency; Lack of healthy boundaries; Struggling to receive love.
Spiritual: The Soul Life Lessons connected to the Heart chakra relate to forgiveness, love, compassion, and understanding. The fourth chakra is the center of the human energy system. It is the central processing unit that acts as a bridge between the body and the spirit. This chakra determines our spiritual health and strength.
The fourth chakra contains our emotional landscape and guides us in our emotional development. The Soul Life Lesson we all share through the Heart Chakra is to learn how to forgive and how to act out of love and compassion; to recognize that the most powerful energy we have is love.
Throat Chakra (Vishuddha) – Fifth Chakra
Location: Throat
Color: Blue
Crystals: Aquamarine, Sodalite, Lapis Lazuli, Blue Lace Agate, Angelite, Blue Kyanite, Blue Topaz, Blue Quartz * By stimulating the throat chakra, working with the Aquamarine helps to enhance immunity by opening the flow between the heart and the throat energy centers.
Crystals Meaning: Stones used for Communication, Clarity, Self-Expression, Truth
Essential Oil: Frankincense, peppermint, sandalwood
Food: Blueberries, blackberries, purple cabbage, cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew; honey, lemon; fruit smoothies
Physical Body: Throat, thyroid, trachea, neck vertebrae, mouth, teeth and gums, esophagus, parathyroid, hypothalamus, vocal cords, larynx.
Physical Symptoms: Raspy throat, chronic sore throat, mouth ulcers, gum difficulties, temporomandibular joint problems (TMJ), scoliosis, laryngitis, swollen glands, thyroid problems.
Meaning: The Throat Chakra represents the power of will, communication and expression. Communicate and express clearly and confidently and the ability to set proper boundaries. The ability to listen with empathy and compassion and feel confident when speaking because you know you are being true to yourself with your words.
Emotional/Mental Issues: Choice and strength of will. Personal expression. Following one’s dream. Using personal power to create. Addiction. Judgement and criticism. Faith and knowledge. Capacity to make decisions. This chakra involves multiple emotional and mental struggles as we learn the power of choice and will.
The Throat chakra is connected to all chakras through both the physical body as well as our internal energy system. The fifth chakra is connected to the endocrine system and the thyroid. As this system filters throughout our physical body, the energy of the throat chakra also filters to the rest of our chakra energy system.
Symbolic/Perceptual Connection: The Throat chakra represents the challenges we face with the power of will and choice. The fifth chakra is where we develop our willpower. Initially we believed that everything and everyone has authority over us, as we mature, we believe that we alone have full authority over our lives. Eventually we arrive at the perception that true authority comes from aligning our will to a power greater than ourselves.
The Throat chakra is symbolic of will and choice. The power of choice is present in all of our thoughts and actions. We must choose to take a thought and make it reality. We make a choice to change or not change, we make a choice to surrender our will to a power greater than ourselves, or not.
The power of choice is present in every aspect of our lives and connects to our family, groups, tribal beliefs (root chakra), our relationships with people (sacral chakra), and our relationship with ourselves (solar plexus chakra), we feel the emotions as we make choices that are positive and negative, weighing their impact on others and ourselves (heart chakra), based on our choices we retain the wisdom from our actions (third eye chakra) and spiritually evolve and mature, while we develop a deeper connection with the divine (crown chakra).
Primary Fears: Fears related to our willpower exist within each chakra and correspond to that specific chakra. We fear that we have no choices or authority within our own lives, first within our family and groups, then within our personal and professional relationships.
We begin to struggle with fear having no authority or control over ourselves. We illicit negative responses to money, power, artificial substances, we may even give our power to another, allowing them to control our emotional well-being.
The greatest fear of all is the fear of releasing our personal power of choice to an authority greater than ourselves. This is a great struggle for many as there is fear that we will lose our physical world security and safe routines of our familiar lives. Although our life will transform and change, the changes occurring are the shedding of old attachments and limitations holding us back from progress and growth.
Power: Choice
Primary Strengths: Faith, self-knowledge, and personal authority, the capacity to make decisions knowing that no matter what decision we make, we can keep our word to ourselves or to another person.
Balanced: Strong, confident speech; Good listening ability; Free expression of self; Great overall communication skills; Healthy self-confidence; Authenticity; Adjust well to change; Open-minded – able to listen to other points of view; Accepting of self and others, non-judgmental; Strong creative expression.
Out of balance: Emotional signs are feelings of depression, anxiety, low self-esteem. This may be worsened by being unable to express those feelings. You may be overly critical of yourself or others and feel shy, withdrawn or unable or unwilling to speak up to defend yourself, express your opinion, state your choices, or speak your truth. When difficult conversations arise, you may shut down rather than speak your mind. You experience a blocked creative flow.
Overactive: A tendency to talk too much or ramble on without a clear point. You may tend to put your foot in your mouth, use inappropriate language, or make misstatements. It also manifests as interrupting or talking over other people, dominating the conversation, passive aggressive behavior, being controlling, gossiping, or needing to have the last word.
Spiritual: The Soul Life Lessons connected to the Throat chakra are related to will and self-expression. The challenges we face with this chakra embody surrendering our will to a power greater than ourselves.
The Throat is a place of great vulnerability and great strength as words have great power. We develop our ability to make choices and speak in a way that is aligned with our higher self. Like every thought, our words also have energetic consequences, either positive or negative. How we choose to speak can enhance our spirt or hinder our spirit and physical bodies.
Third Eye Chakra (Ajna) – Sixth Chakra
Location: Center of Forehead
Color: Indigo or Purple
Crystals: Amethyst, Azurite, Lapis Lazuli, Labradorite, Sapphire
Crystals Meaning: Stones used for Spiritual Awareness, Psychic Abilities, Intuition, Inner Wisdom
Essential Oil: Lavender, Frankincense, Lemon, Clary Sage, Geranium Rose
Food: Walnuts, hemp seeds, lemon, avocados, purple grapes, purple kale, blueberries; dark chocolate; grape juice
Physical Body: Brain, nervous system, eyes, ears, nose, pineal glands, pituitary glands, endocrine system.
Physical Symptoms: Brain tumor/hemorrhage/stroke, headaches, neurological disturbances, blindness/deafness, full spinal difficulties, learning disabilities, seizures.
Meaning: The Third Eye chakra is connected to our mind, wisdom, insight, intuition, vision, clarity, concentration, perception, subtle dimensions/movement, energy, psychic abilities, imagination, inspiration and creativity. Spiritual and Universal connection.
Emotional/Mental Issues: Truth, self-evaluation, intellectual abilities, feelings of adequacy, openness to the ideas of others, ability to learn from each experience, and emotional intelligence. The sixth chakra represents our mental, intellectual and psychological characteristics. As we navigate through life, we call upon the wisdom from this chakra to help us make decisions and judgments compared to those that are familiar.
Symbolic/Perceptual Connection: The lessons associated with the Third Eye Chakra relate to wisdom. We achieve wisdom through lived experiences with sound judgement and embracing the perceptual ability of detachment. Symbolic sight is a form of detachment, a state of mind that is beyond the influence of the personal mind, and with wisdom, leads to the impersonal or open mind.
Primary Fears: An unwillingness to look within and excavate one’s fears, fear of truth when one’s reason is clouded; fear of sound, realistic judgement; fear of relying on external counsel, of discipline; fear of one’s shadow side and its attributes.
The journey to spiritual growth and wisdom requires that we learn self-awareness, introspection, self-examination, and develop personal accountability. These skills serve as the foundation of a personal spiritual discipline such as prayer or meditation. Without these critical tools, fear will wreak havoc within the mind and body.
Power: Wisdom
Primary Strengths: Intellectual abilities and skills; evaluation of conscious and unconscious insights; receiving inspiration; symbolic perception, generating wisdom from experience; generating great acts of creativity and intuitive reasoning, emotional intelligence.
Balanced: Mental clarity, improved concentration, clear self-expression, strengthened intuition, a sense of bliss, decisiveness, insight. When open and in alignment, you will follow your intuition and be able to see the big picture.
Out of balance: Confusion; uncertainty; cynicism; lack of purpose; pessimism; Lack of clarity; Not in touch with intuition, may have a block; Rejection of everything spiritual or beyond the usual; Not being able to establish a vision for oneself and realize it; Feeling stuck in the daily grind without being able to look beyond your problems and set a path out for yourself, unable to see the bigger picture.
Overactive: Overthinking, paranoia, feeling of overwhelm, disconnection from others, overactive clairvoyance, overactive imagination, difficulty concentrating, anxiety, mental fog, or hallucinations. May manifest as fantasies that appear more real than reality, indulgence in psychic fantasies and illusions. Overly concerned or fearful about the visions or messages you receive from your third eye, and you may feel overwhelmed by the amount or intensity of the information that comes to you.
Spiritual: The Soul Life Lessons connected to the Third Eye charka relate to mind, intuition, insight and wisdom. This chakra represents our mental space, our intellect and our abilities to use logic and reason. This chakra gives us the mental power to evaluate our beliefs and attitudes from a psychological perspective.
The sixth chakra is considered the mind chakra, representing our conscious and unconscious intellectual and psychological forces. Many spiritual teachings consider the Third Eye chakra the center of intuitive insight and connection to our sixth sense. This chakra is our power center for wisdom.
The spiritual challenges we face with the sixth chakra relate to developing an impersonal mind, detachment, opening of the mind, learning to separate and detach from “false truths”, trusting and acting on internal guidance. It also represents our ability to differentiate between thoughts that are motivated by faith and those motivated by fear and illusion.
Crown Chakra (Sahasrara) - Seventh Chakra
Location: Above head
Color: Violet, White or Gold
Crystals: Clear Quartz, Azurite, White Topaz, Amethyst, White Calcite, White Agate, Howlite, White Onyx, Selenite, White Opal
Crystals Meaning: Stones used for Enlightenment, Cosmic Consciousness, Universal/Source Energy
Essential Oil: Frankincense, Lavender, Rose
Food: purified water, detox/fasting
Physical Body: Muscular system, skeletal system, pineal gland, skin, hair, nails
Physical Symptoms: Energetic disorders, mystical depression, chronic exhaustion that is not linked to a physical disorder, extreme sensitivity to light, sound, and other environmental factors. The Crown Chakra is our entry point for the human life-force that nourishes the mind, body, and spirit. It begins at the crown of the head and the energy is distributed throughout the physical body into our lower six chakras, this is our connection to our entire chakra energy system.
Meaning: The Crown Charka represents spirituality, intelligence/intellect, awareness, wisdom, insight, divinity, true soul connection, enlightenment, thought, universal consciousness, unity, and self-knowledge.
Emotional/Mental Issues: The Crown chakra governs our ability to generate spirituality, devotion, inspiration, prophetic thoughts, and mystical connections. This chakra represents our ability to trust life, and symbolizes values, ethics, courage, and being selfless. With faith and inspiration, it gives us the ability to see the larger pattern of life.
Symbolic/Perceptual Connection: The Crown Chakra is our purest form of energy, the grace of prana. We activate this energy through acts of prayer and meditation, thus allowing for an open mind for the capacity of symbolic perception. This is our center for spiritual insight, vision, and soul deep intuition. This is where we develop a deeper relationship and connection with our higher power, the Divine.
Primary Fears: Fears relating to spiritual issues such as the “dark night of the soul” fears of spiritual abandonment, loss of identity, and loss of connection with life and the people around us.
Power: Inner Divinity
Primary Strengths: Faith in the Divine as well as in inner guidance, insight into healing, and devotion. Faith in the presence of the Divine, and in all that faith represents within one’s life, such as inner guidance, insight into healing, and a quality of trust that eclipses ordinary human fears, devotion.
Balanced: Feeling a state of blissful union with all that is, of spiritual ecstasy, enlightenment. Feeling a connection to universal consciousness. Feeling there’s no separation or duality in the entire Universe. Experiencing the oneness of all. Having a deep sense of the unity or connectedness. Experiencing feelings of calm, joy, abundance, and emotional balance. Becoming intuitively wise. Peacefully accepting the new spiritual wisdom downloads, knowing this is from your higher self and these are the things you need to heal from.
Out of balance: Confusion; A lack of connection to the world; Poor mental functioning; A lack of focus; Feeling disconnected from your spiritual side, feeling lost or confused about your life purpose, difficulty meditating, or connecting with your higher self. Lack of focus. Sense of cynicism or skepticism about spirituality. Physically: Imbalance; Overall poor coordination; Low ability to function physically.
Overactive: Overwhelming empathy, inability to connect with others on surface level conversations, hypersomnia/insomnia, superiority complex telling everyone how much you now know about spirituality and the Divine, self-destructive to physical body because you are staying connected and feel you only need your spiritual body, spiritually obsessed with excitement and you begin to find yourself escaping reality to play with spiritual activity in your mind, and spiritually obsessed with fear and being overwhelmed with all the knowledge.
Spiritual: The Soul Life Lessons connected to the Crown chakra relate to spirituality. This chakra is our power center for our spiritual nature. The seventh chakra represents our ability to become open and allow our spirituality to become a driving force that guides us in our physical lives.
The Crown Chakra is our direct link to our higher power and our path for a deeper connection with the Divine. This is our energetic center for prayer and faith and the energy created through acts of kindness and love. We gain clarity, internal awareness, and deeper understanding of the unseen dimension of life through meditation and prayer.
Eighth Chakra: Universal Connection/Soul Star
Location: This chakra is located outside of our bodies, above the top of the head. Eighth chakra energy surrounds and permeates the body.
Color: Golden white, white
Crystals: Amethyst, Clear Quartz, Selenite, Indigo Kyanite
Crystals Meaning: Stones used for Spiritual Dimensions, Spiritual Connection, Cosmic Consciousness, Universal/Source Energy and stones used for Spiritual Awareness, Psychic Abilities, Intuition, Inner Wisdom
Essential Oil: Frankincense, Sandalwood, Lavendar, White Lotus, Gardenia
Food: Purified water, detox/fasting
Physical Body: The Eighth chakra is located atop the head and not attached to a physical body part.
Physical Symptoms: When this chakra is out of balance the symptoms are similar to that of the Crown Chakra. Energetic disorders, mystical depression, chronic exhaustion that is not linked to a physical disorder, extreme sensitivity to light, sound, and other environmental factors. The Eighth Chakra is our entry point for the human life-force that begins at the Crown Chakra and connects to our seven lower chakras, nourishing the mind, body, and soul.
Meaning: There are several meanings associated with the Eighth Chakra. The Eighth Chakra is believed to be the seat of our soul and the source of our spiritual wisdom and guidance. This chakra acts as a bridge between our physical existence and the spiritual realm, allowing us to tap into higher consciousness and universal knowledge.
The Eighth Chakra represents our next level of evolution and holds our collective archetypal patterns, manifesting as universal topics or images that provide a symbolic view of our shared experiences. This is the dimension of consciousness that serves as the bridge between our personal consciousness and the collective, impersonal consciousness.
In some traditions, the Eighth chakra is known as the soul star chakra and is our gateway to spiritual growth. In this view, this chakra represents a bridge connecting us to the Divine and our higher self, allowing us to access spiritual dimensions and retrieve memories from past lives and the Akashic Records. Activating the soul star chakra can elevate our spiritual perception and awareness.
Emotional/Mental Issues: Feeling disconnected from your spiritual path or higher purpose, inability to receive and interpret intuitive guidance, difficulty accessing higher states of consciousness, feeling overwhelmed by spiritual experiences or spiritual/universal knowledge, disorientation or confusion about your life direction.
Symbolic/Perceptual Connection: Integrate the self, symbolic sight, spiritual purpose, spiritual development and expansion of consciousness, universal and Divine connection.
Primary Fears: Disconnection from spirituality, isolation, detachment from reality, illusions of the ego.
Power: Symbolic Sight
Primary Strengths: Detachment, staying in the present moment, unconditional trust, ability to recognize illusions, acceptance of intuitive guidance.
Balanced: When this chakra is balanced, aligned, and free from blockages, it allows for the smooth flow of energy throughout your entire being, integrating your body, mind, and spirit in perfect harmony.
Out of Balance: when the eighth chakra becomes blocked or out of balance, it can disrupt the flow of energy and create disharmony within yourself. This disharmony can manifest in various mental, physical, and spiritual challenges.
Overactive: Overactivation of the eighth chakra can cause feelings of detachment from the physical world, leading to difficulties in concentrating and carrying out daily tasks.
Spiritual: Integrate the Self, Symbolic Sight
How to Practice Chakra Energy Healing
Chakra Energy Healing is an all-encompassing as there are many paths to working with the energy of our chakra system. At the fundamental level working with the energy of our chakras can serve as a guide to reduce stress in our minds, hearts, and bodies, supporting mental and emotional well-being. With all chakra practices, the goal is the same; to keep our chakras open and in balance so the energy flows easy and effortlessly throughout our physical body.
The chakra system connects our internal energy system to our physical body, and each chakra corresponds to different body parts as well as specific emotions and fears. Our chakras are in direct connection with our thoughts, memories, emotions, and physical body functions.
Understanding this connection can guide us on our path of inner discovery. The chakra system serves as a map to discover and release fears, insecurities, tribal beliefs and negative behavior patterns holding us back from progress and growth. Recognizing the physical body connection can guide us in managing physical pain and illness, providing a path to core level healing.
I started working with chakras at the beginning of my journey and as my Inner Work Practices have deepened and evolved, the chakra system has served as a guide, every step of the way. Although I am left with some chronic pain, most areas I have found complete physical healing.
Chakra energy work does not replace the need for medical treatment or mental health therapy or support. Working with the energy of our chakra system is designed to work in conjunction with all healing paths, including traditional medicine. With energy healing, the view one should take is total body healing, which is deep healing of mind, body, and soul.
Examples of Chakra Balancing Techniques
As with all chakra energy healing practices, the goal is the same, to keep our chakras open and in balance so the energy flows easy and effortlessly throughout our physical body.
Meditation
Meditating on specific chakras, location, and colors.
There are multiple charka meditations available. One option includes specific meditations for all seven chakras as well as chakra specific meditations. Initially, it can be helpful to try and reset our energy through a full chakra meditation to see what may be left over needing individual attention. If you find that your sacral chakra or throat chakra needs some extra attention, this is where the chakra specific meditations will prove useful.
There are also meditations that can be crafted for inner work practices. For these meditations I found it more beneficial to do each chakra individually for a longer session vs a quick run through all of them in one fail swoop. The purpose of this is that once you are in your meditative space and begin releasing fears, you organically make space, and new memories may come through needing attention.
Journaling/Writing
With energy work it can be extremely beneficial to write out our feelings as we navigate the journey within. Journaling is a great way to get our thoughts and emotions out on paper and work through our struggles as we navigate the within.
Much of our travels involve going back through our history, including childhood. Working with chakras will naturally bring up past pains, hurts and traumas that need to be addressed and it can be helpful to write these things out. Each piece of history is a new puzzle piece to weave the story together.
Another path for writing and journaling is self-inquiry and asking reflective questions specific to each chakra and writing out the answers. We can discover long held tribal beliefs that we do not actually ascribe to and uncover hidden memories from emotional pain from the past. Writing our feelings out can help us release the hold they have over us and guide us on our path to healing.
Journaling or writing can be helpful to fully understand and embody the energetic connection our chakras play in our mental, emotional and physical bodies. Our chakra energy system weaves the story of our complete history and includes our connections to retrieve our Soul Life Lessons.
Yoga
Utilizing yoga poses that align our physical bodies with the flow of our chakra energy centers.
Breathwork, or Pranayama
To control the flow of energy throughout our physical body.
Crystals and essential oils
Working with stones and oils that correspond to each individual chakra can enhance the vibration and healing of each chakra.
Holistic Healing
Hands on energy healing, reiki, craniosacral therapy, pranic healing or acupuncture.
Affirmations
Affirmations can help with balancing our chakras when they are specific, have the right energetic intention, and are used regularly. An affirmation is the positive statement used to reinforce your beliefs, promoting confidence and self-assurance to manifest results. Working in conjunction to help you achieve your goals. Click Here for Chakra Affirmations.
Reference Material
Unfortunately, there is a lot of conflicting information in google-land regarding the Chakra Energy System. This is primarily with the Root, Sacral and Solar Plexus chakra, but several others share similar meanings.
For the lower chakras, the reason for this discrepancy is partially due to their location and the physical body parts they connect to as well as the connection they share. Another reason is that all three are technically considered survival chakras, although the Solar Plexus is the split point and represents both our physical world and our internal world.
When I first started studying Chakra’s this really hindered my progress. It is important to understand each individual chakra and what they represent if you elect to embark on this deeper path of healing by incorporating childhood development, inner work practices and the chakra system.
When the life stage and the specific chakras are properly connected it can provide a profound path to healing. It allows us to go back to the beginning, work through the various lessons we were destined to learn in our youth and release and reset our energetic connections.
Through my research I finally found a trusted source on the Chakra System, and I have been using these specific connections for almost a year now with great success. I found Caroline Myss to be the most trusted as her initial path into this work began with medical intuition through the Chakra Energy System.
I read all three of the books below and it helped me a great deal. She recaps the foundation of the Chakra system but also provides new content in each book. However, if you only want to read one, I highly recommend reading Anatomy of the Spirt, the newly released version in 2017.
As with all of the material I share on my website, this is just the path I have chosen to take on my own inner world journey. Perhaps only some things will resonate with you, or nothing will and that is ok. We all need to discover our own unique path to healing. I just want to offer you another avenue to explore on your travels.
Anatomy of the Spirit and The Seven Stages of Power and Healing – Caroline Myss
Why People Don’t Heal and How They Can – Caroline Myss, Ph.D.
Creation of Health – Caroline Myss, Ph.D. and C. Norman Shealy, M.D.
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