What are Chakras?
The Chakras (Sanskrit for wheel) are energy vortexes in the aura that regulate the energy entering and flowing throughout the physical and energetic bodies. These vortexes, when imbalanced, can affect our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health. They run along the central channel of the spinal cord, impacting and supporting all our organs, which in turn, impact and support all other aspects of us. Our Chakras develop upon birth until we hit the age of around 50, starting with the Root Chakra, which is the foundation of all other Chakras.
Below you will find basic details about how to know if each individual Chakra has an imbalance and what tools you can use to create balance within the Chakra.
Root Chakra
When this Chakra is open and flowing, we feel secure and confident in whatever we do. We make good decisions in regards to the basics in life, such as finances, so that we keep a roof over our head and food in our belly. The Root Chakra needs support when we:
-Are quick to anger and judge
-Make bad money decisions
-Have issues with weight
-Feel the need to amass things in order to feel secure
-Blame others for stressful situations
-Feel anxious, nervous or unsure about life
-Procrastinate
-Don’t finish what we started
-Have colon issues and bladder issues.
This Chakra is supported with the colour red, red and black crystals and essential oils such as tangerine, frankincense, cedarwood and myrrh.
Sacral Chakra
When this Chakra is open and flowing, we feel attractive, creative, inspired and powerful. The Sacral Chakra needs support when we:
-Are disagreeable and hostile
-Bully others
-Are selfish, self-serving and self-centered
-Make life for others difficult and emotionally draining
-Are easily jealous and suspicious of others
-Have an addictive personality
-Have lower back problems, reproductive issues and urinary tract issues
-Are easily controlled and dominated by others
-Sabotage relationships out of fear
-Feel creatively blocked
-Experience sexual dysfunction
This Chakra is supported with the colour orange, orange crystals and essential oils such as sandalwood, orange, clary sage and ylang ylang.
Solar Plexus Chakra
When this Chakra is open and flowing, we feel self-assured and empowered in our life’s journey. We have a sense of self and personal strength, will power, self-esteem and confidence. When this Chakra needs support, we:
-Can be overbearing and controlling
-Are quick to irritate, anger and be hurtful
-Think we are better than others and will bully and demean others in order for us to feel better about ourselves
-Must always be right and will fight to prove it
-Have very low self-esteem and deeply fear being alone
-Have digestive, intestinal and metabolism issues, as well as eating and weight disorders
This Chakra is supported with the colour yellow, yellow and gold crystals and essential oils such as juniper berry, black pepper, cedarwood, bergamot and lavender.
Heart Chakra
When this Chakra is open and flowing, we feel compassion, joy and have healthy relationships. When this Chakra needs support, we:
-Can play the martyr
-Only do kind things when there is an expectation of something in return
-Use love in a way to manipulate others
-Display emotional outburst
-Are bitter, vindictive and unforgiving
-Wallow in defeat and self-pity
-Focus on what went wrong and how bad we were treated by others
-Have heart, circulatory and blood pressure issues.
This Chakra is supported with the colours pink and green, pink and green crystals and essential oils such as lavender, sandalwood, cypress and rose.
Throat Chakra
When this Chakra is open and flowing, we feel we can speak our highest truth with ease and have self-expression. This Chakra needs support when we:
-Force our opinions on others
-Are judgemental, biased and prejudiced
-Have difficulty understanding and empathizing with others
-Think too highly of ourselves
-Can be openly hurtful and spiteful towards others
-Refuse to admit that we have said or done anything wrong
-Experience neck and shoulder pain, TMJ and thyroid issues.
This Chakra is supported with the colour blue, blue crystals and essential oils such as peppermint, rosemary and blue tansy.
Third Eye Chakra
When this Chakra is open and flowing, we understand ourselves and everything around us and make wise decisions without the need for ego satisfaction. When this Chakra needs support, we:
-Are egotistical
-Are arrogant
-Only see what we want to see
-Force our ascended knowledge onto others to the point of bullying
-Experience vision issues, tension and headaches- including migraines.
This Chakra is supported with the colour indigo or purple, indigo or purple crystals and essential oils such as grapefruit, frankincense, peppermint and lavender.
Crown Chakra
When this Chakra is open and flowing, we feel a deepened connection with Spirit and the Universe. It leads to the Higher Self, Universal Consciousness and the Divine. When it needs support, we:
-Preach to others about what they should do
-Are arrogant and think we are ‘higher’ than others, creating alienation
-Lose the love of life, distrusts in the goodness of others and detaches from their faith
-Thinks others won’t understand their evolved intelligence so will not share knowledge
-Experiences neurological, degenerative and nervous system disorders.
This Chakra is supported with the colours purple and white, purple and white (or clear) crystals and essential oils such as frankincense, orange, sandalwood and lemongrass.
How do we balance our Chakras?
Balancing our Chakra System can be very detailed, where we require an appointment with an energy worker to really get in deep. Within each Chakra is each Chakra. What this means is that if your Root Chakra is imbalanced (this is often checked with a pendulum), it may not mean that the Root Chakra itself is imbalanced, but that, say, the Throat Chakra is imbalanced within it. This is where a practitioner can be of great benefit where that deep healing needs to happen.
That said, you can do a basic balancing yourself. Crystals, incense and pendulum work are all things you can do yourself. Now, using a pendulum is a whole other skillset that takes practice, so if you don't have that in your toolbox, then crystals and incense are a wonderfully accessible alternative. Once you have your crystals and incense (both widely available at Metaphysical shops), you may light the incense or sit with the crystal and imagine the light of whichever Chakra you are focusing on to glow. For example, if you aware of your Solar Plexus Chakra needing some love (you are feeling disempowered or have low self confidence), then hold the crystal at the Solar Plexus and imagine the yellow glow of that Chakra getting bigger and bigger with each breath. I have also included mantras for each Chakra that you may chant, should you feel so inclined. If you feel this is too challenging, you can go onto YouTube and find a guided meditation to help you. Do what feels right for you, as the Chakra journey is largely one done through our Intuition.