What is the Chakra System?
How can it help with healing?
>The chakra system consists of seven major energy vortexes but there are many minor chakras throughout the body. The seven main energy vortexes are to be found in a straight-line up and down the spinal column, starting at the base or first chakra, which is to be found right down at the base of the spine in front of the coccyx.
This chakra is know in Sanskrit as the Muladhara – The root is your connection to the earth, with the energy running down through the legs, knees, feet and lower limbs and so is your get up and go. It affects the adrenal glands – fight or flight and survival. The element is earth and so it supports growth and stability.
The emotional element of anger is very emotional and very strong but the anger is short lived. People who cannot express their anger have problems. The spiritual aspect of it is being grounded and protected. This chakra is linked to the throat chakra. Overactive traits are to do with wars, wanting land, oil and the ‘I want syndrome’. Under active traits are to do with being doormats or being walked all over.
The Sacral Chakra – Hara or second chakra is to be found in the lower abdomen between the navel and the genitals, just inside the sacrum. The Sanskrit word is Svadhistana – Sweetness. The element is water – energy, movement, slow, problems when it stagnates. The function is desire, enjoyment and sex. The glands it affects are the ovaries and the testes, so it affects the genitals, bladder, large intestines, kidneys and reproductive system and so is creating and eliminating (flow).
The colour is orange. The physical attributes are emotional, balance, sexuality, elimination, detoxify, touch, stress and trauma. The spiritual aspect is to repair the templates for the rest of the body, so is good with resilient symptoms or recurring problems – etheric level. Over active traits are destructive driven by fear, (FEAR is: negative aspect: False Experiences Appearing Real or positive aspect:Feeling Excited and Real) obsessive/compulsive.
Under active traits are to do with having fun, desires, the pleasure of life, flow. It can create flow on any level such as helps to clear constipation. It is linked with the third Eye Chakra – flow between people.
The Solar Plexus or Third Chakra is located between the navel and the base of the sternum. The Sanskrit word is Manipura – Lustrous Gem. The element is Fire – a blistering quality. The function is to organize everything especially information in the body. Digest-food, information of all types absorbs and assimilates – good and bad. The glands it affects are the Pancreas – Islets of Langerhans for digestion as well as sugar levels – the adrenals are a sub function. The colour is yellow. The physiological effects are complex. Stomach, small intestines, liver, gall bladder, spleen and pancreas. The nervous systems – sympathetic – parasympathetic – immune system. The physical attributes are personal power, self will – skin and all others listed above. The emotional effects are joy, happiness, contentment/sadness, fear, anxiety, and detachment.The spiritual aspect is knowing who you are, discernment.
Overactive traits are perfectionist, wanting the best consumerism, realizing you are trying to integrate a mission. Part of your makeup. Under active traits are feeling alone and isolated, don’t know where they fit in. Alienation and eating disorders. Plexus means a junction box joining, so there is a mass of chakras there. The sun is the primary source of this chakra. Phobias – disorganized information, also worry.
The Heart or Fourth Chakra is located in the centre of the sternum. The Sanskrit word is Anahata – Instruct – a vibration waiting to happen. The element is air – movement, never static, connecting qualities.
The function is associated with relating and interchanging of energy – going out/coming in. The glands it affects are the thymus, part of the immune system, and where the T cells come from. The physiological effects are Heart plus Lungs, Thymus, Throat/Heart. The colour is green.
The physical attributes are nature, growth, decay, affects are balancing, not static. Love (not static) boundaries and envy. The mental state is a sense of independence, freedom. Inhibition, repression (by self or others) the games people play.
Over active traits are very anxious, always under emotional stress, not anchored, control freaks. Under active traits are: jealousy, envy, feeling powerless. Asthmatics have problems breathing out usually because of a traumatic situation so are not able to let the breath go, holding on. What you should be holding onto and what you should let go of. So the emotional problems are often about trying to freeze love. The power parents have over their children. Control – learning self-discipline, not overstepping the mark, over controlling, controlling others or being controlled. Self-worth/self-value, renewal.
The Throat or Fifth Chakra is located at the throat. The Sanskrit word is Vishudda – Purification. The element is air or ether/space and the vessel that holds sound and speech. The function is to flow with communication (not always verbal). The glands it affects are the Thyroid, Parathyroid – regulates calcium levels, energy, and metabolic rate. The physiological effects are ear, nose and throat areas, neck and glands. The colour is sky blue and the physical attributes are as in physiology – the capacity to speak, to communicate, hear, and listen. The emotional effect is peace, calm/cool, aloof, and cold. Mental aspect is full of doubt, philosophy/fanatic, and fundamentalist. The spiritual aspect is clairvoyance, clairaudience etc., and subtle skills.
Overactive traits are verbal diarrhea and rambling speech. The underactive traits are withdrawal, shut down, agoraphobia. When the throat chakra is working really well, people see things as they really are, without fear of their own stuff. Fear of public speaking – throat plus all the other chakras below. This chakra is the space which the others can all come through and is linked to the 1st Chakra.
The Third Eye Chakra is located in the centre of the forehead. The Sanskrit word is Ajna – perceive, or to command. The element is light and the function is seeing, perceiving and intuition. The gland affected is the Pineal (light sensitive). The physical attribute is vision, and can get headaches. The emotional aspect is: can get disconnected plus isolated if it is never used. The mental aspect is clarity, the ability to spot patterns and making sense of things. The spiritual aspect is: Inner knowing, more universal knowing than the solar plexus. The overactive traits are: Sleeplessness, unwanted thoughts (plus not being able to shut them off). The underactive traits are what most consider being normal. The Third Eye is an informative centre linked to the logical, mental side of the solar plexus. The Third Eye is meant to be open plus intuitive and perceptive also things that are non physical.
The Seventh Chakra is located at the top, the Crown just above the head. The Sanskrit word is Sahasnara – Thousand Petaled Lotus. The element is thought and function is: The capacity to understand.
The glands that are affected are the Pituitary Gland – Master gland of the endocrine system in two parts which complement each other, as does the brain. The physiological aspect is to do with balance in the brain, and the colours are white, pink and gold. The physical aspect is left and right hemispheres, dyslexia, and dyspraxia, left logic, right intuitive, plus the brain, spinal cord, and nervous system.
The emotional state is bliss, empathy/depression, and confusion. The mental aspect is meditation, learning difficulties, and can be a fine line between reality and illusion. The spiritual aspect is the individual’s link with the infinite.
Overactive traits are space cadet, overzealous healer who doesn’t look after themselves, and martyrs. Under active traits are normal. It isn’t actually right to shut this chakra down, if completely closed you are dead, but it can be closed down to some degree. It is a difficult energy to keep steady unless backed up by the 1st, 2nd and 3rd chakras, but this chakra is linked to the Solar Plexus. The ideal outcome is to be enlightened and practical.
All the above information helps one to understand how the body, mind and spirit work together to make up the whole, and how emotional energy is stored in the body. The colours of the Chakras help with healing on a subtle level. If we don’t have colours in our systems we suffer from depression and mania, it is very important to keep the chakras balanced because out of balance makes us feel very unwell.
If you would like more information about the Chakra System don’t hesitate to contact me.
