Introducing… Your Chakras

You may be familiar with the word chakras, or the imagery of the coloured points along a body outline but what are they and what relevance do they have for us and our modern lives?

This article marks a series on chakras, empowering you to identify imbalances and address them with simple holistic tools.

Let’s start with what chakras are.

The word chakra comes from sanskrit and if often translated as “wheel”. According to ancient Eastern traditions, we have 7 main chakras, energy wheels that propel energy through the body. It is believed that when they are functioning in a balanced way, our prana (or life force) can travel freely through the body. When they are out of balance, we may experience behavioural, physical and emotional symptoms associated with the unbalanced energy of the particular chakra.

How do we support our chakras and find balance?

A holistic approach to supporting our chakras will consider mind, body and soul in both the way that imbalances show up and how we might support our healing.

Mind — Imbalances may show up in our emotions, limiting beliefs, repeating patterns of thought or behaviour.

Body — Imbalances may start to manifest as issues in our physical body, usually in areas closest to the related chakra.

Soul — We can feel disconnected from our spiritual nature when we are unbalanced, lacking purpose and faith.

Whatever the clues are that you need a bit of support in your energy balance there are plenty of holistic tools to help, over the coming months we will look at these specifically to each chakra.

Yoga

Yoga poses for chakras tend to target the area of the body where the chakra is positioned. We also work with poses that will be therapeutic for any physical or emotional symptoms of an imbalance.

For example, if symptom is anxiety then we can calm the nervous system with yoga poses that activate the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest) — using our physical body to in turn affect our energy body and emotions.

Healing crystals

Each crystal has its own vibrational frequency, as do the chakras. They can be placed on the body, used in meditation or worn in jewellery.

In their simplest application, crystals that match the associated chakra colours can bring awareness and aid visualisation of chakras and their energy. Much like the yoga poses, crystals will have healing properties to support any of the associated manifestations of an imbalance.

Is there a particular crystal you feel drawn to? Maybe this is a clue to an area that needs support.

Aromatherapy

Diluted down appropriately, essential oils can be applied directly to the relevant point on the body close to a related chakra or used aromatically and are especially powerful in aiding emotional shifts, such as citrus oils to uplift and support our sense of confidence (and in turn the solar plexus chakra).

Positive affirmations

Affirmations can not only act as a tool for self inquiry to look deeply at our beliefs associated with a chakra but also as a way of rewiring our brain and fostering more positive beliefs.

If you are interested in finding out more about chakras and how to integrate self-care practices for balance, you can download my FREE ebook:

FREE Download: An Introduction to Chakras

Love & light,

Michelle x