Understanding the Chakras

By Anne Lewis

Learning about the human energy system is a means to self-understanding, self discovery and gives you a greater awareness of your personal strengths and weaknesses. Chakras are a very important part of this system and the awareness of these subtle yet powerful energy centres is crucial for your health and spiritual growth.

A chakra is a spinning vortex of energy created within the body. The word chakra comes from the Sanskrit word for ‘wheel’ or ‘disk’ and originated within the philosophy of the ancient Yoga system of India and Tibet. Centuries ago, the Yoga masters realised that the human being consisted of more than just the physical body; they believed that the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of the individual were inter-related. The masters also believe that the spinning vortexes of energy overlap and correspond to various physical organs and glands and that these chakras can be regulated and harmonised, resulting in the unleashing of an individual’s full potential of health, happiness and spiritual awareness.

There are seven major chakras arranged vertically along the spine, starting at the base of the spine and ending at the crown of the head. While the chakras do exist within the physical body, exhibiting a strong influence on such aspects as body shape or health, they are not made of any physical components themselves. For instance, a physician could not operate on a chakra any more than on an emotion, yet both can, and do affect us physically.

The chakras correspond to major areas of your life, such as survival, sex, power, love, communication, perception and understanding. To use a practical analogy, the chakras can be seen as your internal ‘floppy disk’ that stores your programming about how to function in life. The base chakra, for instance, contains your survival program, such as what and when you eat, and when you need to sleep, exercise and protect yourself.

Our bodies are the computer hardware, and each of us has a slightly different model, programmed in a distinct language, with unique operating systems.

Ideally, we can work with chakras, to examine the programming without judgment and self criticism, observe the destructive programming without attachment and consciously, in awareness, let go or delete all the programming that does not serve us well.

Chakras also correspond to the elements of earth, water, fire, air, ether (space), with a level of consciousness, with a sense and with a dimension. Numerous other correspondences, such as colour, sounds, herbs, crystals and mantras have also been correlated to the chakras and are sometimes used as tools for accessing and developing these energy centres.

Chakras are often referred to as lotuses, for they open and close like a flower and, in Tantric Yoga, they are shown with a varying number of petals. The petals range from four at the base chakra to one thousand or more at the crown.

When a chakra is closed, the life force energy or prana cannot travel through that part of the body. If this is the case, you may feel a lack in your life in its related area: for example, the throat chakra relates to communication. Therefore if it’s blocked or closed, communication is difficult and, on the physical side of health, a blocked chakra may manifest itself as a sore throat or tight neck.

A chakra can also be ‘overblown’, if it is out of balance. In this case, that particular chakra uses so much of the body’s energy and the mind’s attention, that other areas become deficient. For instance, an overblown third chakra (the solar plexus, which relates to our personal power) may cause an attachment to holding power over others and possibly depleting the heart chakra.

Developing your chakras

With awareness and understanding you can control and influence your chakras. They can be developed like muscles, programmed like a computer; nurtured like a seed or closed like a book. Development of the chakras occurs through working on specific areas. There are many varying techniques taught to balance, cleanse and open the chakras. They include specific physical exercises such as yoga postures and the most profound Tibetan yogic rites. These rites are moving postures that encourage the spinning and increase the energy within the chakras. Many other techniques are used such as visualisation methods, meditation variations, chanting, and many more are available to the serious seeker.

To experience what a hand chakra feels like, try the following exercise. Sit comfortably with your arms straight out in front of you, elbows straight. Turn one palm downward and one palm up. Quickly, with repeated motions, open and close your fists tightly as fast and as long as you can. Switch the positions of your palms and repeat until your hands are tired. Drop your arms, open your fists and bring your palms together slowly, moving them together and out again.

Do you feel a ball of energy between your hands? If you tune in closely, you can feel the spinning. These are your hand chakras, a smaller version of your seven major spinal chakras.

As we are approaching the end of an era and coming to a new age, many people are experiencing a powerful urge to ‘spring clean’ in all aspects of their lives. There are many people who are having difficulty handling the powerful Aquarian Age cleansing energy. They may respond with an inability to use it constructively by becoming angry, violent or depressed. We all experience these feelings of emotional and mental imbalances at times, so what we need to do is gain a greater awareness of these energies and of our internal energy responses.

One aspect of the Aquarian Age is increased awareness. It’s as if we are getting pulled along with great speed to address and cleanse all aspects of our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual beings. In the past, most of us have been trained to rely primarily on our brain power for information; but tuning into the consciousness received through the body by the chakras, we will be more in tune with higher mental and spiritual energies and freer from restrictive brain programming.

To understand how to access your cleansing and self awareness with the chakras, it is necessary to understand the concept of Prana, which means life-force. Prana is the essence of all motion, force or energy and is manifested in gravitation, electricity and all forms of life. We are constantly inhaling air charged with prana and extracting prana from the air for the body to use for its various functions. In normal breathing, we absorb and extract sufficient prana for the normal body functions but, by doing Yoga breathing exercises or pranayama, we extract a greater supply of prana. This prana is stored away in the nerve centres, producing vitality and a reserve of this energy is used and can be directed to the chakras and the associated glands and organs for healing and regeneration.

The chakras are interconnected so that prana can flow to every part of the body along many channels called Nadis. At the point where nadis intersect, chakras are formed. The nadis are non-physical energy channels that are the same channels acupuncturists work on, although acupuncturists call them meridians.

In Peter Kelder’s book Fountain of Youth which discloses the secrets of the ancient ‘Tibetan Rites’ he maintains that activating the chakras through these Tibetan Yogic exercises has a profound effect on reversing the aging process. Mr Kelder’s explanation does have support in scientific circles. For instance, Kirlian photography which shows the body surrounded by an invisible electrical field or ‘aura’, does suggest that we are ‘fed’ by some form of energy that permeates the universe. It is also true that the Kirlian aura of a young healthy person is different from that of an aging, unhealthy person.

Awakening the serpent goddess

According to Tantric Yoga, the chakras are used as focal points in space to draw in the cosmic energy at the vital life centres with visualisation, meditation and breath control (pranayama). When a tantric practitioner awakens the Kundalini they will feel the energy travelling up the major chakras.

Kundalini is a concept often spoken of in relation to the chakras. Mythologically, Kundalini is a serpent Goddess who lies asleep at the base of the spine, coiled three and a half times around the base chakra, awaiting unfoldment. When she is awakened through any of a number of techniques, she unfolds and rises through the shusumna channel, piercing and awakening each chakra as she goes. When she has risen to the crown chakra, then all chakras have been opened and a person is said to experience enlightenment.

Kundalini is a strong and powerful force that can produce radical mental and physical changes. It can be an awakening experience but it is generally not advisable to invoke Kundalini without an experienced teacher who will help and guide you through the changes. It is, however, a profound healing force and a powerfully effective way to connect with the universe.

Muladhara Chakra – Root Base Centre

The first chakra is located at the base of the spine, tip of the coccyx and the point you are sitting on right now. It is the seat of your ‘drive’. Muladhara means ‘root’ and the paths of energy in this chakra extend downward like a root through the legs and feet to contact the solid earth below. A simple way to energise this chakra is to sit up straight in your chair with your feet flat against the floor and push slightly into your feet. Your legs will tighten a bit and there will be an increased flow into your base chakra. As you relax your legs and feet, you will feel the flow recede and, as you tighten them, you can feel your body becoming more solid. This is a simple way you can increase the flow of energy into your lower body.

The element associated with the first chakra is earth. Earth is solid and heavy, earth is below us and earth supplies us with our survival needs: food, clothing and shelter. The universal force that flows downward like roots, toward the earth is gravity. The force of gravity allows us to stay connected with the Earth. When we allow ourselves to flow gracefully with gravity, we are in harmony with the downward flow of the first chakra.

The common term for this flow as it occurs in the human body is ‘grounding’. Grounding is a process of dynamic contact with the Earth that occurs through our feet and legs. When grounding is done appropriately our whole body is nourished and energised and we feel the healing earth’s energies.

Eating is a basic first chakra survival activity. Without food, we do not survive very long. Eating disorders (too much or too little) often indicate first chakra imbalance. Eating is a grounding activity – it helps us to feel settled, calm and secure. Excess weight can be an attempt to ground out high stress, to protect the body or emotions. Eating too little or being chronically underweight can be an attempt to avoid grounding and physicality because it seems too frightening or confronting.

The six chakras that correspond to the physical body have a companion chakra. The base chakra’s companion is the heart chakra. These two chakras have a direct relationship, for instance if the base chakra is out of balance, the driving force of the base chakra could not awaken the opening of the heart centre.

Svadhisthana Chakra – Sacral Sexual Centre

The second chakra is in the lower abdomen centred between the navel and genitals. It corresponds to the sacral vertebrae and the nerve ganglion called the sacral plexus. It is the seat of our creativity. The Sanskrit name means ‘sweetness’. Its element is water. Therefore the chakra corresponds with bodily functions that have to do with liquid: circulation, urinary elimination, sexuality and reproduction.

The seat of creativity manifests in many ways and underlies many activities. Our sexual energy underlies every act of individual expression. It is a creative force – the influence of which extends far beyond sexual activity to include thought, feelings, behaviour and this energy can even influence art, music, fashion and many other manifestations of creativity. This centre is highly active and its energy permeates virtually everything we do. It is vitally fundamental to both basic creativity and higher ecstasy.

If this chakra is too open, there is a tendency to feel everyone else’s emotions or to be overly ruled by one’s emotions with frequent and dramatic emotional episodes. If the chakra is closed down, then we are flat, dull, lifeless. We are out of touch with our emotions and have very little desire or passion and little or no interest in sexuality.

Svadhisthana Chakra has a direct link to the throat chakra. For instance if the sex centre is out of balance one can usually detect this in a person’s tone of voice. If the voice is high and shrill or unusually deep for a woman this is an indicator that the sexual centre is closed down.

Manipura Chakra – Solar Plexus

The third chakra is located at the solar plexus. It is the centre of the individual self and the seat of power. Its name means ‘lustrous gem’, we can think of it as a glowing yellow sun radiating through the centre of our body. Its element is fire – fire that radiates and transforms matter into energy, giving light and warmth. Digestive troubles, ulcer or addictions to stimulants are all related to malfunctioning of this chakra.

When the third chakra is closed down one may feel tired, shaky, quiet or withdrawn. There is a fear of taking risks, confronting people or issues, taking charge and a lack of energy. If the chakra is too open, then we have a kind of bully archetype; someone who needs to be in control, to dominate, to seek power, prestige and ambition.

This chakra generates the drive towards self assertion, personal determination and individual strength, preparing us to meet the challenges of the living world. This centre is enormously powerful and is also associated with ‘gut’ intuition and personal charisma.

A good way for stimulating the third chakra is to get your energy moving; jogging, yelling or pounding a pillow can help release stuck energies in this chakra.

Manipura chakra’s companion is the third eye centre. The ‘gut’ feelings we sometimes experience as basic instinctual knowing are related to the third eye’s inner spiritual awareness.

Anahata Chakra – Heart Centre

The fourth chakra lies at the point of the spine across from the sternum at the centre of the chest. It is the seat of the ‘higher self’.

We are now halfway through our seven-levelled chakra system. Lying midway between the lower three and higher three chakras, the fourth centre marks the point of conscious departure from lower to higher awareness.

The heart chakra is related to the element air and the quality of unconditional love. Air is formless, largely invisible, expansive as it will expand to fit any space, yet it is soft and gentle. So too is pure love. Love is the expansion of the heart, the transcendence of boundaries, the inter-connectedness of your spirit or higher self.

If the heart centre is closed down, the very core of us suffers. Our breathing is shallow; slowing down our metabolism and our physical energy; we also tend to withdraw and become a closed system. When the heart chakra is too open, there is a tendency to give all our time and energy away, to be so focused on ‘other’ that we lose our own centre.

Ideally the heart should radiate love from a strong, solid centre of self-acceptance and reach out with supportive care and compassion towards others. The operating force in this chakra is the force of equilibrium. That which stays in balance has longevity and lives in joy and harmony. Allow yourself to be in touch with the peaceful loving balance of the heart within yourself and with others and experience the abundance of universal love and healing.

To balance this expansive centre, primarily all you need is to expand your chest, have a good posture, breathe the life-force or prana into your heart and feel one with the universe.

Visuddha Chakra – Throat Centre

The fifth chakra is located at the spine directly behind the centre of the throat. It is the seat of ‘concepts’, how we perceive concepts and communicate them. The element associated with this level is ether or ‘akasha’ meaning spirit, as well as the element of sound. From sound we get communication. Communication is the activity and function of this fifth chakra. Through this chakra flow the energies for the higher functions of communication and personal expression.

Communication involves both listening and speaking. If one’s throat chakra is closed down then there is a fear of expressing oneself, fear of speaking one’s truth, or excessive shyness. If the chakra is too open, we are so busy expressing that we forget to listen or our voice is dissonant.

Ideally the throat chakra should be connected to self and to be a strong self expressive vehicle of truth which has a growing awareness of the many many concepts that cloud our truth.

Ajna Chakra – The Third Eye

The sixth chakra resides between the eyebrows and inward toward the centre of the head. The third eye is the seat of insight and inner vision directed by wisdom and a deep understanding of the subtle forces at play in any given situation. Its name Ajna means to ‘perceive’.

Those who are open on this level, such as clairvoyants, are aware of their perceptions and can interpret them usefully. If the chakra is closed down without solid ground to back it up, one may experience hallucinations, confusion from too much input, or over interpretation of everyday occurrences.

A good exercise to develop the visualisation capacity of the third eye, while simultaneously helping to balance all your chakras, is to focus on each one of your chakras in a meditative state. (Refer to

Chakra Sahasrana Meditation below.)

Sahasrara Chakra – Crown Centre

Located above the crown of the head, the seventh chakra is the centre of spiritual consciousness. It is a state of absolute awareness. It is an unconditional state of total fulfilment, the embodiment of total freedom, wisdom, energy, insight and joy.

At this level, one realises unity with all manifestations of the universe. One is at the centre of the universe and the concept of separateness does not exist. Many people do not have the courage, awareness or are not ready to renounce attachment at the personal level. Only when this renoucement is made do you realise that the only thing lost is the illusory limitation of the lower self. In order to find one’s true self, one must give up one’s lower or illusory self. This finding of the true self corresponds to the transmutation of energies from the lower chakras to the crown, thus experiencing a ‘oneness’ or illumination.

Chakra Colour Meditation

This is a colour healing meditation that takes about half an hour to practice, though you should feel free to meditate longer. You can either seat yourself cross-legged comfortably on the floor or if you require spinal support sit with your back straight up against the back of a chair. Place your hands on your knees. Eyes and mouth gently closed, with the tip of your tongue touching the upper palate. In this position breathe steadily and easily in and out of the nose for several minutes. As you do this release any tension in your muscles except for what you need to sit straight. Allow your shoulders, abdomen and facial muscles to become totally relaxed.

Now allow yourself to surrender your will and desires, your fears and anxieties and all that does not serve you to the loving healing energies of the universe. From deep within your heart with strength, power and sincerity ask for help from the universe.

Now visualise a brilliant healing white light to surround the whole of your body, for love, healing and protection. This beaming light will follow your mind’s attention as you work through your chakras.

Throughout this meditation breathing is vitally important. So breathe slightly deeper than normal, steadily, evenly and relaxed. Maintain this breathing throughout this meditation.

Now direct your attention to the first chakra, Muladhara, at the tip of the coccyx. Focus your attention here, direct the healing white light to balance and cleanse this chakra, working on all levels; emotional, mental and physical. Now visualise the most brilliant fiery red colour at the base of the spine and keep your attention here for about three minutes or so while breathing slowly and steadily. With every breath, you are breathing the healing life force into the very centre of that chakra. Really feel this place in your body and allow it to be fully relaxed.

From Muladhara, move your attention and awareness to the second chakra, Svadhisthana, located at the lower spine at the level of the sex organs. Focus your attention here for a few minutes while directing the healing white light to work with you. Now visualise a pure orange colour permeating this area while you are breathing slowly and steadily, again with each breath, feel as though you are breathing right through this centre of energy. Really feel this place in your body.

The next point of attention is the third chakra, Manipura located along the spine at the area of the solar plexus. Direct the healing white light to this area and breathe slowly and steadily for a few minutes. Now visualise a brilliant sun-gold yellow colour permeating this area with warmth. As much as possible feel this centre, healing and balancing with every breath.

Focus next on the fourth chakra, Anahata located at the spine directly opposite the chest just below the breast bone. Bring all your awareness here for three minutes or so and direct this universal healing, loving white light to your heart centre. Now visualise a beautiful apple green colour permeating this area, breathing slowly and steadily. With every breath feel your heart expanding and once again from deep within this centre ‘ask for help’. Ask for whatever you choose providing it is in line with your spiritual growth. Feel the healing and love penetrating deep into your heart, stay focused and feel this as much as possible.

Now bring your strength to the fifth chakra, Visuddha located at the spine across from the centre of the throat. Focus your attention here for a few minutes and once again direct the white light to this area. Feel the cleansing and balancing energy of the healing white light and now visualise a blue, the most glorious blue – a little darker than the sky blue colour. Feel this blue permeate your throat centre and really feel this centre as you continue to breathe deeply and steadily.

Now your awareness and this brilliant white light are focussed on the third eye centre, Ajna, the spot between the eyebrows. Focus your attention here for three minutes or so and visualise an indigo colour permeating your third eye. With every breath feel this centre beaming with spiritual intuition. As much as possible, really feel and stay focused on this area.

From the third eye bring your attention to the crown chakra, Sahasrana, at the top of the head. Focus your awareness here for three minutes or so and direct the universal healing white light, two or three inches above the crown of your head. As much as possible, feel the entire top of your head ablaze with this healing energy.

Now bring your attention to the space all around your body, the aura. The aura is an energetic sheath that extends from the body in all directions. Focus your attention on that energetic sheath, extending outward from the body for at least a foot or more. With every breath, feel as though the aura is becoming increasingly concentrated with energy. As much as possible really feel that space all around you.

After you have brought your attention up through the chakras and to the aura, sit quietly, breathing slowly and steadily, allowing your entire system to assimilate the energy flow. Let your mind be still and quiet. Expect nothing and do not try to provoke any particular experience. Instead, be aware of the moment, really be here now. Be aware of your body posture, of the breath flowing in and out, of the feeling of the air around you, of the sights and smells of your surroundings. Conclude your practise in this state of attention.

Now take a few deep breaths, rub your hands together vigorously, then slowly rub them over your face. Open your eyes and relax a moment or two before becoming more active.

Meditation is a profoundly moving spiritual experience and it also has physiological and psychological benefits. Meditation can slow down breathing, reduce heart rate and blood pressure and relax your muscles. Psychologically meditation may bring a sense of calm, improve memory, willpower and concentration, allowing you to accomplish more in your day with more energy.

Chakra influences permeate the entire body, mind and spirit and can be overwhelming. With daily disciplined efforts, strength of character and tremendous vitality and enthusiasm your awareness expands. As your awareness expands so does your enthusiasm and you find that your balancing and cleansing work naturally become part of your daily routine. Just as you cleanse the physical body so will you cleanse the internal energy system. Remember the accelerating energies of the coming Age, and know within your heart that if there has been a time to work on all aspects of yourself it is now.

Anne Lewis is a yoga teacher and nutritional counsellor. She also runs Tibetan Rites workshops in Sydney.