We’ve all heard the term, but do we really know just what chakras are? First of all, the word chakra means wheel or disc in Sanskrit. If it makes you feel more comfortable, refer to them as energy spheres. Everything in the universe is alive with energy which flows through it. It is the Chinese Qi and the homeopath’s vital life force. Chakras refer to the whirlpools or transformers of energy within the human energy system. These channel the energy from the Earth and the Heavens in a continuous circuit of life.

Since everything is composed of energy, and energy cannot be destroyed but merely transformed, you may want to think of chakras as being spinning transformers within the body. Energy emanates from within the body outward. The energy layer surrounding your outer layer of physicality is referred to as your aura. Maybe we don’t have the same difficulty with auras because it is an English word that we’re familiar with.

The chakras interact with each other and all other components of the energy body. There is some disagreement about how many chakras exist within us. The numbers range from three to five to seven to ten. The most common number of chakras we are familiar with is seven, and that’s the number we’ll work with here.

Anyone familiar with the Cabalistic Tree of Life with its ten energy spheres will recognize the chakras within them. It really doesn’t matter which system you use, because all systems diagram the same thing: There is energy all around us, it flows through us and it helps to balance us, and we have the ability to balance any energy that goes awry.

As energy flows freely, you are balanced. The chakras provide an energetic connection among our physical body and its organs, emotions and spirit. When there is an energy block, it may manifest as a physical or emotional problem.

Because of the flow of energy, the chakras are influenced by how you think. Thought and emotions are the way you function and direct your actions. How you think equates to how you feel and how you are. Understanding and exploring your chakras allows you an object to focus your positive, healing energy on. Of the seven chakras, you can choose to focus on the one that’s most appropriate for you right now.

1. Starting from the top, the first chakra is the crown chakra (at the top of the head). It provides your ability to move forward and integrate all energy. It also provides you with bliss and a sense of peace and harmony. It governs the pineal gland.
2. The next chakra is the third eye chakra, located in the brow. Through the third eye you have clear-sightedness, perspective and perception. From this perception and judgment you get your intuition. Work on this chakra in order to increase insight and instincts. Physically, it governs the hypothalamus.
3. The third chakra is the throat chakra. It governs speech, connection to the collective conscious and sense of community. Creativity and inspiration come from here. It governs the thyroid which controls fatigue, sleep, weight and many other things.
4. The heart chakra rules love and unity, and your sense of fulfillment and well being. It controls the cardiovascular system, your lungs, your circulation, and your lymph and immune functions.
5. Your stomach chakra, located by the solar plexus, governs your inner self. From here you draw balance, personal and will power. It animates the spirit and energizes you. It governs your digestive system and feeds energy to the pancreas. From here come many emotional and cognitive functions. It’s from where you get your gut feelings.
6. The sixth chakra is the genital or sacral chakra. It controls your sexuality and reproduction, and your transformative capabilities. It is your pleasure chakra.
7. The last chakra is the root chakra at the base of the spine. From here comes elimination of waste, your foundations and your stability.

Each chakra is distinct from the other as each organ is distinct from the other, but they are connected by the energy that flows throughout us. Each operates on its own frequency. When you tap into the frequency of that particular energy, you connect to it and can manipulate it. It’s like having a radio and you scan the band going from chakra to chakra. These individual frequencies vibrate at different rates, just like colours, and so each has its own colour too.

For example, the slowest frequency in the colour spectrum belongs to the colour red. It is probably the strongest colour in the visible spectrum. The root chakra, your foundation for life symbolized by the blood that flows through you, is the red chakra. By following the vibrational pattern of colours, you will work your way up to the fastest vibration at the crown.

Another pattern you may recognize is the rainbow. So every time you look up at the sky after a rain and see a rainbow, you can remind yourself of the pattern of chakras and energy that flows throughout you, and pause and give it thought.

>Many blessings to you.