What Is Chakra Meditation?
Chakra meditation is ultimately a form of spiritual awakening.“Chakra” is a Sanskrit word which means wheel or cycle. The chakras are considered to be wheel-like energy centers that connect our spiritual body to our physical one, especially in the context of practices such as yoga or meditation.
What is Chakra Meditation? It is a form of meditation designed to open up and balance the seven chakras, and bring awareness to the spiritual body. You can practice chakra meditation to improve your general wellbeing and overall health, or to address specific issues that could be to do with a chakra being blocked.
Each of the seven key chakras have a specific function that corresponds to a particular aspect of your human life. They are situated along your spine and each one is associated with a color and natural element. Meditation is a great way to activate them.
What are the chakras in our body?
Chakras are invisible wheels of energy in your body that keep you healthy spiritually and physically.
There are seven main chakras which are said to run along the length of your spine from your pelvic floor to the crown of your head:
- Muladhara (the Root Chakra) located at the base of the spine
- Svadhisthana (the Sacral Chakra) located at the pelvis
- Manipura (the Navel Chakra) located at the navel center
- Anahata (the Heart Chakra) located at the heart center
- Vishuddha (the Throat Chakra) located near the base of the throat
- Ajna (the Third-Eye Chakra) located between the eyebrows
- Sahasrara (the Crown Chakra) located just above the crown of the head
There are different practices of yoga and meditation to help you connect with each specific energy center.
Although most people have heard of the seven main chakras, there are actually 114 chakras throughout your body. In addition to these there are also 72,000 other energy channels known as “nadis,” and vital energy known as “prana” moves along them and through your body. These energy channels vary in levels of power. They can produce different qualities in your life, or if chakras are blocked they can cause various emotional and physical health disturbances.
How Meditation Works To Activate Chakras?
There are various forms of meditation designed to help you open up and activate your chakras. It is possible to activate one chakra at a time, however this can be difficult if you are inexperienced and it can be more beneficial to meditate on all of them as a whole to bring them into balance. Chakra meditation practice can include visualizing energy flowing through the chakras, colour associations with each chakra, and in some cases music and chanting might also be used.There are many guided meditation tools available online such as images, videos and audio that may be helpful when attempting chakra meditation as a beginner.
After becoming more experienced with the meditation practices, you may wish to try concentrating your meditation on each chakra individually. There are various positions, mantras, breathing exercises and gestures available to help you target the specific chakras. With practice you should find it easier to drift from one chakra to the next, balancing the areas most in need when meditating. You should give each chakra several minutes to itself in order to achieve the best results. You will be able to tie your feelings and physical state into specific chakras and restore energy flow to any chakras that may be blocked.
The Importance of Balancing Your Chakras
It is important for you to balance your chakras in order to allow your energy to flow smoothly through your body, in turn optimizing your health and wellbeing. If one energy source is blocked or not functioning well, the others will not function at their best either, or may try to overcompensate. This can have a negative effect on our overall emotional and physical health.
Chakra Meditation Benefits to You Daily Life
When your chakras are in balance, you feel positive, energized, healthy and happy. Therefore, the practice of chakra meditation has the potential to provide immense benefits to your daily life and overall health. Just some of the areas in your life chakra meditation can benefit include sleep, healing, heart opening & mending, and energy & productivity. We will take a look at these specific areas below in more detail.
Sleep
Sleep is a basic necessity of life and its importance is often overlooked. The Crown Chakra in particular relates to your sleeping patterns. It is related to the pineal gland, which directly controls your sleep. The Crown Chakra also relates to spirituality and faith. So if your mind is worried or stressed with concerns about the world, your chakra may end up clouded. If your Crown Chakra is blocked, you are likely to have issues with falling asleep or maintaining a good night’s rest. Practicing chakra meditation targeting this specific area can be of benefit in destressing, clearing the mind of worry and in turn improving sleep quality.
Healing
It is also believed that balancing your chakras through meditation can lead to emotional and even physical healing in your mind and body. Many people who practice meditation regularly, believe that our bodies have the power to heal themselves if we just allow them to do so. By embracing the trauma or upset experienced within, a chakra is gradually released, allowing it to work in unison with the other chakras. This can gradually restore harmony and balance as your energy begins to realign itself. Once this starts to happen, the healing process takes place on its own.
Heart opening and mending
Opening and activating your Heart Chakra can lead to many beneficial forms of healing. The Heart Chakra (Anahata) is located in the center of your chest, corresponding with your heart, lungs, thymus gland and cardiac plexus. If you have an open and well balanced Heart Chakra, you will be full of love, forgiveness and compassion. However, if this particular chakra is blocked you will find that anger, hatred, grief and jealously may take hold. You may feel disconnected, a lack of empathy or unable to trust others. Positive affirmations, music or mantras may be helpful in mending your Heart Chakra. Opening the Heart Chakra is the root of all emotional and energetic healing.
Energy and Productivity
By opening and activating your chakras can also help to boost your overall energy and productivity. As previously mentioned, each chakra signifies different qualities. By balancing these chakras you can activate such qualities as willfulness, vision, purpose and clarity. When your system is functioning at its best, our productivity will also be at its peak. However, when our chakras are unbalanced or blocked, our energy, motivation and productivity levels will also suffer. By opening up and cleansing your chakras you will gain a greater sense of clarity and ability to problem solve and work towards your goals.
How Do Chakras Get Blocked?
Chakras become blocked by negative energy that is unable to release itself from the body. This could be in response to a traumatic life experience or challenge. If we do not have the ability to release these negative energies, they can become blocked within us.
How Do You Know If Your Chakras Are Blocked?
Signs that one or more of your chakras may be blocked include difficulty concentrating, problems sleeping, feeling helpless or depressed, feeling unable to express yourself, lacking motivation, loss of energy and feelings of anger, jealousy and hatred towards others.
What Are the Chakras Colors?
The seven main chakras are each represented by a corresponding color.
- Muladhara (the Root Chakra) is Red
- Svadhisthana (the Sacral Chakra) is Orange
- Manipura (the Navel Chakra) is Yellow
- Anahata (the Heart Chakra) is Green
- Vishuddha (the Throat Chakra) is Blue
- Ajna (the Third-Eye Chakra) is Indigo
- Sahasrara (the Crown Chakra) is Violet