Chakras & Your Health
by Patrice Donnelly
“Especially now, as we question the limitations of modern medicine, we must awaken to the possibility that the potential to heal ourselves lies within” – Patrice Donnelly
Chakra is a Sanskrit word meaning “spinning wheel or disc”. Chakras are your energy centers where the universal life energy flows into and out of your physical and energetic bodies. Their function is to vitalize the physical body and to bring about the development of our higher-consciousness. They are associated with your physical, mental and emotional interactions. Blocked chakras result in an imbalanced of emotions from a lack of energy flow. Prolonged blockages manifest as illness and disease. The balance and activation of your chakras will bring optimum health, longevity, and provide feelings of harmony and well-being.
The seven main chakras are aligned in an ascending column from the base of the spine to the top of the head. Each chakra is associated with a certain color and specific qualities.
The Root Chakra
Located at the base of the spine, the root chakra is associated with the color red. This chakra is the grounding force that allows you to connect to the earth energy to vitalize and harmonize the physical body. Focusing your attention on the color red when contacting this chakra can help bring you “down to earth” and in alignment with your physical body when you find yourself emotionally off-balanced.
- Primary qualities: Safety and Self-Esteem.
The root chakra, is related to safety, security, and instinctual survival. It contains the primary eight cells in which every fetus develops. These eight cells are the only cells in your body that do not change during a lifetime and within them the knowledge of all creation is said to be stored. Although no endocrine organ is located at this chakra, it is related to the inner adrenal glands responsible for the fight and flight response when survival is threatened. This chakra also connects to your sense of self and how you relate to your environment.
The root chakra is your connection to Earth and your ambitions. There is an old saying that implies you must get to the root of the problem so the situation can be healed. This is true on all levels: physical, mental and spiritual. The root chakra is the center which holds experiences in both this life and past lives. Accessing your past lives can help bring old talents and wisdom into this lifetime and also remove old cycles or patterns that may hinder your present life. When this chakra is clear and balanced, you are able to heal the past and live in a grounded more harmonious way.
The Sacral Chakra
Located just beneath the navel, the sacral chakra is associated with the color orange. This center recognizes and actuates the need for pleasure and often forms addictive behaviors when imbalanced. The sacral chakra pursuits creative play just for the joy and expression it brings.
- Primary qualities: Sexuality, Flexibility, and Creativity.
The sacral chakra is related to emotion, sexuality and flexibility. This chakra is said to correspond to the testes or the ovaries, that produce the various sex hormones involved in the reproductive cycle, which can cause dramatic mood swings. It also relates to the flexibility in your life toward change versus the rigidity of controlling life events.
When blocked, many experience low self-esteem and/or self-worth. Those whose sacral chakra is imbalanced tend to deny themselves pleasure and set up patterns of self sacrificing situations and relationships. When this chakra is functioning properly you are open, expressive, creative and spontaneous. A healthy sacral chakra brings a sense of wellbeing and creative inspiration.
The Solar (Plexus) Chakra
Located at the top of the stomach, the solar plexus chakra holds the connection between the higher realms of consciousness and the physical realm and is associated with the color yellow. This center also defines your self-expression. Some form of meditation is required for developing the connection to the higher realms this chakra is connected to.
- Primary qualities: Will-power and Integration.
The solar plexus chakra is related to assimilation (integration) and digestion, and corresponds to the roles of the pancreas and the outer adrenal glands which play a valuable role in digestion, converting food into energy for the body.
The solar plexus chakra, when blocked, can cause a sense of fearfulness and an indecisiveness. Because the solar plexus governs the stomach, many ulcers and stomach disorders are caused by stress that is caused by excessive worry and fear. Many whose solar plexus is blocked allow their energy to flow outward to empower others or, just the opposite, have the tendency to control others to the extent of being overbearing and manipulative.
The solar plexus is your power center where will power, strength, courage, perseverance and drive resides. This center energizes all goals and dreams. When open and balanced, you feel secure in yourself, making right choices and decisions based on your highest good. With a healthy solar plexus chakra there is a tendency to be (and associate with people who are) fair, honest, and stand in integrity. This center holds the sense of right and wrong and is the seat of intuition. The phrase ‘gut feeling’ pertains to this intuitive center.
The Heart Chakra
Located along side of the human heart, the heart chakra is associated with the color green. The phrase “Love Heals All” has great truth. Hurtful situations that effect your emotional being such as divorce, grief through death, emotional abuse, abandonment, adultery, betrayal all are stored in the heart chakra. Physical illnesses brought about by these experiences require both emotional and mental healing along with physical healing. Loving yourself is a powerful first step in securing a healthy heart chakra. The key to enlightenment is the ability to accept every person and every situation with unconditional love.
- Primary qualities: Compassion and Connectedness.
The heart chakra is related to love, connectedness, and well-being and correlates to the thymus, located in the chest. This organ is part of the immune system, as well as being part of the endocrine system. It produces T cells responsible for fighting off disease, and is adversely affected by stress.
When the heart chakra is blocked or unbalanced by a hurtful past relationship, a ‘need’ for love arises. This need carries within it strings of codependency creating a belief that you cannot find true happiness without another’s presence in your life.
When the heart chakra is open and balanced, love flows in and through your life naturally. Unconditional love is given through forgiveness, acceptance, surrender, and non-judgment. With unconditional love you live compassionately within the world. Living compassionately means to perceives the struggles in another’s life without judgment. Compassion is the energy that drives the desire to help another without reciprocation.
The Throat Chakra
Located at the base of the neck, the throat chakra is associated with the color sky blue. This chakra is your ‘truth’ center. The health of this center is in direct relation to how honestly you express yourself. An opened throat chakra allows you to express yourself a truthful manner.
- Primary qualities: Self-Expression (speaking ones truth) and Directness.
The throat chakra is related to communication and growth through expression. This chakra is paralleled to the thyroid, a gland that is also in the throat, and which produces the hormones responsible for growth and maturation.
This chakra governs the aspects of communication and freedom of expression. As children, many have been taught to suppress their true feelings and forms of expression thereby shutting down sections of creativity. The inability to speak and live your truth blocks the energy flow through this chakra. When you act and communicate in a suppressed state, your living environment lacks luster and creativity. An open and balanced throat chakra allows you to gain a sense of spontaneity, and verbal expression to “ speak your truth”. When you express yourself in an honest, loving and creative way, you create a positive and uplifting state that not only enriches you, but everyone you encounter.
The Third Eye Chakra
Located above your nose between your eyebrows, the third eye chakra is associated with the color indigo. It is also often referred to as the “mind center” wisdom is gained from your experiences. Your ability to see reality from illusion is in connection with this healthy chakra. It is through an open third eye that visual images (intuitions) are received.
- Primary qualities: Intuition and Expanded Perception.
The third eye is linked to the pineal gland. It is the chakra of awareness which assists in the perception of the more subtle energies around you. The pineal gland is a light sensitive gland, that produces the hormone melatonin, which regulates the instincts of going to sleep and awakening. This chakra, when activated, allows you to see “beyond the surface” of any situation to gain insight of the bigger picture at hand.
The third eye chakra governs your sixth sense of awareness opening you up to other worlds and realms of existence. It is the window in which to leave the body and venture into the past and the future as well as to other planes of existence. Through the awakened third eye you are able to connect with the cosmic consciousness that takes you beyond illusion and into enlightenment.
When this chakra is blocked, you tend to criticize another’s spiritual beliefs or dispel unexplained happenings in your own life. With a blocked third eye you tend to become critical, skeptical and harsh in your perception of the world. When the third eye chakra is open, you are able to communicate with other realms and planes of consciousness through the “eye” of your soul. It is also through this center that you are able to ‘sense’ others thoughts and feelings.
The Crown Chakra
Located at the top of the head, the crown chakra is associated with the color violet. This center aligns with your true spiritual nature. It is the portal in which the life force enters and flows into the lower six chakras. The crown chakra is your spiritual connection and conduit to to the Universal Consciousness- the well that all intuitive knowing is drawn from.
- Primary qualities: Divinity and Oneness.
The crown chakra is said to be the chakra of consciousness, the ‘master’ chakra that controls all the others. Its role is very similar to that of the pituitary gland, which secretes hormones to control the rest of the endocrine system.
The Crown chakra connects us to the Divine Life Force. It is through this chakra that your soul purpose is revealed. When this chakra is opened and balanced you are walking your path with an awakened sense of oneness and integrity. Through this connection the law of cause and effect is understood and lived as right action. The crown chakra opens you to the knowing that all is One, and in that Oneness everything Is. Grace is born from the awareness that all things are intrinsically connected, and through this connection the mystery of life unfolds in faith.
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