What your Chakras are Telling You by Penny Alterskye
Do you know what your chakras are? Have you heard about them? We all have them. We are born with them, and we have them throughout our lifetime. They are a part of our auric field and our physical body, and they are subtle energy centres. This means they cannot be seen by surgeons, but they can definitely be damaged, not only by surgery, but also by emotional distress, psychic and psychological debilitation, and physical abuse of the body.
The word Chakra means wheel in Sanskrit. We have seven major chakras and over 100 minor chakras in our bodies. Each of the major chakras are in the vicinity of one or more of the major organs. They are also connected to our glands, linking them into our endocrine system. Each chakra vibrates with a particular colour frequency. The colours are easy to remember as they follow the colour sequence of a rainbow.
The job of each chakra is to receive, assimilate, and distribute energy throughout the body. Each chakra influences a certain physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual energy. When working harmoniously and in balance, the chakras all spin in the same direction and speed, filtering energy throughout our body. When this happens, we can think, feel, sleep, make good decisions, prioritise, and balance our emotions. We become balanced physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. When one of the 7 major chakras is not spinning correctly, it will affect our overall wellbeing and balance. Life in general can affect the spin. Relationships, work, fears, emotions, finances, situations, study, can all affect our energy and bring it out of balance.
As I have already mentioned, the seven major chakras are located in areas near our major organs. They are the situated in the following positions. The crown (top of the head), third eye or brow, throat, heart, solar plexus (stomach), sacral (about 1-2 inches below the belly button) and base or root (bottom of the spine). The colours follow the rainbow from the base up so the base is red, sacral is orange, solar plexus is yellow, heart is green, throat is blue, third eye is indigo, and the crown is violet. The colours also have further meanings, but for this article, let's concentrate on the emotional and physical aspects of each chakra.
The crown chakra is responsible for bringing in light and connecting us to our spiritual self. It helps us discover and follow our life purpose. Physically, it controls the right brain, right eye, and the central nervous system. It also works with the pineal gland which is the gland that responds to changes in light levels, also known as the di-urnal rhythm. The pineal gland is related to the production of melanin (pigmentation of the skin) and can affect states of being asleep or awake. If you are battling to sleep, the pineal gland may need to be re- started, or rebalanced, to help you.
The third eye or brow chakra is situated between your two eyes. This is the one that clairvoyants use to spiritually or psychically “see.” It controls the endocrine system, left brain, left eye and the autonomic nervous system. It also works together with the pituitary gland. The pituitary gland helps to make the hormones which operate the rest of the body e.g., growth hormone, thyroxine, oestrogen, and progesterone. On an energetic level, the third eye helps with intuition, inspiration, and creativity. If you feel that your creative side is blocked, it could be due to a blockage in the third eye chakra.
The throat chakra is all about communication. If this chakra is blocked, your will power, self-expression and communication will be battling. The throat chakra controls the jaw, neck, voice box, airways, upper lungs, arms, and the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland helps balance our metabolism.
The heart chakra is all about love and compassion. When in balance, it helps us to create from the heart, helping us to give and receive love. This chakra controls the heart, circulatory system, immune system, lower lungs, ribs, skin, upper back, hands. It works with the thymus gland, which is important for our immune system. Heartbreak, losing a loved one. Lack of self-esteem, or any other emotional strain, can affect the function of the heart chakra.
The solar plexus chakra is our powerhouse! It is responsible to help keep our personal power and wisdom in balance. When it is out of balance, fear steps in and courage is lost. It controls the liver, digestive organs, spleen, gall bladder and some of the muscles on the back. The solar plexus chakra connects with the adrenals. The adrenals are responsible for “fight or flight” responses. If a person is experiencing high levels of stress, the solar plexus chakra may battle to maintain balance. This could cause physical reactions, such as bloating and nausea too.
The Sacral chakra works with the lymphatic system. It controls the pelvic area, the reproductive organs, kidneys, bladder. Energetically, it helps with balance of the material world, our sexuality, sexual identity, and our relationships. When a person is worried about their job, redundancy or a relationship, the sacral chakra can become blocked.
The lowest major chakra is situated at the bottom of the spine and is called the base or root chakra. On a physical level, it controls all the solid parts, like the bones, teeth, nails, kidneys, bladder, and other organs of elimination. It holds our life force energy, helps us with survival instincts, physical vitality, abundance issues and creative expression too.
If any of the chakras become blocked, they can have a knock-on effect to the chakra above and below it. Complementary therapies such as Reiki, Reflexology or Crystal Healing, among others, can help rebalance the energy, unblocking the chakras and helping them to bring balance to body, mind, and spirit.