Chakras are energy centres in the body that play a large role in our overall health and well-being. They are based on Eastern philosophy that originated in India over 4,000 years ago.
What is chakra? The term chakra actually translates to “wheel” or “disk”.
How many chakras are there? A lot! However there are 7 main chakras which we’ll be talking about in this article that you can use to build more self awareness in your life to support your health and well-being.
The 7 Chakras
Crown Chakra (Sahasrara) – The right know
Location: Crown of the head
Colours: Violet or gold
Demon: Attachment
The crown chakra is all about your belief systems, growth and letting go. We all have beliefs about money, success, relationships, who we are, and who we should be. Most of these beliefs come from our families, society, and the world around us. Not all of these beliefs are true but they make us who we are today. By understanding your belief systems (and your limiting beliefs and attachments), you can use this information to help you grow into who you want to be and live in more alignment.
Growth comes from the personal development of rethinking, unlearning, and expanding our minds by exploring new possibilities. And letting go of the idea that you are in control of your life. You still take intentional action but are less attached to the outcome. The crown chakra is about believing in something bigger than yourself that connects us all together, a higher power and the magic that comes with having that faith.
When the crown chakra is out of balance, you might become very attached to your identity, your opinions and beliefs or attached to what your life should look like.
Third-eye Chakra (Ajna) – The Right to See
Location: between the eyebrows
Colours: indigo (dark purple or blue)
Demon: illusion
The third-eye chakra is all about tapping into your intuition and a bigger vision. Tapping into your intuition is about trusting your gut or trusting your own innate wisdom. It’s about using this intuition when you make decisions like which job to accept, where to live, and who you should spend time with. It’s about tuning into your own energy about making choices that are good for you.
The third-eye chakra builds your imagination, a bigger vision and purpose in your life. Living a life of meaning. It’s about being able to see or understand things at an intangible, difficult-to-explain level. You feel it. You know it. But you might not truly be able to explain how or why. You just do.
When the third-eye chakra is out of balance, you might experience illusion. Not seeing things as they truly are.
Throat Chakra (Vishuddha) – The Right to Speak
Location: throat centre
Colours: bright blue
Demon: lies
The throat chakra is about how you express yourself and communicate with the world around us. Self-expression is about what makes you unique and authentic. In how you dress. Or do your hair. The activities you enjoy doing. All of the things that make you, you. The throat chakra is also your own unique rhythm and vibration – the things that make you happy. The more aligned you are with your own unique rhythm, the higher your vibration is and the easier it is for you to manifest or create a life you love.
Communication is about how we speak and how we listen. Do you feel heard? Seen? Like you speak your truth? This is about having to balance our conversations and really listening to the person we are speaking with. Not because we have something more to say but because we want to connect with them.
Lies show up with the throat chakra when you are being inauthentic to yourself. Speaking untruths or gossip. Or in just living in a way that isn’t living your truth and hiding your true identity.
Heart Chakra (Anahata) – The Right to Love
Location: heart centre
Colours: green
Demon: grief
The heart chakra is associated with balance, love, intimacy, and connection. Right in the middle of our chakra bridge, this chakra lies between the upper chakras (crown, third-eye, throat) which are associated with our mind and the external world, and the lower chakras (solar plexus, sacral, root) which are associated with our body and the internal world.
It’s about finding the balance between both of these worlds and connecting them. Finding intimacy and love within yourself and the people around you. If you can find love, empathy, acceptance, and forgiveness within yourself, you can also find that in the people around you. The heart chakra is also about finding a balance between our masculine and feminine energies.
Grief shows up with the heart chakra – grief in losing people you love – physically through death or emotionally through a breakup. It might also show up in grieving who you were and who you thought you would be.
Solar Plexus (Manipura) – The Right to Act
Location: above the navel
Colours: yellow
Demon: shame
The solar plexus chakra is about finding our own personal power, our own big energy. It’s about being confident in your abilities and having a general belief that you can tackle obstacles and challenges thrown your way. The solar plexus chakra is about taking messy action towards your goals and recognizing that you have the power to change your own life. It all starts with you.
Shame is felt in the solar plexus chakra by being ashamed of something you said, for being wrong or for who you really want to be.
Sacral Chakra (Svadhishthana) – The Right to Feel
Location: below the navel
Colours: orange
Demon: guilt
The sacral chakra is about your emotional well-being, about having fun and enjoying life. Tapping into your creativity and passions. Being able to identify, feel and process your emotions is a really important step in being able to connect with yourself at a deeper level. To understand the warning signs and “material” that might come up with identifying what hurts you, how you want to be treated, and who you want to be. As you get more comfortable with your emotions and what you like, it’s easier for you to have fun and to let go of the guilt when doing the things you love.
Guilt shows up a lot in the sacral chakra especially when it comes to joy and fun – maybe feeling like deep-down you don’t deserve that or that you have to earn it by working really hard.
Root Chakra (Muladhara) – The Right to be here
Location: bottom of the spine
Colours: red
Demon: fear
The root chakra is all about your foundation of stability and having your basic needs met like having clothing, water, food to eat, good health, money, and shelter. Without these things, you can’t survive. It’s also about having a support system like family, friends, and neighbours. About knowing that you’re not all alone and that you have a community standing behind you.
It’s also about being grounded in the Earth in some way. Feeling connected to nature and feeling nature beneath you.
When the root chakra is out of balance, you feel fear. The most primal version of fear – fear of survival. You lose trust in yourself and those around you.
How the Chakras can support you?
The chakra system can be used as a support to our daily lives and to build self awareness. By understanding the different areas of your energy you can use it to heal, grow and balance any areas that are out of alignment in your life. It’s like having a personal roadmap to recognize when an area is blocked or blocked off, so you know exactly where to focus your attention.
It’s about learning how to be in tune with your body and yourself, so you can make better decisions for a healthier and more connected life. By understanding each of the chakras, you can start to recognize where your energetic imbalances are and use that as an opportunity to grow and learn how to take care of yourself. It gives you the language to communicate your needs.
Learn more about how support systems might be a game changer and other stress management techniques here.
Your ambitions don’t have to come at the cost of your well-being. Join “Balance Over Burnout,” a free 2-week program and learn more about your chakras and other tools to help you overcome stress and realign your life. Over two weeks, you’ll receive emails with resources and coaching exercises focusing on well-being, chakras, energy, reflective questions, and practices such as yoga nidra and meditation. Sign up here.
