Why You Need to Know About Your Chakras

Whether or not you acknowledge your chakras (shah-KRA), they are in your body. You may have heard the word “chakra” and written it off as some new age concept that didn’t apply to you.

Referring to areas of your body as chakras, energy plexuses, endocrine glands or nerve centers, it doesn’t matter. They are all very similar. What matters most is that you acknowledge them and learn how they work with or against the wellbeing of your body & soul. I’ll tell you why.

The word “chakra” means “wheel” in Sanskrit, the ancient language of Hinduism. The grand teachings of the chakras are from the East, however in no way are the concepts “owned” by Eastern religions like Hinduism or Buddhism. You can learn about and use chakras regardless of your religion. The Hindus were simply the first to document their understanding of our vital energy centers in writing using the Sanskrit chakra terminology.

Carolyn Myss in her book Anatomy of the Spirit has done a marvelous job at overlaying the chakra system with both the Christian and Jewish mystical traditions to make brilliant correlations having been unrealized before only by semantics.

As more people learn about and study the chakras, the greater role energy medicine plays in Western thought and health care.

As you can see in the image above, the chakra system is comprised of 7 energy areas associated with a color. They align on a vertical axis at the core of your body near the spine. They are not actually color coded inside your body (wouldn’t that be cool!) however the energetic vibrations of your organs do resonate with the vibration of its associated color.

Additionally, energetic vibrations of emotions resonate with the energy center in closest vibrational alignment. This is why shame, guilt and anger – very low vibrating emotions – can contribute to disease in the colon, reproductive organs and the liver.

Starting from the lower body, the chakras are as follows:

1. Root Chakra (red) – base of tailbone

2. Sacral Chakra (orange) – lower abdomen

3. Solar Chakra (yellow) – solar plexus between navel and where the ribs adjoin

4. Heart Chakra (green) – chest

5. Throat or Truth Chakra (blue) – throat

6. Third-Eye Chakra (indigo) – center of forehead above eyebrows

7. Lotus or Crown Chakra (violet) – top of head

Click on the chart below to read at full scale a very basic chakra chart. It will introduce you to the many aspects of chakra energy work.

(The above chart is for sale on the artist Kim Dreyer’s website. Used with permission.)

These chakras or wheels keep your life force – also called chi, qi or prana – moving in your body. The chakras permeate the front to back and side to side of your body, often extending beyond the physical body when the energy is very strong. Life force energy moves up and down your body along the chakra ladder.

As physical and spiritual beings we are looking to evolve in both realms. Your physical realm evolves as life force matures from the Root Chakra upward. Your spiritual realm (your soul) evolves as life force matures downward. As spirit beings on Earth and as material beings with souls, it is important to focus on the evolution of both your soul body and physical body.

While the physical body is mortal and the soul is eternal, it is my belief that while we are alive on Earth both realms are equally important. Other practitioners focus more time and effort on evolving the soul since it is eternal, however I believe that the purpose of life is to fully incarnate the soul by bringing it down into all aspects of our physical living. This, I believe, is how we do the work of God on Earth.

It is in the pairing of Earthly Chakras (Root, Sacral & Solar) with the Spiritual Chakras (Truth, Third-Eye & Lotus) that we bridge the best of both worlds and maintain a vibration of love in the Heart Chakra. 

The chakra system is not an exact science. There are different schools of thought and there are different chakra models, and the information on the entire subject is extensive. What I have shared here is the most basic, common model with my interpretations.

There are certain life issues (family of origin, procreation, ego, truth, love, imagination, etc.) that relate more to one chakra than another. If you are blocked in a certain area of your life and in the development of your physical or spiritual self, there may be blocked or inefficient energy in one or more of your chakras.

“Every thought and experience you’ve ever had in your life gets filtered through these chakra databases. Each event is recorded into your cells…in effect your biography becomes your biology.” Caroline Myss

There are different ways to balance and invigorate your chakras. You can use sound therapy, crystals, prayer, yoga, color therapy, Reiki, energy evocations, meditation, breathing, and….my favorite…..food!

The energetic imprint, color and vibration of your food influences the wellbeing of your chakras. The Healers Diet™ offers 23 days exploring how different foods leak energy from your chakras, which foods increase chakra energy and how to seal in vibrant energy into your chakras for your optimal physical & spiritual development & wellness.

Chakras can seem like esoteric “woo-woo” talk about the nature of your spirit, however getting familiar with the chakra system can help you to better understand how energy flows in your body, how emotions contribute to disease, how food feeds your physical and spiritual bodies and how to exert more influence on the subtle energies that impact your life experience.

Below is a delightful video that reviews the basics of chakras. If you are new to chakras, it is well worth your 8 minutes to watch. Seasoned chakra workers will enjoy it too.

I look forward to showing you how to eat well for your spirit and your physical body in The Healers Diet™. I have taken what I know about nutrition, compassionate living and energy (chakra) medicine and put together 23 days of practical guidance to help you up-level your physical and spiritual energy, and protect that energy with healthy boundaries.

With awareness and lifestyle adjustments, you can harness universal energy for healing, imaginative & creative pursuits, mature love and intuitive insights. It can help you feel more in control of what it is yours to control and more at peace with the aspects of life that are not meant for your control.

Additional Links:

The Lightworker’s Diet: Eating for God

Emotional McDonald’s

9 Ways Eating Can Become Your New Spiritual Practice