Person in standing tree pose with all chakras lit up.
Chakras are the energy centers of our physical and astral bodies. Chakra systems are significant in Hindu and Buddhist traditions with different branches recognizing different quantities and characteristics of chakras. Buddhist traditions focus on 5 chakras. Hindu traditions have recognized 6 or 7. It is possible for us to feel our chakras. A prickling at the top of the head or between the eye when receiving a psychic download. Feeling a chakra bleeding out, the energy spilling everywhere haphazardly when it is overactive. When we are deeply in love, we feel a warm pressure pouring from the heart creating a bridge to our beloved. Chakras are the energetic epicenters in which we experience a multidimensional reality. You can balance your chakras through chanting mantras, yoga, meditation, energy healing, music, dance, tuning forks, bells, affirmations, working with gemstones and many other methods.
Chakras aren’t inherently rooted to witchcraft, Wiccan or paganism, but have been commodified and incorporated in the Western New Age zeitgeist/industrial complex. I have personally found use and connection to the chakras through studying Tibetan Buddhism and energy healing such as Reiki. When exploring beliefs of different cultures/religions it is important we educate ourselves with direct teachings of the tradition and be critical of oversimplifications or regurgitations. It is my intention that sharing these correspondences can aid people in working with and identifying the different energies of the body. This is a simple introduction not an exhaustive dive into chakras.
Root Chakra
Sanskrit: Muladhara
Element: Earth
Color: Red
Seed Sound: Lam (Lum)
Affirmation: I am safe and at ease
Planet: Saturn, Pluto
Body Region: Base of spine, sex and reproductive organs, legs and feet
Hertz Frequency: 194.18
Gemstones: Bloodstone, black obsidian, black onyx, red coral, tourmaline, red carnelian, mahogany
Activities: Yoga, walking in nature especially barefoot, stomping feet, taking care of yourself, gardening
Balanced: Feeling rooted and secure, being able to trust, connected to Earth and body, feeling safe, stability
Unbalanced: Chronically wounded sexual or romantic relationships, emotional disconnection or overwhelm, fear of intimacy, misuse of power or feeling powerlessness
Solar Plexus Chakra
Sanskrit: Manipura
Color: Yellow
Element: Fire
Seed Sound: Ram (Rum)
Affirmation: I feel confident and autonomous
Planet: Mars, Sun
Body Region: Stomach, gall bladder, digestive system, liver, pancreas, diaphragm under lungs
Hertz Frequency: 126.22
Gemstones: Citrine, golden tiger’s eye, fire opal, amber, yellow calcite
Balanced: Self-expressive, truth telling, open and assertive communication, creative
Unbalanced: Unable to express feelings or thoughts sometimes unable to listen to those of others, unable to express truth alternatively lying in excess, creative blocks, fear of speaking publicly, gossip
Third Eye Chakra
Sanskrit: Ajna
Color: Indigo
Element: Light
Seed Sound: Om
Affirmation: I see beyond the veil
Planet: Jupiter, Neptune
Body Region: Forehead, pineal gland, pituitary gland, eyes
