What are the Chakras in the Body?

Today we’re going to talk a little bit about the chakras in the body, which are otherwise known as the energy centers throughout our body. Chakras in the body are lined up in a straight line, going down the middle of your body, with each one managing different regions, organs, and energies.

1. Root or Base Chakra

Let's start with the first chakra. This is called the base chakra, otherwise known as the root chakra, and is associated with the color red and sometimes black. You can remember this chakra by thinking of basic instincts, basal desires, sexual desires, basic survival needs, fear, and being able to defend yourself.

Oftentimes when this chakra is out of balance, you might see some of the issues that arise can include having a poverty mindset (overly extreme need or anxiety for security whether it be in relationships, finances/money, house), getting stuck in patterns that are keeping you trapped in a certain cycle, feeling like you can't seem to progress past a certain point, feeling lazy, dull, or sluggish. You may also have a lot of problems with the sexual organs such as prostate issues, ovary issues, hormonal issues stemming from that area, polycystic ovaries, endometriosis, issues with periods, and so on. Anything associated with that area in that pelvic region, tailbone and lower digestive system is governed by this chakra. When this chakra is balanced, the person is more grounded, feels safe within themselves, stable, secure, and supported. Red and black crystals such as red jasper, obsidian, tourmaline, and garnet can help with balancing this chakra.

2. Sacral Chakra

Chakra number two is in the area right below your belly button. It is associated with the color orange. The sacral chakra is responsible for things like money, creativity, and sexuality. An out-of-balance sacral chakra can show up as feeling unworthy, being disempowered over and over, discouraged your whole life, or abused. Orange calcite, sunstone, or even carnelian can help with balancing this chakra.

3. Solar Plexus Chakra

The third chakra up is the solar plexus. Yellow is associated with this sunny little sunshine chakra. Your solar plexus chakra is your confidence and empowerment center. It can also be a joy center. Creativity can come from this place: your ability to project yourself out and express yourself into the world. When it’s unbalanced, it can look like fear of putting yourself out there, having low self-esteem, fear of failure, and not wanting to take the risk. You could be afraid of pursuing creative fields or your own business. You might have a little voice in your head that always causes you to doubt yourself. Issues with the stomach, upper digestive issues, as well as the organs in that kind of quadrant, like the spleen and pancreas could be considered being governed under this chakra. When this chakra is balanced, the person is confident, feels secure where they don't need to control or abuse people. Yellow crystals such as yellow calcite, tiger’s eye, and citrine can help with balancing this chakra.

4. Heart Chakra

Next up is the heart chakra. It's right in the middle of your chest. Green and pink are associated with this chakra. This is your love center. This is where self-love comes from, love for others, empathy, self-forgiveness, forgiveness for others, excitement, inspiration, and anything involving emotions. If you have been severely neglected, abused, have major emotional issues such as anxiety and depression, self-trust issues, the trust of others, you might see the heart chakra not operating at its full capacity. Spend extra time here to loosen up some of the other lower chakras in the body.

Trauma really affects the heart and it can make you unable to move forward in healthy relationships and constantly doubt your feelings and emotions. It can cause you to be numb, detached, or dissociated emotionally. Heart and lung issues can arise from this as well, including mysterious chest pain that can’t be explained. (Note: Always make sure to go to the doctor and get checked up if you’re having any of these symptoms).

You can imagine the chakra being filled with green or pink light. You can also imagine love, healing, and self-acceptance pouring through to help with balancing this chakra. Green calcite, aventurine, and rose quartz are excellent crystals to help with this as well.

5. Throat Chakra

The color blue is associated with this chakra. This chakra is so important, as it’s for people to be able to speak their truth and ideas into the world. It’s to be able to put forth demands of self-respect for themselves and to be heard and validated. This is the chakra that is used for people who are bringing forth other-dimensional energy with psychic abilities into the world, such as channelers, teachers, public speakers, empowerment coaches, and counselors.

It is important for the throat chakra to be spinning beautifully because otherwise, you can end up having trouble formulating your sentences. You might feel choked up, quite literally, when you're trying to express an idea. You might freeze when someone asks for your opinion, or you might not feel confident enough to express yourself or your ideas. This can also bring self-doubt. You could be afraid to even talk. This is very straining because you’re uncomfortable with who you are and how you express yourself.

Other issues with the throat area can include the thyroid, vocal cord issues, throat issues, and esophagus. Sometimes the shoulders, upper back, and back of your neck can even be considered. Other areas that can be affected include the nasal region, sinuses, mouth issues, gums, teeth, tongue, palate of the mouth, facial structure, the jaw, TMJ, tension headaches, and ear problems. Turquoise, blue agate, and kyanite crystals can help with balancing this chakra.

6. Third Eye Chakra

Next, let's dive into the third eye chakra. The color associated with this chakra is indigo. People tend to want to shortcut to this chakra in their chakra balance development because it's the fun one. But really, I can't tell you how many people I've seen where their third eye and crown are extremely overactive and the rest of their chakras are not functioning well from the neck down and causing all kinds of spaciness, imbalance, mental health issues, chemical imbalances, personality disturbances, dissociations, getting migraines, headaches, cluster headaches, and having issues with the brain.

Remember that just because a chakra is really open doesn't mean that's a good thing either. We're talking about balance. Not too open, not too closed. We want something that's in the middle and that's different for everyone. It's not a one size fits all scenario.

When we talk about the third eye being blown open, you could have very vivid nightmares, dreams, not wanting to be awake, wanting to sleep all the time, wanting to just dream, being way too interested in other dimensional things, being completely ungrounded, being distracted, being over creative, over-hyper, almost manic or even depressed to the extreme. This is why it’s important for this chakra to be brought into balance because it can literally unhinge us from our physical reality, which sounds like it would be fun, but in fact, it makes our lives extremely difficult. Plus, we're not meant to just be living in other realms. Lapis lazuli and sodalite are stones that are associated with the third eye. People who want to develop psychic abilities might place it on their third eye as they're meditating or sleeping.

7. Crown Chakra

The last chakra is the crown chakra, located on the top of the head. The color associated with this chakra is violet. Channelers and creatives heavily use this: people who are bringing in crazy ideas, concepts, innovation, and solving problems. You don't have to be an artistic person to have this open; you can be a researcher who is bringing in new ideas and new solutions. When this chakra is balanced, a person can feel as if they are being guided, feel a connection with Source energy, or enlightened.

However, if the crown chakra is too open, again we have issues with the brain. We have issues that can cause pain in the head, like tumors or mental disorders, mood imbalances, disruptive sleep, insomnia, seeing things at night or the daytime, dizziness, confusion, vertigo, and lethargy. You can be almost to the point where you can't get anything done because you have so many ideas all the time, jumping around from one idea to the next. Anyone on the spectrum can tend to have these two chakras out of balance. You’re going to still have the conditions, but you can become more functional so that you can manage them better, providing relief or comfort. That's the medical professionals’ job to actually physically treat the condition. Clear quartz, moonstone, and amethyst can help with balancing this chakra.

Always remember that the chakras are part of an energy system in your body, so we are never just focusing on one. We're trying to get them to communicate with each other because if one is blocked, energy can’t move past it.

Meditating (with or without crystals) or doing energy work such as Reiki are simple ways to help balance your chakras, which allow energy to flow within your body continuously. So give it a try! Try working with your own chakras to sense and see what kind of information you get!