Chakra meditation is a form of meditation based on a Vedic perspective of the body and its spiritual energies. Strengthening or unblocking the different chakras allows us to improve our well-being in many different aspects of life.
The chakra system gives us a series of focal points by which to visualize, examine, and understand our own strengths and weaknesses, while working mindfully to improve them.
What are Chakras?
Chakra, or cakra, as it’s spelled in the Vedic texts, literally means wheel or disc. These refer to energy centers within the body, which are located along your spinal cord. These energy centers control the flow of spiritual and cosmic energy through the body, empowering or inhibiting us.
Each chakra is connected to a certain group of organs and nerves, in addition to having a color and symbol associated with it to help facilitate the meditation process. If one of your chakras is blocked, you may experience difficulties in the physical or emotional areas associated with it. Chakra meditations are designed to use this system of focal points to bring harmony to your body as a whole.
The Seven Chakras
Now we will briefly discuss each of the seven chakras. For an in-depth guide to each chakra, follow the links below:
- Root Chakra
- Sacral Chakra
- Solar Plexus Chakra
- Heart Chakra
- Throat Chakra
- Third Eye Chakra
- Crown Chakra
Root Chakra
Location: The base of your spine
Color: Red
Role: The root chakra is your grounding point, your foundation. As your spiritual and emotional base, it’s associated with survival instincts and emotional needs for safety and comfort. Physically, this chakra is associated with your colon, bladder, your lower back and legs.
As long as this chakra is working freely, you are likely to worry less. Issues with this chakra can manifest physically as gastrointestinal distress or emotionally as anxiety and fear.
Sacral Chakra
Location: Just below your navel
Color: Orange
Role: The sacral chakra is your creative powerhouse, the space from which passion, creativity, and enthusiasm emerges. It’s associated with water, sex, abundance and joy. Physically, this chakra is associated with your sexual organs.
When the second chakra is in harmony, you are likely to be passionate, joyful, and inspired. Issues with this chakra tend to manifest as a lack of inspiration at best and sexual dysfunction, depression, and addiction-behaviors at worst.
Solar Plexus Chakra
Location: The upper abdomen
Color: Yellow
Role: The solar plexus chakra is where your self-esteem and sense of personal power lives. It’s associated with balance, commitment, and willpower. Physically, this chakra is associated with your metabolism, digestive system, and stomach.
When your third chakra is working smoothly, you’ll feel confident and comfortable pursuing your own needs and goals. Issues with this chakra can lead to low self-esteem, apathy, stomach aches, and poor digestion.
Heart Chakra
Location: Center of the chest, just above your heart
Color: Green
Role: The heart chakra is your wellspring of love and compassion. It’s associated with love, positivity, and kindness. Physically, this chakra is associated with the thymus gland, lungs, and the breasts.
When the fourth chakra is balanced, you give and receive love freely, romantically or platonically. Issues with this chakra can manifest in social withdrawal, holding grudges, and excess anger.
Throat Chakra
Location: The base of your throat
Color: Blue
Role: The throat chakra is responsible for smooth communication. It’s associated with self-expression, language, and truth. Physically, this chakra is associated with the thyroid, neck, jaw, mouth and tongue.
When the fifth chakra is opened, you have no problems speaking your truth and being understood, as well as listening attentively and compassionately. Issues with this chakra can manifest as trouble finding your voice, difficulty paying attention, and sore throats.
Third Eye Chakra
Location: The forehead, just between and slightly above your eyes
Color: Indigo
Role: The third eye chakra is the spiritual source of your intuition; it’s the point where external stimulation enters your consciousness. It’s associated with your inner voice, ability to learn new things, and, of course, your intuition. Physically, this chakra is associated with your brain.
When the sixth chakra is working smoothly, you’re in tune with your inner self and able to take in and store new information easily. If your lower chakras become out of sync, this chakra is likely to have trouble as well. Issues with this chakra can manifest as an excessively judgmental attitude, depression, and brain-related health problems.
Crown Chakra
Location: Just above your head
Color: Violet
Role: The crown chakra is your connection point with the spiritual world. It’s associated with consciousness, connection, and awareness. This chakra doesn’t have a physical association; it transcends the physical.
When your seventh chakra is attuned, you’re receptive to the divine and in sync with the energy of the whole universe. Issues with this chakra can result in feelings of isolation, disconnection, and meaninglessness.
How to Practice Chakra Meditation
Step One: Sit in a comfortable position, with your back straight. Your chakras are aligned along your spinal column, so sitting with a straight spine helps balance your energy.
Step Two: Bring your attention to your breath. Breathe in, breathe out. Let the natural processes of your body begin to relax you. Feel your stress melt away. When your mind wanders, gently return it to your breath.
Step Three: Now bring your breath to your root chakra. This begins the chakra meditation. Visualize your energy bathing your root chakra in a warm, red light. This is your foundation; let your root chakra take in energy from the earth below you. You are here. You are grounded.
Step Four: Next, bring your attention up to your sacral chakra. See the light of your energy shift to orange. Breathe into your navel. This is the heart of your sensuality, your creativity, your emotional intelligence. Here, you are nourished.
Step Five: Travel further up your spine to your solar plexus chakra. Breathe into your upper abdomen. Bring your energy to this center and see it turn yellow, like the light of the sun. Let yourself be nurtured and restored here. You are powerful. You are enough.
Step Six: Now bring your awareness to your heart chakra. Let it be bathed in the green light of your energy as you breathe into your chest. Feel the renewal, the love, and the healing that is taking place within you. You are loved and deserving of love.
Step Seven: Move your attention up to your throat as your energy becomes blue like the sky. Breathe into your throat center. Feel how open and powerful your throat is — the space where you breathe, where you speak, from which your truth emerges.
Step Eight: Move up again, this time to your forehead. Here your energy is indigo like the night sky; here is clarity and understanding. Everything is as it should be. You are as you should be. The world is as it should be.
Step Nine: Bring your attention up once more to the space just above your head. Let your whole body be bathed in a violet light as you connect with the life-giving energy of spirit. This is harmony. You are harmony. You are whole.
Step Ten: Gently return your attention to your breathing. Take a few deep breaths as you come back into yourself, carrying that sense of connection and balance forward with you into your day.
