Chakra 101: Education (Chart + Healing Tips Included)

Some say the energy of the mind is the essence of life, others say "passion is energy" and the rest of them say that "everything is energy". Chakra healing is the sum total of all these philosophies. Wondering what exactly is a chakra?🧐

In metaphysical terms, chakra is the wheel of energy. If you’re putting it literally, it’s a word from Sanskrit meaning "circle". From Hinduism to Buddhism, chakra healing is a part and parcel of human history and several New Age religions have evolved it further today.

Today we will find out the following about chakras:

• What are chakras?
• What’s the history of chakras?
• What is the meaning of chakra healing?
• Why heal chakras?
• What happens when your chakra is balanced?
• What happens when your chakra is unbalanced?
• What’s the correlation between chakra and crystal healing?
• What are the meaning and characteristics of the seven chakras?
• Chakra chart

Ready to get the "wheel of energy" rolling? Scroll away …

Basics: What are chakras?

We’re all powerhouses of energy, biologically and spiritually. Scientifically because we convert energy from the food we eat and metaphysically from the thoughts and actions (karma) we do. In both cases, the energy produced may be positive or negative. Regardless, there’s energy harnessed in both forms.

If you dig into biology, physical energy is channeled by mitochondrial cells. But when it comes to the spiritual realm, chakras are the power points of energy. The word "chakra" comes from the Sanskrit word चक्र meaning "circle" or "wheel". It can be understood as the spinning disks or wheels of energy that help your mind to think, your throat to speak, your heart to feel, and so on.🏃🏻‍♀️

These energy centers in the human body can be balanced⚖️ (also called activated or opened) using energy rituals. When chakra points are in balance, it lets the energy flow to the adjacent chakras, thus opening your other chakras. When your chakra is closed or blocked, the same is described as "unbalanced".

The ideal state of chakras is open and balanced as they’re found where the "nadis" (Sanskrit for tubes or channels) in the human body converge. These are invisible wheels of energy often called "consciousness centers" and each point holds the power to influence adjacent physical body parts, nerves, and organs.

What’s the history of chakras?

Now you know what chakras are, let’s find out where they come from. In fact, it isn’t a new craze, but one that started as far as 1,500 to 500 B.C in regions of India.

Hinduism advocates there are seven major chakras in ancient scriptures called Vedas. That being said, the total number of chakras differs from one religion to another. Buddhism points out five major chakras in the book Theravada with the Pali noun "Cakka". But it was the book written by Charles W Leadbeater in 1927 that connected seven colors of the rainbow to the chakra energy system in his book "The Chakras".

Apart from the above, the "chakra system" of philosophy is also believed to stem from Tantrik Yoga that existed during the age of 600 to 1300 A.D. Depending on the lineage you look at, chakras can differ from five to six, seven, twelve, or more. That’s why most practitioners today estimate a total of 114 chakras in the human body. Out of this, seven are major or primary and the rest are minor or secondary.

In Vedas, the purpose of chakras was to make way for nyāsa (deposit or charging) of positive energy in the body. To facilitate the same, The Great Elements was used, which has a specific seed mantra associated with it. Hence, to activate a chakra, the seed mantra associated with the element of that chakra is used.

Take a look at the seven major chakras in the human body listed briefly below.

• Root chakra located at the end of your spine  
• Sacral chakra in your pelvic region
• Solar Plexus chakra over your stomach
• Heart chakra around your heart
• Throat chakra in your neck
• Third eye chakra between your brows
• Crown chakra over your head

What is chakra healing?

If you’ve seen or heard about Reiki healing where different crystals are placed on specific parts of the body, it’s a type of chakra healing. When you’re healthy, your seven chakras are in balance.

The energy in your body spins at seven points called the chakra points. But when the energy spins too fast or slow, it’s overactive or underactive. That’s when you become unhealthy and the same can be felt physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Whether or not you engage in rituals to activate chakras on your own, these points of energy naturally develop at different ages according to the Veda treatise called Chakravidya.

Here’s a rough idea of how this happens:

• When you learn to walk and do things on your own from age 1 to 7, survival instincts are born within you and this gives birth to the root chakra.
• Upon feeling new emotions like "true love", your sacral chakra activates between 14 to 18.
• When you learn to love the self from the age of 15 to 21, your solar plexus chakra opens up.
• After the age of 21 until 28 when you learn to love others and seek harmony, your heart chakra opens naturally.
• Your throat chakra becomes active after the age of 29 until 35 when you begin to create your own philosophical truths for life.
• From your life experiences from the age of 36 to 42, virtues like wisdom and intuition are developed; thus, opening the third eye chakra.
• Understanding spiritual truths and enlightenment comes at later ages of 43 to 49 after you learn everything about the physical realm, activating the crown chakra.

📝The practice of opening, charging, or balancing weak chakras is called chakra healing. Reiki practitioners often push the energy into the chakra points by placing crystals on your body or on their own accord when doing energy healing rituals. When your chakras are in balance, you’ll feel energetic, positive, and happy, as opposed to angry and frustrated when your chakras are blocked.

In order to understand how chakra healing works, you need to decode the characteristics and functions of each chakra as we will do in the following sections.

When and why do we need to heal our chakras?

Chakra healing doesn’t have a preset time, no matter how disciplined your life is. It’s dependent on changing situations, thoughts, and actions in your life. The rule of thumb is that you need to cleanse your chakras when it’s out of balance.

A chakra needs healing when it’s overactive or underactive. Such an imbalance usually happens due to physical, emotional, or spiritual stress. The following sections will help you test if your chakra is out of balance.

How do you feel when your chakras are in balance?

Often referred to as the open state of the chakra system, there are many signs that will help you recognize if your chakras are balanced. While it might be unique for every person, certain traits may be similar for all.

Here are some feelings to watch out for:

• Grounded
• Feeling connected
• Happy
• Compassion
• Peaceful
• Safe
• Creative
• Joy
• Gratitude
• Love
• Calmness

How do you feel when your chakras are out of balance?

Unlike open chakra, a blocked chakra is out of balance. Not everyone feels the same when their chakra is deranged.

It can feel extremely negative and awful when your chakras are off-kilter. Instead of ignoring it, the best solution is to recognize it and find the right chakra healing technique to resolve it.

The following will show you the telltale signs to look out for:

• Frustrated
• Angry
• Sickness and malaise
• Fatigue
• Constipation
• Anxiety
• Lack of coordination
• Irritated
• Depressed
• Seeing nightmares
• Insecure
• Fearful
• Sad
• Frequent illnesses
• Stress
• Restless
• Pain/discomfort around chakras

Why do chakras fall out of balance?

Just as it’s impossible to get to your destination if roads are blocked, off-balance chakras hinder the flow of energy throughout the body. Many adverse effects can be felt when your chakras are not in tune.🙁

• Stress that arises from problems of the physical body, emotional or spiritual self can often throw off the balance in your chakra system.
• Junk food and unhealthy diet choices can block arteries that result in physical blockages in blood vessels around the chakra points.
• Emotional trauma such as marital conflicts, fights with children/parents/friends, a personal loss like the death of a close one, parental pressures, and so on can put your chakra out of balance too.
• Self-destructive thoughts and actions (karma) can often derail the footing of your chakras by absorbing negativity.
• Energy blocks in the human body are called "dosha" (problem) in Ayurveda, which can result in many chakra-related nonequilibriums.

Top seven methods to heal our unbalanced chakras

You’ve read all about why chakras become unbalanced and what you feel when that happens. The next step is to find out what you can do to heal your wacky energy points. You’ll find several ways to do so below, so feel free to pick one that works for you.

• Yoga: There are specific yoga poses to cleanse chakras once you identify which one is off balance. You can try the warrior pose for the root chakra, butterfly pose for the sacral chakra, boat pose for solar plexus chakra, camel pose for the heart chakra, fish pose for the throat chakra, child’s pose for third-eye chakra, and headstand for the crown chakra.
• Mudras: These are hand gestures meant to put pressure on different chakra points in the human body. Some mudras to try are Prithvi (Earth) mudra for the root chakra, Varun (Water God) for the sacral chakra, Apana (life-sustaining air) for solar plexus chakra, Anjali (divine offering) for the heart chakra, Akash (sky) mudra for the throat chakra, Gyan (knowledge) mudra for third eye chakra, and Prana (life) mudra for the crown chakra.
• Mantras: It’s a short sound or syllable spoken in Sanskrit considered sacred and powerful as a spell. Say aloud chakra symbols "Lam" for the root chakra, "Vam" for the sacral chakra, "Ram" for solar plexus chakra, "Yam" for the heart chakra, "Ham" for the throat chakra, "Ou" for third eye chakra, and "Om" crown chakra.
• Chakra meditation: Also called "chakra meditation", the act of balancing imbalanced chakras is also a way to clean and clear these energy points. Start with guided meditation and move onto private meditation sessions to target one or all of your chakras.
• Aromatherapy: Commonly called chakra balancing with essential oils, the gist of this process is to open your chakras using herbs and fragrances. Use patchouli for the root chakra, Neroli for the sacral chakra, Pine for solar plexus chakra, Rosewood for the heart chakra, Lavender for the throat chakra, Sandalwood for Third Eye chakra, and Lime for the crown chakra.
• Breathing: The regulation of breath via ritualistic exercises is called "pranayama". Chakra breathing is a way of chanting the associated mantras for chakras and moving from one energy point to another in order to balance it.
• Crystal healing: You can also unblock chakras using specific crystals that are associated with them. Keeping the particular stone on the chakra point, focusing on it, setting up a grid, or working with it (Reiki) are some ways to use crystal healing in your life for balancing chakras.  

Understanding crystal healing and chakra rebalancing

We learned about several ways to heal chakras above. The most effective, easiest, and powerful of these are achieved through healing chakra crystals.

That’s because every crystal has powerful vibrations within it and with crystal healing, you can easily balance chakras with just a touch of chakra stones. Sometimes you don’t even need to touch crystals as merely their presence is enough to influence you. And, when you wear healing crystal jewelry, it keeps your chakras charged, clean, active, open, and balanced throughout the time you wear.

Every crystal is associated with one or more chakras that it can activate, open, or balance.

• Reiki: This is an energy healing practice where an expert places healing crystals over your chakra points to push its energy into your body.
• Smudging: All you need to do is rub the healing crystal over the chakra point physically to ensure the energy of the stone enters your body.
• Dowsing: Using a single-pointed crystal pendulum, you seek answers to questions on how to cleanse chakra points with oscillations.
• Wand: By focusing using wands made of healing crystals, you can narrow down its energy into the chakra point with accuracy.
• Grid: You can set intentions for clearing chakra blocks by using many crystals based on geometrical symmetry to manifest intentions.
• Wearing crystals: The best way to keep your chakras open or balanced for a long time is by wearing healing stones in areas near the chakras.
• Crystal elixir: Producing potions with or without the contact of healing crystals is referred to as crystal elixir. It can do chakra cleansing with precision when you consume the same elixir.

A guide to the 7 chakras: Education and healing tips

Everything you learned above was designed to be the foundation for the chakra guide you’ll find below.😎 It comprises the core characteristics of the seven primary chakras, chakra names, chakra locations, their meanings, and methods for healing.

Read on…  

Root Chakra

Called "Muladhara" ( meaning the root of existence) in Sanskrit, this is the first of the primary chakras. It provides you energy to survive life on earth physically, emotionally, and spiritually.🌎 This is the basis of all other chakras because the energy of the root chakra activates the rest of the body. Therefore, if your root is blocked, the rest of the chakras will feel the same.

Develops when you are one to seven years old.

• Chakra Location: End of your tailbone
• Symbol: Lam
• Represented by: Four petal lotus
• Color: Red
• Element: Earth
• Crystals: Red Jasper, Hematite, Bloodstone, Garnet, and Obsidian
• What do you feel when root chakra is in balance? Independence (regarding money, food, clothing), stability, calmness, security, peace, and fearlessness.
• When is it unbalanced? If you’re addicted/dependent or feel pain in the joints, constipated, frustrated, threatened, ungrounded, insecure, and unsatisfied, your root chakra may be off-balance.
• Crystal healing tips for your root chakra: Placing hematite on the root chakra, keeping a bloodstone in your pocket, or wearing red jasper on the waist.

Sacral Chakra

In Sanskrit, the second chakra is called "Swadhisthana" (where you are established) or the existence of your being. This is where your life force energy called "kundalini" energy rests and that’s why it’s the focal point of pleasure and sensuality. Sacral chakra develops during 14 to 18 years of age.

When this chakra is awakened, you’ll feel energetic and joyful.

• Chakra Location: Pelvic region or two inches below the navel area
• Symbol: Vam
• Represented by: Six petal lotus
• Color: Orange
• Element: Water
• Crystals: Carnelian, Citrine, Amber, Tiger Eye, and Pyrite
• What do you feel when the sacral chakra is in balance? Balance of emotions (what you feel and what you feel about others), stable relationships, sexuality, creativity, and ultimate joy are felt when you open your chakra.
• When is it unbalanced? If you feel sexually unsated, worried, depressed, fearful, lack of creativity, reproductive problems, loss of libido, inability to enjoy pleasure, addiction, or as an emotional wreck, your sacral chakra needs balancing.
• Crystal healing tips for your sacral chakra: Placing tiger eye in your lap, amber on your pelvic area, carnelian in your navel. Women can also use yoni eggs and wands to massage the area.

Solar Plexus Chakra

Referred to as "Manipura" (city of jewels), the solar plexus is the chakra of your inner fire. It’s the third primary chakra that stands for your personality. Due to its close proximity to the digestive system, the solar plexus is responsible for helping you harness physical energy. It typically develops when you’re 15 to 21 years.

• Chakra Location: Above the navel or over the stomach
• Symbol: Ram
• Represented by: Ten petal lotus
• Color: Yellow
• Element: Fire
• Crystals: Citrine, Amber, Yellow Topaz, Tiger Eye, and Calcite
• What do you feel when the solar plexus chakra is in balance? It’s the state of your ego and your self-esteem. Your confidence, genuineness, pink of health, warrior energy, and personal power will be high when it’s open.
• When is it unbalanced? If you feel sick in the stomach or experience digestion issues, fatigue, weakness, arthritis, and pity towards the self.
• Crystal healing tips for your solar plexus chakra: The best ways to balance solar plexus is by sunbathing with amber on your solar plexus, citrine in your palms, or calcite on your arms.

Heart Chakra

Known as the Anahata (unhurt), heart chakra connects the lower chakras to the upper power points. As it has to do with your heart, Anahata gives you the ability to be healthy and happy.🥰 It’s how you connect with others and polish your personality.

The fourth primary chakra brings inner peace besides making you feel love and loved. It develops when you’re 21 to 28 years old.

• Chakra Location: Center of the chest
• Symbol: Yam
• Represented by: Twelve petal lotus
• Color: Pink or green
• Element: Air
• Crystals: Rose quartz, rhodonite, jade, emerald, amazonite, and malachite
• What do you feel when it’s in balance? It’s the chakra of unconditional love, passion, joy, emotional independence, the realization of truths, empathy, humanity, and security.
• When is it unbalanced? If you feel heartbroken, sad, depressed, anxious, lonely, inability to love others, zero empathy, trust issues, shyness, commitment problems, and procrastination.
• Crystal healing tips for your heart chakra: Meditation, reiki, aromatherapy, affirmations, yoga, volunteer activities, and pampering (spa, pedicure, massage).

Throat Chakra

Commonly called "Vishuddha" (holy and pure), the throat chakra is the basis of your ability to communicate with yourself, others, and the world around you. It’s the point of power that energizes the heart and powers the person you are. The fifth chakra in the body helps you live truthfully and it evolves into maturity when you’re 29 to 35 years.

• Chakra Location: Throat or neck
• Symbol: Ham
• Represented by: Sixteen petal lotus
• Color: Blue
• Element: Ether
• Crystals: Blue Sapphire, Lapis Lazuli, Sodalite, Azurite, Amazonite, and Kyanite
• What do you feel when the throat chakra is in balance? The throat chakra is the ability to speak your mind out, confess truths, proclaim passions, and hone your communication skills.
• When is it unbalanced? If you find it challenging to speak your heart out, experience pain in the neck, inability to speak, sound issues, throat infections, thyroid problems, and lack of self-confidence.
• Crystal healing tips for your throat chakra: Wearing blue sapphire on the throat, meditating with lapis lazuli, and using aquamarine for mantra-based rituals.

Third Eye Chakra

The sixth chakra in the human body is the Ajna (perception) or the brow chakra. The third eye is the chakra of intuition and intelligence.

Connected to the brain, the third eye gives you the power of intuition. It helps you summon the powers of your spiritual self to find opportunities to help others. Ajna chakra helps you find the truths of the world that you seek sans any reason or logic. It’s developed when you’re 36 to 42 years.

• Chakra Location: Between the brows
• Symbol: Ou
• Represented by: Two white-petaled lotus
• Color: Indigo
• Element: Light
• Crystals: Sodalite, moonstone, lapis lazuli, amethyst, lepidolite, clear quartz, and fluorite
• What do you feel when crown chakra is in balance? From wisdom to seeking visions, the third eye chakra represents insight and perception higher than your ordinary vision. It can help you see into the future and past incarnations too.
• When is it unbalanced? If your vision is poor, memory is sparse, or find it hard to set goals in life, your third eye is off-kilter. Bad traits like narrow-mindedness, lack of perception and coordination are also s symptom of third eye imbalance.
• Crystal healing tips for your third eye chakra: Placing moonstone in between the brows and meditating, holding amethyst while practicing mudras or yoga, and creating a lepidolite grid can help to clear this chakra.

Crown Chakra

Called "Sahasrara" (thousand petal lotus) in Sanskrit, Crown chakra is the last of the major chakras in the body. It’s the focal point of your spirit and the connection with the cosmos. Upon activation, unconditional love and a sense of unity are felt all over. It develops when you’re 43 to 49 years old.

• Chakra Location: Above the head
• Symbol: Om
• Represented by: Lotus with thousand petals
• Color: Violet
• Element: Cosmos/ Light
• Crystals: Amethyst, selenite, lepidolite, howlite, and sugilite
• What do you feel when crown chakra is in balance? It’s the chakra that brings universal consciousness, perception, enlightenment, and higher guidance to the user.
• When is it unbalanced? You’ll feel isolated, trouble believing in fate (the bigger picture), zero belief in God, inability to grasp things, confusion, experience out of body experiences, and spiritual addiction.
• Crystal healing tips for your crown chakra: Place the amethyst over your head and do meditation, carrying a howlite in your pocket, wearing a sugilite necklace, and doing wand rituals with selenite.

Chakra chart: A handy tool for you

Every chakra point in the body has a finite location and corresponding color. Mantras are based on the core element associated with the chakra point.

You can put mantras into practice for balancing specific chakra points. To do so, chant mantras associated with the chakra aloud. Keep in mind that you need to synchronize the chants with your heartbeats for actually opening each chakra point in the body.

Vedas written during the ancient times say that the human body is composed of different elements like earth, water, light, fire and so on. Moreover, every chakra is governed by one or more of these elemental energies.

These are useful especially when you activate specific chakras.🧘🏻 All you need to do is visualize the element for activating the subsequent chakra.

Suppose you’re activating "root chakra". As this chakra is governed by "earth energy", you can imagine Mother Earth in all her glory, kindness, and perseverance.

For Solar Plexus, this can be the fire goddess with blazing flames and a water wraith for the sacral chakra.

Chakra	Location	Color	Element	Mantra
Root	Base of spine	Red	Earth	Lam
Sacral	Pelvic region	Orange	Water	Vam
Solar Plexus	Stomach	Yellow	Fire	Ram
Heart	Chest	Pink/Green	Air	Yam
Throat	Neck	Blue	Ether	Ham
Third Eye	Between brows	Indigo	Light	Ou
Crown	Above the head	Violet	Cosmos/Light	Om

Getting in touch with your chakras

Out of this, seven are major and the rest are minor. The seven major chakras help in channeling energy from one point to another. When you’re distressed physically, emotionally, or spiritually, chakras become unbalanced, blocked, underactive, or overactive.

When chakras are in balance, you’ll feel secure, peaceful, calm, joyful, creative, positive, healthy, and much more. On the contrary, traits like frustration, anger, malaise, anxiety, depression, and so on are characteristics of chakras out of balance.

To heal chakras, there are many ways like meditation, yoga, affirmation, visualization, breathing exercises, and mudras. That being said, the most powerful way to heal chakras is via crystal healing.

You can place crystals associated with specific chakras on the body with the help of an expert for Reiki, carry or wear the same to ensure your chakras remain charged all the time. Making a geometrical grid is also enough to clear chakra points or recharge them.😎

By assimilating the knowledge of chakra colors, elements, mantras, etcetera, you can become enlightened, secure, peaceful, calm, wise, creative, intelligent, truthful, loving, compassionate, empathic, and much more. The only thing you gotta do is use healing crystals on the chakra point.