Chakras are energy centers in the subtle body—a deeper dimension of our being that gives rise to our physical form. Chakras were introduced in 8th century Buddhist teachings and they have been described in ancient Hindu, Tibetan Buddhist and Himalayan Böngo traditions. Contemporary authors such as Barbara Brennan, Donna Eden and Suren Shrestha discuss the chakras in terms of energy and healing. For a basic overview of the chakras, go to Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chakra.
There are seven major chakras which are generally located along a central channel that aligns with the spine. Their function is to spin and draw-in life force energy to promote health and balance in our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual bodies.
Figure 1. Chakras
Figure 1 illustrates the placement of the seven major chakras. Moving from the base of the spine to the top of the head these are: root chakra, sacral chakra, solar plexus chakra, heart chakra, throat chakra, ajna or third eye chakra and crown chakra. Some, but not all, of the chakra characteristics include a color, syllable, pitch and specific area of the body which it influences.
Just as musical instruments and automobiles require tune-ups to operate with optimal beauty and maximum efficiency, chakras work most effectively when they receive consistent attention. Four simple procedures contribute to the healthy functioning of your chakras. These involve clearing, tuning, aligning and repairing.
Clearing – As chakras draw-in life force energy, they can become clogged, like the filter in a fish tank. It is possible to loosen energetic congestion by drawing out energy with counter-clockwise movements of your hand.
- Place the palm of your hand three or four inches above a chakra
- Imagine an analog clock, face up, on the chakra. Using this image, a clockwise direction follows the movement of the numbers around the face, from one to twelve
- For one minute, draw counter-clockwise circles in the air above the chakra
- Pause for one minute while the chakra clears itself
- For thirty seconds, draw circles in a clockwise direction to reset the natural rotation of the chakra
In the book Energy Medicine, Donna Eden writes that the only exception to this process is when you clear the crown chakra of a male. Then you begin by drawing circles in a clockwise direction and you end the process by drawing counter-clockwise circles to reset the natural spin of the chakra.
Tuning – Each chakra vibrates at a frequency that corresponds with a specific pitch, vowel sound and mantra syllable. By singing the pitch, chanting the vowel or toning the syllable, it is possible to activate a vibration that tunes the chakra to its natural resonance.
- Refer to Figure 2, below, which identifies the pitch, vowel and syllable for each chakra
- Focus your attention on the root chakra at the base of the spine
- For about fifteen seconds, sing, chant or tone a sound that corresponds with the root chakra
- Move your attention up to the sacral chakra, approximately two inches below your navel
- For about fifteen seconds, sing, chant or tone a sound that corresponds with the sacral chakra
- Repeat the process for each remaining chakra by looking at Figure 1 to find the location and referring to Figure 2 to choose a sound for each chakra
Figure 2. Sounds Associated with the Seven Major Chakras
| CHAKRA | VEDIC PITCH | TIBETAN PITCH | VOWEL | VOWEL PRONUNCIATION | MANTRA SYLLABLE | SYLLABLE PRONUNCIATION |
| Crown | B | B | eee | me | Ah or silence | father |
| Ajna | A | E | aye | say | Om | go |
| Throat | G | A | eye | I | Ham | at |
| Heart | F | D | ah | father | Yam | at |
| Solar Plexus | E | G | oh | go | Ram | at |
| Sacral | D | C | ooo | you | Vam | at |
| Root | C | F | uh | up | Lam | at |
Aligning – Tuning strengthens each individual chakra. Aligning helps chakras work together. Each chakra has a partner that is an equal distance from the heart. For example, the partner pairs are the root and crown chakras, the sacral and ajna chakras and the solar plexus and throat chakras.
- Place one hand lightly on the body at the location of each member of a pair, such as the solar plexus and throat chakras
- Focus your attention on one chakra, then the other, rocking your attention back and forth between the two members of the pair and applying gentle pressure to each chakra, in turn, as it receives your attention
- Continue rocking your attention and gentle pressure for one minute
- Repeat the process two more times with the remaining chakra pairs
Another aligning procedure couples each chakra with the heart chakra. This process activates the flow of Universal Love that can be accessed through the heart center and distributes that Love to your entire being, through the other chakras.
- Place one hand on the heart chakra
- Place the other hand on the chakra that you are connecting to the heart center
- Focus your attention on the heart chakra, then the other chakra, rocking your attention back and forth between the two chakras and applying gentle pressure to each chakra, in turn, as it receives your attention
- Continue rocking your attention and gentle pressure for one minute
- Repeat the process five more times linking each of the remaining chakras with the heart chakra
Repairing – Life events can damage a chakra, piercing it like a punctured tire or perforating it like a blown-out speaker. One way to repair a damaged chakra is to gather energy around the face of the chakra as if you are building a sand structure at the beach. The root chakra faces the Earth. The crown chakra faces the sky. The remaining chakras face forward. The size of a chakra’s face varies with each person and diameters range from three to eight inches. If you form a circle with your hands and place this circle two or three inches above a chakra, you might feel a subtle resistance that indicates the edge of the chakra’s face. This feeling might resemble the resistance felt when two magnets are placed with identical poles facing each other, such as north to north. If you cannot feel the outer edge of the chakra’s face, take a breath, relax, set the intention that the circle you make with your hands corresponds with the edge of the chakra’s face and trust that the placement of your hands is correct.
- Make a circle with your hands that is the size of the chakra’s face and three inches above the chakra
- Enlarge the circle, making it four inches larger than the chakra’s face
- As if you are scooping wet sand, scoop energy inward, forming a circle the size of the chakra’s face
- Hold the energy in place for ten to fifteen seconds
- Repeat the scooping and holding steps two or three more times until you feel that the energy holds firm, just as a pile of wet sand would remain firm
- Repeat the entire process for each chakra
When people first start playing with subtle energies, the rational mind may not have a frame of reference to sense energetic experiences. As a result, the mind may not understand or value efforts to care for the chakras. If this happens, critical or judgmental thoughts might arise such as “Nothing is happening.” or “This is a waste of time.” or “I’m just making this up.” If this occurs, simply thank the mind for its input, continue the process and be curious about what you notice, if anything. Subtle processes such as clearing, tuning, aligning or repairing the chakras can increase vitality and strengthen your feeling of being grounded and centered. When you care for your chakras, their colors intensify. How bright is your rainbow?
Images courtesy of FreeImages.com: “Iceland Rainbows 3” by Dirk Paessler; “Meditation 2” image of chakras by miamiamia
