Introduction to Chakras

Chakra (chu-kra) noun

Directly translates from Sanskrit into wheel.

Chakras are wheels of vital life force energy that exist at specific points within your subtle body. They’re directly connected to the spine, the organs, and our emotional body, helping regulate the flow of energy throughout the entire system. According to Shaivism and texts like the Vigyan Bhairavi Tantra, there are actually 114 chakras! But for now, we’re going to focus on the 7 most commonly known.

Chakras are made up of non-physical, subtle energy. I like to think of it like how our phones can pick up on electronic signals. There are no visible wires connecting your phone to those signals, yet we can call, text, and access the entire internet through something we can’t physically see. Our bodies work in a similar way. We are constantly receiving and interacting with subtle energies, and when our system is clear and supported, we’re able to tune into those frequencies more directly. Yoga and meditation are beautiful ways to refine that connection, but truly, there are endless creative ways to open and strengthen that channel.

Our chakras also mirror the themes of our human experience. The lower three, the root, sacral, and solar plexus relate more to survival, safety, identity, and our material world. The upper three, the throat, third eye, and crown connect to spirituality, intuition, and ascended & expansive expression. And right in the center is the heart chakra, which is the bridge that brings it all together, linking the physical and the spiritual, the grounded and the expansive.

History of Chakras

The concept of chakras originates from ancient India, first mentioned in the Vedic texts between 1500–500 BCE. They were described as energy centers or junction points where life force energy, or prana, flows through the body. Like many ancient teachings, the understanding of chakras has evolved and expanded over time.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, these teachings began making their way into the Western world through scholars translating Sanskrit texts and spiritual teachers like Sir John Woodroffe (also known as Arthur Avalon), who helped share Tantric philosophy and the chakra system more widely. As Eastern and Western perspectives began to intertwine, chakras became associated not only with energy flow, but also with color theory, emotional states, personal development, healing, and self-expression.

There’s so much more history I could share, but we're just going to scrape the surface here.

My Personal Reflection

To become aware of and truly cultivate a relationship with your chakras is to give yourself access to more of you, more of your vitality, your depth, and your rich life force energy. The more we understand our chakras, the more we begin to uncover the unprocessed emotions and energetic blocks that can quietly or loudly influence the physical body.

For a long time, I thought emotional blocks and physical issues were separate… but they’re not. Not even close. The body is more brilliant and intelligent than we give it credit for. It stores, protects, and holds onto emotional energy in ways we don’t always consciously understand. The chakras act as gateways into that stored energy, almost like accessing files on a hard drive that have been sitting there, waiting to be seen, felt, and understood.

And once we can identify those blocks, we can begin to move and heal them. And what’s beautiful is that as the emotional and energetic layers begin to shift, the physical body often follows.

Yoga ,meditation, nourishing foods, and energy work have been some of my biggest allies in this process. They’ve supported me in ways I can honestly say changed my life—helping me move through depression and other physical imbalances with more awareness, compassion, and connection to my body.

We will never be perfectly healed or completely balanced. Working with your chakras is all about the relationship you have with them, rather than focusing on perfection. And the more you listen, the more your body will tell you exactly what it needs.

The Chakras

The flow of life force energy between each chakra begins at the base of the spine, where the Root Chakra is located. It then moves upward through the sacral and solar plexus, continuing through the other chakras until it reaches the crown. From there, our life force energy showers down over us like a fountain, flowing to our feet before magnetizing back to the root and rising up through the chakras once again.

Let’s break down the chakras—where they’re located, what they represent, how to activate them, and their essence.

Root Chakra - Muladhara (moo-lah-dara) Root Support

The first chakra grounds and stabilizes our life force energy. Its energetic drive and focus are toward survival and security. Think of it as the gatekeeper for the rest of the chakras. If we are only focused on survival and attaining security, we won't have sufficient access to the other 6 chakras.

Color: Red

Element: Earth

Location: Base of the spine/ colon / perinium and extends to the legs, hips, and feet

Balanced Emotions: Safety, survival, stability, trust, belonging, instinct

Unbalanced Emotions: Fear, out of control, ungrounded, scarcity

Activating your Root Chakra

Imagine a cord of red energy dropping deep down into a radiant sun in the earth. Breath up this energy through your cord into your root and imagine the cord becoming slightly wider with each breath as your root starts to glow red.

Root Chakra Affirmation

"I am one with Mother Earth, who fills and surrounds me with love. I am at peace. I am safe. I am grounded. So, it is."

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Sacral Chakra - Svadhisthana (sva-dees-thana) Home of Self

The second chakra and is where our life force energy becomes more fluid. This is also referred to as the seat of our subconscious. Meaning, where a lot of our emotions are processed and felt. It also where the energy of sexuality exists. It is also directly connected to our creativity and creative self-expression.

Color: Orange

Element: Water

Location: Low spine / kidneys / reproductive organs / bladder

Balanced Emotions: Creative expression, positive sensuality, emotional fluidity

Unbalanced Emotions: Emotional stagnation, shame, guilt, repressed emotions and sexuality

Activating your Sacral Chakra

Practicing any creative activity where you can find a flow will activate your sacral chakra. Also take mindful belly breaths while imagining the color orange as the air you're breathing in is also helpful.

Sacral Chakra Affirmation

"I am the flow that awakens my creativity. This energy grows into an all-consuming wave, filling my entire body with vital life force energy. I am vibrant, luminous, and magnetic."

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Solar Plexus - Manipura (mahnee-puda) Center of Will-Power

The third chakra is where our life force energy transforms. It has the greatest concentration of life force energy. It's connected to the fire element so it's helpful when you're needing the extra fire in life to motivate your thoughts and energy towards specific goals and intentions.

Color: Yellow

Element: Fire

Location: Navel / stomach / small intestines / liver / pancreas

Balanced Emotions: Self-confidence, will-power, motivation, joy, leadership

Unbalanced Emotions: Anger, need to control, self-conscious

Activating your Solar Plexus

Feel a huge glowing sun radiating from your navel. As you breath in imagine the light growing and as you exhale allow that light to radiate throughout your whole body.

Solar Plexus Affirmation

"I am filled with the radiant light of the sun. I radiate power, vitality, and joy."

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Heart - Anahata (an-ah-ha-ta) The Seat of Consciousness

The fourth chakra that connects the lower and upper chakras. This is where we process thoughts, emotions, and energies related to compassion, love, grief, and relationships with others and ourselves. It's connected to the element of air so is helpful when we are needing to lighten up, breathe it out, and need emotional spaciousness in heartbreaking or emotionally uncomfortable situations.

Color: Green

Element: Air

Location: Center of chest / lungs / circulatory system / thymus

Balanced Emotions: Compassionate, empathetic, forgiving, loving

Unbalanced Emotions: Cold, resentful, depressed, overly judgmental

Activating your Heart Chakra

Imagine your heart is a gateway or large double doors. Taking deep chest breaths in and out. Imagine the gateway or doors opening with radiant green light or lush fauna growing gently and powerfully through the doors and around your entire body. Let the fauna and light flourish around you.

Heart Chakra Affirmations

"I am a radiant being of divine love and life. I am bathed in a forest of divine grace, joy and beauty."

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Throat - Visuddha (vi-shoe-duh) Seat of Purification

The fifth chakra purifies and transforms subtle energies into expression and sound. This is where we process thoughts, emotions, and energies related to communication, creative expression, truth, and authenticity. It's connected to the ether or space element so it's helpful when you're needing to voice something that is unseen or unfelt and when you're needing to communicate complexities.

Color: Light Blue

Element: Ether / Space

Location: Throat / thyroid / vocal chords / mouth / jaws

Balanced Emotions: Creative expression, authenticity, clear communication, honesty

Unbalanced Emotions: Creative blocks, inauthentic, lying, lack in communication, resisting the urge to speak and be heard

Activating your Throat Chakra

Imagine that your throat is filled with an empty space. Feel that empty space grow to the size of an orange and even larger to the size of a grapefruit. Then allow it to spread across your entire body. You're inside the egg of creation where all things are possible. Speak what needs to be spoken from this space.

Throat Chakra Affirmations

"I am one with creation. I allow pure divine creation to speak to and through me. My words are truth, fair, and full of creative possibilities."

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Third Eye - Ajna (Aah-gnya or Ahj-nah) Command Center / Seat of the Mind

The sixth chakra where we perceive, interpret, and use our intuition. This is the center of psychic awareness, mental control, and spiritual discernment. It's also where we process thoughts, emotions, and energies related to awareness, observation, discernment, and insight. It's connected to the non-classical element or traditionally known as the element of light. So, it's helpful when we are needing to shine a light on things and to reveal unseen energies or thoughts.

Color: Indigo

Element: Light

Location: Middle of forehead / center of skull / pineal gland

Balanced Emotions: Intuitive, insightful, mental clarity, balanced psychic awareness

Unbalanced Emotions: Confusion, delusion, illusion

Activating the Third Eye

Breathe deeply, 8 - 10 times, into the middle of your forehead and holding the breath there for 4 seconds. As you continue to take breaths in and out imagine a large door gently opening with your breath. As the door continues to open imagine white light pouring into your brain.

Third Eye Affirmations

"I am pure awareness. I see all things with clarity. I envision truth and love. My intuition is radiant and strong."

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Crown - Sahasara (saw-huh-sara) Thousand Petal Lotus

The seventh and final chakra is where we connect with infinite consciousness, divine union with all, and a profound and expansive sense of self. This is where we process thoughts, emotions, and energies related to spirituality, freedom, peace, and transcendence. I like to think of this chakra as our antenna that connects us to anything and everything outside of us. It's beyond any element because it represents the union of all. It's helpful to connect with this chakra to experience a grander sense of self, universal peace and union, and spiritual transcendence.

Color: White

Element: Beyond the elements

Location: Outside of our physical body, 4-5 inches above our head

Balanced Emotions: Liberation, union of self, dissolution of individual identity, connection to the divine

Unbalanced Emotions: Closed off, isolated, stuck, paranoid, negative existential thoughts

Activating the Crown Chakra

Imagine a white radiant thousand petaled lotus of light opening up just above your head. Imagine this white light energy emanating from the center of lotus dripping down your entire body slowly like honey.

Crown Chakra Affirmations

"I am a radiant being of light. My entire being is filled with the light of divinity. I am always purely connected to the consciousness of source / God / Mother Earth / supreme / (whatever word resonates with your beliefs the most)

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BONUS Chakra Activation

Incorporating fruits and vegetables that align with the colors of different chakras can be a simple and nourishing way to support energetic balance. For example, bananas are often associated with the solar plexus, while red potatoes can support the root chakra. As you prepare meals, consider getting creative and intentional choosing a variety of colorful, whole foods that correspond to different chakras can turn cooking into a mindful and supportive ritual.

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Final Thoughts

Our bodies are made up of many interconnected and intelligent systems, and the chakras are not separate from them. Rather, they are deeply interwoven within our biological processes, acting as a bridge between our physical and energetic bodies. As we build a relationship with our chakras, we may become more attuned to both physical and energetic imbalances. This awareness can help us feel more grounded in our bodies, process emotional and spiritual experiences with greater ease, and develop a deeper understanding of ourselves.

These systems have evolved over thousands of years to support our overall well-being and vitality, gently guiding us back to what it means to feel balanced, connected, and fully human.

The study of chakras extends far beyond what is shared here, with many additional layers and perspectives to explore. If you’re just beginning your journey, this is a great starting point. I hope you found this helpful stay tuned for a deeper dive into the chakras in a future post!