Chakra is a Sanskrit word meaning spinning wheel. These are a system of seven energy centers located along the spine. Each chakra corresponds to an area of the body, a set of behavioral characteristics and stages of spiritual growth. Practicing yoga and focusing your energies during different postures can help you to align your chakras and get all the wheels spinning in the same direction and speed. Understanding how to }ne tune and control your chakras through yoga and meditation can help bring balance and peace to your mind, body and spirit.
There are seven chakras, each associated with a different part of the body along the spine from the perineum to the crown of your head. Each chakra is associated with a particular body location, a color, a central emotional/behavioral issue, as well as many other personal aspects including identity, goals, rights, etc.
The seven chakras are:
- Muladhara- base of the spine
- Svadhisthana- abdomen, genitals, lower back/hip
- Manipura- solar plexus
- Anahata- heart area
- Vishuddha- throat
- Ajna- brow
- Sahasrara- top of head, cerebral cortex.
Through the movements and postures of yoga, you can learn to focus your concentration and energy to and from the various chakras in your body. This can allow you to compensate for areas that may be out of sync with the rest of your body or not active at all. By balancing the energy among all seven of the chakras, balance can be achieved.
This spiritual energy is known as Kundalini energy. In its dormant state, it can be visualized as a coiled up snake resting at the base of your spine, the Muladhara chakra. Since the chakras act as valves or pumps regulating the flow of energy through your system, controlled and purposeful movements such as yoga can be extremely beneficial in realigning your chakras in a way that can cause great benefits to you in your physical and emotional wellbeing.
Using Meditation To Clear Blockages
There are seven basic Chakras in our bodies. Each has a location, a function, an influence, and color. They are the seven centers of energy in the human body.
The chakras symbolize the different stages we are to go through to attain the ultimate nirvana. We start at the base center and work up. The ultimate is the crown center, which is almost impossible to attain.
In meditation we focus on the base center, bring a bright light up through each chakra to the crown center and back, taking deep breaths through your nose and letting go through our mouth slowly while only focusing on the light and the chakras.
If there is a blockage you will feel it. This is why you need to understand chakra meditation before you start. It’s a wonderful way to cleanse your body of blockages. If one of your chakras is blocked you will feel a strange sensation, or different feelings, just relax and continue on by focusing on just that chakra to find out what the problem is.
Any blockage can be worked out and healed. This is why people feel out of balance. One or more of their chakras are usually blocked. When you do the meditation you need to be in a peaceful and quiet place.Sit with your feet on the ground and the palms of your hands facing up. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths before you start so you can relax. Then visualize a bright light and begin your chakra meditation.