The Root Chakra is the first chakra and is located at the base of the spine. It is the root of your being and establishes the deepest connections with your physical body, your environment and with the Earth. Muladhara is the most instinctual of all chakras – it is your survival centre. Your fight and flight response is initiated from this chakra. This is your primal, animal nature.
The energy of Muladhara allows us to harness courage, resourcefulness and the will to live during trying times. It connects us with spiritual energies of our ancestors, their challenges and their triumphs.
Since Base Chakra carries our ancestral memories, basically everyone experiences challenges or blockages within muladhara. War, famine, natural disasters, and any events that threaten our basic survival, are all recorded within energies of the first chakra.
These memories are imprinted in the subtle body and are passed down from generation to generation creating unconscious generational patterns. It is our work to take responsibility for our own lives and bring to light that which is unconscious.
All of the seven chakras are important and interconnected with each other. Usually, balancing one chakra will create change in another chakra.
It is important though to balance the Root Chakra first, before we proceed to others, or we will lack the stability and rootedness necessary for true transformation and personal growth. We cannot grow and change unless we feel safe and secure.
First Chakra at a glance:
Root Chakra Affirmations
I feel deeply rooted.
I am connected to my body.
I feel safe and secure.
Just like a tree or a star, I have a right to be here.
I stand for my values, for truth, and for justice.
I have what I need.
I am grounded, stable, and standing on my own two feet.
I nurture my body with healthy food, clean water, exercise, relaxation, and connection with nature.
I am open to possibilities.
I am grateful for all the challenges that helped me to grow and transform.
I trust in the goodness of life.
I make choice that are healthy and good for me.
I trust myself.
I love life.
Sanskrit name: Muladhara – root support Element: Earth Color: Red Shape: Square Petals of the lotus: Four Seed sound: LANG Vowel sound: O Rights: To have Endocrine gland: Adrenal cortex Physical association:The skeletal structure, teeth, large intestine, kidneys, blood Psychological function: Survival and self preservation Identity: Physical identity Developmental stage: Womb to 12 months Challenge: Fear Plane: Physical plane Planets: Saturn, Earth Deity: Brahma, Dakini, Ganesha Mythological Animal White elephant with seven trunks Sense organ: Nose Predominant sense: Smell Incense: Cedar Herb: Sage Sephira: Malkuth Tarot suite: Pentacles
Learn about yoga poses to balance your first chakra. Yoga is an exercise for your body, mind, emotions, and spirit. By practicing yoga, you can connect with the deeper parts of yourself that may not be accessible to you during your daily life. You will also learn to releaseexcess root chakra energy.
The Sacral Chakra is your passion and pleasure centre and it is located in the pelvic area. While the Root Chakra is satisfied with survival, the 2nd chakra seeks pleasure and enjoyment.
The gift of this chakra is experiencing our lives through feelings and sensations. The second chakra is the centre of feeling, emotion, pleasure, sensuality, intimacy, and connection.
The energy of this chakra allows you to let go, to move, and to feel change and transformation occurring within your body. It allows you to experience this moment as it is, in its own fullness.
The main challenge for the second chakra is the conditioning of our society. We live in a society where feelings are not valued, where passion, and emotional reactions are being frowned upon. We are being taught not to “loose control”. And we get disconnected from our bodies, our feelings.
As if this was not enough, we also experience the wounds of our collective cultural struggles over many sexual issues of our society. On one hand sexuality is magnified and glorified, and on the other hand it is rejected. This results in either blocked or excessive second chakra issues.
No wonder we have so many issues with our passion centre, the wellspring of feelings, enjoyment, and sensuality.
Do you love your body? Do you enjoy feeling your body? When was the last time you walked barefoot on the grass and felt the sensation of ground underneath your feet?
The sacral chakra is also your centre of creativity. Passion is the fuel of creative energy. Everything you create, a poem, a drawing, or a website, originates from the energy of second chakra. It is also where your fertility originates. After all, conceiving a child is a creative process.
A person with an open Svadhisthana Chakra is passionate, present in her body, sensual, creative, and connected to her feeling.
Sacral Chakra at a glance:
Sacral Chakra Affirmations
I love and enjoy my body.
I have healthy boundaries.
I am open to experiencing the present moment through my senses.
I am passionate.
I feel pleasure and abundance with every breath I take.
I nourish my body with healthy food and clean water.
I know how to take care of my needs.
I value and respect my body.
I am open to touch and closeness.
I allow myself to experience pleasure.
My sexuality is sacred.
Emotions are the language of my soul.
I take good care of my physical body.
I am at peace.
Sanskrit name: Svadhisthana (sweetness) Element: Water Color: Orange Shape: Circle with crescent Petals of the lotus: Six Seed sound: VANG Vowel sound: Oo Rights: To feel, to want Endocrine gland: Ovaries, testicles Physical association: Womb, genitals, kidney, bladder Psychological function: Movement and connection Identity: Emotional Developmental stage: 6 months – 2 years Challenge: Guilt Plane: Astral plane Planets: Mercury, Jupiter, Moon Deity: Indra, Rakini, Vishnu Mythological Animal: Incense: Gardenia, damiana Herb: Fennel, corriander Sephira: Yesod Tarot Suit: Cups
As you try these sacral chakra balancing poses try listening to
The best sacral chakra yoga poses are those that work with movement in the hips and lower abdomen. Some poses are aimed at opening and some are aimed at moving energy through this area. Learn yoga poses to open the flow of creativity in your life, to feel more sensual and to experience your life with more passion.
Sacral Chakra – Sun Salutation to encourage graceful, flowing movements. Movements that keep us fluid and flexible in body, mind, and spirit. Learn the sequence of 12 powerful poses to balance your second chakra.
Evening Meditation: Chakra Balancing Music for Sleep
The Solar Plexus Chakra, located between the navel and solar plexus, is your power centre – your Core Self. While the Sacral chakra seeks pleasure and enjoyment, the third chakra is all about who you are.
The gift of this chakra is sensing your personal power, being confident, responsible, and reliable. The third chakra is the centre of your self-esteem, your willpower, self-discipline, as well as warmth in your personality.
The energy of this chakra allows you to transform inertia into action and movement. It allows you to meet challenges and mover forward in your life.
The main challenge for the third chakra is to use your personal power in a balanced manner. What does that mean? It means consciously harnessing the energy of the solar plexus chakra. It means being proactive rather then reactive or inactive.
People with excessive third chakra energy react to life circumstances, they have emotional outbursts and are often stressed out. People with blocked or deficient third chakra are passive and inactive – allowing life to pass by while they do nothing.
Strong third chakra reflects the ability to move forward in life with confidence and power. It reflects the ability to make conscious choices to choose and to act.
The message of the third chakra is: You have the power to choose. Your can choose to achieve your life purpose or you can live out your karma or past experiences.
What do you choose? Do you choose love, light and healing? Do you accept that you have the power to choose? Do you feel a sense of freedom when you make a choice?
The third chakra is the centre of your self-esteem. Every time you judge or criticize yourself, you deplete this chakra and weaken your willpower. Self love, self acceptance, and acknowledgement of your own worth are the building blocks of the third chakra.
A woman with an open and balanced Manipura Chakra values herself and her work, is confident in her ability to do something well, loves and accepts herself, is willing to express herself in a powerful way, knows that she has the freedom to choose to be herself and direct her own life.
Solar Plexus Chakra at a glance:
Art Journal Exercise: Purchase a canvas or a pad of watercolor paper.
Draw a circular mandala design and paint or colour it in shades of
yellow-write as many or all of the affirmations below on the artwork.
Hang somewhere you will easily be able to access.
Solar Plexus Chakra Affirmations
I love and accept myself.
I stand up for myself.
I am strong and courageous.
I am worthy of love, kindness, and respect.
I choose the best for myself.
I express myself in a powerful way.
I am proud of my achievements.
I honor my self.
I choose healthy relationships.
I am authentic.
I direct my own life.
I appreciate my strengths.
I feel my own power.
I am free to choose in any situation.
I seek opportunities for personal and spiritual growth.
I am at peace with myself.
Sanskrit name: Manipura (lustrous gem) Element: Fire Color: Yellow Shape: Triangle (downward-pointing) Petals of the lotus: Ten Seed sound: Ram Vowel sound: Ah Rights: To act Endocrine gland: Adrenals, pancreas Physical association: Digestive system, liver, gall bladder Psychological function: Will Identity: Ego identity Developmental stage: 18 – 42 months Challenge: Shame Plane: Celestial plane Planets: Sun and Mars Deity: Rudra, Lakini Mythological Animal: Ram Incense: Saffron, musk, sandalwood Herb: Cinnamon, ginger Sephira: Hod, Netzach Tarot Suit: Wands
The best solar plexus chakra yoga poses are those that strengthen your core and help you to feel more powerful and confident. Step into the Warrior I pose to access your inner spiritual warrior or go deeper with courage into the Bow pose. Continue into part 2 yoga poses, such as Boat pose or Lion’s pose.
Music for the Solar Plexus by the Stunning Sheila Chandra
6th Third-eye or Brow: Indigo chakra located between and just above the physical eyes, in the center of the brows. Its Sanskrit name is ajna. The third-eye chakra is associated with the mind, ideas, thoughts, dreams, intuition and psychic abilities.
If the third-eye chakra becomes unbalanced, we may feel bombarded with our own thoughts, unable to process them effectively and may feel stuck in an emotional and intellectual rut. We lose our sense of intuition, making our judgment clouded and causing us to make poor decisions. With a blocked third-eye chakra, we become closed to new ideas and fall off the paths of our true destiny.
Common psychological symptoms of an unbalanced third-eye chakra: headaches and migraines, nightmares, seizures, neurological disorders, personality disorders and neuroses, learning difficulties, and hallucinations.
Common physical symptoms of an unbalanced third-eye chakra: eye problems, glaucoma, ear problems and hearing difficulties, spinal conditions, and scalp/hair issues.
Healing the Third-Eye Chakra:
Balancing and opening the third-eye chakra promotes clarity, inspiration, and innovation. It allows us to follow our dreams and enhances our innate psychic abilities and spiritual connections. A balanced third-eye chakra helps us process the timeline of our own lives, enabling us to learn from our past, be present in the now, and see and achieve our future. Dream interpretation becomes easier, intuitions are stronger and clearer, and we feel a deeper connection to the universal plan of our lives. This sense of being “guided” opens up doors of possibilities to reaching our goals. It is important to wear or carry crystals/gemstones to heal the third-eye chakra and maintain its positive energy flow.