How Chakras Effect Our Physical, Emotional and Spiritual Health (Blog Article 1 of 2)

​In my opinion, everyone can benefit from learning about the chakras because we all have them. Chakras are not religion or gender specific. I will teach you how to respect your religious practices, understand your chakras and meditate through them, all the while respecting your God or higher power.
 
I am a licensed counseling therapist. In my practice, I often help individuals learn the difference between energy and emotions, because quite frankly, without knowledge and education, they can feel the same. Read this post to learn more about the differences here. It’s fascinating information.
 
Some people release intense energy that is palpable. This energy penetrates into those around quickly and effectively. Have you ever been around someone who was grossly negative or powerfully upset? The energy from individuals like this looks to ground itself and sometimes picks other people to do it. You can feel the intensity in your body just by being around them and can sometimes feel it just by walking into the room.
 
Some of us are more sensitive and porous than others. As a therapist, I often think of myself as a lightening rod for intense energy and emotion. I feel it buzzing around inside my body during session and then ground it to the earth. We are about to explore what this looks and feels like and then will discuss how to get it out of your body (blog article #2). If you suffer with traditional anxiety, depression, ADHD or simply feel overwhelmed or stressed out, keep reading.

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​What is a Chakra?

​Our bodies are full of energy and energy systems and the chakras are specific energy centers located in different places in the body. When these energy systems are open and free flowing at an even capacity, we can experience calm balance. If too much energy exists in one area of the body or chakra or if there is a blockage, physical symptoms can arise. These symptoms can easily be wrongly explained away by an emotion/mental health diagnosis or can be thought of as a physical illness. Learning to listen to your body at all three levels is important.
 
We have 7 main Chakras within our bodies. I will systematically discuss each one and will explain how each benefits us and also what it could look like if it is out of balance or closed off and protected. We will then learn a meditation to re-balance the energy and ground the excess. We will start from the top of the body and work our way down. 

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​The 7th Chakra: Crown Chakra

​Those who are learning to cultivate their spiritual side and are able to sit in the presence of something larger than themselves, are utilizing their 7th chakra. This chakra is located at the top of the head. This is the place where we receive spiritual energy from above. For some this may be God, to others angels, to others still the moon, stars or sun. It really doesn’t matter how you classify the origin of the spiritual energy that uplifts and rejuvenates you. Your individual path of faith is important to respect and deepen.
 
Those who have an open and free flowing crown chakra have a strong faith base and belief in something or someone higher than the human self. To strengthen and mature this chakra takes faithful prayer, meditation, spiritual readings, etc. Those with a closed chakra may struggle to believe in a spiritual life.
 

​The 6th Chakra: The 3rd Eye

​The 3rd eye is located central on the forehead just above the two eyes. This is our place of wisdom and intuition, when the logical, left hemisphere of our brain is integrated with the creative right side of the brain. You can see how this chakra could absolutely react to the depth of the crown chakra. Those who can easily tap into intuition and trust the wisdom coming from within or above are cultivating the energy in this chakra.
 
I saw a 30 year old mother of two a few years ago for therapy after leaving her husband due to domestic violence. After talking abtou the chakras, she noticed that her wisdom had been silenced and muted during the abuse. The way she parented her children gave her evidence that this chakra needed more attention and that she needed to understand the memories with her husband that made her begin to close this off. As she began to heal these memories and her chakra began to open, she experienced physical feeling in her forehead area. Off and on throughout the first week, she felt a dizziness come and go. We watched it to see where it would go, making sure it wasn’t an illness related dizzy and sure enough, when her chakra opened again, the symptoms subsided.
 

​The 5th Chakra: The Throat Chakra

​Located in the throat, this chakra is about our ability to communicate effectively. Are we speaking from the heart (next chakra) effectively, honestly and with love or are we screaming and hurting those around us? An overactive chakra (yelling, swearing at others, etc) can be just as detrimental as one that is closed (when we shut down and don’t talk about the issues). Think about the times you’ve had a “lump in your throat” (throat chakra) when something is painful (heart chakra), just before you speak about it. Sometimes physical symptoms arise when the chakra is out of balance. Sore throats and frequent illnesses in this area could be looked at through the lens of this chakra.

​The 4th Chakra: The Heart Chakra

​The heart chakra is located in the chest area. Not necessarily over the heart itself, but over the chest in it’s entirety. The place we feel love, hurt or care for others, a need to give.
 
A dad sat in my office learning of his teenage daughter’s secret drug problem. He began to breath deeply and as he did, his hand went over his heart. Why? Because he felt a deep pain for his daughter…the one he loved and his heart chakra became activated. Was it his natural heart? No. His heart chakra at this moment was letting him know that it was being affected. Becoming aware of something like this in the moment will help the situation stay at this level. Noticing how this chakra feels is important so that it does not become overly activated or close itself to more energy.

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The 3rd Chakra: The Solar Plexus

​This chakra is located below the rib cage and above the belly button. I think of this chakra as my power seat. An overactive solar plexus would look bully like and thoughtless. Think about how this would impact the throat chakra (saying mean and hurtful things) as well as the heart chakra (I just don’t care how I hurt you). Sometimes we need to strengthen and speak to this chakra to feel more independent and powerful and to stay committed to what is important. Someone with digestive, stomach or other symptoms in this part of body may look at the solar plexus and sacral chakras to see if they might be chronically out of balance.

​The 2nd Chakra: Sacral Chakra

​This is our place of passion, emotion and creativity. It is where sexual energy is expressed and enjoyed and where creativity is cultivated.  The sacral chakra is located below the belly button and above the tailbone. In the sexual realm, an overactive sacral chakra may look like someone who doesn’t respect the power of sexuality and sleeps with multiple partners. This could also be one who has been sexually abused and is still triggered often. One with a closed sacral chakra may be sexually repressed or may lack luster and passion.
 
This moves us to the passion/creative side of the chakra outside of sexuality. When creativity and passion are rich, and emotions are authentic, this chakra is flowing nicely. When life feels dead and dark and drive is at a minimal, this chakra could be sluggish or closed. You can see how these chakras speak to the heart chakra and even the 3rd eye. All chakras impact each other!

​1st Chakra: Root Chakra

​This is our place of grounding, safety, survival and security and is located in the tail bone area. When we worry about our basic needs, our root chakra is involved. When we lose our footing and have too much going on around us to feel grounded, this is our root chakra begging to be balanced. Fight or flight responses are impacted in this chakra.

​Imagine the opposite extreme, not to lose our footing, but to feel cemented and stuck. Being rooted does not mean becoming rigid and legalistic. “We will never have enough money”, says the man with six figures saved in the bank and a healthy retirement plan. Interestingly enough, he grew up poor worrying about losing electricity and trying to think of how he could work to help the family AND play football. Healing the chronic impact made to this chakra can be an important piece in the healing path. Learning to listen can be priceless.

I Understand What a Chakra is...Now What?!

​This article doesn’t stop here! Now that you understand the chakras uses and effects on mental and physical health, you can learn how to sit quietly and listen to each of them. The next article walks you through a meditation designed to create awareness of how each of the chakras have been impacted.
 
Remember: meditation is NOT specific to any one religion or spiritual group. Christians, Muslims, Buddhists and those not identifying with any religion can safely benefit by sitting and listening to the body. We have a duty to be the best humans we can, to make the world better because of our existence. Meditating through the Chakras can be part of that process.
 
Gabrielle Anderson is the owner of and a therapist at the Family Therapy Center in Ashburn, Virginia. She is a married mother of two and lives in the Northern Virginia area. Gabrielle can be contacted here.