Are you hearing a lot about chakras, but not sure what it all means? Or how to tell which of your chakras are open and which ones are closed? Here’s a quick guide to get you up to speed, and help you align the subtle energy system that connects your mind, body and soul.
What are your chakras?
One way to view it is that your body is a super computer that stores all your memories, emotions, and trauma. The intelligence of your body means that different areas relate to different parts of your life. Chakras have been seen through history in all different traditions, but is believed to have originated in India between 1500 and 500 BC in the oldest text called the Vedas. The Vedas are the earliest Sanskrit literary records and the most ancient scriptures of Hinduism. The seven chakras each relate to specific physical, emotional, psychological, emotional, and spiritual states of being and influence all areas of your life. Within and between each chakra flows our prana, or life force energy. Hence when one chakra is blocked, it can create situations in certain areas of your life.
So how do you align and open each chakra? Let’s start at the beginning, with your base.
Your Root Chakra
Your root chakra is represented by the colour red, and is located as the energy centre at the base of your spine. It’s the first chakra and represents your sense of belonging, connection to the earth, and your primal consciousness of survival. It is the chakra that holds your most fundamental needs for food, safety, sex, and continued survival. When your root chakra is out of balance you may feel fearful, like you are unable to look after yourself and your core needs, and lacking stability. This chakra provides the links between our energetic system and the physical world and is our base for our life force energy.
An open and clear root chakra can be characterised by feeling confident in taking care of your own needs, feeling safe in the world, with a healthy appetite for life. When this is chakra is balanced you will have a sense that you can handle what life brings to you.
The energy of Root chakra allows us to harness courage, resourcefulness and the will to live during challenging times. Root chakra connects us with spiritual energies of our ancestors, and our ancestors challenges and triumphs. Since Root Chakra carries our ancestral memories, basically everyone experiences challenges or imbalances within Root chakra.
War, famine, natural disasters, and any events that threaten our basic survival, are all recorded within energies of the Root chakra. These memories are imprinted in the subtle body (i.e life energy) 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 or latent.
Ways to strengthen your root chakra include wearing red, eating red fruit, practicing yoga, being in nature, and grounding your bare feet on the earth. For more guidance on your balancing your root chakra and other energy centres, you can speak with our Brazilian Shaman and Kahli Guide Ruda Iande.
