Episode 63: The Chakras - A Framework for Holistic Living

Two episodes ago I spoke about how discovering the throat chakra changed my life. Today I am going to dive into the other 6 chakras as they really can provide a framework to support your wellbeing from a physical, emotional and energetic point of view. The chakras can help you to navigate life and experience a broader sense of living.

However you are experiencing life, there is something for you!

Read on to discover:

- What the chakras are

- The main characteristics of each chakra

- Some examples of what an excess or deficient chakra may present as

- The distinction between the upwards and downwards currents

- How healing and life isn't a linear journey

If you've listened to any of my previous podcasts, or read any of the previous blogs, you've likely seen and heard me speaking passionately about the sister science to Yoga, Ayurveda. Yoga, the chakra's and Ayurveda are all interrelated and come from the same ancient wisdom from India, there are so many links between them. I'm sure in the future the term 'Ayurveda' will become as widely well known as Yoga and the chakra's.

So let's jump straight into the map of the chakra's that help us to navigate life and experience a broader sense of living. The main seven chakra's are known as the spinning discs of energy. They are arranged vertically along our core, commonly visualized using the spine. If you're not used to thinking about subtle energies, think about the wind blowing as an example- we can't see it, but we can feel the soft and gentle, or sometimes strong and powerful air as it moves.

In our bodies, we have over 30 trillion cells that are all vibrating, just like all of the atoms in visible and non-visible objects all around us. There is an energetic frequency and each of our chakra's can have it's own frequency too. It may be spinning in balance, or it may be spinning too fast or too slowly, creating either an excess or deficiency in that chakra. The chakra's can be seen as an ingredient to a recipe to make you feel whole. Let's dive into them individually..

Chakra 1- The Root Chakra

This is located at the base of the spine and it's central issue is survival. The importance of feeling safe, stable and having everything we need to survive. When the root chakra is balanced we feel calm, grounded and that our feet are firmly planted. The root chakra also connects to an element of trust and prosperity, if we don't feel safe, or financially secure this will have an impact on the root chakra.

The rights of the root chakra says that we have the right to be here and to have.

The right to be here on this earth, and the right to have all that we need to survive and flourish. When we are fearful, or not feeling safe and secure this can cause us to feel overwhelmed, restless or slightly spaced out. In contrast if we have an excess of this we could feel heaviness and like we are stuck holding onto a lot of built up emotions.

Chakra 2- The Sacral Chakra

This is located in the base of the spine, along with the pelvis, the hips and reproductive organs. It's central issue is our sexuality and emotions. When we are balanced in this area, we are in-tune with our body and our emotions, letting them flow easily rather than resisting against them.

The rights of the sacral chakra says that we have the right to feel our emotions and want enjoyment and pleasure in many aspects of our lives.

If our sacral chakra is unbalanced, an overwhelming feeling we would experience is guilt and perhaps be overly emotional. We may find it difficult to say how we really feel or over-indulge more than we should be in various aspects of our lives. Or alternatively if we are deficient in this area, we may experience feelings of being overly ridged and unable to live with flexibility in our lives, this may lead to us feel shut off or emotionally numb. We may also experience a fear of pleasure, whether it may be choosing diet and lifestyle choices that we don't enjoy because we feel like we should be doing them.

Chakra 3- The Solar Plexus

The solar plexus is connected to our power and will. Sometimes when we initially think about power, we connect this to politics or negative stereotypes - instead try to think of it as we are all powerful, and we have the power to make our own choices and feel empowered in our lives. It may be about pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone, using our drive and determination to reach our goals and passions in life. When we are balanced we will feel we have purpose and vitality.

The rights of the solar plexus are to act. To take action and take that step forward.

Making progress and moving forwards. Knowing that there is no 'perfect time' to start something new and taking the action. If we are imbalanced in this area we may feel an overwhelming state of shame, whether that is around previous choices we've made, or perhaps wish we had made differently. We may be feeling aggressive, dominant or overly competitive as we strive to move forward as much as possible. On the other hand if we are deficient in this area, we experience poor self-esteem, struggle to make our own choices or allow other's to dictate what we do. We may also experience feelings of fear and sluggishness.

Chakra 4- The Heart Chakra

The heart charka is all about love, relationships and compassion- both to ourselves and others. It is also about self-acceptance, being content with who we are as a person complete with all of our positives, our flaws, our quirks and our characteristics.

The rights of the heart chakra are to love and be loved.

One of the main imbalances for the heart chakra is grief. When the heart charka is in excess, we may be overly dependent on others or we may experience poor boundaries whereby we are giving or receiving too much. We may also be possessive, or jealous, sometimes creating narcissistic tendencies in some. If we are deficient in the heart chakra, we might see this as feeling lonely, shy or isolated. As well as feeling bitter and critical to ourselves, our surroundings as well as others.

Chakra 5- The Throat Chakra

If you want to learn more about this chakra in particular, episode 61- From Voice Loss to Speaking My Truth was all about the throat chakra and the life changing moments I have gone through since learning about this. You can listen to the podcast for this episode here, or read the blog here.

The throat chakra is all about clear communication and creativity.

The rights of the throat chakra are to speak and be heard.

One of the key imbalances of the throat chakra may be lying. An excess in this chakra could present itself as a stutter, or the inability to communicate clearly. If we are deficient in this area we may experience a fear of speaking, shyness and a poor rhythm in our lives and communication techniques.

Chakra 6- The Third Eye Chakra.

This is located at the point between our eyes and connects to our imagination and intuition. Trusting our intuition to guide us if something feels right or wrong.

The rights of the third eye chakra are to be able to see.

This could be about seeing physically and also using our imagination to think about the excitement of the future or expanding to think about the bigger pictures. If we are out of balance in this area we may not be seeing thing's clearly, we may misinterpret things incorrectly or make the incorrect judgement. We may experience headaches, lack of concentration, nightmares or even hallucinations. If we are in a deficient in this chakra we may also experience poor memory and poor vision both seeing and using our imagination. We may also not notice negative patterns or feel in denial about certain situations in our lives.

Chakra 7- The Crown Chakra.

This is located at the base of the head, it is all about wisdom and our inner knowledge and consciousness.

The rights of the crown chakra are to know.

To simply 'be'. Allowing ourselves to connect to spirituality and allow ourselves to be present and content in the moment. Helping us to broaden our sense of living and open our minds. If we are in excess in this chakra we may be overly intellectual, always searching for explanations and answers to all the questions we face. If we are deficient in this area, it may present as a learning difficulty, or perhaps we have limited beliefs around spirituality and closed minded around these subjects. We may also be materialistic and feel the need to splurge on physical items.

So that is an overview of the 7 main chakra's. I like to think of the chakra's as a framework to various aspects of my life and the importance of gaining balance and awareness to different parts that we may not be currently connecting. Taking a moment to draw back and think about what we need in our lives and how we can balance our chakra's to find more balance and bliss.

I would love to know which chakra stands out the most to you, please let me know. Join me in the next episode as we uncover ways to balance each chakra through tools such as food, lifestyle and yoga.

If you would like to listen to the podcast for this episode, you can click here.

I hope you have found this episode to be interesting and perhaps eye-opening if you are new to the chakras.

Love Sam x

P.S- click here to listen to the podcast now.