Chakras are wheels or orbs of psychic energy located throughout the physical body.
The word chakra comes from sanskrit and means wheel or disk. They denote a point of intersection where the psychic self and the physical self connect.
When the total sum of the major chakras forms a vertical column in our body it is called "sushumna ".
This is the "nadis " or networks of channels by which the prana " life force " travels up and down through the chakras.
There is about 72,000 different nadis in the etheric body. It is these nadis that acupuncturists access to heal ailments.
The earliest mention of chakras comes from the Indian "Vedas" which mean knowledges.
It is believed that these vedas originated from the oral traditions of the Aryans, who arrived in
The Seven Major Chakras:
Root Chakra ( Muladhara ) Element is Earth Color is Red Gemstone is Ruby. Located at the tip of the spine Planets are Earth and Saturn
Related Sephiroth is Malkuth Controls grounding, health and vitality
Related Sephiroth is Yesod Controls desire, pleasure, and creativity
Solar Plexus Chakra ( Manipura ) Element is Fire Color is Yellow Gemstone is Amber Located at the solar plexus Planets are Mars and Sun
Related Sephiroth is Hod and Netsach Controls assertion, will, and power
Heart Chakra ( Anahata ) Element is Air Color is Green Gemstone is Emerald Located behind the heart Planet is Saturn
Related Sephiroth is Tiphareth Controls compassion, peace, love, and understanding
Throat Chakra ( Vissudha ) Element is Ether Color is Blue Gemstone is Turquoise Located in the hollow of the throat Planet is Mercury
Related Sephiroths are Geburah and Chesed Controls expression, communication, and eloquence
Brow or Third Eye Chakra ( Ajna ) Element is Light Color is indigo Gemstone is Quartz Located in the center of the forehead Planets are Jupiter and Neptune
Related Sephiroths are Binah and Chokmah
Controls concentration, intuition, and visualization
Related Sephiroth is Kether
Controls cosmic consciousness, wisdom, spirituality, and psychic oneness with Spirit
BASIC CHAKRA MEDITATION
The Practise.
Choose a Posture you feel comfortable with.
Then relax the body by concentrating on each part in turn, allowing the stress
in that area to fall away. (See Basic Relaxation).
Spend a minute or two on this.
Now focus on your breathing, allowing it to become deeper and more regular, without
force. If your mind wanders off in any direction, gently bring it back to an awareness
of each breath you take.
Be aware of the passage of the air into and through your body. In your mind's eye
try and follow it as it passes down into the lungs. Imagine the oxygen being taken
from the breath, and imagine oxygen-rich blood flowing from the lungs to your heart.
Try and visualise the heart distributing this red blood throughout the body, to all of
your muscles and nerves and up into your brain. When the blood comes back to the lungs
it brings back carbon dioxide waste which is breathed out.
Sense the heart beating. Let your heart be relaxed, and efficient.
Visualise the body in it's entirety. Think on how the body is a homeostatic system,
that is, how it balances itself perfectly when allowed to do so. Breath is basic.
Breath is life. You breathe in and you breathe out. Feel the energy of each breath,
sustaining life.
Now I want you to try and visualise a rainbow-coloured but almost invisible prana energy,
being taken in to your body along with the oxygen that you absorb from each breath, so that
just as you absorb the oxygen from the air, so on some subtle level your body is also
storing up this special energy. Visualise the body as a whole with the heart at the centre,
and imagine the field of your body's subtle energy surrounding you like a cocoon of
yellow-orange light.
Visualise the energy that your body takes from the air merging with the yellow-orange
light of the cocoon of your etheric body and making it 'brighter'. Don't force anything
though. Just try and maintain a sense of this energy within you and around you.
Now focus on a point at the base of your spine, visualising a whirlpool of your subtle body energy there. Imagine the iridescent prana energy energising this area in particular, but also try and imagine prana energy from the earth rising up into you. This chakra is traditionally known as the muladhara.
It is apparently related to the
adrenal gland, the kidneys and the spinal column in the physical body.
It also has the following symbolic associations-
think about each one in turn.
A red-coloured circle surrounded by four golden petals.
The element of earth.
The density of matter.
Now focus on a point in the small of the back, between the navel and the pubic bone, about three inches above the first chakra. Imagine the iridescent prana energy that you absorb from the breath energising this area in particular. This is traditionally known as the svadisthana chakra.
The svadisthana chakra is apparently related to the female ovaries and male testes in the physical body.
It also has the following less concrete associations- think about each one in turn.
A salmon-like orange-coloured centre, encircled by six white petals.
The element of water.
The moon.
Ego.
Sex energy.
Survival instinct.
Creavitity.
Now focus on a point about one and a half inches below the navel. Imagine the iridescent prana energy energising this area in particular. This is traditionally known as the manipura chakra. When the manipura chakra succumbs to stresses of any kind, the effects are immediately felt both in the physical body and in the emotions. As healers we can use this, since if we energise the energy system in this area, and help integrate the energies of the chakra with the rest of the energy system, then the effects of that should propagate throughout bodymind. Also, if we are able to sense any kind of 'pull' on the manipura chakra, then this can help us understand what is going on, as, with practise, we may come to recognise the source of the 'pull' in the energy system by tracing it back to physical organs, thoughts, feelings or memories. This is where yoga and shamanism surely have a lot in common!
Martial artists in a number of different traditions also use an understanding of the importance of this chakra to the energy system as a whole, for instance in directing shrieks to the solar plexus of an opponent, with the aim of disrupting their 'ki'.
This chakra is apparently related to the digestive system, the spleen, the pancreas and the gall bladder in the physical body. It is also related to the unconscious mind. While all of the lower chakras are related to 'the emotions' our current emotional state is most strongly manifest in the manipura chakra.
There are also the following associations that we can think about.
A red-coloured centre with ten dark blue petals.
The element of fire.
Willpower.
Personal power.
Prudence.
Now focus on the region of your subtle body in front of your physical heart. This is traditionally known as the anahata chakra. Visualise prana energy flowing both in and out of this chakra and see it shining with it's own beautiful golden light. As you lightly rest your consciousness here, so you sense a strengthening, a brightnening, of the energy. This chakra is at the centre of your subtle body, and, metaphorically speaking, it is also the place where spirit and matter meet, the scene of the alchemical marriage, so to speak.
This chakra is related to the heart, blood, and the circulatory system in general, along with the immune and endocrine systems in the physical body.
It also has the following symbolic associations that it may be useful to mull over.
A smoke-coloured central region with twelve red petals.
The sun.
If you are familiar with kabbala at all, then the anahata chakra corresponds closely to the kabalistic central sphere of tipheret.
Soul, 'higher self' or 'holy guardian angel'.
The element of air.
Perseverance.
Patience.
Equilibrium
Objectivity.
Compassion.
Non-egoic love.
Now focus on a point in the front your neck halfway between your shoulder-blades and your chin. Imagine prana energy energising this area in particular. This is traditionally known as the vishuddha chakra.
This chakra is apparently related to the thyroids, the rate of metabolism, and the lungs in the physical body.
It also has the following more fluffy associations.
Communication.
The 'veil' between the manifest and unmanifest realms.
Telepathy.
Clairaudience. (Extra-sensory hearing).
Now focus on a point just above your eyes, behind your forehead. Visualise iridescent prana energising this area. This is traditionally known as the ajna chakra. The word ajna means 'command', in the sense of 'spiritual guidance', since by meditating on this chakra, the practitioner is reputed to enhance their ability to tune in to the highest, or deepest, levels of existence: that is, the tao, dharma, or buddha-nature rather than the mere karma that normally rules us. The two large petals on each side of the chakra in it's symbolic representation supposedly relate to the connection of the chakra to the two subsidiary energy channels, the ida and pingala, that entwine themselves around the central shushumna channel running all the way up from muladhara to sahasrara. For the moment we don't need to concern ourselves with the complexity of the lesser channels. In your own time just try and concentrate on a simple energising of the chakra, and see if you can balance the energies of the chakra with those of the rest of the system.
This chakra is apparently related to the pituitary gland in the physical body.
It also has the following more fluffy associations.
The third eye of clairvoyance, also known as psychic vision, although it may be the case that this attribution of clairvoyance to the ajna chakra may be quite recent.
Deep intuition and insight.
Now with your consciousness remaining focussed on the ajna chakra, just let yourself relax completely, always 'bringing yourself back' if you drift away or get distracted. Meditate like this on the ajna chakra for another four or five minutes: I won't say anything for that time.
Now focus on a point half an inch or so above the top of your head. This is traditionally known as the sahasrara chakra, which is also related to the pineal gland in the physical body. Briefly visualise the whole of your subtle body, with the sahasrara chakra here as the crowning glory of all of them, shining with a bright white light.
Now imagine that you are in the high Himalayas on a calm moonlit night. From your vantage point you can see for a huge distance across the mountains, where there are no other people at all. You are free. Above you the sky is a deep ultramarine blue, with thousands of stars shining brightly in the thin air. Imagine yourself looking down on the mountains from above, from way up in the earth's orbit. Now go further still, way out into the depths of space where the earth is just a tiny speck. Remind yourself, or try and imagine, some sense of the spirit that underpins, and interpenetrates, the vastness of space from end to end. With some sense of that divine presence, come back to centre on the crown of your head again, and imagine that there is a pure white light flowing down into you through your sahasrara chakra, energising your whole being with beautiful healing energy.
Remember that all of the chakras in the subtle energy system absorb energy in greater or lesser degrees. Let all unneccessary blocks disappear.
All of the chakras transform energy too: pranic energy from the environment is converted to etheric energy within us. Let there be no blocks in the expression of that energy.
Finally, let's just meditate on 'integration' for a minute: let all of the different parts of the subtle body system work well with each other: let the whole of it work efficiently as one integrated unit.
In a couple of minutes we are going to draw the practise to a close.
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