How to activate Chakras & more about Chakras

When ever we hear term Chakras few questions pop-up. How to activate Chakras, What are chakras, Is this real or myth. Lets answer all these questions and I will share my practical experience at end of article which inspired me to write an article on this topic.

What are the chakras?

Chakras; the term literally translates to wheel in Hindi. Chakras are the energy centres of the body. They are located in the astral body, along the spine, starting at its base and running upwards to the crown of the head. The astral body is the energy body residing inside our physical body. Each physical body part has a corresponding astral body part. The astral body cannot be seen or touched. This is also a reason why we cannot see the chakras. 

The chakras radiate a specific colour and energy, and each one coincides with a gland in the physical body. Since each chakra relates to specific spiritual, emotional, psychological, and physical aspects of our being, it is believed that their blockage or malfunction can lead to physical, psychological and emotional disorders. The conscious awareness and balancing of these energy centres, on the other hand, is believed to lead to well-being and good health. 

The belief grew into extensive elaboration, with some suggesting 88,000 chakras throughout the subtle (non physical) body. But in general practice we focus on 7 major chakras.

The 7 chakras in human body

1. Muladhara Chakra – Root Chakra

Color – Red

The Muladhara Chakra is located at the base of the spine, between the anus and the genitals. It is characterised by the emotions of survival, stability, ambition, and self-sufficiency. When this chakra is out of balance, a person starts feeling unstable, ungrounded, lack of ambition, lack of purpose, fearful, insecure and frustrated. However, when the root chakra is balanced, these are replaced by more positive emotions, and you feel stable, confident, balanced, energetic, independent, and strong. 

2. Svadhishthana Chakra – Sacral Chakra

Color – Orange

The Svadhishthana Chakra is located in the lower abdomen, about three fingers below the navel. Its attributes include the basic need for sexuality, as well as creativity and self-worth. When the sacral chakra is imbalanced, a person may feel emotionally explosive and irritable, sense a lack of energy and creativity, feel manipulative, or obsessed with sexual thoughts. When balanced, it makes one feel more vibrant, happy, positive, satisfied, compassionate, and intuitive.  

3. Manipura Chakra – Solar Plexus Chakra

Color – Yellow

The Manipura Chakra is located at the solar plexus, between the navel and the bottom of the rib cage. It is characterised by emotions like ego, anger, and aggression. An imbalance of the solar plexus chakra can manifest physically as digestive problems, liver problems, or diabetes. On an emotional level, one might struggle with depression, lack of self-esteem, anger, and perfectionism. By balancing this chakra, we feel more energetic, confident, productive, and focussed. 

4. Anahata Chakra – Heart Chakra

Color – Green

As the name implies, the Anahata Chakra is located in the heart region. This chakra is the seat of balance, and it is characterised by emotions of love, attachment, compassion, trust, and passion. When the heart chakra is imbalanced, a person may deal with emotional issues like anger, lack of trust, anxiety, jealousy, fear, and moodiness. By harmonising this energy centre, a person begins to feel more compassionate, caring, optimistic, friendly, and motivated. 

5. Vishuddha Chakra – Throat Chakra

Color – Blue

The Visuddha Chakra is located at the base of the throat, coinciding with the thyroid gland. It is associated with inspiration, healthy expression, faith, and the ability to communicate well. A blockage in the throat chakra may be experienced as timidity, quietness, a feeling of weakness, or the inability to express our thoughts. When this chakra is balanced, it enables creativity, positive self-expression, constructive communication, and a sense of satisfaction. 

6. Ajna Chakra – Third Eye Chakra

Color – Indigo

The Ajna Chakra (pronounced as ‘Agya Chakra’) is located between the eyebrows. Also known as the Third Eye Chakra, it is often used as a focal point during asana practice to develop more concentration and awareness. It is said that meditating upon this chakra destroys the karma of past lives and brings liberation and intuitive knowledge. 

Its attributes are intelligence, intuition, insight, and self-knowledge. When imbalanced, it may make you feel non-assertive and afraid of success, or on the contrary, it can make you more egoistical. An imbalance can manifest as physical problems like headaches, blurry vision, and eye strain. When this chakra is active and balanced, a person feels more vibrant and confident, both spiritually and emotionally. In the absence of the fear of death, one becomes his own master and remains free of all attachment to material things. 

7. Sahastrara Chakra – Crown Chakra

Color – Violet/White

The Sahastrara Chakra is located at the crown of the head. The seventh chakra is the centre of spirituality, enlightenment, and dynamic thought and energy. It allows for the inward flow of wisdom and brings the gift of cosmic consciousness. When it gets imbalanced, one might suffer from a constant sense of frustration, melancholy and destructive feelings. 

In general not blocked in 95% people but to activate it fully, deep meditation is required.

What is the shape of a chakra?

There are many myths about the shape of the chakras. Some say they are like whirling discs, while others believe they are like flowers hanging from the spine. Some people even think that they resemble an ice-cream cone! All these different ideas exist simply because the chakras cannot be seen by the eyes or by any device. So, we tend to believe whatever becomes commonly circulated. 

The ancient scriptures say that a chakra is shaped like a sphere or a ball. And it is even believed that planet earth is a major chakra of the solar system and a minor chakra of our galaxy, the Milky Way. It rotates to distribute some energy, but knowing more about this remains beyond the scope of the human imagination. 

What is the size of a chakra?

Some people say that chakras are one foot in radius, while others say that they change their size according to the energy flow. Scriptures, on the other hand, tell us that the chakras are very small, as they are located in the astral spinal cord, which is further located inside the physical spinal cord. 

How to balance/ activate Chakras?

Now lets first discuss whats difference between balancing and activating. In case a Chakra is blocked we need to activate but there are also cases where some chakras are overactive/ under active and are thus disbalacing the life. This also leads to a person being too materialistic, too negative, or other such traits. Balance is always an important factor for good life.

There are different ways to Balance/ Activate chakras

• Meditating,
• Reiki,
• Chanting mantras,
• Reconnect with nature,
• Doing specialised breathing exercises,
• Crystals
• Using certain Ayurvedic herbs,
• Doing physical exercises like yoga asana.

I will elaborate upon Meditation and Reiki as I have practicing both for a long time.

In case you are interested in balancing Chakra through Yoga please read this article.

Chakra Meditation

Chakra meditation is a blanket term for any type of meditation that seeks to clear blocked chakras and harness the power of these energy centres located throughout the body. They can be used for everything from promoting calm and relaxation to encouraging spiritual awakening.

This you can learn from a guru or practice yourself.

Steps for Chakra Meditation

• Sit in a comfortable position (preferably cross legged/ lotus pose) on a mat in a quiet place.
• Know your Chakra focal points
• Take deep breaths
• Focus on Chakras one by one, while taking deep breaths
• Try visualisation of respective colour circles on the chakras. Like see green light radiating from your heart chakra.
• You can also hover on circular motion or place your palms over chakras
• Feel the Chakras activating in you

Now if you ask when can you see results. You can feel changes and the results are over a period of time. It may take weeks or years depending on how regular you are in your practice. There are certain youtube videos that help in audio guiding.

Reiki

Reiki is a Japanese form of energy healing, though having its roots in Indian culture but popularised by Japanese practitinores. Reiki practitioners use a technique called palm healing or hands-on healing through which a “universal energy” is said to be transferred through the palms of the practitioner to the patient in order to encourage emotional or physical healing.

In Reiki there is a attunement session after which one can effectively practice energy healing. One of important practices is balancing chakra meditation. Using same principals of Chakra meditation using affirmations and symbols, balancing chakra meditation is done.

In a world full of stress and negativity, our chakras get blocked when they come in contact with negative influences. A “block” is a place where your energies are confined or forbidden to flow freely. If the energy cannot flow freely, that is a major source for any type of illness and mental diseases. Reiki meditation helps you to declutter those blocks and get the energy flowing. When the energies flow freely, it helps your body to create harmony within and it releases imbalances created by negative influences. No Chakra works efficiently irrespective of the others, they are all part of the whole. Each Chakra works efficiently only when other Chakras are fully aligned and engaged with the energy system.

To energize and heal your chakras with Reiki meditation, sit comfortably positioning your spine upright. Invoke the Reiki energy to channel through your body. If you are a beginner and not attuned with the healing process, you can always take the help of a Reiki practitioner and receive healing. Reiki will not channel through your body until and unless a Reiki Grand Master has given you the attunement for a certain level of Reiki.

My Expereince

I started with meditation many years approx 5 years back. The purpose was to cure my PCOD, calm my wandering mind and add peace to life. During my pregnancy I began to incline more towards spiritual side of life. I did inner engineering by Sadhguru and later kriyas and asanas by Isha yoga (online due to covid). During covid I became regular with my meditation practices and thats when I started to feel the difference.

I read a line in book Think like a Monk, if you are entering a relationship you need to give time to it and be in touch, same applies to meditation. Thus I started to give more time and fixed small intervals in day for deep breaths with in my day.

I felt major change and more balance when I learned Reiki and took attunment session from my Guru. The flow of energy can be felt in a more clear and consistent way.

The changes in life were subtle and when I assess myself 5 years back then only I can see major changes like

• Better health
• Less mood swings
• Reduced Anger
• Increased Calmness of Mind
• Loving my company
• Being Non judgemental
• More Open to changes, open mindedness
• Increased concentration and efficiency
• Positive attitude

I was many things before also, what meditation did was increased positive vibes many fold and increased quality of life. This what balance do.

In case you have any queries or need some guidance write to me apurvalalranjan@gmail.com

Eager to listen your experience.

AURA – A BRIEF GUIDE TO UNKNOWN