By Steve Nobel
Chakra is a Sanskrit work meaning ‘wheel of life’. Chakras are energy centres that generate and reflect not only the health of your mind, body and spirit but also your ability to generate and maintain prosperity. There are seven main chakras located mainly along the spine from the spine base to the crown of the head; each one holds a special focus for your sense of aliveness, health, prosperity and spiritual growth. There is also a major chakra centre that exists just above the head called the Soul Star. This centre opens up your ability to connect with Universal Source energy and multi-dimensional abilities of your Higher Self. There are also many more minor chakra centres such as can be found in the eyes, ears, hands, and soles of the feet. Some people have the psychic ability to see these centres as spinning wheels or vortices of light and colour, other people can feel these centres as different kinds of sensations. Whether you can feel there presence or not they will continue to work beyond the range of your conscious mind and determine the extent of how alive, connected, energised and abundant you feel.
Base – Survive and Thrive
This centre is located at the perineum at the base of the spine this centre related to our survival instincts and to our sense of gravity, grounding and connection to our bodies and to the earth. Its Sanskrit name Muladhara means root or support. Its colour is red and its elemental force is earth. This is the centre of our physical identity, the foundation of the whole system. Here is located our fight or flight response and all impulses that deal with self-preservation. It is the centre that deals with our material and monetary existence. When open and functioning as it should it brings vitality, and a sense of security, and dynamic presence. This centre deals with the power to have.
A person with an over charged base chakra may be a hoarder, greedy, and a spendthrift. They can be workaholics and be fixated on material things. People with a weak base may feel deep insecurity and even have a desire to escape physical life. People who associate the earth as being evil will shut down the base chakra. People who have money difficulties and who find it difficult to be or survive in the world usually have some problem in this chakra. People who feel they have no home on the earth and wander from place to place may have a weak base chakra. People who are raised in families with strong scarcity issues tend to have weak base chakras. Globally one of the main reasons people experience so much scarcity is because of our disconnected relationship to the earth that creates a weak base chakra. A balanced centre leads to feeling stable and secure on the earth.
Enjoy and celebrate your body and its connection to nature. Stand in front of trees, sit in gardens, exercise and dance on the bare earth. Notice the colour red around you. Experiment with wearing the colour red. Breathe, eat and walk consciously. Be more aware of all your daily dealings with money.
Sacral – Celebrate and Enjoy
This centre relates to feeling, desire, pleasure and sensation. Its Sanskrit name Svadhisthana means sweetness. It is located in the lower abdomen below the navel, its colour is orange and its elemental force is water. This is the seat of our emotional and sexual identity. This centre is often called the seat of life because it relates to sexuality. When open it brings a sense of fluidity, fulfilliment, depth of feeling, and the ability to accept change. We desire things by nature, whether that be food, shelter, warmth, love, enjoyment, or meaning. From desire comes passion and passion is a force that seeks to flow out into the world. This is the centre of pleasure that when followed consciously leads to a more prosperous life. The body needs sensuous touch, and the emotions need to be felt and expressed. A fully functioning sacral chakra opens a person both to knowing the pleasures of life and also to a full range of feeling.
A person with excess energy in the sacral has sexual addictions and obsessive relationships and they can suffer from mood swings. This can be the result of a repression of emotions and desires leading to a tremendous constriction of energy. Energy that is repressed can be acted upon unconsciously which leads to pain and suffering. Considerable suffering in the world is generated through the unconscious use of sexual energy. The global population crisis is fuelled through a lack of awareness and consciousness around sexual energy. A person with a depleted sacral centre may feel a lack of desire, an absence of passion and may avoid pleasure. A balanced centre leads to emotional intelligence.
Enjoy, celebrate and express your emotions and desires. Follow them consciously. Make everything you do a meditation on pleasure and sensuality. Allow yourself to follow what you truly desire and consciously open to the delights of physical, emotional and mental pleasure. Notice the colour orange around you. Experiment with wearing this colour.
Solar Plexus – Will and Movement
This centre governs our metabolism, sense of personal power, will, and self-determination. Its Sanskrit name Manipura means lustrous jewel. The colour of this centre is yellow and its elemental force is fire. This is the centre of our ego identity. This is the centre that seeks to define who we are and put boundaries around our identity and possessions. When open and flowing it generates a field of effectiveness, spontaneity, and non-dominating power. Here is found the will power to break out of self-limiting patterns. In this centre we begin to understand that we are the creators of our destiny and we can influence and shape the world around us. Will is the power that breaks through inertia. Will helps us to know what we want and begin to move towards new horizons. This is the centre of the warrior.
People with an overactive solar centre can be abusive, bullying, controlling, dominating, overbearing, stubborn or arrogant. A depleted centre generates passivity, low self-esteem, poor self-discipline and irresponsibility. Problems in this chakra have led to countless wars and much pain and hardship. A balanced centre leads to confidence, playfulness and vitality.
Enjoy, celebrate and express your will and intent. Make following consciously your goals and taking risks a daily practise. Give space to others. Silently refute invalidation of any kind. Fight for rather than against. Let go of attachment to results. Notice the colour yellow around you. Experiment with wearing this colour yellow.
Heart – Connection and Love
This is the centre of love, connection and relating. It is the place where we integrate opposites in the psyche: mind and body, male and female, ego and shadow and spirit and matter. Its Sanskrit name Anahata means unstruck. This is the seat of our social identity. It is located in the heart region and its colour is either pink or green. When open and healthy we can feel compassion, love and a sense of centeredness. The heart is where we resolve the dilemma between initiative and guilt. In this centre we can feel a deep sense of unity with all things and from this comes a sense of real peace. It has been said that ‘relationships are the Yoga of the West’ and this is true of the heart centre. Community nurtures the heart as do all truly loving relationships. Love is highly magnetic and draws all good things to a person.
The person with too much energy in the heart centre is the classic giver who finds it hard to receive. This is the energy state of the pleaser and the co-dependent. A deficient heart centre leads to anti-social behaviour, feelings of alienation, disconnection and loneliness. A balanced centre creates acceptance, peace and contentment.
Enjoy, celebrate and express your serenity and love for yourself and others. Make compassion for yourself and others a daily meditation. Look to the community of your heart. Consciously build a network of support and nurturing. Give and receive consciously. Notice the colours pink and green around you. Experiment with wearing these colours at different times.
Throat – Communicate and Create
This centre relates to sound, communication, self-expression, and vibration. The Sanskrit name of the throat centre is Visshudha which means purification. Its colour is bright cerulean blue. This is the centre of our creative identity and is the centre that processes pure vibration. The Hindu’s believe that vibration creates every level of the manifest universe. When the throat chakra is open a person becomes aware of the universe around as pure vibration. Our voice is the living expression of our vibrational existence in the world. Opening this chakra means we also start to attune to the gentle voice of spirit that whispers words of encouragement and entices us on the journey to higher consciousness. As we awaken the throat we also open to speaking our own truth regardless of what others may say or think. This is the centre of the true creative artist, whether that creativity manifests as a drawing, a painting or grounding an idea or creating a business. An overactive throat chakra can lead to talking too much, excessive loudness, and difficulty in keeping silent or confidentiality. A deficient throat can lead to a fear of speaking, shyness, and problems in self-expression and articulation. A balanced centre leads to living a creative and expressive life.
Enjoy, celebrate and express your inner authenticity, integrity and truth. Make speaking the unspeakable a daily practise. Sing often. Actively pursue creativity in the world. Notice the colour sky blue you. Experiment with wearing this colour.
Third Eye – Imagine and Envision
This is a centre of inner sight, imagination, clairvoyance and sensing light, and colour. Its Sanskrit name Ajna means to know, perceive or command. This is the brow centre located in the middle of the head behind the forehead. Its colour is Indigo blue. This is the centre of our mythic or archetypal identity. Having an open third eye means a person can reflect on and see into the hidden patterns of life. This centre when awakened helps a person to imagine, daydream, envision, focus and see the light in all things. This is the centre of the dreamer and disciplined meditator. An overstimulated third eye leads to delusions, illusions, excessive fantasizing, wild night dreams, and even hallucinations. An understimulated third eye can lead to a lack of vision and imagination and an inability to see the way forward. A balanced centre allows good memory recall and opens the way for intuition and deep insight to blossom.
Enjoy, celebrate and express your visions, insights and wisdom. Look for the vibrancy and colour of life. Make it a practise to imagine a light-filled present and a glorious future. Notice the colour deep blue around you. Experiment with wearing this colour.
Crown – Consciousness and Bliss
This centre relates to thinking, consciousness, the timeless dimension of spirit, and higher wisdom. Its Sanskrit name Sahasrara means thousand-fold. This is the centre of our spiritual identity. Hindu’s believe that this is the centre of enlightenment. Its natural psychological state is one of transcendent bliss. This is the culmination of the whole system. The lotus that started in the mud of the base chakra is now blossoming into the thousand-petalled flower. When open this centre is a centre of higher consciousness and also a gateway to higher intelligence. This is the centre of pure knowing beyond reason. This is the centre of mystical consciousness.
An overstimulated crown centre can generate feelings of confusion, disassociation and over-intellectualising. It can also lead to spiritual mania. A deficient crown can cause cynicism about spiritual matters, and a disconnection from spirit. A balanced centre leads to self-realisation and spiritual mastery.
Enjoy, celebrate and express your spirituality and inner wisdom. Make silence a daily practise. Explore the power of stillness and presence. Notice the colour violet around you. Experiment with wearing this colour.
Soul Star – Cosmic Identity
This chakra sits somewhere between 18 inches to two feet above the crown centre. This is the centre of our universal identity. It is the place where we open to divine love, spiritual selflessness. When open it can lead to out of body travel, advanced dream-recall capabilities, and healing gifts. This chakra holds the blueprint for the whole chakra system and in turn the physical body. When this centre awakens a larger unseen reality becomes apparent. There is no overstimulated or deficient tendency for this chakra. It is either consciously realised or remains unknown and unfelt. This chakra awakens in time to someone on a spiritual path of growth.
Enjoy, celebrate and express your connection to the cosmos. Dwell daily on the thought that you are a being of light, a child of the stars and that you have come to fulfil a spiritual purpose on the earth. Notice the colour gold around you. Experiment with wearing this colour.
This article is an extract from my book The Prosperity Game ()published by Findhorn Press 2006). If you would like to know more about my one to one and group work then visit my website for more information.