What Are the Chakras?

 
Chakra translates to wheel in Sanskrit. 
 
 
A chakra, according to ancient Indian and Chinese medicine is an energy hotspot on the body, a vortex of spinning energy, not usually visible to the naked eye, a bit like an aura. Said to link the physical and the spiritual, a well-balanced chakra is considered a vital component in holistic health. 
 
The Chakra Bible states that... "In the same way that the body has organs, the chakras are the organs of the luminous energy field. They are pulsating discs of focused energy with particular colour affinities. The spiral of each chakra narrows as it nears the physical body, and the seven major chakras 'hook' directly into the spine. 
 
Chakras transmit information from the aura and represent a 'blueprint of the body; they also hold information of past pain and trauma, as imprints in the auric field. These affect our emotional and physical health through their connection to the endocrine glands that regulate human behaviour."
 
There are seven main chakras at points along the spine and hundreds of others throughout the body. When the chakras are balanced and in alignment, energy is flowing, and you are healthy. If your chakras are blocked due to mental, emotional or spiritual disease, you may feel the effects as a physical ailment.
 
Sydney-based kinesiologist Kim O’Brien explains: “There are seven major chakras on the human body and each regulates energy flow to its surrounding organs. More than that, though, a chakra is also said to relate to our emotional well being”. Chakras are said to be connected to our major endocrine organs which in turn regulate our hormones – so an out of balance chakra can contribute to emotional/hormonal problems. In other words, if our reproductive chakra is blocked, not only do practitioners believe that our ovaries or testes may be affected, contributing to illnesses such as ovarian cysts or testicular cancer, but also that our beliefs about our sexual self may be affected, resulting in such complications as low sex drive, frigidity or the inability or form healthy sexual relationships.
 
“Or, if our throat chakra is out, not only might we experience problems such as laryngitis, sore throats and the like, but we may also experience difficulty expressing ourselves,” says O’Brien.
 
The lower chakras have to do with grounding, physicality and stability. The upper chakras deal with expansion, compassion and insight. The heart centre, at the centre of the seven, is the connection between the upper and lower chakras.
 
 
 
Article by Martine Ford