If you've attended yoga class or had experiences with other healing practices, you've probably heard the word "chakra." It's from the ancient Sanskrit language of India, and basically means "wheel" or "cycle." It's unlikely that someone born and raised in the west could fully comprehend the complexity of Hinduism, but luckily there are some simplified practices and ancient tidbits of wisdom that survive through translation and time.
For the intents and purposes of your average healing journey in northeast PA, you can think of your chakras as energy-centers. They do cycle in circles, like wheels, but this is usually imperceptible as you go about your day. Engaging in Buddhist or Hindu practices, including meditation, can bring your awareness to this motion. Other healing modalities have adopted the concept into their own practices. It can be a simple way of seeing the human body and envisioning the aura around it.
In the modern Western world, we identify 7 major chakras on the human body: root, sacral, solar plexus, heart, throat, third eye, and crown. Each of these energy centers resonates along the spine, and vibrates at a specific frequency. This frequency may be altered by stress, trauma, or illness, and brought back into alignment and balance with any number of practices. Ancient Yogis chanted mantras. Current trends extend beyond yoga and meditation and include musical sound and color healing. Focusing your intention on the area of your body, while doing something like burning a candle or wearing clothing with the correlating color of that chakra, is a new age way of finding mindfulness in our daily lives.
Here's some quick information on each chakra to get you started on your own chakra-healing journey:
Crown Chakra - located at the top of your head, this violet wheel of light is associated with connection to divinity and the sound "om." It's physically near your pineal gland.
Third Eye Chakra - between your brows, this indigo circle represents your intuition, and is also connected to the mantra "om." Your pituitary gland is nearby.
Throat Chakra - from your neck, this blue energy wheel is your center for expression, vibrating into the mouth and down the shoulders. It's near your thyroid, and the corresponding sound is "ham."
Heart Chakra - "yam" is the mantra, and this energy center is in the middle of the torso, near the heart and thymus. Both colors green and pink hold the frequency of the heart. This chakra is associated with love, compassion, and joy.
Solar Plexus Chakra - this yellow ball of power is near the bottom of the ribcage, above the pancreas and between the adrenal glands. Chanting "ram" balances this energy point. This is the center for your personal power as well as your ego.
Sacral Chakra - this orange wheel is at the lower back, between the hips, just below the navel. It's connected to the reproductive glands, and your creativity. The sound "vam" can be used to meditate on this area.
Root Chakra - your primal red energy ball is at the bottom of your coccyx, and associated with your instincts, safety, and security. The associated sound is "lam."
We also have chakras in our hands, feet, and other places, and it's important to remember this is just one metaphysical way of envisioning the body. Ancient traditions have various ways of describing the way our nerves, bones, and tissues vibrate, and this barely touches on just one of those. In addition to old wisdom, new age philosophers have simplified these ideas for the western mind. If you're just finding out about chakras and how balancing your aura can help you feel well, please dig deeper on the subject at your local library, or contact a trusted healer for advice. Please do not mistake mysticism for medical information!