Dear Mama,

Stay with us here....

We talk a lot about Chakras and admittedly we were very skeptical and avoided the subject for a long long time, especially as we went through Med School.

I mean, 7+ years of intense studying and not once did any of our courses or books mention these 'magical energy centers'.

Girlllll were we wrong.  

Not only have we found that the Chakra system is supported by actual medical science, but it does an even better job than Western medicine at explaining the body.  

We know, it may be hard for you to believe it now, but read this series with an open mind and then try to tell us this doesn't resonate with you.  We dare You

 As we go through this introduction, we will call out in editors notes where the Chakra systems reflects Western systems that are widely accepted.  We do this as seeing this similarities was what ultimately peaked our interest into diving deeper in Chakras.

Chakra Basics

The Chakra system is based on 7 main energy centers arranged vertically up the mid-line of your body from the base of your spine to the top of your head.  In general, as you move from the bottom to the top you go from more basal & instinctual needs and desires (i.e. safety, sex, and where you fit into a group) to more higher-level functions at the top (i.e. creativity & wisdom). 

[O.G. Mama Note: Right off the bat, this feels like Maslow's Hierarchy of needs which is an observed system of the order in which people are motivated.  For instance, food & shelter is at the bottom of the pyramid while creative outlets are at the top.

The theory posits that you need to fulfill the bottom layers before you will be motivated to pursue the top.  So if you are starving your entire motivation will be around finding food to survive, not on high self-actualized artistic expression.]

The Chakras are considered part of the 'subtle' body, where subtle refers to something we can sense and feel, but may not be able to see.  

 

Does Any Science Support Chakras?

Perhaps surprisingly, yes.

Each of the Chakras are located in an area of the body that is tied to nerve plexuses or endocrine glands. 

A nerve plexus is a group of nerves that combine and there are 5 main plexus in the body formed by spinal nerves.  The endocrine system consists of the major organs and glands that control your body's hormones and biological processes.  

4,000 years ago Chakra locations were written down, well before any 'science' was around to support what was written about them.  It is amazing to see how well-supported these writing are.

 

History & Background of Chakras

The word Chakra means "wheels" or "vortexes" of energy and was first described in The Vedas, which are the earliest records of the Indo-Aryan civilization, one of India's most sacred texts, and the original scriptures of Hindu religion that have been dated back over 4,000 years.

There are 7 main Chakras that we will focus on, but there are many minor Chakras as well (up to 77 additional ones).

You can think of Chakras as energy intersections in your body and just like traffic, if one experiences a block, the energy is unable to flow leading to a block.  

Each Chakra has its own purpose in the body and a blockage of energy impacts that Chakra and all Chakras higher up on the body.  The Chakras are connected by 'nadis' (literally translated as rivers) which are the vessels the energy flows between the Chakras and also out to the rest of the body.

Additionally, each Chakra has a color associated with it and there are particular crystals that mirror similar energies and can help with blocks.

All this talk of 'Energy' but what is it?

Great question.

There are 2 aspects to this, the science and the belief.  First, the scientific aspect:

O.G. Mama - The widely-accepted field of Quantum Physics is based on the concept of "Everything is Energy".  It has been developed by observing atoms & particles on the subatomic level and not being able to explain them with traditional science, which necessitated developing explanations for the behavior seen. 

We tend to think of space as empty and objects as solid, however when you get down to the tiniest subatomic level, all 'things' are made of atoms that are 99.9% 'empty space'.  What fills the space and holds atoms together is electrical and magnetic 'energy'. 

Quantum Physics was speculated on around the 1800s and really started being fleshed out starting in the 1950s, so it is still very new in proving out the importance of energy.

The 2nd aspect is the belief aspect of energy.  Science is coming around with explanations around the importance of intangible 'energy'.  There is a lot of unexplained phenomena that supports us all being connected by energy, being connected by that energy and having higher cosmic ties.   

Science will never be able to explain everything, there needs to be some amount of belief in things that resonate as true with you.  The more we explore the concepts of 

Introduction to the 7 Chakras

The 7 main Chakras from base of spine to top of head are the 1) Root, 2) Sacral, 3) Solar Plexus, 4) heart, 5) Throat, 6) Third-Eye, and 7) Crown.

Each chakra serves a purpose with the lower chakras being more basal and the higher chakras being more enlightened.  The Heart Charkra sits right in the middle and serves as the gatekeeper between the 3 lower and 3 upper chakras.  

We will go into a detailed post on each chakra, but to expand a bit on each here:

1) Root Chakra (Muladhara Chakra)

Location: Tailbone/perineum

Meaning: Grounding & Protection

Color: Red

Element: Earth

Root Chakra sits at the base of your spine and is the lowest of the 7 energy pools.  This chakra drives your sense of stability and grounds you to the earth.  

Being in nature will help charge you when this Chakra is open, particularly sitting on the bare ground and meditating.  

Blockages at your Root Chakra will lead to constant anxiety and feelings of insecurity.

2) Sacral Chakra (Svadhisthana Chakra)

Location: Reproductive Organs/Lower Abdomen

Meaning: Emotions, Sensuality, & Creativity

Color: Orange

Element: Water

The Sacral Chakra controls your creative energies.  All creations you put in the world, whether art, work, or children, stem from this energy pool.

This chakra when blocked will lead to fears of death or failure.

Decadent food can help open this chakra as well as physical intamacy.

3) Solar Plexus Chakra (Manipura Chakra)

Location: Solar Plexus/Upper Abdomen

Meaning: Self-Esteem & Confidence

Color: Yellow

Element: Fire

Your Solar Plexus Chakra is the highest of your basal chakras and the source of your confidence.  This chakra's element is fire and it is the source of all your internal energy generation.  

Taking and holding a deep breath and puffing our your chest can help stimulate this Chakra.  Additionally exercising and general breath work helps you feel powerful.

When this chakra is blocked you feel powerless and stagnate.

4) Heart Chakra (Anahata Chakra)

Location: Heart/Center of Chest

Meaning: Unconditional Love & Compassion

Color: Green

Element: Air

The Heart Chakra connects the bottom 3 and top 3 chakras together.  The energy of unconditional love flows from the heart chakra and many people have blockages here.

When the Heart Chakra is blocked you feel alone and isolated and are unable to open up to love and be loved.

Positive self-affirmations and genuine positive compliments to others can help stimulate the Heart Chakra, but this is one that people have a very hard time unblocking on their own.

5) Throat Chakra (Vishuddha Chakra)

Location: Throat

Meaning: Expression & Self-Actualization

Color: Blue

Element: Ether

The Throat Chakra is the gatekeeper to your higher level chakras.  If you haven't found your voice and you haven't fully actualized yourself, you are unable to access the more transcendental chakras.

The Throat Chakra will help you express your needs from the lower body chakras, the emotions and love from the Heart Chakra, and the desires from the spiritual chakras.  Consequently, a block at the Throat Chakra will prevent you from expressing yourself into the world, which can be mistaken for a block on the Sacral Chakra as creativity and expression are closely related.

Singing, talking, hymns, and anything that stimulates the throat is helpful in accessing this chakra.

6) Third-Eye Chakra (Ajna Chakra)

Location: Slightly above point between eyebrows

Meaning: Imagination, Intuition, & Perception

Color: Purple

Element: Light

Third-Eye is the first of the 2 transcendental chakras and is tied to the inner mind and your deeper innate intelligence.  The Third-Eye Chakra is how you perceive the world and process information.

Blockages in the Third-Eye can lead to confusion and poor judgement.  

Meditation and visualization exercises can help stimulate this chakra.

7) Crown Chakra (Sahasrara Chakra)

Location: Top of the Head

Meaning: Spiritual & Transcendental

Color: White

Element: Space

The Crown Chakra is your highest self and requires having all your other chakras open in order to access.  Cosmic energy is being absorbed through your Crown Chakra and filtering down into you.

Your Crown Chakra transcends your egoic self and your earthly desires into something higher and more spiritual.

A blockage on your Crown Chakra can manifest as an inability to control your ego, lashing out, and defensiveness.

 

Wrapping-Up Chakras 101 for Moms

There is so much here that it could never be covered in 1 post.  But this introduction should give you enough of an understanding of the chakras to see there is definitely truth to the concepts.  

Anecdotally and scientifically, the more we have looked into chakras over the years, the more it has resonated with us and helped us explain the world.