What are Chakras?

Chakras are the interface between our hard-working physical body and the energy around us. In electrical terms, they act like a transformer between the two. As you may know, your laptop can’t be plugged straight into the mains without blowing its circuit. It needs a special cable, with a transformer, to convert the current into a form it can use.

You can think of prana as the life-force energy that runs through us, like electricity. And chakras are the transformers that connect our solid, physical laptop selves with the energy of our non-solid layers.

You can also think of chakras as windows, or portals, between your physical body and your energy body. When they are working well, windows do an essential job, letting light and fresh air flow in and out of a building. If you closed your windows permanently, blocking the light with heavy curtains and piles of junk, your rooms would feel heavy, sick and airless. But if you left them open permanently, your rooms would feel unprotected and uncomfortable especially during hurricanes or icy weather. Healthy chakras - like healthy windows - need a good clean occasionally, so that they can let the energy in and out. If your chakras are unhealthy and have become jammed wide open or stuck shut, then they might need a major overhaul. This book will show you how to detect an unhealthy chakra and heal it.

SPIRALS AND SYMBOLS

In the ancient Indian Vedic scriptures the word “chakra” translates as “wheel”. Chakras are usually depicted as spirals or circles of light. As they spin, chakras draw energy in and out of the body. Chakras connect the physical body with the emotional, mental and spiritual layers and can be visualized as many different discs or spirals stacked on top of one another. When they are spinning beautifully, energy flows.

Traditionally, each chakra can also be represented by a unique symbol known as a yantra. Based on lotus flowers, with different numbers of petals, they represent the qualities and associations of each chakra. You can see a simple version of these yantras at the beginning of each chapter.

CHAKRA COLOURS

Like a rainbow of light, each of the seven chakras is associated with a different colour: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and a beautiful shining violet-white. Red is the slowest vibration and is connected with the base (root) chakra between your legs. Violet-white is the highest colour vibration and is associated with the crown chakra at the top - if your head. Between them, the other colours make up a beautiful rainbow bridge, connecting the earth and sky.

THE SPIRALS OF NATURE

Chakras are usually portrayed as spirals - an incredibly powerful symbol of spiritual growth. Our planet is part of the great spiral galaxy known as the Milky Way. And there are countless beautiful spirals in nature: twining plants that spiral upward; the Fibonacci sequence of spirals in the centre of a sunflower; the spiral fractals of shells or of Romanesco broccoli...Spirals can bring together opposing. forces and lead them toward a place of unity. Once you start working on your chakras you may begin to notice spirals everywhere.

LOCATION

We have hundreds of chakras all over our body, including on the palms of our hands and the soles of our feet. Most important is seven key chakras. The picture shows where these seven chakras can be found on your body.

ASSOCIATIONS

Each of the seven major chakras has different associations.

Of the lower chakras:
1    The base connects you to the earth and to your physical body.
2    The sacral is about physical pleasure and creativity.
3    The solar plexus is in charge of power.

Of the upper chakras:
4    The heart chakra is about love and compassion.
5    The throat expresses truth and communication.
6    The third eye is linked to intuition.
7    The crown is your connection with the divine.

The better you understand your chakras, the easier it is to look after them.

THE IMPORTANCE OF FLOW

The flow of energy through our chakras goes in two different directions. Each individual chakra draws energy in and out of itself, connecting our body and auric field with the outside world. All the chakras are also connected together vertically, to nourish and support each other.

Tuning into Energy: an exercise

Your hands are a great place to start to feel the kind of energy that flows through your chakras. You may be surprised at how effective this simple
exercise is:

o   Rub your hands together briskly and flex your fingers a few times.
o   Hold your hands together in front of you, as though you are praying. Then slowly draw them apart.
o    Bring your hands back together. As you do so, you will start to feel the energy between them. It might feel like the push of two magnets, repelling each other, or like a ball of energy you can cup between your hands.
o   Draw your hands wider apart, then bring them together again. The energy will feel wider and bigger.
o   Keep doing this and see how far apart you can go.