Use physical symptoms to clarify the emotional, mental, and spiritual components of an illness.The chakra system, in fact, is part of the ancient and lost mysteries. And, in the end, the chakra system in our bodies is how we find our way back to the most ancient mystery of all—God, the Oneness, the Omniscient.
ROSALYN L. BRUYERE Wheels of Light
Imagine walking into a medical clinic for an examination, but instead of stripping off your clothes and putting on a paper gown, you step behind what looks like a human-sized television screen.
The clinician on the other side of the screen tells you he is turning on the machine. Suddenly, instead of standing behind a screen, you are inside a huge box that reminds you of an elevator. You hear a soft hum, and then you are surrounded by multicolored, swirling lights.
After a few minutes, the friendly voice says, “Thank you, you can step out now.” You do. The colors disappear, the box disintegrates, and once again you are standing behind a garden-variety screen, which you step around to take a chair in front of your doctor. A table separates the two of you.
“Let’s see what we have,” he says, as he presses a button.
Various holographic images appear atop the table, all pictures of you in 3-D. The doctor doesn’t point at your organs; instead, he’s examining swirling prisms of light that emanate from the holographic figure.
“Hmmm,” he says. “See that dark spot?” He points to the vortex spinning out of your image’s hip area. “That’s your first chakra,” he says. “Looks like you have a block. We’d better figure out if it’s still in the subtle sphere or already causing a physical problem.”
What is the physician of the future examining? Your chakras. He’s evaluating your condition based on the coloration, shape, spin, and speed of these energy centers that govern specific physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual concerns of the body. While we may not yet have machines that can take pictures of the chakras, some subtle energy practitioners can evaluate these ultrasonic organs and help you improve your health and wellbeing by working with them.
Chakras are subtle energy organs that manage the flow of energy related to all parts of our lives; they are our personal power centers. They are similar to the physical organs in the body, such as our heart or liver, except that they operate at a higher frequency—one that is not visible to the human eye or measurable by current scientific means. Each of the chakras is paired with a particular layer in the auric field, the set of twelve energy bands involved in the subtle exchange of information between the worlds outside and inside of the body (see chapter 2 for a review of the auric field).
The significance of the chakras in the realm of subtle energy healing cannot be overstated. They negotiate both physical and subtle energies, transforming one into the other and back again; therefore, they communicate both sensory and psychic information. Because each chakra runs on a different frequency or vibratory level, they are different colors, and each takes in, interprets, and sends out information or energy that matches its own vibratory level. They also store any and all received information so it is available for time eternal. Thus, they are the basic reason that energy medicine works.
There are hundreds, and possibly thousands, of energetic systems that are used throughout the world, many of which include the chakras and other energy bodies. Here we will focus primarily on the seven-chakra system of the ancient Hindus, as it is the system most widely used by subtle energy practitioners and esoteric physicians. (See the sidebar “Energy Bodies from Other Cultures” for an overview of other energetic systems.) We will also briefly review five additional chakras (chakras 8 through 12) that contribute significantly to our physical wellbeing, personal development, and spiritual growth. (See The Subtle Body for comprehensive information on the chakras.)
THE CHAKRAS AND KUNDALINI ENERGY
In Sanskrit, the word chakra means “spinning wheel of light.” The chakras are whirling rainbow vortexes that come from our spine and swirl around in front of and behind the body, as well as above and below the body. To understand the function and power of the chakras, it is important to view them in their broader context. The Hindu system of the ancient Vedics includes numerous subtle energy bodies and channels.
The chakras, the circular energies of light that regulate the physical body and await spiritual activation.
The nadis, subtle energy streams or conduits that interact with the chakras and the physical body. They convey prana, or subtle energy, to cleanse the physical body and invite an energy known as the kundalini upward through the chakras. Many esoteric professionals, as well as scientific researchers, believe the nadis and the meridians are the same.
The koshas, the five sheaths of energy that contain or hold the spirit or essential self. Each of these veils lifts as a person evolves physically, mentally, spiritually, and energetically.
Dozens of other energy bodies contain the human and spiritual dimensions. Many of these additional bodies are described in The Subtle Body and other works.
The profound energetic force that unifies these independent bodies is known as kundalini energy. Kundalini energy lies within our root chakra (first chakra), so it is often depicted as a coiled serpent resting at the base of the spine. It is divine energy that becomes manifest when it moves—rising through the denseness of the physical body, awakening the subtle body, and merging and unifying our internal feminine and masculine energies in the realization of supreme consciousness.
SCIENTIFIC VALIDATION OF THE CHAKRAS
VALERIE HUNT, EdD, as professor of kinesiology (the study of human movement) at the University of California in Los Angeles, is a pioneer in the field of research that is validating the existence of the chakras. For over twenty years, Hunt has been engaged in measuring human electromagnetic output under different conditions. Using an electromyograph, an instrument that measures the electrical activity of the muscles, she discovered that the physical body emanated radiation at sites typically associated with the chakras. In addition, she discovered that certain levels of consciousness were linked to specific frequencies.
For example, when people in her studies were thinking of daily situations, their energy fields measured frequencies in the range of 250 hertz (Hz). This is the same frequency as the heart field. When psychic individuals had their energy fields tested on the electromyograph, their frequency ranged in a band from 400 to 800 Hz. Trance channelers fell into the 800 to 900 Hz range, and mystics, connected continually to their higher self, registered an energy field above 900 Hz.
For in-depth information on chakra-based research, see The Subtle Body.
In scientific terms, the L-fields and T-fields that we discussed in chapter 2 form unified frequencies that mirror the activity and flow of kundalini. We are all made of the “male” and the “female,” the electrical and the magnetic. As we integrate these innate forces, we find balance, harmony, and healing of body, mind, and spirit.
THE SEVEN HINDU CHAKRAS
According to Hindu philosophy, the chakras are subtle energy bodies located within the spinal cord and housed within the innermost core of the Sushumna nadi. This core is called the Brahma nadi, the carrier of spiritual energy. The nadis carry subtle energy throughout the body and are, as stated above, critical allies in the rising of the kundalini energy.
The core of the Sushumna nadi is considered a spiritual energy body, not a material energy body; therefore, the chakras are most often referred to as subtle in nature. Some Hindu systems, however, connect the chakras with the gross nerve plexuses, which are outside of the spine. In these systems, the chakras are considered physical as well as subtle and are considered the foundation of all existence, psychologically and physically.
Subtle energy medicine is largely based on chakra work, as chakras govern significant aspects of our lives. Several chakra-focused techniques are included throughout the rest of the book. You will be learning practices for uncovering the causes of a problem via the chakras, using color and sound to balance your chakras, and more.
The following descriptions cover several significant details about your chakras. The meaning of the chakra’s Sanskrit name provides a clue to the chakra’s purpose. Its mission is the overall job relegated to that particular chakra; knowing the mission of each chakra can help you quickly diagnose which chakra you might want to work through.
The emotional focus refers to the types of emotions (feelings and beliefs) managed through this energy center; like the meridians discussed in the last chapter, every chakra hosts a different set of emotions. By figuring out which emotions are troubling you or someone else, you can pinpoint the chakra to work on.
A chakra’s “spiritual concern” covers two focuses: the spiritual perception afforded when looking at life through the lens of that chakra and the innate psychic ability frontloaded into that chakra. Each chakra provides a unique psychic glimpse into reality, the subject of a further discussion in chapter 6.
Each chakra corresponds with and connects to a particular location within the physical body. Every chakra is also related to a specific endocrine organ. If you’re wondering where to focus healing for a chakra, you can always work through the related endocrine gland. You’ll also learn which of the physical organs are affected by each chakra. This knowledge will help you zoom your healing into the chakra that matches physical symptoms.
Finally, each chakra relates to a specific frequency-based color and sound. In chapter 22, you’ll find ways to clear a chakra, and therefore life challenges, by using color, and in chapter 21, you’ll discover ways to blend sound and color for healing.
Meaning of name: Muladhara combines mul, or “base,” and adhara, or “support.” The name reflects this chakra’s ultimate purpose: to serve as our basis in physical life. This chakra is often called the root chakra.
Mission: Security and survival
Emotional focus: Primal feelings
Spiritual concern: Deserving to exist; physical sympathy, ability to sense physical energy
Location: At the base of the spine, between the anus and genitals
Endocrine gland: Adrenals
Physical organs and functions governed: Genital organs and adrenals; bones and skeletal structure; coccygeal vertebrae; some kidney, bladder, and excretory functions; skin
Color: Red
Sound: Lam
Meaning of name: “Dwelling place of the self,” from sva, “self” or “prana,” and adhisthana, or “dwelling place.” Also means “six-petaled.”
Mission: Feelings and creativity
Emotional focus: All feelings
Spiritual concern: Ability to express feelings; psychic capability of feeling sympathy, through which you can sense others’ feelings
Location: Lower abdomen, between navel and genitals
Endocrine gland: Ovaries in women and testes in men
Physical organs and functions governed: Part of kidney system; intestines; some aspects of reproductive system, including the womb; bladder; prostate; sacral vertebrae and nerve plexus; the neurotransmitters determining emotional responses to stimuli
Sound: Vam
Meaning of name: “City of gems”—mani means “jewel or gem,” pura means “dwelling place,” and nabhi means “navel”
Mission: Mentality, power, and success
Emotional focus: Fears, doubt, and other feelings affecting self-esteem
Spiritual concern: Empowerment; psychic ability to perform clairsentience or “clear sensing” of mental information
Location: Between the navel and the base of the sternum
Endocrine gland: Pancreas
Physical organs and functions governed: Pancreatic system; all digestive organs in the stomach area, including the liver, spleen, gallbladder, stomach, pancreas, and parts of kidney system; lumbar vertebrae and solar plexus–based nerve plexus; some authorities say muscles and the immune and nervous systems
Color: Yellow
Sound: Ram
Meaning of name: “Heart lotus”—Hrit means “heart,” and pankaja, “lotus.” Also means “twelve-petaled”: dvadash is “twelve,” and dala means “petals”
Mission: Relationships and healing
Emotional focus: Emotions in relationship; all feelings related to love, such as gratitude and appreciation
Spiritual concern: Connection to the Divine
Location: In the physical body, the center of the chest, the heart
Endocrine gland: Heart
Physical organs and functions governed: Heart and lungs, circulatory and oxygenation systems, breasts, lumbar and thoracic vertebrae, cardiac nerve plexus; some authorities say the thymus gland
Color: Green
Sound: Yam
Meaning of name: “Pure” or “throat lotus”—kanth means “throat,” while padma means “lotus.” Also “sixteen-petaled”: shodash equates to “sixteen,” and dala means “petals”
Mission: Communication and guidance
Emotional focus: Expression of all emotions, especially in relation to self-responsibility
Spiritual concern: Sharing divine guidance; psychic ability of clairaudience or “clear hearing”
Location: Throat
Endocrine gland: Thyroid
Physical organs and functions governed: Thyroid and parathyroid glands, larynx and laryngeal nerve plexus; mouth and auditory systems (vocal cords, mouth, throat, ears); lymph and the lymphatic system; thoracic vertebrae
Color of chakra: Blue
Sound of element: Ham
Meaning of name: “Command”
Mission: Perception and sight (insight, hindsight, future sight)
Emotional focus: Feelings related to self-acceptance, such as self-love and self-awareness
Spiritual concern: Visioning
Location: Above and between the eyebrows
Endocrine gland: Pituitary
Physical organs and functions governed: Pituitary gland, medulla plexus and parts of hypothalamus; olfactory and visual systems, the left eye in particular; memory storage; some aspects of the ears and sinuses
Color: Purple or indigo
Sound: Om
Meaning of name: “Void,” “dwelling place without support,” “thousand-petaled”
Mission: Purpose and spirituality
Emotional focus: Related to spiritual nature
Spiritual concern: Oneness with Divine; psychic gift of prophecy or ability to sense divine plans
Location: Top of the head
Endocrine gland: Pineal
Physical organs and functions governed: Pineal gland, upper skull and cerebral cortex, parts of the hypothalamus, higher learning and cognitive brain systems, parts of immune system, the right eye
Symbol: The thousand-petaled lotus
Color: White; also seen as violet or gold
Sound: Visarga (a breathing sound)
THE TWELVE-CHAKRA SYSTEM
One contemporary chakra system is the twelve-chakra system, which I developed and describe in detail in several other books.1 It is based on the classical Hindu chakra system, but includes an additional five chakras that are located outside of the physical body. While these additional chakras have yet to be measured or recorded, I discovered them through my work as an energy healer. The additional chakras are found above the head, below the feet, and around the body. Having developed an understanding of these additional energy centers, I now make frequent use of them.
Many other chakra systems include chakras beyond the Hindu seven. The Narayana system, a yoga derivative, works with nine chakras, as does the chakra system expounded upon in the Yogaranjopanishad, while the Waidika system, a Layayoga method, outlines eleven major chakras. Some schools add an eighth chakra, the Bindu or the Soma, to the typical seven. Many esoteric practitioners locate chakras beyond the physical body, as do some of the more traditional systems. In yogic tradition, it is important to remember that the seventh chakra is located above the top of the head, not at the top of the head. Other traditions place a chakra underneath the feet, as David Furlong describes in his book Working with Earth Energies, as does crystal-energy healer Katrina Raphaell.2 Nearly all systems recognize secondary or minor chakras.
ENERGY BODIES FROM OTHER CULTURES
WESTERN TRADITION FREQUENTLY attributes the chakra system to the Hindus. The truth is that chakra systems have emerged from all corners of the globe—and endured through time. Many of these cross-cultural systems are described in The Subtle Body, including those from the Jewish Kabbalah, mystical Christianity, and countries such as Egypt, Africa, and Tibet. The Subtle Body also explores chakra constellations from the ancient Mayan, Cherokee, and Inca healing traditions.
In this practice manual, there are several exercises for working with the energy bodies in ways that you might not have considered before now—exercises that are both wonderfully effective and easy to do. For example, in chapter 17, “Healing with the Ancients,” there is a brief exercise called “The Luminous Golden Threads” that offers a nature-based approach to chakra healing; it is based on the subtle energy medicine of the Incas, in which chakras are known as pukios, and the power of the elements can help us to clear away our troubles.
The twelve-chakra system features the traditional seven, plus these additional chakras.
Eighth chakra: Located just above the head. This chakra is seen as housing several additional energy bodies, including the Akashic Records, which is a record of everything ever seen and done; the Shadow Records, that which was unseen as pertaining to the Akashic Records; and the Book of Life, which reflects the positive aspect of all events. This chakra is colored black or silver and connects with the body through the thymus gland.
Ninth chakra: Located one and a half feet above the head. This chakra contains the “seat of the soul,” the spiritual genetics that generate physical reality, such as the physical genes. It also carries the soul purpose and the symbols that sustain the uniqueness of a soul. It is gold and links with the diaphragm.
Tenth chakra: Located a foot and a half under the feet. This is the grounding chakra, because it opens to elemental energy and passes it into the body through the feet. It holds personal soul history as well as stories and energies from one’s heritage. It connects a person thoroughly to nature and the natural world. It is brown or earth toned and correlates to the center of the bones.
Eleventh chakra: Surrounds the body, but is concentrated around the hands and the feet. This energy center helps individuals command and transmute physical and supernatural forces. Through it, one can seize command of external energies and direct them for good. It is extraordinary for producing instant change inside and outside of the body. It is rose in color and relates to our connective tissue.
Twelfth chakra: Surrounding the eleventh chakra and the entirety of the body, this energy center represents the outer bounds of the human self. It connects to the body through thirty secondary chakras, which are described in my Complete Book of Chakra Healing.
Note: Just outside of the twelfth chakra is the energy egg, a three-layer sheath that regulates the linkage between the spiritual realms and the physical body.
Each chakra is a prism that regulates a specific set of physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual concerns. This means that we can use them to diagnose problems and create a healing plan for a variety of issues. Understanding the chakras, we can:
Use physical symptoms to clarify the emotional, mental, and spiritual components of an illness.
Trace our emotional issues back to the development of a certain part of our body or to the age at which the issues originated. Emotions are the language of the body. If we can reexperience the feeling component and the physical reactions attached to a debilitating situation, we can reprogram self-destructive beliefs and chart a whole new course.
Isolate the mental or spiritual beliefs affecting us, thereby healing our emotional or physical issues.
Awaken repressed memories, including in utero and past-life memories, for the purpose of understanding, clearing, and healing. By getting to the root cause of an issue, we can unlock the energy blocks it might be causing.
Become knowledgeable parents to our own children, supporting them through each development stage.
Better parent our own inner child, that natural self within each of us waiting for his or her chance at life.
Make appropriate and wise decisions by pinpointing our current development stage.
Better understand where, how, and why we get “stuck”—in harmful habits, cycles, and even addictions.
In working with the chakras, we are searching for two points of awareness. First, we want to identify and acknowledge our positive traits, which might be in need of recognition or revitalization. All too often, we bury some of our best qualities beneath a deluge of conflict and misperceptions. Our second goal is to uncover, understand, and change self-destructive beliefs, patterns, and programs.
CHAKRA STRUCTURE
Chakras are structured in three ways. These divisions include front and back sides, left and right sides, and inner and outer wheels. Knowing this information will help you both diagnose and problem-solve energetically. For instance, if illnesses constantly appear on the left side of the body or chakras, you can examine issues of femininity. If all the back side chakras are blocked, you can analyze the unconscious or soul issues.
Front and back. The in-body chakras have a front and back side. In general, the front side governs everyday behavior and regulates our relationship with the physical world. The back side responds to our own unconscious programs and manages our relationship with the less-tangible reality.
Left and right. The left side of the chakra is feminine and regulates female-oriented issues, while the right side is masculine and governs male-oriented issues. Our feminine functions involve receptivity, attraction, relationship, intuition, and programs regarding one’s own femininity or the female gender. Our male functions involve action, domination, success, rationality, and programs about one’s own masculinity or the male gender.
Inner and outer. Each of the chakras also has an inner and outer wheel. Our inner wheel reflects the programming from our own higher consciousness or spirit. This programming enables actualization of our spiritual gifts, the abilities necessary to carry out our spiritual mission. The outer wheel holds our personal issues, private desires, and the heartaches and hurts that can throw a wrench into the chakra spin cycle for years on end. The job of the outer wheel is to help us adapt to the surrounding reality. Our tribal or soul issues also appear primarily in our outer wheel, which means that most subtle energy healing is aimed at shifting the outer wheel. We can, however, greatly enhance the effectiveness of healing work by expanding the spiritual energy incumbent in a chakra’s inner wheel, as it is composed of our essential energy. The most direct path I know of to accomplish that is to breathe fully and with intention into a particular chakra, expanding it and opening it up to spirit. As we do this, every part of us is nourished—literally. Ideally, the inner and outer wheels should operate in concert with each other. While they might not move at the same speed, their relationship should be rhythmic and consistent. I know of few things that are as powerful as expanding the spiritual light from our inner chakra wheel into the troubled outer wheel to invite life changes.
In a healthy person, the inner wheel establishes the actual speed and direction of both wheels. Both wheels usually circle clockwise, but there are exceptions. During menstruation, a woman’s wheels, especially those of the first and fourth chakras, might move counterclockwise in order to release built-up emotions. The outer wheels of all the chakras will often circulate counterclockwise when someone is in grief, shock, near death, or performing a physical cleanse.
As subtle energy healers become adept at intuitively analyzing these three chakric structures, they can use the structures to determine what is happening inside of a chakra and, therefore, a client’s physical body.
While we are born with a fully intact set of chakras, each chakra unfolds to the light of life at a different time. This is so we can access the energy available to that chakra at the appropriate time, in a process that hopefully results in all of the chakras achieving maturity by age fifty-six.
For instance, when in utero and until six months of age, we are primarily focused on our first chakra, the center devoted to safety and security, as well as the development of our primary feelings. What are our initial life experiences about but survival and the encouragement of the parent-child bonding that gives us the knowledge that we are wanted and safe? Unfortunately, we don’t always receive the welcome and nourishment required for this chakra to be programmed with the confidence we need to be internally secure no matter what occurs in life. This chakra will now be “wobbly,” the result of which can be physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual issues that arise during our life.
The developmental ages of the seven in-body chakras follows:
| Chakra | Age |
| One | Womb to 6 months |
| Two | 6 months to 2 ½ years |
| Three | 2 ½ to 4 ½ years |
| Four | 4 ½ to 6 ½ years |
| Five | 6 ½ to 8 ½ years |
| Six | 8 ½ to 14 years |
| Seven | 14 to 21 years |
As implied, our first “run through” with the chakras can result in misperceptions and wounds that inhibit our ability to express our true self. Fortunately, as our life continues, we reprocess our chakras and are thus provided an opportunity for a “do-over.”
While chakra seven is developing for the first time during our adolescence, between ages fourteen and twenty-one, the first six chakras undergo reprocessing. This allows us to shift the dysfunctional perspectives so we can emerge from childhood healthier. For instance, during ages fourteen to fifteen, we are activating our seventh chakra and working toward figuring out our higher purpose, but we are also revisiting the primary concerns of our first chakra, or security issues. From age fifteen to sixteen, we are simultaneously awakening our seventh chakra and reexamining our relationship with creativity. During our last year in this cycle, we are fully investing in uncovering our spiritual purpose, the key concept of the seventh chakra.
After age twenty-one, our higher chakras—chakras eight through twelve—develop in seven-year spans. After age fifty-six, the development cycle begins again with chakra one. No matter our age, we revisit chakras one through seven within each new seven-year span. For instance, between the ages of twenty-one and twenty-two, we are working on karma, the subject of the eighth chakra, but also reactivating our first chakra. Between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-three, we get to re-explore our second-chakra issues against the backdrop of our karmic issues. There is always an opportunity to heal, change, and renew ourselves, no matter our age.
| Chakra | Age | Key Concept |
| Eight | 21 to 28 years | Karma |
| Nine | 28 to 35 years | Soul purpose |
| Ten | 35 to 42 years | Purposeful survival |
| Eleven | 42 to 49 years | Creative success |
| Twelve | 49 to 56 years | Powerful mastery |
| One | 56 to 63 years | Awareness of a Greater Power |
| Two | 63 to 70 years | Creativity with peace |
| Three | 70 to 77 years | Success, inner and outer |
| Four | 77 to 84 years | Relationship with All |
| Five | 84 to 91 years | Speaking for “Above” |
| Six | 91 to 98 years | Visions from heaven |
There are many healing modalities and exercises throughout this book that can be augmented with this development information. The following examples might spark other ideas as you move forward in your exploration.
In chapter 11, “Healing the Auric Field,” there are practices for assessing the auric field, and then sealing energetic leaks and tears in it. Childhood or adolescent wounds (often emotional) that continue to negatively impact adults correlate with the particular chakra under development at the time of the wounding, but also with the partnered auric field. For instance, a first chakra wound will also be reflected in the first auric field. Working with development cycles can help you pinpoint where a wound, shock, loss, or disappointment might still be undermining your health and happiness and invite healing within the chakra as well as its kin auric field.
Similarly, in chapter 13, “Modern Esoteric Healing,” a process called “Uncovering Your Storyline” will help heal long-held pain, resentment, and regret. Knowing the patterns of chakra development can potentially be useful when preparing for this process, so you can go through the steps of healing past hurts with great awareness and readiness.
CASCADING LIGHT: An Exercise
MANY SUBTLE ENERGY healing practices involve clearing your chakras, freeing you of stress and balancing your energy systems, leaving you refreshed and invigorated. The easiest way to conduct this exercise is to sit in a quiet space and softly close your eyes.
1.Breathing deeply, imagine a brilliant white light entering your in-body chakra system through the top of your head. As this shimmering white light streams through you, it frees you from everything you need to let go of and fills you with inspiration and love.
2.See the light cascade downward, descending through all the chakras until it exits your feet. Even then, it continues to flow through and beyond your tenth chakra, which lies under the ground.
3.From this place under the ground, the light turns to reflow upward through the chakras and around your body, completely enveloping you in grace and protection. Continue this exercise until you feel renewed and clear.