The word chakra comes from the Sanskrit word for “wheel” or “disk,” and, as part of ancient Vedic healing practices and techniques—many of which endure today—yogis have worked with the chakra system for thousands of years. That’s because in Ayurvedic medicine, illness is seen as an energy blockage anchored in one or more of the chakras. Other healing modalities, such as acupuncture, also acknowledge the blocked flow of energy as a root cause of disease and pain. In fact, Western allopathic medicine is one of the few traditions that does not locate energy blockages in order to alleviate pain and suffering in the body, mind, and spirit.
In the yogic tradition, prana, or life force energy, is by design and necessity a flowing source of God/Source/Creator consciousness. Energy is always flowing. In fact, quantum mechanics has proved, via zero-point theory, that particles are never at rest; even in a resting state, there will always be non-zero kinetic energy. Because all matter is energy, even when you are physically at rest, you are in constant motion on a subatomic level. Beyond your physical body, you have an etheric, or “subtle,” body that remains at a higher vibratory state and thus is not visible to the eye. That subtle body is home to your chakras.
Physical well-being is much more than a physical issue, so it’s not hard to understand the idea of energy centers that are open and functioning well, freely, and comfortably, as opposed to energy centers that are closed. Pain begins energetically in one of the chakras and, from there, starts to manifest in the physical body, often in close proximity to the chakra origin of the energy wound or trauma. To reach the source or root cause of your physical disease, it is wise to look deeper, and sometimes further back—back into your maternal and paternal lines, because many of your current energy patterns were inherited from your ancestors.
This process begins in the chakra system. Once you identify the chakra of origin for any of your current challenges, you can establish a plan to shift and move the energy, allowing the chakra to function normally and realigning it once again with the other energy centers. From there, physical healing can begin to unfold.
In this exercise, you will receive guidance about where you need to integrate ancestral wisdom in your life today. Ancestral wisdom can come from your material ancestors in this lifetime and from your spirit ancestors, i.e., those who share your expansive spiritual lineage. Your soul has traveled many places across many lifetimes, and your many physical bodies from those lifetimes gathered cumulative wisdom that sits within your spirit’s wisdom archives.
Take a moment to sit comfortably and relax your shoulders, calling your energy into present time. Do this by speaking your name out loud, over and over, in a soft voice or by imagining your name written into sand on a beautiful beach. Then let this meditation guide you.
1 – Gently coming into this moment, notice your fingers and toes, giving thanks for your breath, becoming aware of your heartbeat as an echo of the Divine, and calming your entire nervous system.
2 – Call to mind an image of your father or grandfather. Notice where in your body you feel a connection to the Paternal Line, the male beings of light and energy from whom you physically descend. Since the left side of the body governs the masculine and paternal energy streams, you are most likely to sense male energy there. Perhaps your left hand will tingle or feel warm. Stretch out your left arm and imagine sending a bright beam of light to receive and send information related to your male line. Take note of any pleasant or uncomfortable feelings. You do not need to fix or adjust them—simply notice them. Send those thoughts and feelings love, and let them go.
3 – Next, call to mind an image of your mother or grandmother. Notice where in your body you feel a connection to the Maternal Line, the female beings of light and energy from whom you physically descend. The right side governs the feminine, maternal energy streams, so you are most likely to sense female energy on this side, especially in the palms of your hands, the top of your head, and the soles of your feet. Take note of any pleasant or uncomfortable feelings. Send them love, and let them go.
4 – Now, bring your awareness to those places in your body (or mind or spirit) where discomfort arose. Notice without judgment whether those places align to the chakras. If you sense discomfort at the top of your head, for example, that pain might represent an ancestral imprint related to spiritual development. Perhaps the wisdom you need to access and integrate right now is related to a spiritual matter or practice, so pay closer attention than normal to spiritual aspects of your life.
5 – As you explore the chapters ahead, let this information guide you, knowing that your energy needs may shift and change over time. It is ever a process, always unfolding. Amen, A’ho, So it is.
Energy (or prana or chi) flows through a central channel or column of light called the Sushumna, which means “gracious” or “kind” in Sanskrit. All seven of the corporal chakras (meaning those attached to the human body) reside in the Sushumna; the secondary chakras discussed in this book, specifically the Earth Star and Soul Star chakras, flow above and below the Sushumna.
There are two energy lines called the nadi, one masculine and one feminine, that wrap around the Sushumna in a DNA-like spiral of light, crossing at the Muladhara or Root Chakra, Manipura or Solar Plexus Chakra, Vissudha or Throat Chakra, and Sahasrara or Crown Chakra. At each of these energy centers the masculine and feminine lines cross and merge. Just as your central nervous system regulates and manages all messages within your physical body, so your chakra system regulates and manages all messages within your subtle, or etheric, body.
If your chakras are out of balance or blocked, how do you regain equilibrium and flow? That’s what this book is all about. In each chapter, you will find specific tips and techniques for aligning each individual chakra. First, here are three steps for assessing, aligning, and activating the energy flow throughout the chakra system. Follow these steps anytime you feel sluggish, sad, or unable to sleep through the night; those are three common signs of chakra imbalance that can be easily corrected, and once corrected, can be easily maintained.
When you feel sadder, more agitated, or more tired than usual, or when you feel increased pain or discomfort in your body, it is time to assess your personal energy flow (PEF). Your PEF governs how you feel every day and is affected by both internal and external factors. By simply reading this book, you are becoming consciously aware of your PEF, which is a critical first step in the assessment process. Once you know what flow feels like, your body can record a memory of this state of being and then regulate itself back to that state of flow, or balance, when energy waxes or wanes.
You can trust your body to heal itself in every moment; in fact, your body wants nothing more than to reach a state of homeostasis, or perfect balance. You move away from balance consciously, by practicing extremes in your ways of eating, moving, and working with energies in your primary energy field. For instance, eating too much food, or not enough of it, can throw the physical system off balance, because food is energy. Too much stress, sorrow, and chatter can also pull you off course. None of this happens overnight, though; these events unfold slowly, over decades of not paying close enough attention to staying balanced.
Just as your physical body benefits from a regular checkup, your chakras also benefit from regular assessment. This exercise is one way to quickly and effectively evaluate the condition of your energy centers, as well as receive guidance and wisdom about where your attention is needed.
Take a moment to call your energy into present time by speaking your name out loud, over and over, in a soft voice, or by imagining your name written into sand on a beautiful beach. Invite your guides to be present with you. Call in the guardians of space and time to anchor the four corners and four cardinal elements as you begin a scan of your sacred energy centers.
Begin by calling upon your guardian energies. Speak the following words out loud or whisper them softly to yourself: “Guardian Keepers of the East, energies of air and flight, we welcome you. Please bring us a bright new beginning and new wisdom to help us integrate our work. Guardian Keepers of the South, energies of fire and power, we welcome you. Please bring us a strong and courageous spirit to empower our work. Guardian Keepers of the West, energies of water and flow, we welcome you. Please purify us and cleanse our hearts as we bring love to the world, and please open a container for prosperity to flow freely toward our work. Guardian Keepers of the North, energies of Earth and time, we welcome you. Please ground and protect us as we embody our work. We thank you for your presence. Amen, A’ho, So it is.” Then let this meditation guide you.
1 – First, notice every part of your body, giving thanks as you go. Thank the soles of your feet, and the Earth below you, for rooting you into the present moment and reminding you of your inherent safety and sovereignty. Thank your legs, hips, lower back, and pelvic floor for guiding you and inspiring you, and for bringing the force of creation and life through you. Thank your ovaries or testes, your life-giving capacity and birthing potential, your sensual self. Thank your digestive system and kidneys; your adrenal system; your lungs, your breath of life. Thank your heart and your esophagus, throat, tongue, and teeth. Thank your voice and your truth. Thank your face and your cheeks, your seeing eyes and your knowing eye. Thank your ears, the top of your head, your hair, and the soft spot of knowing that connects you to your Creator.
2 – Thank your body as a whole. Allow all to be, just as it is, right here, right now, as it desires to be. There is nothing to change, nothing to fix. All is available for noticing, for scanning, for discerning.
3 – Then, speak these words aloud: “Energy centers, reveal your needs. Speak your truths to me. Show me where my attention is needed so that I may invoke the healing potential of my own intelligent system. I trust in my own ability to restore, recover, and repair anything that needs it, in perfect time and alignment with my whole health. Amen, A’ho, So it is.”
Notice what comes forward for you in this exercise, and pay attention to even the subtlest of signs. You might see, sense, smell, or feel something. All information is welcome. Then journal what you have noticed, and make a note of the date and time. Continue to record any thoughts, feelings, or emotions that arise in the next forty-eight hours.
Once you have assessed your current state of energy flow, you can work on a specific chakra to bring each center into balance before aligning the entire system for optimal flow. You can align your system using visualization, crystal therapy, essential oils via anointing rituals, or all three methods. Taking an integrated approach is best when healing and aligning chakras. Each tool offers a frequency, or vibration, and employs a different energy stream to bring its healing to the chakra.
Over time, you can isolate your work with these tools to determine what works best for you.
There is just one step to the process of balancing energy flow in your body, and in many ways, it is the most important step of the three.
Energy is present all of the time, but much of the energy surrounding you is dormant, awaiting activation. If you find yourself unable to access or activate a particular energy stream, it simply means that you do not need it at this time.
Energy activation applies to all energies, even those in crystals and gemstones. Energy does not need your permission or activation to flow, but it does move more powerfully once activated, as shown in the following excercise.
To activate energy flow in your body, give permission to your spirit guides and higher self to access, open, and activate each chakra. This short meditation guides you to do just that.
1 – Begin by opening the central chakra chamber, or Sushumna, which is like a tube of light. Unscrew the bottom of the chamber beneath your feet, turning it to the right to open it, and then unscrew the top of the chamber above your head, again turning the top of the chamber to the right. Once you open the central chamber from the deepest roots below your feet to the highest clouds above you, you open the chakra system for assessment and alignment.
2 – Visualize your Earth Star and Root chakras opening, connecting you with and rooting you into the Earth herself. Use the mantra “access, open, activate” as a touchstone phrase you repeat to yourself each time you visualize one of your chakras.
3 – Next, imagine your receiving chakras—Sacral, Solar Plexus, and Heart—opening to you, turning slowly and revealing their medicine of love and empowerment. Take a deep breath and repeat your mantra: “Access, open, activate.” Then, imagine your projecting chakras—Throat, Third Eye, Crown, and Soul Star—revealing themselves to you, offering their medicine of wisdom, communication, and connection to the outer cosmic realms.
4 – Take a final breath and repeat the mantra one final time: “Access, open, activate.” Once all chakras are accessed, opened, and activated, give thanks for this access and alignment. Then, close the Sushumna chamber, turning both top and bottom of the column to the left, sealing the chakras and returning your system to its waking, closed state.
You can choose to balance your chakras as often as you like; this is not necessarily a daily or even a weekly practice. Let your intuition guide you.
The meditation exercises that follow are helpful if you feel that your energy is too open and others have too much access to your energy field. Signs of energy overwhelm, which signal open access to your energy field, are physical and mental fatigue, irritability, confusion, exasperation, and loss of interest in spiritual activities.
Helps you encase your energy field in a bubble of light that is impenetrable to outside influence without your permission.
1 – Relax your body and bring your attention to your breath, which will naturally bring you into present time. Next, become aware of your body’s comfort level. Make any adjustments needed so you can be fully here, now.
2 – Imagine a huge bubble of translucent white golden light in front of you, about a foot (30 cm) taller and wider than you are on all sides. See this bubble of light gently float on the Earth before you, vibrating and glowing from its center outward. You may even feel warmth as you envision it. Take a step forward, reach out your hand, and touch the sphere of light. Notice how it vibrates back to you, easily and openly inviting contact.
3 – Take another step forward, and see yourself step inside this sphere of light. See the energy move out and open to accommodate you and then close and gently seal itself behind you, enveloping you. Here you are safe, well, and whole. Here you are held by spirit guides and are in the care of guardian angels. Here there is no need for anxiety, as time does not exist. There is only this moment. Release your concerns about yesterday or tomorrow, and let your body relax and soften. Know that all is unfolding in perfect time and order. You only need to be and allow. Give thanks for the protection that surrounds you in this bubble of divine and holy light.
4 – When you are ready, emerge and return to your waking state of awareness. Take with you the peace that was gifted to you here, and find ways to mirror it in your daily life. Embody the peace you now know exists and is always present, waiting for your acknowledgment.
Amen, A’ho, So it is.
Offers you a chance to mindfully seal off access to your energy reserves in cases where you feel your boundaries are being violated.
1 – Relax and bring your full attention to this moment, your breath, and your body. Imagine that all your energy centers are open. Feel each one vibrating and connecting you to the energy it represents. At the Earth Star Chakra, you are connected to your ancestors and the plants and mineral spirits of the underground realms. At the Root Chakra, your roots connect to the Earth and you feel safely grounded in the present moment.
2 – Next, indulge in your deepest sensual and creative fantasies at the Sacral Chakra. Then open the Solar Plexus Chakra to experience your most profound sense of personal power. Afterward, the Heart Chakra opens, connecting you with energies of love and compassion that represent your feminine softness. The Throat Chakra opens next, helping you see and embody your deepest truth. Then the Third Eye Chakra displays the visions needed to guide and support you from a place of deep knowing and intuition.
3 – Return to the Crown Chakra, and with your hands folded over your heart space, give thanks to Great Spirit for your connection to Source. Having come full circle, honor, acknowledge, and give thanks to the energies that have opened and made themselves available to you.
4 – Then, beginning at the Earth Star Chakra, imagine a giant zipper sitting at the base of all of your energy centers. This zipper will help you close and seal all of your sacred chakras, one at a time. Pull the zipper northward from your Earth Star Chakra, over the Root, Sacral, and Solar Plexus. Continue over your Heart, Throat, Third Eye, and up to the Crown. Finally, pull the zipper up to the top of your Soul Star Chakra (see here).
5 – Close the zipper tightly and feel it seal over any holes or spaces in your energy field. You are held and safe here; nothing can enter your energy field without your permission. (This exercise will protect you during times of fear or anxiety.)
6 – When you are ready to unzip the chakra system—and you should be sure to do so if you wish to begin energy work of any kind, as the flow of energies is critical for creation—release them one at a time, unzipping slowly until all chakras are exposed. You can still keep the chakras protected even if the system itself is unzipped: To engage this layer of protection, simply imagine the entire chakra column encased in a bubble of divine white light of love and peace. This is an additional step and layer of protection for times of need.
7 – Once you feel that your energy centers are protected to your satisfaction, give thanks to your spirit guides for their presence and then release them. Know that you can repeat this exercise any time you feel you need additional energy protection or buffering.
Amen, A’ho, So it is.