Chakras: What Are They & 7 Ways To Activate Them

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Hey Cosmic Lovers! I’m sure most of you have heard of the term “chakras,” but rarely does anyone go any deeper into what they are, why they are important, and how to work with them. Screenshot this article because today we’re going to take a deep dive into all things chakras and I’ll be giving you a few core practices so you can start activating them right away!

What are chakras?

Chakras are energy centers in the body, rooted in various spiritual and healing traditions, particularly in Hinduism and Buddhism. There are typically seven main chakras, each associated with specific physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of our being.

Here are the seven main chakras and how they specifically affect us both emotionally, physically, energetically:

Root Chakra (the Muladhar) is red in tone. It’s located at the base of the spine and relates to survival, stability, and grounding. I like to picture it as a red tomato colored, inverted triangle. This chakra can also help to raise our Kundalini energy as well if we want.
Sacral Chakra (the Svadhisthana) is orange in tone. It’s located in the lower abdomen right beneath our navel and connects to emotions, creativity, and sexuality. Think of it as a big bright orange that can be filled with juicy energy.
Solar Plexus Chakra (the Manipura) is yellow gold in tone. It’s found in the upper abdomen at the solar plexus. It’s linked to personal power, confidence, and will. It’s important that this chakra be developed from the ages of zero to 16 to build a healthy self-esteem.
Heart Chakra (the Anahata) is green in color. It’s located at the center of the chest and embodies love, compassion, and connection.
Throat Chakra (the Vishuddha) is blue in color. It’s found in the base and center of the throat and rules communication and self-expression.
Third Eye Chakra (the Ajna) is purple in color. It’s located between the eyebrows and relates to psychic-intuition, insight, and perception.
Crown Chakra (the Sahasrara) is lavender in color. It sits at the top of and above the head. It connects to spirituality, consciousness, and enlightenment (God/Source/Universe).

While there are dozens of chakras, these seven are the dominant ones that affect us more often and thus are important to keep balanced.

Benefits of balancing and activating our chakras:

Holistic Health: Balancing chakras is believed to promote physical and emotional well-being. Blocked or unbalanced chakras can lead to issues such as stress, anxiety, or physical ailments.
Self-Awareness: Understanding chakras can enhance self-awareness and personal growth, helping individuals recognize areas in their life that may need attention.
Spiritual Connection: Many people use chakra work as a way to deepen their spiritual practice, fostering a greater sense of connection to themselves and the universe, God and their ancestors.

Energy Flow: Chakras are thought to influence the flow of energy (or “prana”) throughout the body. Ensuring this energy flows freely is believed to enhance vitality and overall health.

How to balance and activate the Chakras:

Since these energy centers are vital to our overall well being, it’s important that they stay balanced and activated. Balancing and activating your chakras involves performing a variety of practices that help to promote and support the balance and energy flow within these energy centers. While the practices aren’t super simple or easy, they aren’t that hard either. If you start to make them a habit, you’ll notice quite quickly how much better you feel overall.

Below are some powerful and effective methods to help you balance and activate your chakras.

1. Meditation: One of my favorites! To make my life easier (and yours too), don’t try to sit quietly and “think of nothing.” Do this instead:

Silent Meditations: Focus on, visualize, and breathe into each chakra. Sit quietly and concentrate on each chakra, starting from the root and moving up to the crown. Visualize the color associated with each chakra and imagine it glowing brighter with each breath.
Guided Meditations: Use guided meditations specifically designed for chakra activation. Listen to a meditation while focusing on each chakra. I love, love, love the Meditative Mind YouTube channel. You can also just fall asleep and listen to these overnight.

2. Yoga: Its whole foundation is built on the healing of energy and there are actual yoga poses that target the different chakras. For example:

The root chakra can be activated with grounding poses like Mountain Pose, while the heart chakra can be opened with heart-opening poses like Cobra or Camel Pose. Take some time to research more of these and do the ones you are drawn to the most. You could also do the seven main poses starting with the root chakra and work your way up to the crown chakra. That will be your body’s higher intelligence guiding you to where more healing is needed first.

3. Sound Healing: Sound Healing is different from meditations that use music or voice because it utilizes specific chants and tools that can help to activate the chakras such as:

Mantras: Chant the seed sounds (Bija mantras) for each chakra. For example, “Lam” for the root chakra and “Om” for the crown chakra. You can put these into practice right now by heading over to this Meditative’s Mind, 3-minute chakra chanting video.
Tuning Forks or Singing Bowls: Use instruments such as these which are already tuned to the frequencies of each chakra to resonate with and activate them.

4. Crystals: Another personal fave! I love healing crystals not only because they are super gorgeous looking, but they have so many uses. When it comes to chakras and crystals, they are a natural match. Here’s how to work with healing crystals to activate your chakras:

Use specific crystals associated with each chakra. For example, red jasper for the root chakra and amethyst for the crown chakra. Carry them, wear them, or place them on the corresponding chakra during meditation.
Quick hack: If you don’t happen to know what crystal to use for each chakra, then just pick up any crystal that you are drawn to that is the same (ish) color of the chakra you’re interested in activating.

5. Essential Oils: I’ve so many personal faves and EOs are also at the top of list. These delicious smelling babies have been used since the beginning of time for medicinal, culinary, and energetically healing needs.

Use essential oils that resonate with each chakra. For example, sandalwood for the root chakra and lavender for the crown chakra. You can apply them to your skin or use them in a diffuser.

6. Diet and Lifestyle: I know this one is a bit annoying, because you already know pizza and chips aren’t going to get these lovely energy wheels spinning and activated!

But listen, it’s not that complicated. While you don’t have to go vegan, you will certainly need to eat healthier and be more mindful of your dietary habits overall. To use food to activate your chakras, try this:

Eat foods that correspond to each chakra’s color and energy. For example, red foods (like beets) for the root chakra and green foods (like spinach) for the heart chakra.
Detox often from your devices, vices and social media.
Be mindful of the music you listen to as well as how much alcohol and recreational drug use you partake in.
Choose your lovers and friends mindfully; they really do affect your health and wellbeing.

7. Movement and Dance

Engage in free movement or dance to help release stuck energy and activate your chakras.
And yes, twerking does indeed work; it’s actually really good for our sacral and root chakras and helps to release stored trauma from our hips.

So there you have it!

While you don’t have to do all of these practices, if achieving holistic health is your goal – which the activation of your chakras plays a big role in – then you’ll want to incorporate as many of these practices as often as you can, as soon as you can.

Make it fun for yourself by making it a tiny ritual, even if just a few times a week, and certainly incorporate these practices into your self-care routine.

Peace. -ZYA

ZYA is a spiritual teacher and psychic medium who channels messages from the divine through words, sound and visual art. Currently based in Mexico City, you can book a reading with her at BOOKZYA.com and follow her on IG at PSYCHICZYA.

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