The tattoo has been started! Last Tuesday I sat through two hours of painful outlining, beginning the process. Now there’s just the coloring left. The chakras are now boldly and permanently a part of my body. In order to get all of the detail that I wanted, I had to make the tattoo bigger than originally planned. But now that I’ve had over a week with it, I love the tattoo! I’m really excited to see the finished product!
Lots of people have been asking me about the chakras. Many people have heard of them (usually referred to in a yoga class), but don’t really know too much about them. Yoga was initially where I was introduced to the chakras as well. I would hear a teacher say that a certain pose was “opening the heart chakra” or to “ground yourself through your root chakra.” I was curious about what these chakras were so I started doing some research. I browsed the internet and found pictures and brief descriptions. I learned of some books written on the subject and bought a couple. If interested, Wheels of Life by Anodea Judith is a great beginner’s guide.
Initially, I liked the symbolic representation of the chakras, the way each symbol looked and that each chakra was associated with a certain color. But as I started learning more, I was fascinated by this energetic system. So here I will try to give a brief, but in depth summary of the chakras. The seven chakras are a spiritual energetic system that begin at the base of the spine and run up the spine and out the top of the head. The chakras are associated with kundalini energy, as well as meridians used in acupuncture.
Each chakra has a sound, an element, a color, a function, and associated body parts. Chakras can be opened or closed and yoga is one way to help balance and open our chakras. If our chakras are closed, it can result in physical and/or emotional disease in the body. The goal then, is to listen to and get to know our bodies, determining where the imbalances lie and then take actions to create more balance within ourselves.
The first chakra is located at the base of the spine and is red. The Sanskrit name is Muladhara. The first chakra represents our basic needs (food, shelter) and is associated with grounding, feeling connected to the Earth and feeling like we belong.
The second chakra is located in the lower belly, right under the belly button and is orange. Svadhisthana is the Sanskrit name. It represents our emotions and ability to feel. It is also associated with sexuality and creativity. Our reproductive organs are connected to this chakra.
The third chakra is located at the stomach or solar plexus and is yellow. The Sanskrit name is Manipura. This chakra is our personal power center, where we have our will and determination. Self-esteem and self worth are formed here. Our digestion is associated with the third chakra.
The fourth chakra, or heart chakra, is located in the chest at the heart center. The color is green (or sometimes pink). Anahata is the Sanskrit name and this is where love, compassion, and understanding come from. The heart chakra is a unifying force where the lower, more physical chakras meet with the higher, more conceptual chakras.
The fifth chakra is located at the throat and is blue. The Sanskrit name is Visuddha. This chakra is associated with communication, speaking our truth, and expression.
The sixth chakra is considered the third eye, on the forehead above and between the eyes. The Sanskrit name is Ajna and the color is indigo. This is where our intuition comes from along with imagination, visualization, and concentration.
The seventh chakra is also known as the crown chakra and radiates out from the top of the head. The color here is white or meant to encompass the entire spectrum of colors. The Sanskrit name is Sahasrara. This chakra is higher knowledge, union, bliss, nirvana.
The symbol that represents each chakra is a circle, lotus, or wheel (chakra is the Sanskrit word for wheel or disc) that then has a certain number of petals. The root chakra (first chakra) has four petals, then the second chakra has six, third has ten, fourth has twelve, fifth has sixteen, sixth has two, and finally the seventh is the lotus of a thousand petals. Inside each lotus, the Sanskrit name is written.
The chakras can be viewed as more concrete or physical in the first three chakras and then moving into abstraction and the spiritual realm the upper four chakras. The lower chakras allow the body to stay grounded and connected to the Earth, enabling the upper chakras to explore more philosophical or spiritual concepts. Again, there is a balancing act taking place even within the chakra system.
If interested in more information, wikipedia has good information at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chakra I would also recommend checking out Anodea Judith’s website: http://www.sacredcenters.com/index.html Another site that has an easy to read chart where you can see all the attributes of each chakra: http://www.whats-your-sign.com/chakra-symbols.html There are so many more…but you can do a google search if interested! Or get in touch with me if you want more recommendations.
There are so many levels and such depth to this subject! But I think I’ve given enough of an overview here. One more piece I will leave you with, though…Anodea Judith has quite a few books and CDs about chakras. In one book, she talks about how as a society we have been moving through the chakra system. We started out as hunters and gatherers who were primarily concerned with survival (root chakra) and there was a strong connection to Mother Earth. We then shifted into the time where humans learned farming and created communities, both focusing on fertility (second, sacral chakra). Then came the age of power (third chakra). The masculine replaced feminine, we stopped relying as heavily on Mother Earth. Militaries were created, men were taught to surrender their individuality in order to become a collective unit, and the masses were ruled by one. We still have much of this war and violence happening, but we’ve also made huge progress in technology, science, and psychology…many of which are associated with the upper chakras.
So we come into the place we are at right now: somewhere in between the third and fourth chakras. In this “in between” space, it may take all of this war and destruction for us to realize that we need to shift into a new way of being in the world. We need to integrate into the fourth chakra, balancing our vast knowledge with our physical bodies and surroundings. We need to start looking at how our actions are affecting the world around us: physically, emotionally, and mentally. We need to start taking care of each other and of the Earth if we want to see ourselves survive. Judith says this is the place where we are shifting from the “love of power to the power of love.” I hope that in my lifetime, I live to see this world pass through the love of power and move into the power of love.
