Chakra healing and benefits of chakra balancing

Let’s Take A Trip Within. Join us as we take a mystical journey. Not one of those complex, five-hour-long, sage-burning, six brass bells ringing, flutist and Yogi-Master-to-navigate kind of journey. Although each of those would be a lovely addition to the experience, for now, we’re simply going within. No GPS necessary. No backseat drivers. Just you. You, a comfortable chair And a little knowledge of where to find what you’re looking for and what to do when you get there.

I promise that your journey will be well worthwhile. When your chakras are balanced, you will naturally make better choices -- in part, because you will feel more in control of your world and more free to see the bigger picture. You will enjoy a new confidence in who you are and in the correctness of the path you are taking. You will be naturally more intuitive, picking up cues from others that you love … and cautious of those who don’t wish you well. You will feel connected. You will feel both less alone and at the same time more singular.
Enough about the journey’s end, let’s start at the beginning!

Whether you are already a chakra balancing pro or hearing about chakras for the first time, let’s take a minute and hit the basics.

The Basic-Basics. Just in case you didn’t get a chance to brush up on your Sanskrit, the term chakra translates roughly as wheel. It’s helpful to think of them as disks or plates.



Chakra, or chakras, are the energy centers located in what is known as our Subtle Body and are the portholes through which energy travels in and out.

There are seven chakras, each a distinct and vibrant color correlating with the area of the body that each represents. Sometimes thought of as the colorful blossoms of the spine, chakras are aligned, vertically, through the center of our Subtle Body.

When a chakra is balanced, it spins smoothly and quickly. (Think CD!) Unbalanced, you will see a wobble – like a child’s spinning top that has lost its momentum.

Balanced, a chakra color will be vibrant and pure. Unbalanced, colors will lose their color intensity, and for example, you may notice that the vivid violet color of the Crown chakra has become a weak, pale lavender. You may also notice changes in your physical or emotional body that correspond to an unbalanced chakra.

Each chakra, focused on individually, will appear to be either balanced or unbalanced, independently. With the following technique, our chakras will be spinning smoothly and brightly lit, quickly bringing us to an awareness of the importance of being centered.

Team Chakra. While each chakra carries a corresponding Sanskrit name, for our chakra basics, we will learn the color associated with each chakra and the chakra name, reflecting its Subtle Body location.

Working from the bottom up, we find below the base of the spine, the Root Chakra, also known as the First Chakra, represented by the color red.

Moving upward on our chain of disks, we arrive next to the Sacral, or Second Chakra. Located about three inches below the belly button, the sacral chakra is represented by the color orange.

Next on our list is the Solar Plexus Chakra, which is based in the mid-abdomen region and is represented by the color yellow.

Moving up, we come to the Heart Chakra which is surprisingly green!

Next, located at the base of our throat is a blue-colored disk, representing the Throat Chakra.

Our indigo-colored disc, our Third Eye Chakra, is located at the center of the forehead.

At the very top of the head is the Crown Chakra, a brilliant violet.

Cleaning and Clearing the Fog. The first step to balancing your chakras is to see and sense them clearly. To do this, it’s all about clearing the fog that fills the Subtle Body each and every day.

You know that fog. It takes the physical form of emotions like jealousy and anger or frustration and worry. It’s fear. Fear of failing, fear of taking a chance, and fear of making the wrong choices. It’s the snide comment from a co-worker. It’s the offhand but-still-stinging comment from a loved one.

While this is the first step in chakra balancing, this technique can also be used on its own if you find yourself feeling anxious or afraid. If you awaken from a nightmare, are unable to fall asleep, or just feel frightened and unsure, this is a go-to technique.

You may want to close your eyes as you begin to visualize your chakra, effectively escaping from your view of the dishes in the sink or overflowing laundry basket.

Sitting in a comfortable chair, feet flat on the floor, slowly breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.

Visualize breathing in a beautiful, white, shimmering light. As you exhale, imagine the light forming streams around you, circling you as though it were a cocoon. Stay with this visualization for as long as it takes to weave your cocoon.



You are surrounded, enshrouded, in a sparkling white light of protection and peace. Of power.

Pause and feel safe, secure and protected.

Begin to breathe in that light, but this time imagine it not blowing out to form a cocoon, but rather filling your body, displacing the fog. Let it fill you from head to toe.

Visualize pushing the often dark, thick fog – now being displaced by the white light -- out of your body through the soles of your feet.

Some days, the fog is thick and dense and will take many breaths. Some days, you can push through, displacing it with the white light more easily than you would have thought.

Continue breathing, displacing the fog, until you are completely filled with a bright, beautiful light – just like the one that still surrounds you. Feel centered, loved and safe.



Now Let’s Go Within. For each individual chakra, you will repeat the same balancing technique. While a single chakra can be addressed, it’s always best to take at least a glance at all of your chakras. Often one out of balance tips and tilts the others. You may find that the chakra you identify as out of balance isn’t alone!

Work from the bottom up, beginning with the First Chakra and addressing each one in the order it appears in the Subtle Body.

At each chakra, you will focus on the spinning disk. Is it wobbly, like a plate on the end of a circus juggler’s pole? Is it spinning slowly or barely at all? Is the color more of a faded rose than a vibrant cherry?

When your Root Chakra is in alignment, you will feel brave in your choices and confident in your decisions. Just like the legs of a table, it’s important that the Root Chakra is balanced and spinning smoothly, helping you to feel grounded. You’ll feel like a plant with strong roots.

Should you see this chakra as wobbly or spinning slowly or pale, you may find that you’ve been feeling cynical, angry, unstable and out of sorts for reasons that, often, you haven’t been able to identify.



As you breathe, use your exhaling breath through your mouth as an energy-push and imagine your breath blowing the chakra into a level, smooth spin.

Focusing on this disk, breathing slowly and rhythmically; visualize it beginning to turn evenly. Like blowing the pinwheels we enjoyed as children. Keep blowing! When you have your Root Chakra spinning smoothly and evenly, it’s time to light it up.

Using the same technique that you used to spin the disk, now send light to it through your exhale-breath.

Send your Root Chakra the energy to glow red, as if your breath were a paintbrush. Blow until you see a bright and beautiful and clean red light. Watch as it begins to glow brighter and the red color becomes saturated.

Pause for a moment. Sense how you are already feeling a bit stronger. A bit more connected to your feelings and choices. Confident.

You did it!

Now travel upward to the next blossom on your Subtle Body spine and find the orange or Sacral Chakra.



Evaluate the health of this chakra. It’s a tricky one, for our ego often rests here. Nervous stomachs, digestive problems, even intimacy issues, are all influenced by the health of the Sacral Chakra. Should you determine that this chakra needs healing, repeat the process you used with the Root Chakra. This time the color you are working with will be orange.

Should you find your Sacral Chakra spinning perfectly and glowing a beautiful, dense orange, simply pause and move upward to find and evaluate the yellow or Solar Plexus Chakra.

Upward and upward, work with the energy of each chakra to create a breathtakingly beautiful tower of lights.



The Big Finish. When you have focused on and healed each chakra, return one last time to the Root Chakra. Quickly work your way upward, visualizing each chakra in order. Watch how the red color bursts forward at the Root and then the sunny yellow of the Solar Plexus. Next, the Sacral’s orange; then the bright green of your Heart Chakra beams! See the crystal blue of your Throat Chakra and the indigo of your Third Eye, clear and powerful.

Completing your move up your Subtle Body tower, similar to quickly sliding your finger across piano keys and ending in a strong chord, let the power and energy you’ve accumulated burst through your Crown Chakra.

See the pure colors explode skyward. Feel the release, the balance, the joy.

You have healed your energy and balanced your Chakra.

Just a Note. Even when our approach seems light-hearted, know that we appreciate chakra healing and chakra balancing as a sacred experience. With committed practice, this exercise will lead to balance in your mind, body, and heart. It will transform you in ways that defy logic, in part because the experience is so personal.

Here, we’ve offered the basic technique and some general chakra information to get you started. In future articles, we’ll go into detail about each individual chakra, what it represents, what you may feel if it’s out of balance, and in what ways it’s healing is likely to be felt.

Until then, we wish you a colorful experience!