By Sejal Shah
Experiencing negative emotions? This guided meditation for 7 chakras can help balance your life energy and transform your muddled emotions.
Have you ever noticed that you tend to touch your belly with a sense of joy after a delicious meal? Or that your eyebrows furrow when you are angry? Do you recall that lump in your throat the last time you cried or felt grateful?
Why do we subconsciously associate our emotions with certain parts of our body? This is not a coincidence. It is because we have 7 chakras in our bodies!
What are the 7 chakras in the Body?
When translated, chakra means ‘wheel’ or ‘circle’. A chakra is nothing but a point of sensation in our body. This point, alternately, gives us pleasure and pain.
Many symbols have been used since ancient times to represent chakras, such as a wheel or a flower-like lotus. However, there are no objects present at these points. They are simply points where our prana (life force energy) accumulates within the body.
Did you know this?
There are 109 chakras in our body, out of which 108 are in the physical body and one is in the astral body (what we commonly refer to as the aura).
To understand a chakra, try this: gently brush the palate i.e. the roof of your mouth, with the tip of your tongue. Did you feel a tingling sensation on your face? This sensation is because you just triggered a chakra present at the top of your mouth! Amazing, isn’t it?!
The 7 main chakras in the body
Of the 109 chakras in the body, there are seven main chakras. They are:
Muladhara Chakra (root chakra) - at the base of the spine, just above the anus
Swadishthana Chakra (sacral chakra) - behind the genitals
Manipura Chakra (solar plexus chakra or navel chakra) - in the belly button region
Anahata Chakra (heart chakra) - in the heart region
Vishuddhi Chakra (throat chakra) - near the thyroid
Ajna Chakra (or Agya Chakra or third eye chakra) - in the region between the two eyebrows, right in front of the pituitary gland
Sahasrara Chakra (crown chakra) - at the crown of the head
Chakras and your emotions
Each of these seven chakras is linked to our emotions intricately, some positive and some negative emotions.
The first chakra or Muladhara Chakra is associated with inertia and enthusiasm.
The second chakra or Swadishthana Chakra is associated with creation, procreation, dullness, and lust or obsession.
In the third chakra or Manipura Chakra, emotions are in the form of joy, generosity, greed, and jealousy.
The fourth chakra or Anahata Chakra is associated with love and hate. It is no coincidence that when we fall in love, our heart skips a beat; at the same time, when we are rejected in love, we experience heartbreak. Fear is also associated with the Anahata Chakra.
The fifth chakra or Vishuddhi Chakra is associated with gratefulness and grief.
In the sixth chakra or the Ajna Chakra, emotions such as anger and awareness arise.
In the seventh chakra or Sahasrara Chakra, there is only bliss - deep joy!
Why balance the chakras in the body?
You might have noticed that all these seven chakras lie along the spinal cord. When the prana is dormant or not flowing in an upward direction in these seven chakras, negative emotions tend to come up in us.
Activating or balancing (channeling an upward flow of life energy) all the seven chakras can open up a whole new dimension of life. As each of the chakras is capable of throwing up positive as well as negative emotions in us, it is important to activate the chakras to keep the upward flow of energy so we evoke positive emotions.
Regular spiritual practices such as meditation activate the chakras.
Meditation to activate the 7 chakras
When we meditate, the mind settles down, and we get in touch with our inner Self from where we can channelize the prana.
Meditation can propel the prana, which is lying dormant in the Muladhara Chakra up to the Sahasrara Chakra, with the spinal cord acting as a pipeline.
When even a tiny particle of energy reaches the Sahasrara Chakra, we experience bliss and absolute joy.
Activating or balancing the seven chakras has been the main pursuit of spiritual seekers over the ages. Are you also curious about how to activate the seven chakras?
Guided chakra meditation with Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Uplift your life energy now
If you are looking for a practice to help you in your journey and start enlivening your chakras you will love SKY Breath Meditation. It is a supportive and sustainable practice that will not only start moving your energy upwards (giving you all of those amazing benefits!) but can also help to reduce anxiety and depression, improve sleep, and boost focus.
Click the image below to join us for a free introduction session.
Part of this article was originally published in Art of Living, India.
Sejal Shah, E-RYT 500 Sri Sri Yoga Teacher, YACEP, C-IAYT, Meditation Teacher, Happiness expert, NYU Post Graduate Medical School approved Yoga-CME retreat facilitator, Mind-Body Wellness Writer, Homeopath. She can be followed on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
