Are you familiar with chakras? Do you find regular meditation too tough to manage?
Chakra meditation combines the benefits of both into an activity that is easier for you to practice and offers amazing results. For this reason, chakra meditation is gaining popularity across the world.
Regular meditation requires you to keep your mind empty and still at the same time. This is hard to manage for most people. Or it will take years of practice to reach at least some levels of perfection.
On the other hand, chakra meditation is all about focusing on various energy centers or chakras in your body. Most people find it easier to manage as this gives them something to focus on.
Moreover, chakra meditation is considered to be highly effective in enhancing energy levels, improving focus, and reducing anxiety and stress. There is no need to look further for reasons for the popularity of chakra meditation.
This article walks you through the meaning of chakra, the seven chakras, the benefits of chakra meditation, and the steps of chakra meditation.
Understanding your chakras
Chakra is a Sanskrit word meaning wheel or circle. In this context, it refers to wheels or circles of energy in our body. These chakras are always spinning like energy vortexes. When they are spinning in the right way, they draw in energy from the Universe into us. This energy is used for our bodily functions.
Each chakra is associated with a color, mantra, symbol, yoga poses, crystals, and essential oils to enhance its workings. Chakras need to be kept open, unblocked, energized and aligned to offer us the maximum benefits. Find out more about Yoga poses for each chakra.
Our body is divided into seven chakras located along the spinal cord.
Crown Chakra (Sahasrara Chakra)
- Position: At the crown or top of the head
- Associated with: Direct connection to the Universe
- When balanced: Allows to seek and accept divine guidance, opens the mind, and feel connected to the Universe
- When imbalanced: Depression, loss of faith, confusion, migraines
- Color: Violet
- Mantra: Om
- Symbol: Thousand petaled lotus
- Element: All elements
- Yoga Poses: Headstand, Rabbit Pose, Lotus Pose, Balancing Butterfly Pose, and Savasana (Corpse Pose)
- Crystals: Selenite, Moonstone, Clear Quartz, Amethyst, Diamond
- Essential Oils: Myrrh, Rose, Neroli
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Third Eye Chakra (Ajna Chakra)
- Position: On the forehead between your eyes
- Associated with: Seat of intuition, wisdom, and insight
- When balanced: Clear vision, active imagination, and ability to communicate with the Universe
- When imbalanced: Anxiety, lack of self-belief, headaches, and nightmares
- Color: Indigo
- Mantra: Sham
- Symbol: Two petaled lotus
- Element: Light
- Yoga Poses: Cat/Cow Pose, Dolphin Pose, Candle Gazing, Child’s Pose
- Crystals: Amethyst, Purple Fluorite, Blue Quartz, Angelite, Azurite
- Essential Oils: Clary Sage, Juniper, Helichrysum
Throat Chakra (Vishuddha Chakra)
- Position: Throat near the thyroid
- Associated with: Self-expression, truth, communication, and creativity
- When balanced: Ability to express and share truthfully
- When imbalanced: Suppressed feelings, nervousness, sore throat, irritated sinuses, and thyroid problems
- Color: Blue
- Mantra: Ham
- Symbol: Four petaled lotus
- Element: Ether
- Yoga Poses: Fish Pose, Supported Shoulderstand, Bridge Pose
- Crystals: Lapis Lazuli, Blue Lace Agate, Aquamarine, Blue Calcite
- Essential Oils: Chamomile, Peppermint, Spearmint
Related: How to Unblock Throat Chakra?
Heart Chakra (Anahata Chakra)
- Position: In the heart region
- Associated with: Love, emotions, and ability to connect
- When balanced: Spiritual awareness, give and receive love, forgive, and form emotional bonds
- When imbalanced: Inability to feel empathy, love, and compassion, heart problems
- Color: Green
- Mantra: Yam
- Symbol: 12 petaled lotus
- Element: Air
- Yoga Poses: Camel Pose, Cobra Pose, Wheel Pose, Eagle Pose
- Crystals: Jade, Green Aventurine, Rose Quartz, Amazonite, Emerald
- Essential Oils: Rose, Lavender, Jasmine
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Solar Plexus Chakra (Manipura Chakra)
- Position: Abdomen, above the belly button
- Associated with: Individual power and will, relationship with the outside world
- When balanced: Energized, confident, and productive
- When imbalanced: Low energy, procrastination, insecurity, and digestive problems
- Color: Yellow
- Mantra: Ram
- Symbol: 10 petaled lotus
- Element: Fire
- Yoga Poses: Boat Pose, Plank Pose, Bow Pose, Sun Salutation, Warrior III Pose
- Crystals: Amber, Citrine, Yellow Jade, Golden Topaz, Yellow Jasper
- Essential Oils: Cypress, Ginger, Geranium
Sacral Chakra (Swadishthana Chakra)
- Position: Lower abdomen, pelvis region
- Associated with: Creativity, emotions, sexuality, and sensuality
- When balanced: Joyous, passionate, and friendly
- When imbalanced: emotional instability, lack of creativity, low self-esteem, eating disorders, addictions, lack of sex drive, and bladder problems
- Color: Orange
- Mantra: Vam
- Symbol: 6 petaled lotus
- Element: Water
- Yoga Poses: Goddess Pose, Pigeon Pose, Reverse Warrior
- Crystals: Carnelian, Orange Calcite, Tiger Eye, Citrine
- Essential Oils: Orange, Ylang Yang, Sandalwood
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Root Chakra (Muladhara Chakra)
- Position: Located at the base of the spine on the pelvic floor
- Associated with: Stability, security, and basic needs
- When balanced: Grounded, centered, safe, and strong
- When imbalanced: Feeling of abandonment, depression, anxiety, poor immune system, and addictions
- Color: Red
- Mantra: Lam
- Symbol: 4 petaled lotus
- Element: Earth
- Yoga Poses: Tree Pose, Mountain Pose, Warrior II
- Crystals: Red Jasper, Bloodstone, Red Garnet, Smokey Quartz, Onyx
- Essential Oils: Cedarwood, Frankincense, Patchouli
Related: Root Chakra Opening Symptoms
Benefits of chakra meditation
The 7 chakras mentioned above are the main energy centers of our body. As such, they can attract positive as well as negative energy. Chakra meditation can open up and activate these energy centers and fill them up with positive energy.
When chakras are aligned well and brimming with positive energy, our lives would be happy, peaceful, and moving in the right direction. Meditation can remove the existing negative elements in the chakras and replace them with positive ones.
Chakra mediation is known to remove anxiety and stress and helps in overcoming the roadblocks you are facing in life. It clears up your mind and helps you figure out solutions to your life problems.
By filling you up with positive emotions, chakra meditation offers you the mental strength and fortitude to face hardships without buckling down under their burden. When you are wounded or hurting, chakra meditation acts as the balm to heal your heart. It gives you the courage to face your demons and come up the winner.
Chakra meditation can bring calm and inner peace to help you in anger management. It enhances the levels of kindness, compassion, and empathy. This can ultimately help you to repair your existing relationships and forge new healthy bonds.
With a healthy mind and body, you will enjoy better sleep, higher productivity, and overall improvement in the quality of your life.
Chakra meditation for beginners in 6 steps
Chakra meditation aims to open up the chakras and get the energy moving and flowing in the right direction. The goal of chakra meditation is to get the energy lying dormant in the lower parts of the body to move up and get it up to the crown chakra. The spinal cord acts as the conduit for the movement or flow of energy across chakras.
Chakra meditation always starts with the Root Chakra and ends with the Crown Chakra. That is from the more basic and less developed part of the body to the more sophisticated and evolved one.
You may use any one of the features of the chakras as the focal point. Such as color, symbol, or mantra. Or you may even place your hand in the area associated with the chakra to help your mind to focus on the chakra.
If you find it hard to maintain your focus during the meditation on your own, you may opt for guided chakra meditation. In case, live sessions are not available in your area, playing pre-recorded audio works equally well.
Here are the steps to chakra meditation.
Step 1: Pick a place.
Choose a spot that is free of loud sounds and disturbances. Ensure you have enough free time for the activity. You may set the atmosphere with soothing music, cool lighting, and scented candles. This always helps to calm down your mind for meditation.
Step 2: Sit in a comfortable pose.
Some recommend standing up for chakra meditation or even lying down. Choose the one that you feel most comfortable with. Close your eyes and relax your muscles. Take a few deep breaths to calm your mind and bring you to the present moment.
Step 3: Start from the root chakra.
Bring your focus to the chakra. Visualize in your mind’s eye the chakra as a spinning vortex of energy. You may also include the associated symbol of the chakra.
Step 4: Breath.
As you breathe in, imagine a bright stream of light flowing into the chakra. As you breathe out, visualize the light flowing out, carrying with it all the negative energy pent up within the chakra. You may repeat the step until you are satisfied with the result. Then move on to the next chakra.
Step 5: Align the chakras.
Once all the chakras are cleared up of negative energy, the next step is to align the chakras. This means to get them all moving in the same direction (typically clockwise) and at the same rate. You may use your visualization skills to examine each chakra from bottom to top and ensure each one of them is spinning right.
Step 6: Visualizing.
After finishing reenergizing and aligning all the chakras, assess the big picture by visualizing all the chakras together. Continue taking deep breaths when doing the reconnaissance. When you are assured that everything is in order, take your time to slowly open your eyes.
Concluding thoughts
Activating, unblocking, reenergizing, and aligning the 7 chakras have been practiced for ages to set right the imbalance of energy in the body and to restore wellbeing.
Chakra meditation can be done with adjustments to suit the requirements and preferences of the practitioner. There are no hard and fast rules to follow.
Irrespective of the way you practice chakra meditation, the aim is to ensure that the chakras are open, thus allowing a free flow of energy throughout the body. This is vital for the strong bond between the body and mind.
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