read

Chakra Meditation: The Ultimate Guide to this Meditation Powerhouse

By Devan Ciccarelli

Do you ever feel like your body, mind, and spirit are out of balance? Does it sometimes feel as if energy is trapped or blocked inside you and causing more stress than happiness?

You may benefit from Chakra Meditation.

This powerful practice is a form of meditation that aligns your body, mind, and spirit in harmony with your higher self. It can help you unblock stagnant energy so you can live with greater enthusiasm and peace.

So whether you’re looking for another form of meditation to add to your rotation, or you’re curious to learn about Chakra Meditation specifically, this article will be your guide.

We’ll dive into everything you need to know and share a step-by-step Chakra Meditation you can use today to open your chakras and feel better after just one session.

So let’s start at the beginning:

What is a Chakra?

The word chakra comes from Sanskrit and translates to “wheel.” But we’re not referring to a typical wheel here.

Instead, you can think of chakras like a swirling “wheel” or loop of energy that flows throughout your body. Every chakra connects to the one before and after it, like prayer beads on a loop of string.

There are seven different chakras located from the base of your spine (or your seat) all the way up to the crown of your head. 

Each chakra is responsible for a different aspect of your well-being, which we’ll discuss shortly. When your chakras are open, energy flows freely through that area and manifests in how you think, feel, and behave.

But when your chakras become blocked, you’ll notice more negative and unwanted mental, physical, and emotional distress. That’s where Chakra Meditation comes in. 

FIND UPCOMING MEDITATION RETREATS

What is Chakra Meditation?

Chakra meditation is a form of meditation that aims to open and balance your body’s seven chakras. 

When your chakras are blocked or out of balance, you may feel:

  • Uneasy, anxious, and stressed
  • Disconnected from the world, yourself, and loved ones
  • Unable to move forward in one (or more) areas of your life

If your chakras are overactive and bursting at the seams with blocked energy, you may find yourself ignoring your inner voice, taking unnecessary risks, and throwing caution to the wind to feel more in control and secure.

To avoid this from happening, you can practice Chakra Meditation to open your chakras, release stagnant energy, and let it flow freely and smoothly as nature intended. 

Once your chakras are open and rebalanced, you’ll feel more connected to every aspect of your body, mind, and soul. You’ll also feel more at peace and eager to take on anything life throws your way.

What are the Seven Chakras of Meditation?

As mentioned earlier, there are seven chakras located throughout your body, and each one serves a different purpose. 

Each chakra also corresponds with its own color of the rainbow and physical element. So if you need to rebalance a specific chakra, you can wear or surround yourself with that color and meditate with its element nearby.

Let’s go over each chakra to find out what they’re responsible for and what you may feel if they’re unbalanced.

1. The Root Chakra

The Root Chakra, known as the Muladhara in Sanskrit, can be found at the base of your spine. Because of its location at the seat of your body, it serves as foundational support to keep you grounded. 

It’s responsible for: Your connection to the Earth, stability, and having your basic human needs met (such as food, safety, and shelter).

Color: Red

Element: Earth

When your Root Chakra is open, you should feel:

  • Strongly connected to yourself, family, and friends
  • Comfortable and safe in yourself and your surroundings
  • As if the universe provides all that you need
  • Happy with your body

When your Root Chakra is blocked, you may feel:

  • Unstable and unsettled
  • Sluggish, unmotivated, and stuck
  • Like you never have enough (money, love, food, etc.)
  • Frustrated and negative about your appearance

Using Chakra Meditation to rebalance your Root Chakra will help you feel safer and more secure in yourself and your place in the world.

2. The Sacral Chakra

Moving up from the base of the spine, the Sacral Chakra sits just below your navel. It’s known as Svadhisthana in Sanskrit. This one is connected to emotions, creativity, and sexual desire.

It’s responsible for: Your emotional regulation and how you relate to yourself and others. It’s also connected to your passions, pleasures, and sensations of pure joy.

Color: Orange

Element: Water

When your Sacral Chakra is open, you should feel:

  • Creative and driven 
  • Powerful and strong in your sexual energy 
  • Delighted and honored during healthy sexual experiences

When your Sacral Chakra is blocked, you may feel:

  • Uncreative 
  • Emotionally blocked and unlovable 
  • Unable to become intimate with partners
  • Guilt about your sexual desires or pleasure 
  • Distrustful and as if you’re always in toxic relationships 

Using Chakra Meditation to rebalance your Sacral Chakra will help you feel more inspired and connected to your passions.

3. The Solar Plexus

Up from your navel and just between your rib cage is the Manipura, or the Solar Plexus Chakra. This multifaceted chakra is connected to everything from your self-esteem and self-worth to regulating your digestion and overall well-being.

It’s responsible for: Your personal power, inner confidence, and the ability to let things go that no longer serve you positively.

Color: Yellow

Element: Fire

When your Solar Plexus Chakra is open, you should feel:

  • A strong sense of self, inner power, and self-confidence 
  • Happy to share your gifts and abilities with others
  • Intuitive and trusting of your “gut” instincts

When your Solar Plexus Chakra is blocked, you may feel:

  • Powerless and unable to take action
  • Low self-esteem
  • Like you’re constantly “giving in” to others instead of standing up for yourself 
  • Stomach pains or knots, digestive issues, and anxiousness 

Using Chakra Meditation to rebalance your Solar Plexus Chakra will help you feel more trusting and confident in yourself, so you can accomplish anything your heart desires.

4. The Heart Chakra

As you probably expect, the Heart Chakra, or Anahata, is located at the center of your chest where your heart beats. This chakra is connected to love, compassion, and your emotions. It can help you open up and form relationships with others and yourself.

It’s responsible for: Love of all kinds (self, romantic, platonic, selfless, etc.), forgiveness, emotions, and spirituality.

Color: Green

Element: Air

When your Heart Chakra is open, you should feel:

  • Unconditional love for yourself
  • Comfortable in your relationships with others
  • Gratitude for all you have
  • Appreciation for those in your life 

When your Heart Chakra is blocked, you may feel:

  • A fear of commitment
  • You please others, but never yourself
  • Guarded against love and intimacy 
  • A lack of compassion and empathy
  • Unwilling to forgive and likely to hold grudges

Using Chakra Meditation to rebalance your Heart Chakra will help strengthen your emotional resolve so you can feel more free-flowing love for yourself and others.

5. The Throat Chakra

Moving up from the heart, we have the Throat Chakra, or Vishuddha. This chakra physically covers your throat, mouth, and tongue. It’s also connected to self-expression and communication. 

It’s responsible for: Your voice, speaking your truth, listening, and hearing what others share without judgment.

Color: Blue

Element: Ether 

When your Throat Chakra is open, you should feel:

  • 100% confident to speak your truth and share your feelings
  • Like others truly listen, hear, and understand you

When your Throat Chakra is blocked, you may feel:

  • Unable to speak up and scared to voice your opinions or feelings
  • Forced to go along with others instead of doing what you want
  • Like no one really hears/understands you
  • A sore throat or as if something’s stuck in your throat

Using Chakra Meditation to rebalance your Throat Chakra will help you feel more confident to express what you mean and feel honestly, so others get where you’re coming from.

FIND UPCOMING MEDITATION RETREATS

6. The Third Eye Chakra

If you’re familiar with meditation and spirituality, you’ve probably heard of your “Third Eye,” which is based on the Third Eye Chakra. This energy hub sits on your forehead between your eyebrows, just above your eyes. 

Your Third Eye “sees” things that are not visible. It reflects this information to you as intuition, gut instincts, and imagination. Tapping into and opening your Third Eye Chakra may give you a deeper understanding of yourself and your place in the universe. 

It’s responsible for: Intuition, psychic abilities, self-reflection, self-awareness, cosmic purpose, and imagination. 

Color: Indigo

Element: Light

When your Third Eye Chakra is open, you should feel:

  • A clear sense of purpose for your life
  • Intuitively confident and correct about your decisions 
  • Inner wisdom that helps you see the “bigger” picture
  • More connected to your spirituality, others, and the universe 

When your Third Eye Chakra is blocked, you may feel:

  • As if you have no purpose or meaning in life
  • Unable to make good decisions
  • Disconnected from your intuition and gut instincts
  • Hungry for spiritual meaning
  • Out of tune with your higher self
  • Headaches, migraines, and tension across your brow and forehead

Using Chakra Meditation to rebalance your Third Eye Chakra will give you greater clarity and inner wisdom about why you exist and the purpose of your life path. 

7. The Crown Chakra

The Crown Chakra, or Sahasrara, is located above your head, just like where a crown would naturally sit.

While your Third Eye Chakra focuses on you and your life’s purpose, the Crown Chakra connects your higher self with the divine or spiritual consciousness.

It’s responsible for: Spirituality, enlightenment, revelations, faith, spiritual awakening, and divine understanding.

Color: White or Purple

Element: Spirit 

When your Crown Chakra is open, you should feel:

  • Connected to a higher power
  • Watched for, cared for, and loved by a powerful spiritual energy
  • Grateful and appreciative for all the blessings the divine offers

When your Crown Chakra is blocked, you may feel:

  • Lonely, insignificant, and abandoned by a higher power
  • Skeptical of spirituality and unworthy of its help 
  • Attached to your material possessions, money, job, and achievements
  • Depressed, inner longing for greater meaning, and hopelessness 

Using Chakra Meditation to rebalance your Crown Chakra will help you feel more in line with your spiritual beliefs, connected to your higher purpose, and in touch with the divine aspects of yourself and the universe. 

So now that you know more about each of the chakras, let’s move into:

How Do You Meditate to Open Chakras?

The neat thing about the chakras is that you can choose to focus on one at a time, several at once, or all of them during a single Chakra Meditation session. So use the descriptions of the chakras as a starting point for what you may want to begin with.

To practice Chakra Meditation, just follow these steps:

  1. Get yourself in a comfortable position, whether that’s seated on a meditation pillow, under a tree, or lying down. Choose somewhere quiet and relaxing where you won’t be disturbed.
  2. Set an intention for your session. Take a few deep breaths to help transition yourself into a meditative state. Think about what you hope to learn or accomplish during this time.
  3. Visualize the light of each chakra glowing and swirling through your body. Picture the chakra you want to work on as a spiral of healing light or imagine all of them shining at the same time. Visualize this energy moving through your entire body -- from the base of your spine up to your head.
  4. Breathe deeply into each chakra’s center. To help, you may want to place your hand on the exact area you’re focusing on to form a deeper mind-body connection. Imagine the glowing energy growing and clearing out blocked paths to your inner happiness and wisdom.
  5. Work through your difficult areas/chakras. If you notice negative sensations or thoughts as you visualize a specific chakra, spend extra time breathing deeply into that area to release that bottled-up energy.
  6. End your meditation by visualizing yourself stepping outside of your body and watching yourself from a distance as an observer. Notice the energy field surrounding your body. How do you feel as this is happening? Is there a chakra that glows brighter than others? Is there one that only glows faintly and needs more work?

Keep breathing and practicing your visualizations until you’re ready to come out of your meditative state.

You’ll likely find that you feel totally different after performing a Chakra Meditation like this. But if you’re having a bit of trouble feeling the effects, you may want to consider joining a Chakra Meditation retreat.

FIND UPCOMING MEDITATION RETREATS

You’ll learn from experienced teachers about how to open your chakras and keep them balanced through life’s ups and downs, which is a great place to start if you’re new to this style of meditation.

Final Thoughts on Chakra Meditation

If you’re looking to try another form of meditation or you’re feeling stuck, Chakra Meditation could be the best step to take.

As you unblock stagnant energy in your body, you’ll be able to tap into deeper subconscious levels of yourself and your place in the universe. 

This free-flowing energy will also improve your relationships with others. You’ll increase your abilities for compassion, communication, intuition, creativity, and so much more, making this meditative journey fantastic on so many different levels.

So give Chakra Meditation a try to re-energize your life. And check out a Chakra Meditation retreat that’ll help you get the most out of your practice.

No matter which route you take, you’ll likely feel so much better once you try it.

Tags: Meditation

Posted by Devan Ciccarelli

Devan is a freelance health and wellness writer with a passion for meditation. When she’s not at her desk or on an adventure, she likes to tune out and turn inward by sitting quietly on her meditation pillow outdoors in the sun. Visit her website, Be Happy Not Hangry, for her latest exercise, clean eating, and mental health tips.

LinkedIn

Website

©2023 Retreat Guru™ Inc.