What is an Energy Center?
When you are walking around during the day you are surrounded by an invisible energy source. You can't see it, smell it or taste it, but it's there with you at all times. Energy isn't just used to run household appliances or as fuel for cars, it is also recognized by many people as a powerful source of healing for our mind and body. Many Eastern healing traditions are centered around this concept of hidden energy.
In fact, practitioners of eastern style healing believe that each person has several
different energy centers (or points) that correspond to a specific part of the body. These energy points are called Chakras.
Each of the body's main organs, glands and functioning systems has a chakra associated with it. In the Indian language of Sanskrit, the word chakra means wheel. So, you can think of a chakra as being a sort of mini spinning vortex that whirls around at a certain rate of speed – kind of like a tornado. The chakra can pick up various energies and vibrations from anything that comes in its path. And just like a tornado, it sucks all of this energy up into the center of the vortex like a vacuum.
There are actually dozens of these spinning wheels to be found all over our body, but there are seven main chakra centers that control most of these other chakras. They can also pick up energy, as well as, radiate it outward. Your chakras are intimately
connected to the health and well being of the inside and outside of your physical body,
as well as, to whatever are going on in the immediate environment that surrounds you.
Therefore, when you walk into a busy office, your chakras will immediately pick up on the vibrational energy all around you. They will absorb any negative or positive things that you encounter.
For instance, if there's a lot of stress and pressure on you to get a task done as quickly as possible, because the boss is breathing down your neck, all of this outward stress is turned into energy that gets absorbed into your own personal energy core. This
negative pressure can disperse throughout your body and do harm to you, unless you become aware of these chakras and how they can be used to your benefit.
The seven major chakra centers are related to your emotional, mental, physical and spiritual essence. Your chakra centers also emit energy at the same frequency, so they work together in harmony. A lot of the eastern philosophy on healing the body involves getting in touch with your physical chakras that control your major energy centers. For example, there are chakras for your heart, lungs lymph glands, immune system and circulatory system. All of the seven main chakras are perfectly aligned with your spinal column in a vertical fashion. The seven main physical chakra points are the crown, brow, throat, heart, solar plexus, spleen and root.
Each chakra also has its corresponding color that makes it easy for you to identify it when looking at the chakra system on a chart.
Crown Chakra = Violet Brow Chakra = Indigo Throat Chakra = Blue Heart Chakra = Green
Solar Plexus Chakra = Yellow
Spleen Chakra = Orange Root Chakra = Red
When your chakra is active, it is believed that it radiates this color vibration as well. If you have ever heard the idea about people having an aura that surrounds them, this is what they are referring to. An aura is another way of expressing the idea that the human body is surrounded by unique points of energy. Is your aura going to be different than someone else's aura? Yes, because everybody's level of energy is constantly fluctuating and unique to that person.
Each individual chakra has its own center of influence over specific aspects of our mental, emotional and physical well being. It is important to understand what each colorful chakra represents in relation to our body because sometimes they can be out of balance. If you are sick or unhealthy, this means that one or more of your chakra centers is out of balance. In order to restore your health, you need to bring them back into balance with each other.
Here's how your chakras correspond to the glands in your body:
Crown Chakra = Pineal Brow Chakra = Pituitary Throat Chakra = Thyroid Heart Chakra = Thymus
Solar Plexus Chakra = Pancreas Spleen Chakra = Gonad
Root Chakra = Adrenal
Maybe you think that it sounds kind of farfetched to think that you can influence your health through these invisible energy centers. However, if you look at it from the perspective that the human body is made up of energy, and is always surrounded by forces of nature, which includes lots of energy, this really isn't so hard to believe. Again, it comes down to whether or not you feel comfortable with this particular concept.
Chakras are power centers that absorb energy, disperse it throughout your body, and expel excess energy into the atmosphere. They are always spinning at various speeds and levels, which correspond directly to how you are feeling emotionally and
physically. When your energy levels are down, your chakras are spinning slowly. When your energy is up, your chakras are spinning fast. Ideally, you always want to have your chakra energy centers spinning at a good pace – not too slow and not too fast.
A Brief History of the Chakra Concept
As you may have guessed by now, the concept and study of chakras as we know it today first originated in India. Chakra healing has been practiced in that part of the world for centuries. As was stated in an earlier chapter, the eastern philosophy about medicine is one that always stems from the inside out. The mind, body and spirit all work in harmony to heal specific ailments.
Ancient texts like the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (circa 200 B.C.) and Yoga Upanishads (circa 600 A.D.) mention chakras in the context of being psychic centers of consciousness. In the 7th century, chakras had become an important part of Tantric yoga philosophy. The West was first introduced to the concept of chakras in 1919 by Arthur Avalon and his book The Serpent Power, which was a translation of 1577 writings called the Sat-Cakra-Nirupana and 10th century descriptions in a text called the Padaka-Pancaka. The Gorakshashatakam, another 10th century text written about chakra meditation, also contributed to western understanding about this healing concept.
Over the years, the westernized versions of chakras and energy centers have become increasingly popular. The study and practice of chakra healing continues to grow and expand. As more and more people are exposed to these concepts, it will slowly become intertwined with western medicine and become more acceptable. There was a time when acupuncture was considered "quack science" by the majority of the western medical community. Now, it's considered a viable "alternative" treatment that can be included along with more conventional methods of treating physical pain.
Maybe our culture is finally starting to get it. Healing the body does not have to involve a "one size fits all" approach. Several methods can be combined to treat the whole
person and not just one small part. In our multi-cultural world, the concept of energy centers is another valuable tool that people can use to improve their quality of life.
The Deeper Meaning of Chakras
Previously you learned how chakras or energy centers correspond to points inside of the physical body. But, they also have deeper meanings attached to them. If you wanted to, you could spend hours studying these deeper meanings, but to save you time and effort, I'm going to briefly discuss these additional elements.
Crown Chakra
The crown chakra vibrates around your brain and is the energy center of intuition and spirituality. This is the highest point of your chakra energy and it connects
you to the universe and a higher power. When it is out of balance, you may feel depressed. It is also associated with brain disorders.
Brow Chakra
The brow chakra vibrates around your pituitary gland and is the energy center of intuition and focus for meditation. This is considered your third eye, which is also connected to psychic abilities. When it is out of balance you may experience headaches, nightmares, problems with vision and develop sinusitis.
Throat Chakra
The throat chakra vibrates around your throat area and is the energy center of endurance,
communication and self-expression. This allows you to communicate your thoughts and feelings to the world around you. When it is out of balance you may develop a sore throat, tonsillitis, thyroid problems or have hearing difficulties. You may also experience problems with communication like losing the ability to speak or speaking too much.
Heart Chakra
The heart chakra vibrates around your heart and is the energy center of compassion and love. This is where all of your various emotions are felt and processed. When in balance you feel very satisfied with your
relationships in life. When out of balance you may have trouble expressing feelings of love for others, or accepting love from others. You may also experience physical ailments such as heart conditions, high blood pressure and immune system problems.
Solar Plexus Chakra
The solar plexus chakra vibrates around your naval area and is the energy center of personal power. This is where your feelings of self-worth, inner peace and tolerance reside. When balanced, you have a strong sense of identity, are passionate and feel you can accomplish just about anything.
When it is out of balance you may feel a strong need to dominate others or obtain security and wealth at all costs. Physical ailments include
diabetes, stomach problems, liver disease or ulcers.
Spleen Chakra
The spleen chakra or sacral chakra vibrates around your reproductive area and is the energy center of sexual expression and strong emotional feelings. This is also the place where your feelings of friendship towards the people in your life are located. You are also very open about sharing your feelings. When it is out of balance you may be prone to worry, emotional issues and sexual problems.
Root Chakra
The root chakra vibrates at the base of your spine and is the energy center of belonging, survival and feeling secure in the world. This involves your connection to the earth and nature. When balanced, your life is on solid ground. When it is out of balance you may have a lack of trust about the natural environment or focus too much on material possessions. You may also experience constipation, hemorrhoids or hip problems.
Chakra Healing
When one or more of your chakra energy centers is out of balance, you want to bring them back to a state of harmonious balance as quickly as possible before any major health problems arise. Or, if you are already experiencing unwanted physical or mental symptoms, you can seek out a remedy to help you heal and get back to a healthy state as soon as possible.
Chakra healing is more of an art than a science. Therefore, when you go to a chakra healing practitioner you need to approach it with an open mind. The chakra healer has many tools at their disposal to bring about this rebalancing. These tools may include chants, music, mantras, meditation or special healing stones.
Before getting started, the healer will ask you several health-related questions designed to pinpoint the exact area that they need to focus on. It's important that the healing session targets the chakras that are currently blocked or off-balanced in some way. After they evaluate you, the healer will select the tools to be used that they feel are most powerful for your situation.
Chakra Meditation
One of the most popular methods of dealing with an unbalanced chakra is chakra meditation. In general, meditation means getting into a completely relaxed state of mind and then allowing yourself to absorb peaceful energy. During chakra meditation, you will focus on each individual chakra energy center, starting from the root and moving all the way up to the crown.
In your mind, you'll envision each whirling circle and how you think it looks. As you continue to focus on it, your mind will help to release all of the energy for that
particular chakra, and you'll continue this energy flow upwards. As each chakra gains strength, the blockages that are causing you problems will be removed.
As you see, this is a completely different way of approaching the concept of healing the mind and body from various ailments. But, it makes perfect sense if you approach it from the perspective that the mind can be a powerful ally when its energy is directed towards healing yourself from the inside out.
Taking Care of Your Energy Centers
Now that you know about chakras and energy centers, you probably see your body in a whole new light. That's a good thing, because you will no longer think that you are simply a collection of separate parts. You now understand that each section of your body is interconnected with another section. Each organ is intricately a part of another.
You are a whole person and your energy connects you with others around you, as well as with your environment.
In a way, this gives you more power and control over your own health. When you see a doctor and he breaks the news that you are developing diabetes, heart problems or have a stress related emotional issue, you often feel powerless to do anything except take some prescription pills and hope it goes away.
With your new knowledge of energy centers, you can now focus on doing what is necessary to bring your body back into harmony. If you have ever heard of cases where people have been completely healed of a bad disease, but doctors can't explain it
because all of their treatments were ineffective, then you have been exposed to the
power of mind, body and spirit healing. Often those who were healed say that they strongly believed that they'd be cured because of their belief in a higher power.
These people managed to tap into their healing energy without really being aware of what they were doing. You too can begin tapping into this energy and see what kind of positive results you experience.