Chakras as processing plants—spinning wheels

Chakra in Sanskrit translates as wheel. You can think of them as energy vortexes that both take in energy from the environment, and express your energy. What do I mean by energy? Energy can be physical, emotional, metal or spiritual in nature. In a sense your chakras are functioning as mini processing plants! Since they are always, “on the job” in some sense their condition/expression is always in flux. They react and respond to your experiences in the outer world, AND your reactions and responses to your inner world.

When I hear people talk about chakras, there is a great deal of talk about chakras that are open or closed, clear or blocked, excessive or deficient, etc., and the myriad of ways they can be unblocked or cleansed. Although these descriptions can certainly be useful, they are also somewhat simplified. More like the headlines about what’s happening, but that don’t provide any of the context or detailed information found in the fine print.

Healing requires intention AND attention

There is also common assumption that bringing a chakra back into harmony is simply a matter of willing to be so, like “Oh, I just listened to this great chakra cleansing meditation. That will do the trick.” I’m not knocking those meditations—I use them too! But I’m suggesting that stopping there is too simplistic. Remember, chakras are energy vortexes that are responsive to you and your environment. You can’t will their responses away with a bit of light spiritual housecleaning, like dusting.

When we listen a straightforward chakra cleansing mediation we are certainly setting a type of intention; however, it doesn’t necessarily mean our chakra is back in harmony. We haven’t yet given our attention to the ways it is actually responding and why, to the ways our behavior, interactions, environment may be affecting it.

Rather than looking to do a quick fix, I suggest going inside to welcome your reactions and emotions about the situation. You can do a deeper meditation on a particular chakra to see if you can get in touch with and welcome the emotional reactions stored there. You can explore thoughts, ideas and emotions by journaling, writing a letter or talking about things with a trusted friend, coach or therapist. You can use art or creative forms of movement to express and explore how you feel. This type of welcoming doesn’t need to be onerous, it can be an opportunity for creativity and self discovery.

Chakras in Balance

The wonderful news is that chakras can naturally come back into balance when we also give ourselves the attention and care we deserve by taking a clear and compassionate look at ourselves and how we experience things. I invite you to take time out and go deeper into what about particular events, people, interactions (internal or external) trigger you. It helps to welcome your reactions, including any judgements or beliefs you may have about yourself or others. You are actively welcoming the whole of yourself. Even (and perhaps especially) the parts that make us uncomfortable, that we judge, that we want to ignore, bury, or wish away. Deeper acceptance of ALL the parts of yourself brings you into deeper harmony with the whole yourself and your chakras.

Sit with your experiences, welcome emotions, examine thoughts and beliefs. Allow for healing to occur. Your chakras will reflect and thank you for it!