In the spirit of being good to our bodies, I decided this week to have a look at the seven chakras of the body, which are important to understand not only for the sake of yoga but also in order to prevent illness and stress in our everyday life.
Chakra is the Sanskrit word for wheel and defines the main energy centres of our body. It is said that each chakra receives the health of our environment, including the people that we are in contact with, which is why other peoples’ moods affect our own moods.
There are said to be hundreds of chakras or spinning wheels in the body, but there are seven main chakra centres and that each main centre is connected to our being on different levels including physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. Each chakra is connected to an organ or gland in the body and is also connected to a colour with which it resonates.
In order to best understand the meaning of the chakra centres its best to break them down:
- Root Chakra (Muladhara) – represents our foundation and feeling of being grounded and is located at the very bottom of the spine. The Root Chakra governs issues such as survival, safety, security and self-preservation. The colour with which the root chakra resonates with is red.
- Sacral Chakra (Swadhisthana) – represents our connection and ability to accept others and new experiences and is located in the sacrum. It governs our well being, pleasure and sexuality and takes the colour orange.
- Solar-Plexus Chakra (Manipura) – represents our ability to be confident and in control of our lives and is located mid-way between the rib cage and the navel. The Solar-Plexus chakra is associated with the colour yellow as yellow is the symbol of the mind, intellect, intelligence and wisdom.
- Heart Chakra (Anahata)- not surprisingly is located at the centre of the chest, just above the heart and represents our ability to love. It governs love, joy and inner peace. The Heart chakra is associated with the colour green as it symbolizes harmony, creativity, health, abundance and nature.
- Throat Chakra (Vishuddha)- located at the throat, represents our ability to communicate. It takes on communication, self-expression and telling the truth. It takes the colour blue, the symbol of inspiration, devotion, infinity and religious goals.
- Third Eye Chakra (Ajna) – this is the one that I had heard most about in class, which makes a lot of sense considering that it represents our ability to focus and to see the big picture. It is located on the forehead between the eyes and governs intuition, imagination and the ability to make decisions. It is represented by the colour Indigo for spiritual attainment and wisdom.
- Crown Chakra (Sahasrara) – as the highest chakra the crown chakra represents our ability to be connected spiritually. It is located at the very top (or crown) of the head and governs inner and outer beauty and pure bliss. It is associated with the colour violet, which represents spiritual mastery.
So there we have an introduction to the 7 main energy centres, or chakras, of the body.
Next time when completing a yoga class (perhaps even Sarah’s Fun Flow class tonight with a special focus on chakras), we can consider letting the energy flow through each of our chakras. Letting tension build up in these spinning wheels can cause a blockage in the rotation, encouraging illness both mentally and physically, so it is important that we let the energy flow freely. We need to pull in the prana (energy) and allow it to feed the chakras and keep our physical being and our aura healthy.
Post by Louisa Macleod – Kula Yoga Studio Assistant.
Kula Yoga has a beautiful hot yoga studio in Hawthorn, Melbourne. Kula offers ‘Hot Yoga’ classes for detoxification, dynamic vinyasa ‘Flow Yoga’ as well as a gentle ‘Light Yoga’ option. Beginners through to advanced students are welcome to all classes. Kula also provides Melbourne workplaces with group corporate yoga programs to build employee health, fitness and wellbeing. Kula Yoga offers staff a unique yoga experience to strengthen their minds and bodies. Find out more about our beneficial group yoga programs on our website www.kulayoga.com.au.
