
Seven chakras serve as major energy centers for energy field healing.
They act as transformers taking in the universal life energy that always surrounds you and transforming it into subtle frequencies your energy system needs to keep you healthy.
Each of these seven chakras is associated with specific areas of the body and has important functions, report respected energy healing practitioners such as Barbara Brennan in Hands of Light and Caroline Myss in Invisible Acts of Power:
- To vitalize the aura and physical body.
- To develop greater awareness or consciousness.
- To transmit energy between the aura levels
Self-care practices such as Chakra Meditation, Yoga, or Qi Gong support the functions of these seven chakras.
Energy field healing practitioners (Reiki, therapeutic touch, acupuncture and acupressure) can also help these seven chakras.
For instance, a skilled practitioner can perform chakra balancing or help you release negative feelings or thoughts that can become lodged in the chakras and form blockages to the natural flow of energy.
The Seven Chakras and Their Major Functions
Chakra 1: The Root Chakra
Its color red, the first of the seven chakras (the root chakra) connects you to your physical life and the earth. It grounds you and identifies you with a place and a people.
Chakra 2: The Sacral Chakra
Its color orange, the sacral chakra is associated with power, creativity, survival, and sexuality. It represents growing up out of your roots of group identity and into your ability to provide for yourself. It also involves the energy of money (making it and working with it).
At the same time, the sacral chakra contains the inborn sense of competition which can cause fear that there is not enough. Fear constricts and blocks the flow of life energy which may lead to problems in health and living.
Through spiritual growth (learning about your self, your life purpose, and your relationship to a higher power) you can love and trust yourself, and your connection to all that is. You find that life is inherently abundant, “there is enough,” even though at the time it may not seem so.
Both the 1st and 2nd chakra govern the gonad and adrenal glands, lower back, reproductive system, spinal column, and kidneys.
Chakra 3: The Solar Plexus
Its color yellow, the solar plexus chakra is the center of self-esteem and personal power.
Some Eastern philosophies refer to this area as the vital center, the “hara.” They consider the solar plexus as the seat of personal strength, healthy psychological boundaries, and self sufficiency.
Healthy self esteem is the greatest power you can have. It brings with it trust in your self and your intuition and that you are a part of something greater than your self that is good.
The third chakra is also home to courage. It is trust in your self combined with courage that makes the challenges in life an adventure ― opportunities for learning rather than burdens to bare.
Chakra 4: The Heart Chakra
Its color green, the heart chakra is aligned to your emotional life and is the center of your emotional well-being. Its energy is strengthened by love, both for self and others.
Although love is the major energy of the heart chakra, forgiveness is the command, says Myss.
Afflictive emotions (resentment, anger, hatred, rage) block life energy. These blockages can be dissolved through forgiveness. Forgiveness releases you from attachment to negative mental and emotional states that occupy your mind and pollute your energy.
Forgiveness is an inside job that opens your mind and the flow of life energy.
Chakra 5: The Throat Chakra
Its color blue, the throat chakra is aligned with will, both your will and divine will. Though born with a desire to fulfill your highest potential, it is your will (determination, intention, discipline) that makes it happen.
The name for this chakra in Sanskrit means “purified.” It is the center for becoming conscious of why you do what you do ― your intention.
As you become more aware of your intention, you realize you have choice. Making a choice converts energy into matter, thought into form. You take responsibility for your actions. Thus, become less a victim and more “empowered” by the circumstances of life.
Healing is strengthened by looking for the learning and opportunity for growth in every event of life.
Chakra 6: The Head Chakra
Its color indigo, the head chakra is located in the center of the forehead. Sometimes referred to as the third eye, it is the seat of wisdom and optimism. Wisdom accumulates through living and learning from life experiences.
This chakra represents intuition, the coming together of mind and spirit. It is associated with clairvoyance or perception beyond the six senses.
It is strengthened through choosing optimism: to make the best of a problem and to trust that there is a reason beyond your understanding at the moment.
“When the student is ready, the teacher appears” is the adage of the sixth chakra. The teacher can be a person, an event, and even an illness.
The head chakra governs the pituitary gland, lower brain, left eye, ears, nose, and nervous system.
Chakra 7: The Crown Chakra
Its color violet-white, the crown chakra connects you to your spiritual nature or higher self. It supports making your spirituality an integral part of your life.
The crown chakra, the most subtle of the seven chakras, is the portal through which divine energy and the universal life force enters individual consciousness.
It is the circuit to divine and intuitive resources. These resources are always there for you. They are accessed through faith or trust in their existence and by asking for guidance or help. It recognizes that though you hold tremendous power, you are limited and that there is a greater power beyond you.
It governs the pineal gland, upper brain, right eye.
Key Points
These seven chakras serve as major energy centers for energy field healing.
Each of the seven chakras has specific functions and governs specific parts of the body. You can support your health through supporting these chakra functions.
Sources and Resources
Brennan, Barbara, Hands of Light: A Guide to Healing Through the Human Energy Field(New York: Bantam Books, 1988).
Myss, Caroline, Invisible Acts of Power: Channeling Grace in Your Everyday Life(New York: Free Press, 2004).