A Beginner's Guide to the Chakras

 This week's Art of Healing Podcast delves into the chakra system, sharing the secrets of these powerful energy points that influence our emotional and spiritual well-being.
 Have you heard the phrase “blocked chakra?” Ever wonder why you get butterflies in your stomach when you are nervous? Why do you feel tightness in your throat if you’re trying to keep from crying? 
The Chakra System is the key to understanding the physical symptoms created by our emotions.  

During this episode, we journey through the Chakra system:

• What is a Chakra
• The 7 Major Chakras
• What anatomical and hormones are produced in each Chakra
• A positive affirmation, or Mantra, so support each mantra.

Read more about here:
A Beginner's Guide to the Chakras

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:54

Welcome back to the Art of Healing Podcast. This is Dr Charlize, and thank you for joining me for this week's episode, which is a Beginner's Guide to Chakras. So during this episode, we're going to do an overview of the seven major energy centers in the human body, which are also called chakras. We'll go into some of the anatomy or physical structures that are associated with each chakra and we'll talk about what each chakra does for us as far as our emotional and energy balance, as well as our spiritual experience. Towards the end of the podcast, I do have a few announcements. One of those is a chance for us to connect live. I'm going to be hosting a live master class next week and if you would like to join me, I will put the episode or, sorry, the links to that master class, in the show notes. And then the second is this podcast is being created for both the podcast world and the YouTube world. So if you would prefer the visuals with slides, so that you can see this as we're going along, I will place the links to my YouTube channel as well, so that, if you prefer the visual summary of that, there is also a written form of this, which is an article that I posted and I'll put links for that article as well, so that makes it a little bit easier to follow along and away. But you prefer so if you're the listener or you'd rather read, and then towards the end of the show we'll talk about the chance for us to connect live next week. Alright, let's get started.

Speaker 1: 2:41

You've probably heard the phrase blocked chakra or my energies blocked, or, you know, filling in my gut, having butterflies in the stomach. You've probably heard these terms forever throughout your whole life. I know I certainly had, and I first learned about the chakra system after I'd practiced medicine for probably about 10 years. So I had completed my traditional medical school training and had practiced on humans for many, many years before I'd even heard the term chakra, I know I'd seen the pictures. I vaguely knew that it was related to the practice of yoga, but it wasn't until I began to study yoga formally and eventually earning my 200 hour yoga training and then starting my Reiki journey with becoming certified in Reiki, that I began to learn what a chakra was and that this information is important for us to understand our minds and our bodies and our spirits.

Speaker 1: 4:00

My medical training consisted of lots of anatomy training and the way that we've come to understand the human body, especially in western medicine, is based on anatomical science, in which we cares for the body moving, while embodied locate function with location and each organ has a specific function. The organs are able to talk to each other through nerves. Organs are supplied by blood from arteries, the organs are cleansed by the vein in the lymphatic system. But from that purely scientific standpoint which is how I had practiced medicine for 10 years before I'd even heard of the chakra system, it's very black and white. So there's your brain, there's your lungs, there's your heart, and each has a very specific function. And the way that we diagnose and treat illness in traditional medicine is that we don't acknowledge anything other than the physiologic function of each one of these organs, so different from how we define amatomical and physical structures in the human body. The chakra system, which is based on ancient knowledge from the medical sciences of Ayurveda as well as from spiritual practice of Hinduism and even Buddhism, defines the chakras as energy centers within the human body or outside of the human body that process or move physical energy and are influenced by emotional energy and are a place where we integrate information from the external world into our internal environment as well as how we express our internal environment to the external world. So the definition can be a little bit difficult to understand, but we'll dig a little deeper into that. So having a detailed understanding of the gross anatomy of the human body is very important in the diagnosis and treatment of disease and it makes it easier to understand. It also makes it easier for us to make classifications of diseases and stage diseases and all of those things.

Speaker 1: 6:32

But the problem with that approach is a lot gets missed. A lot can get missed. So I had noticed in my years of practice that a lot of patients came in on their diagnosis of good with ill-defined symptoms or they would say things like you know, this thing always occurs on this side of my body or that side of my body, or whenever I'm feeling something, I notice this. I notice that Things like whenever I'm anxious, my chest hurts, or anytime I get really stressed, everything on the left side of my body starts to buzz. And of course, practicing medicine, I would do the best that I could to try to validate my patient's symptoms. But until I learned this energy medicine approach, I truly couldn't give my patients any more information as to these symptoms. That seemed strange, mysterious and vague, until I learned what the chakras system was and immediately could see that the symptoms that my patients often described, that and I hate to put it this way, but sometimes in medical practice, in patients or somewhat, I hate to use the term gaslighted and saying oh, it's all in your head, it's in fact not in their head it actually is the symptom that they're having, just that the symptom is not explained with gross anatomy.

Speaker 1: 8:05

So let's borrow some definitions of what a chakra is. According to bestselling author from Sounds True, cindy Dale, chakras are subtle energy organs that manage the flow of energy related to all parts of our lives. They are personal power systems and they're similar to physical organs and as such is the heart or liver, except that they operate at a higher frequency than what the human eye or instruments can measure. So with this initial definition of a chakra, it lets us know that it's not necessarily a physical structure. Although chakras map to certain places in the body, it's not necessarily a gland or anything that produces something that can be measured with science. So with this first quotation from Cindy Dale, it helps understand why a chakra can be difficult to understand and difficult to explain, because in modern science we depend on measurements, imaging, what we call objective data, and when we're getting into the subtle body or energy centers, we don't have, anyway as of yet, to detect that subtle energy in the form of data that we can gather.

Speaker 1: 9:31

According to bestselling author and physician, dr Richard Kerber, the major chakras are energy centers that physically correlate to nerve plexus, which is a bundle of nerves within the human body that usually conducts the functioning of several organs, not just one, as well as an endocrine gland. So now, as we get deeper into each chakra, we'll start to see that relationship between the chakras, the nerves that will be associated with them, and I feel what's most importantly is the glands that are associated with them and how that can explain how these energy centers correlate to our lived experience. So this graphic here shows us the location of the seven major chakras. Now, traditionally, in the practice of Ayurveda, these are are pronounced in a different language, but just for our ease of use and because I speak English as well, we'll refer to them in the common names. So this graphic shows us the seven chakras and you can see that there's the first chakra, which is the root chakra, which is located at the base of the spine, these sacral chakras also called the second chakra, which is located deeper than the pelvis. The third chakra is the solar plexus chakra, which is located in the upper belly or abdominal area. The heart chakra sits in the center of the chest and the throat chakra sits naturally in the throat and the third eye chakra is deep within the brain. The last of the major energy chakras actually sits above the head and is called the crown chakra. The first chakra is called muladhara, so this graphic here shows you its location. In the traditional studies of these, each chakra also has sacred symbols that go with them and even sacred mantra or chants that go with them. So muladhara, which is located at the base of the spine, it's deep within the body and is generally accepted as a place that we cannot touch or place our hands on.

Speaker 1: 11:59

Physically, the root chakra can be associated with the lower back, the hips, the legs, knees and even feet, and is spiritually and emotionally associated with physical identity, stability, being grounded. Some schools of thought associated the ego with the root chakra and kind of summarized as the survival root chakra or our sense of being here. Now, what roots is here in this current reality? And some schools of thought and some authors also associate the root chakra with physical functioning of the immune system, the production of blood, just really anything related to our basic survival, including the strength of our bones. Physically, there are a few studies that associate the root chakra with a nerve plexus called the sickro cuxigiel nerve plexus, which is a nerve plexus deep within the pelvis that is associated with supplying nerve function to the lower intestines and the colon and it's thought to have to govern the functioning of the bladder, the colon, the elimination of waste. So that helps it to make sense. As far as the root chakra and its association with the base functions, lower functions, elimination of waste and survival. When the root chakra is well aligned and open or the energy is well balanced, it's thought to make us feel well, to make us feel grounded, to have a good amount of energy where we can do the things that we want to do without having too much or being overstimulated. And since we are practicing and getting our beginner's guide to chakra exploration, a positive mantra that you can take with you is that I can't grow from an unsteady foundation, so meaning that if your root chakra is not steady and flowing well, that you can't grow and thrive.

Speaker 1: 14:35

The second chakra, which is called the sacra chakra chakra, is associated with the pelvic region, associated with the color orange, and it's thought to be associated with creativity, pleasure, sexuality, as well as our relationships. The sacral chakra is closely tied to the organs of reproduction, so as far as the glands are associated with it, that would be the ovaries or the testes, and that actually makes sense. As far as the sacral chakras association with reproduction and that has an interesting link to our ability to be creative. When our sacral chakra is well balanced, it's thought that we have ability to create and as well as ability to connect in our relationships, particularly our close relationships and our intimate relationships, and if it's not well connected that we may express trouble there. And one of the biggest issues that I hear in practice would be pain in the pelvis, chronic pelvic pain for women, erectile dysfunction in men. So a positive affirmation or mantra for the sacral chakra to support its healthy functioning is something you could say to yourself is I always honor others, but not before myself. And so it's a nice way to affirm that we want strong, healthy relationships, strong, healthy romantic relationships, but we also want to care for ourselves.

Speaker 1: 16:21

The third chakra is the solar plexus chakra, which is also called manipura in the traditional teachings, and it is located in the upper abdomen, the solar plexus, and it is associated with our self-esteem, our mental clarity and our drive and our motivation. Interestingly enough, in traditional Ayurvedic medical science, it is the solar plexus chakra that is thought to be what we do, our thinking, that's where we get our clarity, not the brain, which is kind of interesting. So the solar plexus chakra is associated with digestion, physically, and it's associated with the organs of digestion, which are major glands, including the pancreas, but also the liver and the spleen. When the solar plexus is well balanced, it's thought to be, allows us to have plenty of motivation and drive, as well as a strong sense of ourselves, so to have confidence and self-esteem and, of course, if it's blocked, we don't have those and a good mantra you can take with you to support your solar plexus chakra is self-love starts when I accept all parts of myself.

Speaker 1: 17:48

The fourth chakra, which is the heart chakra, is located in the chest and is the location of the heart, the lungs and, in the spiritual senses, location of love, compassion, and is also the chakra that's thought of is how we integrate our external world to our internal world. So where, as those first three chakras are our most intimate of experiences, our personal bodies ourselves, our elimination of waste, our sexual experience, the heart chakras, where we begin to connect with the external world. The heart chakra is associated with the color green and it's physical and well spiritual sense, which we discuss as love, compassion and connection. It is a big emotional center, so whenever we're having grief or anxiety, a lot of times it is actually coming from being blocked in the heart chakram. A lot of healers believe that the heart chakra is the most important of the chakras and that having a free, flowing and open heart chakra allows you to have good energy in all the other chakras and physically, we know, having a healthy heart allows your other organs to be healthy. I do want to plug the vibrational healing program created by myself and Kathy Harmon and Lubber, in which we have four videos that we explore the heart chakra. We explore the physical anatomy in depth, we explore the physical structures in depth and then we conclude with this beautiful, sound healing experience that I've had so much positive feedback from. I think I'll put a link for that in the show notes too, but the heart chakra is a great place to start an energy exploration. And, as we know, physically a strong, healthy heart makes for a strong, healthy body. So a heart centered mantra you can take with you is when I love myself, loving others comes easily.

Speaker 1: 20:07

The throat chakra, which is located in the throat and associated with the thyroid gland, is our center of communication. So in the traditional sense, it is what we're thought of expressing our truth and expressing our self. And interesting, of course, is where our vocal cords are and that is how we speak primarily to others. It's one of our main ways to communicate with others. The importance of the throat chakra and the thyroid we see quite a bit, especially in functional medicine, where many individuals are suffering from overactive or underactive thyroid or thyroid nodules or thyroid cancer where we can attribute an energy block there is having cause damage to the thyroid. Also, there are another set of glands associated with the thyroid, called the parathyroid glands that are responsible for our calcium and our bones. So when our thyroid or, sorry, when our throat chakra is working well and the energy flow is open there, we're able to express ourselves easily and communicate easily. And, of course, when it's blocked because we ain't anybody expressing our truth, we don't express ourselves well or we're misunderstood. We may be misprone to telling mistruths or lying In some schools of thought. This throat chakra, it's not always that you are expressing yourself, it's also living your truth, so that if you're living in a way that doesn't align with your spiritual beliefs and your truths, that just your actions can create a block in your throat chakra. And a positive affirmation we can take for the throat chakra is I speak, my truth always.

Speaker 1: 22:04

The sixth chakra is the third eye chakra and it is located within the brain. And this chakra is the one I feel that highlights very well this mind body connection and the connection of the chakras to glands and structures and function. Because the third eye chakra, which is thought to be located between the eyes, between the eyebrows, but deep within the brain, is also the same area that the pituitary gland sits. The pituitary gland is thought of as the master gland in the body because it produces many glands that control the function of the other glands. So it controls how the thyroid, the adrenal glands function, how the ovaries or testicles function. It also reads signals from the bloodstream to make adjustments.

Speaker 1: 23:03

It's in this third eye chakra that is associated as well with the structures of perception, so it's with our eyes, our ears, even our taste and our smell, and an aligned third eye chakra and you've of course heard the term an open third eye. Third eye chakra is thought to be where we can have heightened awareness so much so that we might develop psychic senses, when these psychic senses may extend our perception beyond our normal senses, so that you might sense what's coming, you might smell things before they happen, you may have a sense of things. So that's where a lot of spiritual seekers often are wanting to open the third eye, because they're wanting to open their psychic sense. When your third eye chakra is well balanced, your senses are great and they're open. But of course, when it's not, it can lead to many symptoms physical symptoms of pain, headache, disruption in your senses of taste and smell, which unfortunately a lot of people suffering from. Long COVID had that kind of third eye chakra blockage, and a mantra that supports the third eye being open is I am open to exploring what I cannot see. So just a reminder of we don't all have to be fully psychic, but we can all benefit from having an open Third Eye.

Speaker 1: 24:45

The last of the energy centers that we'll cover is the seventh chakra, or the crown chakra, which is actually an energy center that lies outside of the body Most spiritual, metaphysical scientists located somewhere above the head, maybe six inches up to a foot above the head. And of all the energy centers, it's the one that, although has physical connections, it's not physically connected to us but it's thought to be our connection to the above, to spirituality, to something greater than us. But its connection is close enough to our bodies that it affects how we function physically, as well as our perception and our physical body. And it, as well as the third chakra, is associated with awareness, with intelligence, even to somewhat some psychic abilities. And although it doesn't have a physical connection, not thought of, I often associated the crown chakra with a couple of glands the pineal gland. The pineal gland is a gland within the brain that actually resides, a close up atuitary gland but above it, and it's a gland that conducts our circadian rhythms. So it's a gland that governs when we go to sleep and when we wake up, as well as some other functions. And the crown chakra, the mantra that can be associated with it for a healthy crown chakra is I'm a vessel for love and light. So that was the beginner's guide to the chakras.

Speaker 1: 26:33

By no means is that an in-depth study. The chakra system is very in-depth and actually takes years to study, but I hope that that overview gives you a good starting point, especially if this is a new topic for you. If you're wanting to go deeper with this topic, particularly if you want to explore the blockages and more depth, if you want to know how those blockages show up, is feeling unwell in your body or spirit, or how those blockages could be severe enough that they contribute to disease or disorders, you'll want to join me for next week. The master class is called Harmonize your Energy. It's scheduled for February 24th 2024 at noon Central Standard Time. This will be a one-hour master class which, if you join me live, we'll be able to connect and actually discuss and even ask and answer questions of each other.

Speaker 1: 27:27

During this master class we're going to cover the chakras in more depth and we'll go more into that connection between the glands, the nerves, and again how those can show up as blockages, and we'll even have time to discover teeny tiny steps you can make now to align your energy. So in your show, nuts, if you want to connect, please sign up and I'll be emailing the details further on that masterclass and if you sign up, live how we'll be able to connect and we can actually discuss and talk about this more Well. Thank you for joining me for this beginner's guide to the chakras. It was so great to connect with you and I will connect with you next week. Have a great rest of your day. If you enjoyed this episode, please like, share and subscribe. If you are watching on YouTube, please give me a comment, a shout out, a like and share with your friends and family. Thank you, you, you, you, you.