Chakra literally means in Sanskrit, “Wheel of Light.” Thus, a Chakra is “nothing more or less than a wheel of light revolving in and through our energy system (Dale, 1996).” In the book Vibrational Energy, Richard Gerber states that Chakras are “specialized energy centers,” “…dimensional portals within the subtle bodies which take in and process energy of higher vibrational nature so that it may be properly assimilated and used to transfer the physical body.”
Chakras serve as “revolving doors or portals between our body, mind, and soul (Dale, 1996).”
Make it Plain
If one could imagine the human body as a whole, with small doors aligned vertically from head to toe (i.e. door on the forehead, door at the throat, door at the chest, etc.). There is a single light behind each door that shines, and each light that shines is a different color. These lights reflect the energy of our Soul at different levels. The light, or Chakra is more of who you are than the physical body itself. The physical body really just tells you how your Chakras are doing.
Chakras Deconstructed
“There are major and minor Chakras. The major Chakras manage our most critical functions and issues; the minor Chakras regulate less fundamental needs (Dale, 1996)” of the human body. THIS is the part we ALWAYS hear about.. an “unbalanced Chakra this and that.” Well, when a Chakra is unbalanced, it manifests itself as sickness, pain, infection, fungus, and/or dysfunction of some kind within the body. Thus, if the body is not functioning properly, we know that the wheels are not spinning properly, and the lights/Chakras must be out of whack.
Most commonly, information regarding Chakras typically discusses the 7 Chakras and their locations within the physical body, but from my readings, I see that holistic healers abound acknowledge no less than 9-12 Chakras with the additional, less commonly discussed 2-5 Chakras being located mostly outside of the physical body (above the head, below the feet, within the hands & feet, and a complex system of points within the body).
Further still, each Chakra is composed of a front door and back door (since I am using doors as the visual example), but yes, each has what is referred to as a “front side” that is expressed via conscious actions and a “back side” that is related to subconscious actions.
12 Chakra Locations
1st - lower hips, genitals (Root Chakra)
2nd - abdomen (Sacral Chakra)
3rd - solar plexus
4th - heart
5th - throat
6th - forehead (Third Eye Chakra)
7th - the crown
Five Out-of-Body Chakras
8th - located an inch and a half above the head
9th - (the Soul Chakra ) located approximately one arms length above the head
10th - approximately 1.5 to 4 feet under the feet
11th - around the hands and feet
12th - is actually a collection of 32 points on the body and in the aura (I’ll write a separate entry for this as it is a lot).
So, I figure, this should be enough to get you on the right track to at least KNOWING what a chakra is, what it does and where they are located within the body. I cannot wait to talk about identifying the symptoms of imbalance and solutions to rebalancing.
But right now, it’s super early, and I’m super tired. Until next time.
Vicki Li XO
