The Chakra System
Our body is equipped with one more energy system that needs to stay in balance if we want to be preserved from illness. This system is the first to show signs of imbalance. I am talking here about chakra system.

The word chakra comes from Sanskrit and means a wheel or a disk. To find a better explanation, I would use an image of a turbine or a turbine wheel.

There are seven chakras placed on a straight line from back bottom to crown of head along the spine. This channel, called sushumna is where kundalini energy flows. Every chakra draws in or lets out energy into the body.

Each chakra is specifically connected to different body functions and organs, for instance the endocrinological system.  They are at the same time mutually related.

MULADHARA – # 1 The The Root Chakra
Muladhara is sanskrit for root. It is illustrated as a four-petal lotus flower. The petals represent the four elements, earth, water, fire and wood. Red is the associated colour. According to Hindi tradition, the Kundalini energy rises from one chakra to the next to finally reach the Crown Chakra and become fully illuminated.

The Root Chakra’s place is between sex organs and anus. It is a root of all life. Connected to suprarenal gland, it produces adrenaline rushes and wakes up the instinct of survival. It is associated with the sense of smell. The mantra is Lam.

SVADHISTHANA - #2 The Sacral Chakra
Sanscrit for Svadhisthana means amiability. This chacra’s symbol is a lotus flower with six petals. It influences sexual desires and passions.

Svadhistana’s location is immediately below navel. Associated colour is orange, the one to promote creative energy. It has connection to glands for reproductive organs, ovaries, prostate and testicles. The Sacral Chakra guides us on our way from primal existence to an understanding of what makes our life worth living. It is associated with the sense of taste. The mantra is Vam.

MANIPURA - #3 The Solar Plexus Chakra      
In Sanscrit, Manipura means shimmering gem. Associated colour: yellow just as the Sun. It is depicted as a lotus flower of ten petals. It dwells under the chest at the point of junction of the ribs. It is here that our self-esteem is forged. Who I am, and what I can accomplish. This chakra regulates also life energy of the body.

Manipura determines how productive we are. It is connected to pancreas, liver and digestive system. Imbalance of this chakra provokes domination of the left, analytic brain lobe over the the right, the creative one. The chakra is associated with the faculty of vision. The mantra is Ram.

ANAHATA - # 4 The Heart Chakra
Anahata in Sanscrit means ”an unstruck sound, a sound produced without two objects getting in touch” and describes body and spirit coexistence. Its symbol is a lotus flower of twelve petals. A meeting place for body and spirit.

Chakra located in the middle of the chest. Associated with forgiveness, empathy and unconditional love that makes us accept our fellow man and his best doings. Its colour is green, related to teaching and healing. Through this chakra, we can develop true self-esteem. Its gland is thymus. Heart Chakra is associated with the sense of touch. The mantra is Yam.

VISHUDDHA - # 5 The Throat Chakra
Vishudda is purity in Sanscrit. It is the first one of the higher centres. The Throat Chakra has to do with communication, self-expression and creativity by sound. To develop Throat Chakra means to choose words that make conversation meaningful instead of just being ”a chat.”

Only after having worked with the four lower chakras can we achieve the necessary purity to open the Throat Chakra. The symbol of it is a lotus flower with 16 petals. Colour match is blue.

Vishuddha dwells just above the jugular cavity (throat cavity). Its glands are thyroid and parathyroid.  Chakra associated with hearing. The mantra is Ham.

AJNA - # 6 The Third Eye Chakra
Ajna of Sanscrit means ”to discern”, ”to know” also ”to control”. Physical eyes are our instrument with which we can perceive the material world while the seventh chakra, ”The Third Eye” gives us ability to aprehend such things that we do not have solid proofs of such as when we have a premonition, can feel somebody watching us.

This chakra’s symbol is a lotus flower with two petals. Its location is in the middle of the forehead, between and on the same level as the eyebrows. The colour is dark blue. It has been attributed to the pituitary gland. This chakra answers for ideas and fantasy. Without it we cannot create our dreams. Ajna is associated with intuition. Ksham is the mantra.

SAHASRARA - #7 The Crown Chakra
Sahasrara in Sanskrit will say thousand times over, therefore it is symbolised by a thousand- petal lotus flower, synonyme of infinity.  To develop the six lower chakras is like getting closer, step by step, to the ultimate goal – enlightment, self-realisation and perfection. It is associated with the pineal gland.

The colours of this chakra are violet, white and gold, violet as the colour of mysticism and spirituality. White posesses also a high spiritual vibration. Gold is the colour of forgiveness. When we wake the Crown Chakra, we open up for infinity in time and space. But the journey to it is both long and laborious. It also takes time. This is why we need to incarnate many times before getting there. The mantra is Om.