What are the Chakra? by Emanuela Todesco

18 May, 2014

We often hear talking of chakras. But what are they?

The term Chakra, from the Sanskrit cakra, in writing Devanagari, means wheel, disc, center. They are also called Padma, that lotus. In fact they are often represented as lotuses closed, half-closed, or open, with different numbers of petals that increase as they rise to the top.

May be facing downwards, ie towards the Earth, or upwards, ie towards the Sky, according to the level of consciousness reached by the person who discovers them and acts accordingly. The Chakras are vortices of subtle energy located along the central axis of the human body, the part that goes from the base of the spine to the crown of the head, corresponding to the glands of the endocrine system and the nervous system of the largest complexes. They act as collection centers and transmission of subtle energies (or metaphysics) and practical (or biophysical).

The main Chakras are 7, and are composed of a vortex front and one rear but excluding the first and seventh chakra, which instead are individuals. Almost all “see” and ” hear” the Chakras as funnels spinning and sliding at the same time the energy back and forth. That’s why the iconography Eastern Europe (but also in the West) has always been well represented. Each Chakra influence a specific bodily function. They are also real levels of consciousness, and each chakra corresponds to an airline of our lives. All our perceptions, all our senses, all our possible states of awareness, everything that you can experience, can be divided into seven categories. Each category can be associated with a specific chakra. So, as I said, they are not only equivalent to specific parts of our physical body, but also specific parts of our consciousness. When you pick up a distress at some point in consciousness, it is experienced in Chakra is corresponding to that part of consciousness. The discomfort is then transmitted to the endocrine gland associated with the Chakra, which produces hormones that alter body chemistry. A change of consciousness then creates a chemical change in the body. Working with the Chakra gives energy and balance to body, mind and spirit.

When the chakra is open, energy flows freely penetrating all layers of the aura, instead when the chakra is closed, or locked, energy find an obstacle and does not penetrate : at that point we will have an imbalance at the physical level, or mental and spiritual level, or even up to both, such as anxiety, depression, excessive stress or chronic pain. The perfect work of the energy system, is thus synonymous with good physical, mental and spiritual, and their balance allows you to live life to the full potential.

That is why it is important to know and understand the function of each chakra, and what you can do to make the energy flow freely through them, thus improving the overall quality of your life. Imagine the flow of your inner energy as the flowing water of a river : when the bed of the river there are no obstacles or barriers, the water flows smoothly and steadily, fueling life along its banks. Similarly, your organs and all your physiological processes, as well as your emotional processes, mental and spiritual, feed on this energy. Now imagine if in the bed of this river began to settle the large stones (negative thoughts and emotional distress); the normal flow of water will be hampered, and if many stones accumulate at the same point could be the result of the real barriers or dams that don’t allow water to flow. Similarly, when your inner energy encounters obstacles and barriers, dramatically slows down its flow is interrupted or completely, bringing serious negative consequences from various points of view. The energy may be too much in some areas and completely absent in others. To “open” and therefore harmonize and balance the chakras to balance the mind, body and spirit, there are many different techniques, mostly based on meditation on the stones and crystals on exercises and physical movements, the massage, the colors, and aromas.

Let us now see what are the 7 main chakras and the correspondence with the endocrine glands :
Seventh: Shahasara, Crown Chakra, pineal gland
Sixth: Ajna Chakra third eye, pituitary
Fifth: Visuddha, throat chakra, thyroid and parathyroid
Fourth: Anahata, the heart chakra, the thymus
Third: Manipura, Solar Plexus Chakra, pancreas
Second: Svadhistana, Sacral Chakra, genital gland
First: the Muladhara, the root chakra, the adrenal gland

In future articles we would go to see one by one the 7 Chakras, their characteristics and how they affect your life.

Emanuela Todesco
http://www.emanuelatodesco.com