There are mentions of chakras as psychic centers of consciousness dating back to around 600 BCE. The seven-chakra system was first fully fleshed out by Purnananda Swami of Bengal in 1577. Swami’s book, Sat-Cakra-Nirupana, was translated into English by Sir John Woodroffe, and since then, the seven-chakra system has become popularized in the West.
Unblocking your chakras with chakra alignment exercises has become a popular meditation and yoga exercise over the years. So, keep reading to find out more about chakra alignment and what exercises you can do to align them yourself.
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If you’ve ever attended a yoga class, you would have heard the term chakras mentioned before. Chakra means “wheel” or “circle” in Sanskrit and is historically associated with ancient India and Tibetan Buddhism.
You can imagine your chakras as a place in your body where energy is concentrated. In yoga practices this energy, or prana, travels around the body between chakras via channels.
These “wheels” of spinning energy each correspond to certain nerve bundles and major organs. In the same way your everyday energy might change due to external forces such as stress, chakras can also be affected by your lifestyle and emotions. Chakras are intertwined with the emotional, mental, and spiritual parts of your body.
For your chakras to function at their best they need to be open and balanced. If they are blocked or misaligned then you may experience physical or emotional symptoms that relates to a particular chakra.
There are seven main chakras. These chakras run along your spine starting at the base of your spine and extend to the crown of your head.
If one or more of your chakras are out of alignment it can cause mental health issues and physical symptoms. Each chakra affects different parts of your body, so depending on your symptoms you’ll be able to pinpoint which chakras need help.
For example, if your heart chakra is out of alignment it could lead you to feeling lonely and distanced from people, or even cause you to have higher expectations of people.
There are five typical warning signs that you chakras may need to be balanced. These signs are:
By simply taking the time to relax each day, you’ll slowly start to get your balance back. Taking time for yourself each day will not only help you recharge mentally and emotionally, it will also start to clear out blocked chakras. By taking some of the weight and expectations off of your shoulders, you’ll realize how much easier you can stand tall.
Doing yoga is a great way to balance your chakras since there is a corresponding yoga pose for each chakra. Yoga will also teach you a variety of breathing and meditation practices. If you’re looking for more assistance to balance your chakras you can view here for more.
The best (and easiest!) way to unblock and balance your root chakra is to ground yourself using the mountain pose. The mountain pose is a basic yoga pose that helps you feel connected to the earth beneath your feet.
You can also spend more time connecting to the earth by getting outside and feeling the dirt under your feet. You want to clear your mind and connect to the soil.
The sacral chakra is located in your pelvic area. This chakra can benefit from hip-opening yoga poses. The pigeon pose and crescent pose are good poses to start off with.
Since the sacral chakra is associated with emotions you want to spend some time meditating mindfully. You need to observe your feelings without judging them before you allow them to pass.
This chakra is located right in your belly. The solar plexus chakra can benefit from core strengthening exercises. A challenging core workout can go a long way to balance this chakra.
The plank pose, boat pose, and bow pose are great yoga poses to balance this chakra.
The heart chakra focuses on self-love and love for others. Try to bring attention to the things that you love and appreciate and practice love-based affirmations.
Deep breathing exercises and yoga poses that open the chest like the wheel pose will help you align you chakras.
Using your voice is beneficial to the throat chakra. You can try to open your throat with fish and bridge poses along with neck stretches.
You might also benefit from finding other ways to express yourself such as journaling. If you’ve been putting off a difficult conversation, you might need to have this conversation to balance your throat chakra.
The third eye chakra is more spiritual than the previous chakras. To balance this chakra you need to focus on relaxing your mind. Resting with your legs up the wall to allow your blood to flow to your brain can also help relax your mind.
You need to listen to your inner voice if you want this chakra to be in balance. Your third eye chakra is also most active while you dream so start taking note of your dreams.
Connecting to your crown chakra will be the most challenging. You need your other chakras to be in balance before your crown chakra will open. Headstands or the rabbit pose combined with meditation will help you connect to this chakra.
Understanding how to perform a chakra alignment by yourself is the first step to balance. If your chakras are all aligned and your mind is at peace you’ll finally be able to achieve a balance in your body. So go ahead and start focusing on balancing your chakras.
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