When I got into yoga, "chakra" was a word that was thrown around a lot. So much so that I didn't want to tell anyone that I had no idea what they were talking about. At first, I was too shy to ask and then suddenly a few years had gone by and I didn't want to let them know I really didn't know. (Awkward)
Here's what you need to know about chakras. Just in case you're too nervous to ask.
A chakra is an energy center in the body. It is where energy converges and spins in a circular fashion. When a chakra is balanced, it is spinning smoothly and at just the right speed. A chakra can become unbalanced when it either spinning too quickly (overactive) or too slowly (underactive). Different symptoms will show up in either case.
There are tons and tons of chakras in the body but 7 main ones. Each main chakra corresponds to a different location in the body and has different characteristics associated with it. By using this information, you can pinpoint which chakras may be out of balance and can work to bring them back into balance using a variety of tools: music, yoga poses, crystals, color therapy, etc.
1st Chakra - Root Chakra
Traditional Color: Red
Balanced: Vitality, feeling safe and secure, grounded, comfortable in your body, able to relax
Overactive: sluggish, addiction to security, fear of change, material fixation, rigid boundaries
Underactive: jittery, anxious, poor focus & discipline, unorganized
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2nd Chakra - Sacral Chakra
Traditional Color: Orange
Balanced: experiences pleasure easily, healthy boundaries, emotionally intelligent, able to nurture self and others
Overactive: addicted to pleasure, excessive emotions, poor boundaries, sensitive
Underactive: lack of passion, unable to find pleasure, fear of sex, rigid
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3rd Chakra - Solar Plexus Chakra
Traditional Color: Yellow
Balanced: will power, confident, healthy self-esteem, reliable, responsible, meets challenges
Overactive: manipulative, aggressive, dominating, power hungry
Underactive: low self-esteem, low energy, unable to follow through
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4th Chakra - Heart Chakra
Traditional Color: Green
Balanced: loving, compassionate, generous, empathetic, capable of making and holding relationships
Overactive: demanding, clingy, jealous, dependent
Underactive: withdrawn, anti-social, critical, lonely, difficulty making relationships
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5th Chakra - Throat Chakra
Traditional Color: Pale Blue
Balanced: connected to your personal truth, able to communicate thoughts and feelings, strong voice, good listener
Overactive: dominant, talks too much, poor listener, interrupts others
Underactive: anxiety, fear of speaking, fear of being yourself, weak voice, unable to express emotions
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6th Chakra - Third Eye Chakra
Traditional Color: Dark Blue / Indigo
Balanced: perceptive, good memory, intuitive, able to visualize, imaginative
Overactive: delusions, obsessions, mental fogginess, difficulty concentrating
Underactive: closed minded, lack of imagination, poor memory, difficulty visualizing
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7th Chakra - Crown Chakra
Traditional Color: Purple / White
Balanced: spiritually connected, open minded, aware, intelligent
Overactive: spiritual addiction, dissociation from body, confusion, over intellectualization
Underactive: cynical, rigid beliefs, controlling, materialistic, greedy
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