What Are The Chakra Symbols?

 

Finding your center and achieving inner peace can take many forms. One of the ways to do all this and more is to embrace and align your chakras. When your chakras are balanced, you will feel steady and ready to face whatever you might encounter in your daily life.

What Are Chakras?

The word chakra is Sanskrit for wheel. Chakras are disks of spinning energy that corresponds to nerve areas and major organs.

Chakras are the essential energy centers of the physical body. There are seven main chakras, and each chakra serves a different purpose and addresses issues within each of those areas of the body.

The chakras start at the lower spine and extend upward to the top of your head - each one dealing with a certain aspect of your life, from physical to mental to emotional.

In order to ensure the flow of energy in your body is at its highest capacity, you want your chakras to remain open. Doing so will promote emotional, mental, and physical well-being.

Uncovering Each Chakra Symbol

In order to truly understand the meaning of chakras and how they can help you in your daily routines, it’s important to uncover what each chakra stands for, where it’s located, and what it can do for you.

Each chakra symbol is in the form of a lotus flower and has a different amount of petals tailored to express their vibrations. Here are the seven chakras located in the body along with how they can help you achieve balance and overall wellness in your life:

Root Chakra - Muladhara

The root chakra, or Muladhara, can be found at the base of the spine. This chakra is connected to the earth element and covers four main urges, including sleep, food, sex, and preservation of self.

This symbol is a lotus flower featuring 4 petals and represents the mind, intellect, consciousness, and ego.

This is the chakra that helps you to feel grounded and provides you with the ability to withstand any challenges that may come your way.

Sacral Chakra - Svadhisthana

The sacral chakra, or svadhisthana, is located in the pelvis region right below your belly button. This chakra covers creativity and sexuality matters. When you focus on your sacral chakra, you are focusing on your individual emotions and the emotions of others.

The sacral chakra symbol features an orange lotus flower with six petals and a circle and crescent moon inside.

This chakra is associated with the water element and covers fluidity and adaptability to situations in your life.

Solar Plexus - Manipura

The solar plexus chakra, or Manipura, is situated in the stomach region. This chakra focuses on areas of self-esteem and confidence.

The symbol for the solar plexus chakra is a yellow lotus flower with 10 petals. It also includes an inverted red triangle in the middle.

It’s no wonder the solar plexus chakra is related to the fire element as it is a driving force for individuals to forge forward with a confident attitude.

Heart Chakra - Anahata

The heart chakra, or Anahata, is located in the chest. Love and compassion are two attributes this chakra covers. When you work on your heart chakra, you are balancing love and feeling for others.

The symbol for the heart chakra depicts a green lotus flower with 12 petals and a hexagram in the center. Each petal stands for the 12 virtues that are associated with a pure heart including the following:

• Love
• Harmony
• Understanding
• Empathy
• Purity
• Compassion
• Clarity
• Unity
• Forgiveness
• Peace
• Kindness
• Bliss

This chakra is related to the air element and focuses on peace and openness. When you focus on the heart chakra, you can work on broadening your scope of unconditional love.

Throat Chakra - Vishuddha

With the throat chakra or vishuddha, you can work on your communication skills. As this chakra is located in the throat region, it’s no wonder that vocalization is one of its primary focuses.

The throat chakra symbol is a blue lotus with 16 petals decorated with Sanskrit vowels. The symbol also includes an inverted triangle with a circle inside.

The throat chakra is associated with the space element and helps you to speak your truth and do so with confidence.

Third Eye Chakra - Ajna

The third eye chakra, or ajna, is situated in the middle of your forehead between your eyes. This chakra focuses on intuition and imagination. It is the chakra that tells you to trust your gut instinct.

The symbol for the third eye chakra is an indigo lotus flower with two petals. The center features an upside-down triangle with OM in the middle.

As the command center of the chakras, the third eye chakra is not tied directly to any one element. It serves many purposes and is considered beyond all physical elements due to its importance.

Crown Chakra - Sahasrara

The last chakra is the crown chakra, or Sahasrara, located on the top of your head. This chakra is one that relates to spiritual connection, which includes yourself as well as others. It also links a spiritual connection to the universe.

The crown chakra symbol is a violet lotus with 1,000 petals. The circle in the middle portrays infinite space. There is an OM syllable in the center which signifies the universe’s supreme sound and fitting for this important chakra.

The crown chakra deals with your life’s purpose and is not related to any one physical element as it is the superior chakra.

How To Open Your Chakras

Now that you know about the seven chakras and what each one covers, the next step is learning how to use your chakras to find inner peace and improved well-being. From meditation to using breathing exercises to balance your chakras, there are many ways to align your chakras for superior wellness.

In order for your chakras to work and help you achieve mental, emotional, and physical wellness, you have to keep your chakras unblocked and open. Here are some methods for unblocking your chakras:

Practice Yoga

Practicing yoga is an excellent way to open your chakras and find your center of being. You’ll even find that certain yoga poses target specific chakras. For example, if you want to open up your root chakra, the warrior pose or tree pose are excellent yoga poses to practice. On the other hand, if you’re striving for the sheer balance of your heart chakra, try the wheel pose or humble warrior pose.

Using yoga as a way to relax and provide balance to your chakras will help you achieve overall peace and well-being.

Perform Breathing Exercises

You can also balance your chakras by performing breathing exercises. Find a quiet place to sit and focus on each individual chakra as you breathe in and out in a steady manner. While you take these deep, even breaths, chant a specific word, or mantra, for each chakra that you wish to cleanse.

Here are the mantras to use for each chakra in your breathing exercises:

• Root chakra: Lam
• Sacral chakra: Vam
• Solar plexus chakra: Ram
• Heart chakra: Yam
• Throat chakra: Ham
• Third eye chakra: Om
• Crown chakra: (Silence)

You can also recite statements for each individual chakra and start with the following words for each chakra and then fill in the blank with the phrase that best suits your feelings:

• Root chakra: I am _____
• Sacral chakra: I feel _____
• Solar plexus chakra: I do _____
• Heart chakra: I love _____
• Throat chakra: I speak _____
• Third eye chakra: I see _____
• Crown chakra: I know _____

Work your way through each chakra, chanting and reciting mantras to unblock and open these essential energy points in your body.

Meditate

To focus quietly on each chakra, meditation will help achieve the goal of cleansing and unblocking your chakras. Meditation is easy to do and can be accomplished anywhere you have a quiet space.

If you want to meditate and open up your chakras, here are the steps to follow:

1. Find a quiet spot to sit for approximately a half-hour.
2. Get into a comfortable position. You can sit with your legs crossed or any other way that you’re most comfortable.
3. Keep your back straight but only to where it’s comfortable. Place your hands lightly on your knees or at your side.
4. Start taking deep even breaths.
5. Starting at the root chakra, work your way up the chakra line all the way to the crown chakra, picturing each chakra as you go.
6. Use the following color associations with each chakra:                                  

• Root chakra: Red
• Sacral chakra: Orange
• Solar plexus chakra: Yellow
• Heart chakra: Green
• Throat chakra: Blue
• Third eye chakra: Indigo
• Crown chakra: Purple/White

      7. Focus on each chakra for a few minutes, continuing the process until you see the energy surrounding each individual chakra.
      8. Work all the way through the chakras and by the time you reach the crown chakra, you should have a renewed sense of mental clarity and feel positive energy throughout your body.

Using these methods above will help you open your chakras so they can continue to work to produce mental, emotional, and physical energy for your body.

Clear and Balanced Chakras Provide Focus and Energy

You now know all about the seven main chakras in the body and how these help with focus and energy. By keeping these chakras clear and balanced, you can achieve optimal focus in your life. Open chakras mean positive energy can once again flow through your body and help you in your goals to achieve optimal health and wellness.

Whenever you feel that your chakras may be blocked, simply take a yoga class or perform yoga exercises at home. If yoga isn’t your thing, simple breathing exercises or meditation sessions will help you achieve the chakra-cleansing goals you seek.

Once you open up your mind and spiritual self to the good that chakras offer, you’ll find that you achieve the following benefits:

• Mental clarity
• Focus
• Physical energy
• Emotional strength
• Understanding of others
• And so much more!

Chakras are powerful items that we all possess and now that you know how to use them, you can get on the path to optimal physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing.