Internal Alignments Healing Arts
What are the Chakras
You may have encountered the term "Chakra" if you're on this page. The word "chakra" originates from Sanskrit and means wheel or disk.
Chakras are essentially spinning wheels of energy located along the midline of our bodies, functioning as vortices of energy that impact our lives.
There are seven primary chakra in our bodies. Each chakra has a specific name, its Sanskrit equivalent, a designated location, an associated color and symbol, as well as unique roles and attributes.
It's important to recognize that these chakras operate as a unified system; if one chakra is blocked, underactive, or overactive, it can influence the energy flow through the other chakra points.
Energy is intended to flow freely, ideally circulating within you as prana. When our chakras are open, this energy flows smoothly, allowing us to align with our highest selves. However, a blocked chakra causes energy to stagnate, leading to misalignment.
This blockage can result in physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual issues. If one chakra is hindered, we might inadvertently cause another to become overly active.
By addressing these energy centers, we can alleviate physical symptoms like headaches and chronic back pain, as well as tackle deeper challenges.
Unblocking and nurturing these energy hubs can enhance our overall health and fulfillment. Discover more about the fundamental aspects of each chakra below.
Root Chakra
Root Chakra: Grounding, Safety & Belonging At the base of the spine is the Root Chakra, often understood as the foundation of our energy and our connection to the physical world. It is the place where we explore what it means to feel grounded, supported, safe, and connected enough to grow. The Root Chakra reminds us of two simple truths: I have a right to be here. I have a right to have. When life becomes centered primarily in the mind, relationships, or circumstances outside of ourselves, we can lose touch with the steady ground beneath us. The Root Chakra invites us back into the body, to our breath, our senses, our physical needs, and the present moment. It reminds us that healing is not only something we think about; it is something we experience through the body and through how we move through the world. Root energy is like fertile ground beneath our feet. Growth requires time, attention, nourishment, and patience. When we move too quickly through fear, anger, uncertainty, or other core emotions, a sense of stability can be difficult to sustain. Creating space to acknowledge these experiences without judgment, allows us to develop greater self-awareness, resilience, and trust in our own process. Healing does not require us to have everything figured out. It begins with creating enough safety within ourselves to listen, become present, and take the next step.
Sacral Chakra
Sacral Chakra: Feeling, Creativity & Flow The Sacral Chakra is located just below the navel and is often associated with our emotional life, creativity, pleasure, connection, and capacity to experience and express feeling. It reminds us that we have a right to feel. Our emotions are not only thoughts. We often experience them physically, in the belly, the chest, the breath, or throughout the body. Fear may feel like uneasiness or nausea. Joy may bring a sense of lightness or warmth. Love, excitement, grief, and anticipation can all create their own sensations. Learning to notice these signals can help us become more connected to ourselves and more aware of what we need. The Sacral Chakra is traditionally connected with the element of water. Water can move gently and nourish life, become stagnant when it cannot flow, or become overwhelming when there is too much of it at once. In the same way, our emotional energy needs space to move. Rather than suppressing our emotions or allowing them to take over, we can learn to create a more balanced relationship with what we feel. This can open space for creativity, vitality, pleasure, connection, and authentic self-expression. Healing in this area is not about judging our emotions as good or bad. It is about developing the awareness and compassion to listen to what our feelings may be communicating.
Solar Plexus Chakra
Solar Plexus Chakra: Personal Power, Choice & Self-Trust The Solar Plexus Chakra is located in the upper abdomen, along the spine and below the diaphragm. It is often associated with our sense of personal power, will, confidence, identity, and ability to take purposeful action. This is the energy center where we can explore what it means to be an individual—to recognize our choices, trust our inner wisdom, and honor our ability to participate in shaping our own lives. It reminds us that we have a right to act, to choose, and to be ourselves. Fear, self-doubt, past experiences, and limiting beliefs can sometimes make us question our ability to move forward. The Solar Plexus invites us to notice these patterns with compassion rather than allowing them to define us. As we become more aware of what holds us back, we can begin to make choices that reflect who we are and who we are becoming. Personal power is not about controlling others or having control over every circumstance. It is about developing a deeper relationship with ourselves, taking ownership of our choices, recognizing our strengths, setting healthy boundaries, and accepting responsibility for the parts of our lives that are within our care. The Solar Plexus can also be a place of transformation. When we begin to shift old habits and patterns, rest can become renewal, reflection can become clarity, and intention can become action. With practice, we may experience greater confidence, self-respect, and trust in our ability to navigate life. Healing does not mean never experiencing fear or doubt. It means learning that fear and doubt do not have to make our choices for us.
Heart Chakra
Heart Chakra: Love, Compassion & Connection The Heart Chakra is located at the center of the chest and is traditionally understood as the bridge between the lower and upper chakras. It represents a meeting place between the physical and emotional aspects of our experience and the deeper qualities of connection, compassion, and love. The Heart Chakra invites us to explore what it means to love and to receive love, from others, from ourselves, and from life. It reminds us that connection begins within. When we cultivate self-compassion and learn to honor our own needs, we create greater capacity for authentic and healthy relationships with others. The heart is constantly responding to what happens around us and within us. We experience joy, grief, tenderness, disappointment, connection, and loss. Finding balance does not mean remaining unaffected by life. It means creating space to acknowledge what we feel while remaining connected to ourselves. The Heart Chakra can also become a place where we notice the ways we may have learned to put ourselves last. We may give more than we receive, seek approval, avoid asking for help, or believe that caring for ourselves is somehow selfish. Over time, these patterns can create distance from our own needs and desires. Healing begins with turning some of that compassion inward. Choosing self-compassion over self-criticism does not mean avoiding accountability or ignoring areas where we want to grow. It means learning to meet ourselves with the same patience, understanding, and care that we might naturally offer someone we love. As we reconnect with ourselves, we can begin to cultivate greater inner peace, authenticity, and fulfillment, and create relationships that allow for mutual care, respect, and connection
Throat Chakra
Throat Chakra: Authenticity, Expression & Listening The Throat Chakra is associated with authentic expression, communication, honesty, and the ability to listen. It invites us to explore our relationship with our own truth and how we communicate that truth with others. This energy center reminds us that our voice matters. We have the right to speak, the right to be heard, and the right to listen and receive what others are communicating. Authentic communication begins with being honest with ourselves, recognizing what we feel, what we need, what we believe, and what we may be holding back. Our inner world naturally influences the way we communicate and connect with the world around us. When we are disconnected from our own feelings or afraid to express them, our communication can become unclear, guarded, or shaped by the desire to please others. When we become more aware of ourselves, we can begin to express what is true for us with greater clarity, intention, and compassion. The Throat Chakra also provides a pathway for the energy and experiences of the other chakras to be expressed. What we carry emotionally and physically can find expression through our words, tone, body language, creativity, facial expressions, and other forms of nonverbal communication. Authentic expression is not simply about speaking more. It is also about learning to listen, to others, to our bodies, and to the quieter voice within ourselves. Creating moments of silence can be just as important as finding our voice. When we slow down enough to listen inwardly, we may discover feelings, needs, boundaries, or truths that have been waiting for our attention.
Third Eye Chakra
Third Eye Chakra: Intuition, Insight & Awareness The Third Eye Chakra is traditionally associated with the space between the eyebrows and is often described as the center of intuition, inner wisdom, perception, and insight. It invites us to look beyond what is immediately visible and develop a deeper awareness of ourselves, our experiences, and the world around us. The Third Eye reminds us that we have more than one way of knowing. Logic and reason are valuable, while intuition, lived experience, observation, and inner wisdom can offer another perspective. Learning to listen to these different forms of awareness can help us make decisions with greater clarity and intention. This chakra is also connected with our ability to step into the role of the observer. Rather than becoming completely absorbed in our thoughts, emotions, or circumstances, we can pause and notice what is happening within and around us. From this perspective, we may begin to recognize patterns, see relationships more clearly, and consider the larger picture. Developing this awareness can create space between an experience and our automatic response. Instead of immediately reacting from fear, assumptions, or old patterns, we can pause, observe, and choose how we want to respond. Sometimes clarity comes not from forcing an answer, but from allowing ourselves to be present with uncertainty. When we release the need to control a particular outcome, we create room for new understanding, possibilities, and perspectives to emerge. The Third Eye invites us to trust the process of becoming more aware, to honor what we have learned from the past, remain present with where we are now, and thoughtfully consider where we may be going.
Crown Chakra
Crown Chakra: Connection, Faith & Meaning The Crown Chakra is traditionally located just above the top of the head and is associated with connection, spiritual awareness, faith, meaning, and our relationship with something greater than ourselves. For some, this connection may be experienced through faith in God, Christ consciousness, ancestors, spirit guides, angels, nature, the Universe, or another understanding of the sacred. There is no single way to experience or define spiritual connection. The Crown Chakra invites us to explore what gives our lives meaning and what helps us feel connected to something beyond our individual experience. Where the Third Eye invites us to observe, the Crown invites us to explore trust and faith. It asks us to consider what happens when we allow ourselves to experience life without needing to understand, explain, or control every part of it. Our beliefs naturally evolve as we grow. Experiences, relationships, challenges, and moments of connection can all influence how we understand ourselves and the world. The Crown Chakra offers a space to remain curious about those beliefs while allowing our understanding to deepen and change. At its heart, this energy is about remembering that we are part of something larger than ourselves while still being fully present in our individual human experience. We do not have to intellectualize every experience in order to find meaning in it. There may be moments when we can step back and observe what is happening while also trusting that our experiences can teach, shape, and transform us. This does not mean that everything that happens is easy or that we must accept harmful experiences as somehow deserved. Rather, it invites us to explore how we can find meaning, wisdom, and possibility as we move through life. The Crown Chakra reminds us that we can hold both presence and possibility, being here, in this moment, while remaining open to what may unfold.
