Last updated on June 16th, 2026 at 02:18 pm
What Are the 7 Chakras?
A Guide from Root to Crown
The chakra system is a map of your inner world. It originated in India over 3,000 years ago,
first described in the Vedas — the ancient texts at the root of yogic philosophy. The word
chakra (cakra in Sanskrit) means wheel. In practice, it refers to seven spinning energy
centres that run along your spine, each governing a distinct area of your physical,
emotional, and spiritual life.
This guide covers all seven in order. For each one you will find what it governs, what
happens when it is blocked, and practical ways to bring it back into balance. Each section
links to a full deep-dive guide for when you are ready to go further.
What Is a Chakra?
The chakras exist in the subtle body — the energetic layer of your being that sits beneath
the physical one. They are not organs you can find on a scan, but they correspond to real
anatomical structures: nerve plexuses, endocrine glands, and organ systems.
Think of the seven chakras as a circuit. When energy moves freely through all seven, you
feel well: physically grounded, emotionally steady, creatively alive, and spiritually
connected. When one centre is congested or overactive, the effects ripple through the whole
system. Knowing which centre is affected gives you somewhere concrete to start
| # | Sanskrit | Common Name | Location | Element | Colour |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Muladhara | Root Chakra | Base of spine | Earth | Red |
| 2 | Svadhisthana | Sacral Chakra | Lower abdomen | Water | Orange |
| 3 | Manipura | Solar Plexus Chakra | Upper abdomen | Fire | Yellow |
| 4 | Anahata | Heart Chakra | Centre of chest | Air | Green |
| 5 | Vishuddha | Throat Chakra | Throat | Ether | Blue |
| 6 | Ajna | Third Eye Chakra | Between the eyebrows | Light | Indigo |
| 7 | Sahasrara | Crown Chakra | Top of the head | Consciousness | Violet / White |
1. Muladhara — The Root Chakra
If you have been feeling anxious for no clear reason, struggling to feel settled, or finding it hard to trust that things will work out, start here. Muladhara is the foundation of the entire system. It governs your sense of safety, physical groundedness, and basic survival needs. Everything above it depends on this one being solid.
When it is balanced: You feel stable, secure, and physically well. Life feels manageable even when it is busy. Money, home, and health feel like things you can deal with rather than things that are happening to you.
When it is blocked: Persistent anxiety, difficulty committing to anything, lower back pain, and a sense of nothing ever feeling solid or safe. Adrenal fatigue and digestive sluggishness are common physical signs.
Practices: Grounding yoga poses (Mountain, Warrior, Malasana), walking barefoot on earth, root vegetables, LAM mantra, red jasper crystal.
2. Svadhisthana — The Sacral Chakra
When the Sacral Chakra is blocked, life can feel oddly flat. You might still be going through the motions but joy, creativity, and genuine connection stop feeling natural. Svadhisthana governs your emotional life, creative expression, and your capacity for pleasure.
When it is balanced: You feel creatively alive, emotionally fluid, and comfortable with intimacy and change. There is a sense of flow to your days rather than grinding resistance.
When it is blocked: Creative blocks, emotional numbness or overwhelm, guilt around pleasure, and difficulty forming close relationships. Reproductive or bladder issues can be physically linked.
Practices: Hip-opening yoga poses (Pigeon, Baddha Konasana), swimming or bathing, creative expression without judgment, VAM mantra, orange carnelian crystal.
3. Manipura — The Solar Plexus Chakra
Confidence. The ability to make a decision and follow through on it. A gut you actually trust. These qualities live in Manipura. The Solar Plexus Chakra governs personal power, self-worth, and your capacity to act on what you know to be right.
When it is balanced: You set clear boundaries, make decisions without second-guessing yourself constantly, and feel a stable sense of who you are. You take up the space you are entitled to.
When it is blocked: Low self-worth, indecisiveness, chronic digestive issues, and a tendency to hand your power to others. An overactive Manipura can look like control, perfectionism, or aggression.
Practices: Core-strengthening yoga (Boat Pose, twists), Kapalabhati breath, RAM mantra, yellow citrine crystal.
4. Anahata — The Heart Chakra
The Heart Chakra sits at the centre of the system, between the three lower chakras and the three upper ones. It is where the physical meets the spiritual. Anahata governs your capacity for love — not just romantic love, but compassion, forgiveness, and genuine connection with the people around you.
When it is balanced: You give and receive love without fear. You forgive without needing to forget. You feel genuinely connected to others and to yourself.
When it is blocked: Feeling closed off, holding grudges, fear of vulnerability, loneliness, and a need to please everyone. Tightness in the chest and shallow breathing are common physical signs.
Practices: Heart-opening yoga poses (Camel, Cobra, Fish), gratitude journaling, loving-kindness meditation, YAM mantra, rose quartz crystal.
5. Vishuddha — The Throat Chakra
Have you ever swallowed words you genuinely needed to say? Felt a tightness in the throat when the truth felt too uncomfortable to voice? The Throat Chakra governs authentic communication, self-expression, and your ability to listen as well as speak.
When it is balanced: You communicate clearly and honestly. You say what you mean. You listen without preparing your next response before the other person has finished.
When it is blocked: Fear of speaking, chronic throat tightness, people-pleasing, or a pattern of saying what others want to hear. An overactive Vishuddha can show up as constant talking, interrupting, or gossip.
Practices: Chanting and singing, journaling, neck rolls and throat-opening yoga, HAM mantra, blue lapis lazuli crystal.
6. Ajna — The Third Eye Chakra
There is a kind of knowing that has nothing to do with logic. You walk into a room and sense something is off. You get a feeling about a decision before you have thought it through. That is Ajna. The Third Eye Chakra governs intuition, inner vision, and your ability to see past the surface of things.
When it is balanced: You trust your gut. You make clear decisions. You can zoom out and see the bigger picture even when you are in the middle of something difficult.
When it is blocked: Confusion, over-reliance on logic at the expense of instinct, inability to visualise a direction, and frequent headaches. An overactive Ajna can manifest as obsessive thinking.
Practices: Meditation focused on the space between the brows, visualisation practices, dream journaling, OM mantra, amethyst crystal.
7. Sahasrara — The Crown Chakra
At the very top of the chakra system, beyond thought and beyond the personal self, is Sahasrara. The Crown Chakra governs your connection to something larger than yourself: universal consciousness, spiritual awareness, and the quiet recognition that you are not separate from life.
When it is balanced: You feel a deep, quiet sense of meaning and belonging. Life feels purposeful. You hold your personal identity lightly, without clinging to it.
When it is blocked: Existential emptiness, cynicism, spiritual disconnection, or a purely materialistic focus on life. Chronic headaches and neurological symptoms can sometimes be associated.
Practices: Silent meditation, time in nature, selfless service (seva), OM or silence, clear quartz crystal.
How to Work With the Chakra System
You do not need to overhaul your entire practice to start working with the chakras. The most effective approach is to choose one that feels relevant to where you are right now.
Notice which sections resonated as you read. Perhaps the Root Chakra descriptions felt familiar. Perhaps the Throat Chakra section landed closer to home. Start there. Read the full guide for that chakra, choose one practice, and do it consistently for a week before moving on.
The system is designed to be worked from the bottom up. It is harder to access genuine intuition (Ajna) if you are running on chronic anxiety and no sense of safety (Muladhara). It is harder to speak your truth (Vishuddha) if your heart is closed (Anahata). The foundation matters.
Deepen Your Understanding with Loka
The chakra system is explored in depth inside both our Online Meditation Teacher Training and our 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training in Bali. If you want to understand how to work with this system in your own practice — and eventually guide others through it — either course will give you the practical foundation to do that.
Explore the Online Meditation Teacher Training or the 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training in Bali.
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