Crystals and Chakras

What Are Chakras?

It is a system of "Energy Points" covering our body through which we interact with the outside world and the internal workings of our own bodies. The word chakra (pronounced sha-kra) comes from the Indian Sanskrit word meaning wheel or disk. There are seven main energy centres (chakras) of the body which resonate with the seven rainbow colours. Each chakra is dedicated to specific parts of our body and associated with our spiritual advancement. The chakras begin at the base of the spine and finish at the top of the head. Though fixed in the central spinal column they are located on both the front and back of the body, and work through it.

If you can imagine the main chakras / energy centres as a set of cogs/wheels, they are rather like the workings of a clock or an engine; each cog /wheel needs to move smoothly and at a similar speed for the clock / engine to work properly. Good health and well being is achieved by a balance of all these energies (or the smooth running of the cogs/wheels).

The Chakras work like power stations for the body. Our bodies are made up of an electromagnetic energy and the flow of this energy affects our general state of well being. Each chakra is responsible for energising different vital organs, nerves and muscles, and distributing energies throughout our being.

Each chakra vibrates or rotates at a different speed. The root or first chakra rotates at the slowest speed, the crown or seventh chakra at the highest speed. Each chakra is stimulated by its own and complimentary colour, and a range of gemstones for specific uses. The chakra colours are of the rainbow; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. The size and brightness of the wheels vary with individual development, physical condition, energy levels, disease, or stress.

If the chakras are not balanced, or if the energies are blocked, the basic life force will be slowed down. The individual may feel listless, tired, out of sorts, or depressed. Not only will physical bodily functions be affected so diseases may manifest, but the thought processes and the mind may also be affected. A negative attitude, fear, doubt, etc. may preoccupy the individual.

A constant balance between the chakras promotes health and a sense of well-being. If the chakras are opened too much, a person could literally short-circuit themselves with too much universal energy going through the body. If the chakras are closed, this does not allow for the universal energy to flow through them properly which may also lead to dis-ease.

The benefit of learning about your own chakra system is for you to understand on a whole (whole = body, mind and spirit in harmony) that when all parts of you (all of your seven chakra centers) are communicating equally and working in alliance with each other, you will have little or no energy disorders. For example, if the mental part of you is powerful and so are the physical, emotional and spiritual parts of you equally as strong, it is then that you feel at your optimum level

Crystals and gemstones are wonderful and powerful healing tools because they respond to the electricity that is coursing through our body, and if the energy is sluggish, the constant electrical vibrations of the stones will help to harmonize, balance, and stimulate these energies.

Chakra Locations

Each human being has seven major chakras that are located vertically along the spinal column that run from the base of our spine (between the legs) to the top of our head. They are part of the bodies subtle energy system and thus do not have physical representation. The chakra names are: root chakra, sacral chakra, solar plexus chakra, heart chakra, throat chakra, third eye chakra and the crown chakra.

Chakra Colours

Each chakra is associated with a different colour of the rainbow, is sensitive to sound, and has a collection of emotions, thoughts and feelings related to it. The chakra colours are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and

violet. The brightness, size and colour of the chakra wheels vary depending on a person’s physical condition, health, stamina levels, personal development, awareness and stress. Chakras are sensitive to and can be energised and rebalanced using energy healing modalities, colour therapy, sound healing, gemstones, crystals, homoeopathic remedies and essential oils.

Balanced Chakras

Universal love, Energy and Knowledge flows through the Chakras. It is important to maintain the correct energy flow through each Chakra since you could also negatively be affected by a Chakra being too open. When our chakras are balanced and we have the correct energetic flow through them it radiates good health and well being. Chakras that are functioning normally will be open and spinning clockwise at a similar frequency to each other. Chakras that are over-active and opened too much can cause negative effects since too much universal energy is going through the body.

Unbalanced Chakras

Over time chakras can become unbalanced, under-active or closed down, blocking the life energy to the corresponding parts of the body. When your Chakras are not vibrating or spinning properly you are unable to move your physical, emotional and mental body onto a higher spiritual level. This can cause illness, disease, physical problems, tiredness and depression. The individual may be effected with a negative attitude, have feelings of fear and doubt, feel out of touch, unable to think clearly, get angry, feel unhappy for no reason, lack self confidence and have a negative outlook on life.

Psychological and physical bodily problems have been said to show up in a person’s chakra system and aura (energy field) before the symptoms were actually apparent.

When your Chakras are not vibrating or spinning properly you are unable to move your physical, emotional and mental body onto a higher spiritual level Eventually the Chakras become out of balance and this manifests into the health of our physical bodies.

What Causes Blocked Chakras?

Some of the reasons our chakras can become blocked are due to negative energy, psychic debris or leading an unhealthy lifestyle and diet. This is when we call upon healing experts to bring our chakras into perfect balance and alignment, unblocking particular chakras that are keeping the life energy from flowing freely.

The Seven Major Chakras

1) ROOT CHAKRA

Focus: survival, security, grounding

Location: base of the spine

Colour: red

Stones: red jasper, garnet, ruby, smoky quartz

Balanced: vitality, activity, stability, strength, physical power, grounded, passion, physical security

Under-active: nervous or fearful

Over-active: materialistic and greedy, resistant to change

2) SACRAL CHAKRA

Focus: creativity, sensuality, intimacy, health

Location: lower abdomen

Colour: orange

Stones: amber, citrine, carnelian, orange calcite, topaz

Balanced: clear emotions & feelings, creativity, spontaneity, sensuality & sexuality, trusting, faith, natural healing abilities

Under-active: stiff and unemotional, not open to people

Over-active: emotional all the time, feel emotionally attached to people, very sexual

3) SOLAR PLEXIS CHAKRA

Focus: confidence, power, emotional stability

Location: stomach area

Colour: yellow

Stones: golden topaz, tiger’s eye, citrine

Balanced: self-esteem, positive self-image, personal power, active intellect, independence, happiness, in touch with one’s gift, alignment with cosmic personal path

Under-active: passive and indecisive, timid

Over-active: domineering and even aggressive

4) HEART CHAKRA

Focus: compassion, unconditional love, empathy

Location: centre of the chest

Colour: green, pink

Stones: rose quartz, aventurine, emerald

Balanced: loving, caring, generosity, selflessness, healing, devotion, nurturing

Under-active: cold, distant

Over-active: suffocating people with love, probably for selfish reasons

5) THROAT CHAKRA

Focus: communication, speaking truth, spontaneity

Location: throat

Colour: light blue

Stones: aquamarine, lapis lazuli, sodalite, turquoise

Balanced: good communication & expression, creativity, inspiration, contented, lives in the present, musically or artistically inspiring

Under-active: introverted or shy

Over-active: speak too much, domineering

6) THIRD EYE CHAKRA

Focus: intuition, clarity

Location: centre of the forehead

Colour: dark blue, indigo blue

Stones: amethyst, blue calcite, lapis lazuli, sodalite

Balanced: intuitive, vision, creativity, clarity of thoughts & emotions, highly ethical, not attached to material things, in tune to guidance, charismatic

Under-active: not good at thinking for yourself, tend to rely on others to make decisions for you

Over-active: live too much in a world of fantasy

7) CROWN CHAKRA

Focus: higher self, spirituality

Location: top of the head

Colour: purple

Stones: amethyst, clear quartz, selenite, sugalite

Balanced: spirituality, integrated life, light energy, higher consciousness, knowledge, connect to Source, grounded in life’s purpose

Under-active: not aware of spirituality, rigid in your beliefs

Over-active: intellectualise too much, may be addicted to spirituality and ignoring bodily needs

Balancing the Chakras Using Crystals Crystals have a vibration which can be measured... and according to the level of the vibration can be effective healers of individual chakras. The fact that colours also have vibrations, that can be measured... is the reason why particular stones that are specific colours are effective, in different areas of the body. One of the simplest ways to help balance the whole chakra system is to place a stone of the appropriate colour on each area.

What you need: You will need seven crystals each corresponding to the colour of a chakra and a haematite or tourmaline crystal to help ground you afterwards.

* Choose your crystals and arrange them in sequence beside where you will be lying.

* Lie down and relax.

* To gently balance and realign your chakra energies, place one stone of the appropriate colour on each chakra area for a few minutes. * Place a grounding stone like smoky quartz, haematite or black tourmaline between the feet to act as an anchor.

http://www.crystalwellbeing.co.uk/images/baseblob.gif Base Chakra - Place a red or black crystal near the base of the spine between your legs, or alternatively place two red stones, of the same sort, on the top of each leg. This will balance physical energy, motivation and practicality and promote a sense of reality.

http://www.crystalwellbeing.co.uk/images/sacralblob.gif Sacral Chakra - Place an orange coloured crystal on the lower abdomen. This will balance creativity and release stress and blocks in your life that prevent enjoyment.

http://www.crystalwellbeing.co.uk/images/solplexblob.gif Solar Plexus Chakra - Place a yellow crystal between the navel and the ribcage to reduce anxiety, clear your thoughts and improve confidence.

http://www.crystalwellbeing.co.uk/images/heartblob.gif Heart Chakra - Place a green crystal in the centre of the chest to promote a sense of calm, create a sense of direction in life and to balance your relationship with others and the world. A pink stone can be added for emotional clearing.

http://www.crystalwellbeing.co.uk/images/throatblob.gif Throat Chakra - Place a light blue crystal at the base of the throat to bring peacefulness, ease communication difficulties and to promote self-expression.

http://www.crystalwellbeing.co.uk/images/browblob.gif Third Eye Chakra - Place an indigo or dark blue crystal in the centre of the forehead to promote intuitive skills and memory and to increase understanding and self-knowledge.

http://www.crystalwellbeing.co.uk/images/crownblob.gif Crown Chakra - Place a violet crystal or clear quartz crystal just above the top of the head. This will integrate and balance all aspects of the self - physical, mental, emotional and spiritual, and will promote positive thought patterns, inspiration and imagination. Clear Quartz Crystals will work to heal all chakras. Clear quartz clusters have a positive effect on all chakras. Each individual crystal in the cluster will send out the positive energy to enable it to impact with the entire human energy field. A clear quartz crystal cluster in a room will send the energy out throughout the room. Its vibration has the potential to boost any other stones energy so it may assist all chakras.

Create a Chakra Crystal Kit

If you have a crystal collection already, select stones of the specific chakra colours. Tumblestones work best for this. Keep them in a pouch together, separate from your other crystals, and use them to reenergise and balance your chakras as and when you need to.

If you do not have the appropriate crystals, that is fine, you can build up your Chakra kit slowly.

Chakra Kits can also be bought at most crystal shops. Many kits have eight or nine or more.... and this is an advantage. A chakra kit should have a chart included that will tell you how to use the various chakra stones.

Remember to heal our animal friends too