Your Energetic Ecosystem: Understanding Chakra Blockages
Our bodies contain seven major chakras, which are energy points that spin like wheels within our aura.
Your chakras help you regulate things like emotions, spirituality, and even physical health. When the chakras become blocked, there are many issues that may arise - and if you are unaware of chakras and what they do, you may not understand how to address these issues.
This guide will give you a basic understanding of each chakra and how to tell when they’re blocked. By learning to identify and balance a misaligned or blocked chakra, you’ll be better able to understand frustrations, low moods, and bad days. We also become better at properly combatting them and replacing them with positivity.
What are the Chakras?
There are seven major chakra points in the body.
- The Root Chakra
- The Sacral Chakra
- The Solar Plexus Chakra
- The Heart Chakra
- The Throat Chakra
- The Third Eye Chakra
- The Crown Chakra
How Do Chakras Become Blocked?
Many events and circumstances can block the chakras, including…
- Trauma in adolescence or adulthood
- Stress
- Anxiety
- Poor diet
- Lack of exercise
- Emotional disturbances
Your daily habits have an effect on your chakras and their health, but things like stress and anxiety can also result from chakra blockages.
It’s important to learn to identify and balance blocked chakras so that you can begin to create a healthier routine.
Try this: 7 Teas to Balance Your Chakras
How to Recognize a Blocked Chakra
Each chakra presents different issues when blocked, so it can be relatively easy to tell which chakra needs attention once you understand more about them.
The Root Chakra (Muladhara)
The Root chakra rules over our sense of security in ourselves and in the world. It is located in the base of the spine and represented by the color red and the element Earth. When your Root chakra is blocked, you may experience…
- An inability to focus
- Restless energy
- Insecurity
- Loneliness
- Feelings of abandonment
- Anxious tendencies and fear
- Sadness
As you can see, maintaining balance within this chakra is critical. To open this chakra, surround yourself in the color red, eat plenty of red fruits and berries, and participate in grounding activities, like meditation.
Red jasper, ruby, and garnet are excellent stones to work with when focusing on the Root chakra.
The Sacral Chakra (Svadhishthana)
The second chakra is the Sacral chakra, which resides in the lower abdomen. It is associated with the color orange and the element Water. This chakra rules over our creativity, sexuality, emotions, and desires.
Issues that may arise when this chakra is out of balance include…
- Feelings of dependence on others
- Emotional turmoil or swings
- Emotional distance or detachment
- Eating or drinking too much
- Inability to shift your mood
This chakra is crucial for self-expression and human connection. Begin opening it by eating orange foods, like orange peppers, carrots, and oranges. You can also simply surround yourself by this color or search your wardrobe for orange clothing items.
Journaling, the release of negative emotions, is another great way to bring peace to the Sacral chakra. Working with amber, calcite, and carnelian will further open this chakra.
The Solar Plexus Chakra (Manipura)
The Solar Plexus chakra rules our self-control, willpower, and identity. The Sacral chakra is located behind the navel, in the stomach. It is represented by the color yellow and the element Fire.
When this chakra is imbalanced, you may experience…
- Lack of self-confidence
- Addiction or overindulgence
- Lack of self-control
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Inability to express yourself
Maintaining this chakra is essential for being able to love ourselves and accept who we are. Surrounding yourself with the bright, warm hues of yellows and golds can help you cleanse and balance this chakra. You may also choose to eat yellow foods, like bananas, lemons, and yellow peppers.
Citrine is an excellent stone to work with when balancing this chakra as well.
The Heart Chakra (Anahata)
The Heart chakra is associated with the element Air and the color green. The Heart chakra is located in the center of the chest, near the heart. This chakra regulates our sense of love and emotional connection; it helps us increase our compassion for others and our empathy for our loved ones.
When this chakra is imbalanced, you may experience…
- Isolation or loneliness
- A judgmental or critical attitude
- Jealousy or suspicion
- Resentment
- Social anxiety
- Shyness
It is critical to keep this chakra cleansed and open so that we can appreciate our connections with friends and family. Surround yourself with the color green, which can be done by wearing any green clothing you have or even spending time in nature.
Green foods, like kale, spinach, and broccoli will also contribute to the cleansing of the Heart chakra. Green aventurine and fluorite are great crystals to work with when paying attention to this chakra.
The Throat Chakra (Vishuddha)
The Throat chakra is associated with the color blue and the element Ether. This chakra rules our ability to communicate, to properly express our thoughts and feelings to others, and our ability to trust in our voice.
When this chakra is blocked, you may feel…
- An inability to express yourself
- A hard time speaking up
- Poor communication
- Keeping your desires to yourself
You can balance this chakra by surrounding yourself with the color blue: wear blue jeans every day this week, paint a picture with a vivid cerulean sky, or go outside on a bright, clear day. Blueberries are the best food to eat when focusing on the Throat chakra. You may also choose to work with lapis lazuli, aquamarine, and celestite - three stones associated with this chakra.
The Third Eye Chakra (Ajna)
The Third Eye chakra is located in the center of the forehead. This chakra is connected to the color indigo and the element Light. This chakra is associated with our intuition, our ability to see beyond this reality, spiritual growth, and love for mankind.
When the Third Eye chakra is blocked, you may experience…
- Feeling lost or directionless
- An inability to trust the Universe
- Disconnected from life or your spirituality
- A detachment from intuition
Opening this chakra helps you feel a deeper sense of connection to your insights and visions about the world. Grapes, eggplants, and curly kale work well to cleanse this chakra, as will surrounding yourself with the color indigo.
Labradorite and amethyst are great stones to meditate with when focusing on this chakra.
Related Article: A 3-Minute Third Eye Opening Meditation
The Crown Chakra (Sahasrara)
The seventh major chakra is the Crown chakra, located at the crown or top of your head. The Crown chakra is associated with the color violet and is not associated with an element, although it is associated with the concept of Akasha. This chakra builds the bridge between your physical being and the spiritual realm.
A blocked Crown chakra may result in…
- Disconnection from the world or yourself
- Lack of inspiration
- Greed or materialism
- Inability to focus
- Lack of clarity and spiritual connection
Opening this chakra helps us maintain our connection to the Universe as well as our spiritual center. Surrounding yourself with violet is an excellent start—try eating blackberries, eggplants, purple cabbage, and purple carrots.
Howlite, selenite, and shuginite are crystals that are perfect to spend time with when focusing on the Crown chakra. Meditation is also a great way to connect to your spiritual center.
Conclusion
Balancing your chakras can be easy and even fun; and maintaining balanced chakras will result in a much happier, healthier you.
