7 Chakras in the Human Body and Their Significance

1. Root Chakra (Muladhara)

The root chakra is found at the bottom of the spine. As the “root,” it’s literally about our most basic survival instincts, keeping us connected, grounded, and secure. Financial worries often manifest as part of a blocked root chakra.. When the root chakra is out of balance, you may feel foggy, fatigued, depressed, or have trouble focusing. You may also have problems in the lower body, such as pain in the legs and feet. Suffering from chronic constipation is another sign of a blocked root chakra.

2. Sacral Chakra (Svadhisthana)

Water is the element that’s associated with this chakra. This element connects you to your emotions, the sensual pleasures, and creativity. A healthy sacral chakra helps you express yourself freely and easily. This helps you better manage your relationships, especially any intimate ones. It’s also good when you're managing change. 

Physical problems may manifest as urinary or reproductive issues, sexual dysfunction, or problems with addiction.

3. Solar Plexus Chakra (Manipura)

This energy center is associated with personal power, determination, and self-esteem. When it’s off-kilter, you may experience self-doubt or go the other way and become too controlling.

Since it’s located in the stomach area, this chakra is also connected to issues around digestion and metabolism. When it’s out of balance, you may experience nausea, bloating, ulcers, and bouts of Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

4. Heart Chakra (Anahata)

As you’d expect, the heart chakra is the seat of our emotions. It helps you to more fully and easily embrace love, compassion, and forgiveness in your life, as well as a general sense of emotional balance. When it’s in balance, you’ll experience a connection to others as well as a strong sense of self-love and acceptance. When it’s not, you’ll experience jealousy, co-dependency, and feelings of isolation. 

You may also have issues with the lungs, lymphatic system, breasts, or cardiovascular system.

5. Throat Chakra (Vishuddha)

Naturally, the throat is how we express ourselves. So, this particular chakra rules over expression, communication, and truth. When it’s balanced, you’ll be able to speak boldly and confidently, literally “speaking your truth.” If it’s out of whack, you may experience fear of expressing yourself or other kinds of social anxiety. 

At the other end of the imbalance spectrum, you may find yourself gossiping too much or a tendency to just “go on” without ever getting to the point of what you’re trying to say.

An out-of-balance throat chakra is also associated with throat, neck, or thyroid problems.

6. Third Eye Chakra (Ajna)

Located between the eyebrows, the third-eye chakra is connected to the pineal and pituitary glands. On the spiritual side, it connects you to your intuition and Higher Wisdom. A balanced Third Eye chakra also helps you better determine between reality and illusion. When it’s out of balance, you’ll have trouble accessing your natural intuition and inner wisdom. You may struggle with depression or find yourself being narrow-minded.

Physical symptoms of a blocked third-eye chakra include headaches in the forehead area, eye issues, dizziness or vertigo, and insomnia.

7. Crown Chakra (Sahasrara) 

Among the major chakras, the crown chakra connects us to the wisdom of the Universe. As the physical link between our human body and Divine Consciousness, this chakra allows us access to wisdom, enlightenment, and something bigger than ourselves.  It’s quite literally our gateway to Higher Consciousness. 

Imbalances may result in migraines, brain fog, or insomnia. You may find yourself overthinking or – at the other end of the spectrum – have trouble learning.

Symptoms of Blocked Chakras

When a chakra is out of balance or blocked, you feel it spiritually, but you will primarily feel it on the physical or emotional level. Here are some of the most common symptoms of energy blockages among the seven main chakras.

Root Chakra: areas of the lower body are affected (colon, rectum, legs, feet, lower back). You may also feel higher levels of anxiety, fear, or a strong disconnection from other people..

Sacral Chakra: chronic fatigue, liver problems, and digestive issues are the most common physical signs of a blocked sacral chakra.  On the emotional side, you may experience a powerful feeling of low self-esteem, as well as indecisiveness and an overall lack of confidence.

Heart Chakra: Signs of energy blockage in this area include respiratory problems like asthma, heart palpitations, and other kinds of chest pain. Holding onto grudges, fears of intimacy, loneliness, and problems in giving/receiving love are the emotional symptoms.

Throat Chakra: Constant sore throats, thyroid issues, and ear infections are physical manifestations of blockage in this particular energy center. Shyness, fear of speaking, and an overall difficulty expressing yourself are signs that this chakra is in need of healing and balancing.

Third-Eye Chakra: Hormonal imbalances, vision or sinus problems, and headaches are the physical manifestations of blockages in this area. On the emotional side, you may have trouble concentrating or find yourself moodier than usual.

Crown Chakra: You may be bugged by sleep problems, migraines or other kinds of headaches, or symptoms of chronic fatigue. Confusion, cynicism, or feeling lost and without a purpose are the emotional/spiritual symptoms of a blocked crown chakra.

The good news is that the online healing chakra course from the Mindful Purpose Institute provides you with highly effective ways to recognize and address all of these issues in your etheric body.  It's a path to achieving true physical, spiritual, and emotional balance.

What Blocks Chakras?

Just like your physical health, the typical things that happen in Real Life can block your chakras. This includes factors like a diet that’s maybe not so healthy, poor sleep habits, lack of exercise, or other self-destructive behaviors. Any of these can clog up your energy centers like gunk in a sink. 

Emotional trauma, physical stress, and even habitual negative thought patterns (such as excessive fear, anger, or anxiety) can also impact these sensitive energy areas. Unresolved emotional states, like holding onto grudges or hurts from the past, can also factor into the mix, creating barriers to a true, healthy balance.

Learning how to cleanse and rebalance your main chakras is an important step in your spiritual awakening.

How to Balance or Heal Chakras? 

Depending on the particular physical symptoms from a sluggish or blocked chakra, certain simple things can be done to help rebalance them. For example, the basics like improving your diet or sleep habits, or upping your exercise game, are effective tools.

On the spiritual side, using chakra meditation and yoga is extremely effective in keeping everything in balance. Certain yoga asanas are specifically designed to release energy blockages and promote chakra healing. Mindful Purpose Institute’s online yoga teacher training can be very helpful in integrating these specific healing poses into your own practice or classes.

Visualization, in which you imagine a beautiful, healing light flooding the particular chakra, can also help. Focus on the color of the selected chakra and use your mind’s eye to “see” it glowing with clear, vibrant light. Imagine it being scrubbed clean. Finally, it’s also a good practice to envision the chakra spinning freely in a clockwise direction; this is a sign of optimal performance in this energy center.

Of course, remember that Mother Nature is the ultimate healer. Spending time outdoors, soaking in the energy of Earth (even for just a few minutes each day), is a wonderful way to balance yourself and release blocked energy. Putting your bare feet on the grass, soil, in the water, or on the sand helps you find your center and injects positive, healing energy into your chakra centers.

Activate & Align Your Chakras with Mindful Purpose Institute

The Mindful Purpose Institute has created a chakra healing online course that’s an important part of our overall spiritual coursework. It’s perfect for anyone who wants to better balance themselves as they progress on their own journey.  Or if you teach others through yoga or other related classes, this will help you help others heal and balance the main chakras.

Our chakra coursework is designed to work from the inside out, so that you experience the various modalities of healing and the techniques (such as breathing exercises) that are most effective in achieving balance.

This virtual program is a great adjunct to our online yoga teacher training course. You'll bring much more depth to your classes and truly serve your students as they progress on their path.

Our coursework is conducted one hundred percent online, so you can work through each individual module on your own schedule. We support you at every step with acclaimed instructors who give you plenty of motivation and inspiration. 

And don't forget, our vibrant online community is a great place to exchange ideas, get additional help, and connect with like-minded others.

The chakras may be “invisible” to the eye, but for thousands of years, they’ve long been recognized as important to our health: physical, mental, and spiritual. Paying attention to them will pay off in greater energy and peace of mind.

Add the chakra healing course from the Mindful Purpose Institute to your spiritual toolbox. The insights and techniques will enrich your life through powerful techniques in energy healing. If you’re a yoga teacher, it offers something special for your students and will help them progress on their spiritual and healing path!