What is Chakra

The human body consists of 88,000 chakras, also referred to as continuously spinning or active energy points that act as portals to receive, interact and transmit life forces between an individual and his surroundings. Chakra is Hindu for spinning wheel. Of the bodys 88,000 energy points, seven are regarded to have major importance in the overall function of our being.

Although there is no common denominator between the ancient Hindu and Chinese cultures, they are very similar in their interpretation and explanation about the role of these energy points in our health and lives in general. Both the Hindus and the Chinese look at the bodys major energy points as playing important roles in our conscious and subconscious experiences. And that these seven energy points are the keys to a healthy and successful life.

Chakras are defined in various ways but there is one common thread among all of the definitions and explanations whether from the Chinese medicine point of view, the Hindus mystical understanding of an individuals internal and external experience or modern psychologys explanation of human our consciousness and thought processes.

The continuous contact of energy points with its host (our body) and the environment regardless of whether we are awake or not, gives them a special power over the our physical appearance and bodily functions, including our health and emotions. A malfunction of one of the seven major energy points results in our feeling ill and weak, both physically and mentally.

The reason for this is because each of the seven major chakras is linked to a corresponding endocrine gland in our body. Any imbalance in the function of a chakra affects our physical and emotional processes and manifests a disturbance in the usual pattern of activity or behavior through the endocrine gland linked to it.

Maintaining Chakra Balance Using the above as our starting point, we can then safely conclude that most of our major illnesses and ailments are chakra related. Although there may not be enough physical manifestations of the illness or imbalance (yet) there may be emotions and concerns from way back our childhood that affect us today physically, spiritually or emotionally.

These factors could be anything ranging from repressed traumatic incidents during early childhood to wrong diet, unhealthy lifestyle and the like. One thing is certain, and that is we have to remove these physical or emotional toxins from our bodies because they affect us greatly.

Advantages of Chakra Healing What most people are not aware of is that we have the resources to control and manipulate our energy points to our advantage. By knowing how to influence and manipulate the functions of our major chakras we can then control how they function so that we can achieve the benefits of balance and harmony, not only within us but with our surroundings as well.

There are a number of ways through which we can directly influence the functions of our bodys major chakras. From simple techniques such as aromatherapy, breathing exercises, physical fitness, or with the use of crystals and gemstones we can achieve balance and harmony.

For example, the practice of Yoga and directed meditation are but two of the commonly used healing methods to align and enhance our energy points in order for us to achieve total relaxation and concentration regardless of where we are. This is very helpful in relieving stress and enhances the bodys natural healing processes.

Another important factor to consider is that although our chakras can not be seen nor touched, they work on their own to support our body. We have to keep them healthy too.

The human body has to be healthy and fed properly in order for us to have balanced chakras. There are foods that help maintain the balance of each of the seven primary chakras.

Root-type vegetables, protein-rich foods and spices nourish our root chakra. The sexual and creativity (sacral) chakra needs sweet fruits, nuts and cinnamon, vanilla, sesame and caraway seeds; the stomach/solar plexus chakra which is responsible for enhancing our self-confidence and self-love are can be nourished by eating breads, pastas, cereal, dairy products, yogurt and minty spices.

Our energy points that affect the heart and throat are sustained when we eat green, leafy vegetables, drink plenty of liquid, green tea and fruit juices.

By eating blueberries, grapes and drinking wine or grape juice, we help nourish our brow/third eye chakra which is responsible for making our third eye senses sharper and more attuned to our psychical abilities.

Our crown chakra, the center of our spiritual and emotional center needs detoxification through fasting and/or ritual inhalation of incense and herbs.

With these simple methods of influencing our bodys energy points (chakras), we are at the same time also influencing our physical wellness towards a more responsive way of life completely with our body and our environment. They are very simple ways but very effective at the same time in order for us to achieve a goal of physical and emotional wellness.

The author Anne-Marie Laureaut is a writer for the popular chakra-balance.com site. To understand how chakra meditation can transform your whole life and to get 29 Free chakra healing Audios visit here.