by Hilary H Carter

We all have chakras and they all spin to some extent. When the chakras are fully functioning they will be in balance and spinning freely. However, the chakras can become unbalanced at any time. They are not fixed. They don’t get into balance and stay that way forever. They can change moment to moment so it’s a constant balancing act, day in and day out. So, how can you discover if your chakras are blocked and what can you do to unblock them?

If your first chakra is blocked you might:

  • Always feel tired.
  • Hardly ever spend time in nature.
  • Feel as if you do not belong to this world.
  • Be prone to angry outbursts.
  • Feel insecure.
  • Struggle to cope with life.

HOW CAN I BALANCE MY FIRST CHAKRA?

  1. Walk barefoot on the earth or paddle in the sea.
  2. Plant and grow your own vegetables. Any gardening activities are helpful.
  3. Spend half an hour a day just concentrating on your sense of smell, wherever you happen to be.
  4. Take up pottery.
  5. Bring the colour red into your life.

If your second chakra is blocked you might:

  • Go through phases of over-eating or under-eating.
  • Regularly seek out adrenaline filled activities.
  • Feel as if your life is empty and lacks fun.
  • Find it difficult to relate to other people.
  • Find it difficult to be assertive.
  • Have issues around control.

HOW CAN I BALANCE MY SECOND CHAKRA?

  1. Bring the colour orange into your life.
  2. Sign up for an inner child workshop.
  3. Book in for a series of massages.
  4. Spend time by water.
  5. Spread a plate with foods that represent different flavours: sweet/bitter/sour. Eat slowly and concentrate 100% on the taste sensations as you do so. You could make this into a game, wearing a blindfold and asking a friend to feed you the foods.

If your third chakra is blocked you might:

  • Say yes to things just because it’s easier than saying no and having to put up a fight.
  • Suffer from tummy ache or a hollow feeling in the belly without an apparent cause.
  • Feel powerless to change your circumstances.
  • Frequently feel angry.
  • Have issues around being controlled or controlling others.
  • Have low self esteem.

HOW CAN I BALANCE MY THIRD CHAKRA?

1: Lie down and place one hand just above your belly button and the other one just below, palms facing down and fingers spread. Just concentrate on your breathing. Observe the movement in your hands. They should both be moving as you breathe in and out. If both hands are not moving you need to breathe a bit deeper. Bring the breath into your belly!

2: Occasionally have a day when you just eat fruit (especially yellow fruit), allowing your digestive system to have a day off.

3: Find a qualified kundalini yoga teacher and learn how to do the breath of fire.

4: Write ‘I am worthy to receive’ on a piece of paper and stick it on your bathroom mirror.

5: Have a bonfire or fit a real fire into your home.

If your fourth chakra is blocked you might:

  • Feel as though nobody loves you.
  • Find it difficult to forgive or to feel compassionate towards other people.
  • Find it difficult to give love/money/time/gifts to other people.
  • Do nothing to help other people, either within your family or towards humanity.
  • Have feelings of bitterness towards someone.
  • Find it impossible to look yourself in the eyes in the mirror and say ‘I love you’.

HOW CAN I BALANCE MY FOURTH CHAKRA?

1: Forgive yourself for anything you judge yourself as being guilty of and forgive anyone you might have judged as being guilty of something.

2: Have some acupuncture to balance your heart meridian.

3: Allow yourself to access deep feelings through a therapy such as psychotherapy or past life regression.

4: List 5 things that you are grateful to have in your life. Be thankful for these things.

5: Close your eyes. Breathe in through your nose and breathe out through your mouth, allowing the tongue to relax and hang out. Keep the tongue out throughout this exercise. Do this for 11 breaths.

If your fifth chakra is blocked you might:

  • Prefer to keep quiet rather than start an argument.
  • Scream and rage to try and get your voice heard.
  • Have the feeling that something is stuck in your throat or you suffer from regular sore throats and/or laryngitis.
  • Be reluctant to speak up in group situations.
  • Find it hard to express what you are thinking and feeling.
  • Do things to keep other people happy even if you don’t want to do them.

HOW CAN I BALANCE MY FIFTH CHAKRA?

1: Take up singing. If you do not feel able to join a choir or sing in front of a teacher, then buy a ‘teach yourself to sing’ CD and begin singing in the safety of your bedroom! Or play your favourite music in the car and sing along.

2: Practise talking to an empty seat. If there is someone you need to communicate something to, imagine they are sitting on a seat in front of you and tell them (out loud) what it is you need to say.

3: Write an affirmation ‘IT IS SAFE TO EXPRESS MYSELF’ and stick it on the bathroom mirror.

4: Buy a notebook and use it to record your feelings and emotions.

5: Sit or lie somewhere and focus on the sounds around you. Try and hear every single sound within earshot.

If your sixth chakra is blocked you might:

  • Be afraid of death.
  • Be highly impressionable.
  • Find it really difficult to focus or concentrate on something for long periods of time.
  • Regularly have nightmares.
  • Feel as if your life is stuck.
  • Think that mystics, psychics and people who channel messages from other dimensions are delusional.

HOW CAN I BALANCE MY SIXTH CHAKRA?

1: Have some cranio sacral therapy sessions.

2: Try guided meditation. You can either download some meditations online, use a CD or find a yoga teacher who incorporates guided meditation into their classes.

3: Each evening reflect on the day and make a note of the three most beautiful things you saw that day. It could be a work of art, a flower or an act of kindness.

4: Listen to classical music, especially in the key of A.

5: Rub your palms vigorously together until they are hot. Place them over your open eyes. Feel your eyes drinking in the warmth. When you can no longer feel any heat, close your eyes and remove your hands. Sit quietly for a few moments.

If your seventh chakra is blocked you might:

  • Feel alone and disconnected from life.
  • Feel that your spiritual side is empty.
  • Believe that if humans on the other side of the world are starving it’s no concern of yours.
  • Think that the physical world is the only world that exists.
  • Think that we are born and then we die, end of story.
  • Believe that the most important thing in life is to become wealthy.

HOW CAN I BALANCE MY SEVENTH CHAKRA?

1: Take up a spiritual discipline such as tai chi, meditation or chanting.

2: Go for a walk and count your steps as you walk. If you lose count or forget to count go back to number one.

3: Breathe in through your nose and blow the air out through your mouth, pursing your lips as you do so. Repeat 11 times.

4: Buy a tuning fork (note B) and strike it. Follow the sound until you cannot hear it any more. Have a moment of silence then strike it again. Strike it a total of 11 times.

5: Reflect on the phrase ‘I am that I am.’

By healing your chakras you can realise your full potential as an amazing human being! When your chakras are spinning freely you will experience improved physical, mental and emotional health.
Understand your chakras, understand yourself.
Bring your chakras into balance, bring your life into balance.
Heal your chakras, heal your life.

(Adapted from The Chakras Made Easy by Hilary H Carter. Ayni Books.)

About the author

Hilary Carter (http://www.hilarycarter.com/) is co-creator of Taiyoga and co-founder of HigherMoon transformational workshops. She studied energy healing and Tai Chi in London before qualifying as a British Wheel of Yoga teacher. She is also a workshop leader and consultant astrologer, having studied with the world-renowned faculty of Astrological Studies in London.

She is the author of the 11:11 trilogy; The 11:11 Code, Secrets of the Convent/ No Name No Number: Exploring the 11:11 Phenomenon/ Number Woman, You will never look at numbers in the same way again. Also Numerology Made Easy, The Chakras Made Easy and New Life Stories, Journeys of Recovery in a Mindful Community.