Understanding and Balancing Your 7 Chakras

Somewhere between the holiday parties and hectic travel schedule, you may have noticed that you’re feeling out of whack. Maybe you skipped one too many yoga classes, got into a fight with a family member, indulged in too many cocktails or spent too much money.

Let’s face it, the holidays can be stressful. Here at Source Vitál Apothecary, we like to look at the new year as the perfect time to hit the pause button and completely reset.

One way to holistically achieve that reset – realign your chakras. Your what? Your chakras – the seven energy centers that are located in specific parts of the body from the head (or crown) to the base of the spine. When we get out of balance and feel emotionally off, it’s probably caused by blocked energy in one or several of your chakras. It may sound a bit woo-woo, but taking the time to understand what's going on internally is always a great step to feeling better, emotionally and physically. 

To help you better understand your chakras, why they might be out of alignment, and how to balance them, we’ve put together this handy guide featuring our chakra essential oils kit. Each of the oils in the kit are specially blended to benefit the unique properties of each chakra. 

Base

Also known as the root chakra, the first chakra is representative of your foundation and sense of grounding. Located at the base of your spine, your base chakra can be thrown out of balance by issues pertaining to survival – financial, security, food, and can result in feelings of insecurity and negativity. Here’s what you need to know to get your base chakra realigned:

• Meditate: Focus on the color red during your meditation to bring strong energy back to your base.
• Yoga: Practice grounding yoga poses like tree pose or malasana (squat) to reinforce stability.
• Aromatherapy: Apply 1-2 drops of our Chakra 1 oil directly to the base of your spine, bottom of feet, or pulse points for a grounded effect, and to lend a quality of calm and clarity.

Sacral

Located in your lower abs, the sacral chakra is the center of your passion, creativity and sensuality. You may become disconnected from your second chakra through loss of body awareness or issues with sexuality. Balance your sacral chakra to tune back into feelings and sensations using these tools:

• Meditate: Allow your mind to center around the image or a orange lotus or orange crescent moon while breathing deeply.
• Yoga: Hip opening poses like half pigeon or thread the needle help release emotional energy.
• Aromatherapy: Apply 1 or 2 drops of our Chakra 2 oil directly to your lower abdomen, palms, or use in a bath to bring a feeling of uplifting energy and stableness to mind and body.

Solar Plexus

Your solar plexus represents who you are – your personality, self-confidence and ego. Located between the belly button and breastbone the third chakra allows you to feel confident and powerful when balanced, and manipulative and selfish when it’s not. The color yellow is associated with the solar plexus chakra. Realign your solar plexus with the trifecta of meditation, yoga and aromatherapy.

• Meditate: Place your hands over your belly and breathe deeply. Channel the emotional feeling of confidence and accomplishment as you breathe for a few minutes.
• Yoga: Stimulate and balance the solar plexus with poses that activate the core like boat pose or abdominal twists.
• Aromatherapy: Apply our Chakra 3 oil directly between the navel and breastbone, hands, or pulse points to relieve feelings of digestive discomfort and restore energy and confidence.

Heart

Your fourth chakra is located in the center of your chest and is associated with your ability to give and receive love. When your heart chakra is open, you are full of love, compassion and grace. A closed heart chakra results in anger, jealousy, and hatred for yourself and those around you. Green is the color most offent associated with the heart chakra. Open your heart chakra with these three tips:

• Meditate: During your daily meditation, chant the Buddhist mantra (prayer) “Om mani padme hum” to evoke love and compassion.
• Yoga: Heart opening postures like camel pose, cow/cow, or upward facing dog all aid in opening the physical area around the heart.
• Aromatherapy: Apply 1 or 2 drops of our Chakra 4 oil directly to your upper chest, palms, or pulse points to bring a feeling of love and compassion to your mind and body.

Throat

Your throat chakra is your voice and your ability to express thoughts and feelings. When blocked, you’ll find yourself in doubt and even habitually lying. The fifth chakra manifests itself in physical ailments like headaches, neck soreness, and tightness in the jaw.

• Meditate: Focus on breathing directly into your throat. More specifically, envision your breath as an aqua blue light that shines brighter and brighter with each inhale.
• Yoga: Practice poses that stretch your neck and your upper back. Supported fish pose (using blocks or bolsters) or neck rolls can feel restorative while opening your throat chakra.
• Aromatherapy: Apply 1 or 2 drops of our Chakra 5 oil directly to the throat, palms of hands, or pulse points to encourage the ability to communicate and connect body and spirit.

Third Eye

Your third eye, the space between your eyebrows, is the seat of your intuition. It’s where the feelings of common sense, wisdom, memory, and dreams come from. When centered, you’ll feel imaginative and decisive, when out of balance you may feel that you’re lacking direction or clarity. The color blue is associated with the third eye. Balance and recenter your sixth chakra with the following:

• Meditate: With your eyes closed, bring your awareness to your third eye chakra. Keep zeroing in on that space in your mind’s eye. Keep your focus there and breathe deeply.
• Yoga: Choose poses that allow you to place pressure on your third eye like child’s pose, standing or seated forward folds.
• Aromatherapy: Apply 1 or 2 drops of our Chakra 6 oil directly to third eye chakra, palms of hands, or pulse points to encourage imagination, wisdom and mental clarity.

Crown

The seventh and final chakra is the center of your spirituality and is connected to the color purple. Located at the top of your head, it connects you to your feelings of consciousness and awareness of a higher power. If your crown chakra is out of alignment, you may feel off-balance and disconnected from your spirituality. Reestablish that connection with these tools.

• Meditate: To connect to your crown chakra through meditation, practice a Divine Light Meditation. Sitting with palms facing up, visualize a white light above the crown of your head and focus on that light illuminating every part of your being.
• Yoga: Practice yoga poses that allow you to connect deeply. Sit in a meditative seat for lotus or half lotus, or take savasana or corpse pose. For the advanced practitioner, take headstand to increase the flow of blood toward your crown.
• Aromatherapy: Apply 1 or 2 drops of our Chakra 7 oil directly to your head, hands, or pulse points to bring awareness to enlightenment and wisdom.

Reflect on the physical cues in your body that indicate which chakras might be out of alignment. Then, using the tools above find your way back to center. Each Chakra Oil featured in our Chakra Oil Kit is a specially crafted blend of 100 percent pure essential oils and carrier oils selected to balance each specific energy center.

For more essential oil blends, click here to check out our complete collection. Have questions about chakras or essential oil blends? Leave us a question in the comments below or feel free to call us at 1-800-880-6457.