Balancing Your Energy Body:
A Complete Guide to Chakra Healing
BY LAURA BERMAN, Ph.D.
chakra healing techniques bring the energy body into balance for greater mental, emotional and physical health.
Our Chakras
Everything in our universe is radiating energy, from the biggest mountain or ocean, to the tiniest blade of grass, to each individual cell in our body. All of our cells emit energy in different ways, and different cells will emit different kinds of energy depending on where they are located within the body and what their job is.
It should come as no surprise, then, that given the specialized nature of your body’s energy, there are several different channels located on key points of the body through which energy can flow in and out in a constant stream. These are called the chakras.The word chakra means “wheel” in Sanskrit, though these are not like any wheels we’ve ever seen. Chakra energy spins in a clockwise direction as it moves the energy of our body out into the field around us, and it spins counterclockwise to pull energy from our external world (and the people in it) into our body. It is the frequency state of our chakras that determines the direction our energy will flow as they either draw energy into our body or release it outward.
“There are several different channels located on key points of the body through which energy can flow in and out in a constant stream.”
But are our chakras physical entities? Are they actual little wheels spinning in the seven key centers of our body? No. They are not made up of matter; they are energetic. But like the whirring blades of a fan, just because you can’t see them doesn’t mean they aren’t there.
You might be wondering how we can know chakras exist if we can’t actually see them. It is a valid question, and one that science has not yet found a hard answer for. It was a bit of a leap for me as a science-minded person to make when I began learning about chakra healing. I’m a scientist, not a philosopher is the resistance my ego threw at me as I started to explore what was an entirely new frontier for me.
But while the concept of chakras was new for me (and still manages to evade scientific proof), it has existed for thousands of years and across cultures. It has been studied and demonstrated time and again in the Ayurvedic and yogic traditions, as well as through the Chinese concepts of qi and meridians, and it is something that I have “proven” to myself through my own experience and in my chakra healing work with my patients. The influence of our body’s energy, the life force that flows through us, and the power of the quantum field itself are things that our scientific capabilities have yet to catch up with. I do believe that we will get there eventually, but until then we can only rely on our experience and the teachings of others.
Our chakras exist at seven points along our body (see the chakra healing / energy body diagram above), each one associated with a different set of organs and systems. It shouldn’t be too surprising that the locations of our chakras correspond with the places on our body where essential systems use a lot of energy. For instance, the one between the eyes sits around our visual center, of course, but also the frontal lobe of our brain. That location is the epicenter of our decision-making, planning, and orientation. There is so much energy required in that region of our body that it makes perfect sense for it to have an energy outlet sitting in a handy location. The same goes for the heart chakra, which we know contains so much energy that it has its own force field and emits so much electromagnetic energy that it can be measured from several feet away. The chakras can be open or closed, overactive or underactive, depending on how well energy is able to flow through them. And that flow is determined by the open or constricted state of, you guessed it, your body and energy body.
an overview of the chakra system and associated energy body elements that are important to understand for the process of chakra healing.
We can further understand the energetic existence of our chakras (and their associated emotions) by understanding their color, which becomes important in chakra healing exercises i’ll describe later in this article. Yes, each chakra has a color associated with it. Visible light gives off electromagnetic waves, vibrating across the field through time and space. Depending on how quickly the waves are vibrating, our eyes will pick them up as different colors. Red, for instance, is a lower-frequency wave that looks like a slow roll; purple, on the other hand, is a high-frequency wave with sharp peaks and valleys. In fact, we can measure a wave in nanometers and then determine its energetic strength! The chakra energies, vibrating at their different frequencies, likewise have different colors.
How Does a Chakra Work, Anyway?
A chakra may be a wheel or a vortex, but it operates like a ball of energy interpenetrating the physical body. The chakras themselves are not physical; you can’t see them on an X-ray. They are aspects of consciousness, and they interact with the physical and energetic body through two major vehicles, the endocrine system and the nervous system. Each of the seven chakras is associated with one of the nine endocrine glands, and also with a particular group of nerves, called a plexus, making them important elements in healing. Thus, each chakra corresponds with particular parts of the body and particular functions within the body controlled by that plexus or that endocrine gland, which is they key to understanding how chakra healing methods work.
The chakras represent not only particular parts of your physical body, but also particular parts of your consciousness. Your consciousness, how you perceive your reality, represents everything it is possible for you to experience. All of your senses, perceptions, and possible states of awareness can be divided into seven categories, and each of these categories can be associated with a particular chakra. When you feel tension in your consciousness, you feel it in the chakra associated with the part of your consciousness experiencing the stress, and in the parts of the physical and energy body associated with that chakra (see the energy body / chakra healing flow diagram below). Where you feel the stress depends therefore on why you feel the stress.
When you are hurt in a relationship, you feel it in your heart. When you are nervous, your legs tremble and your bladder becomes weak. When there is tension in a particular part of your consciousness, and therefore in the chakra associated with that part of your consciousness, the tension is detected by the nerves of the plexus associated with that chakra and communicated to the parts of the physical and energy body controlled by that plexus. When the tension continues over a period of time or reaches a particular degree of intensity, it creates a symptom on the physical level and requires chakra healing to resolve. Again, the symptom serves to communicate to you through your body what you have been doing to yourself in your consciousness.
the path of energy to physical symptoms through the chakras. regularly practicing chakra healing techniques can reverse many physical symptoms of disease and illness.
Just like thirst (by the time you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated), the physical symptom belies a long-standing energy body imbalance. In order to reverse it, physical change may be required first as well as chakra healing practices. When we change something about our way of being, we can release the stress that has been creating the symptom(s), and then we can return to our natural state of balance and health.
Opening and Closing Chakras
The opening and closing of our chakras works like an energetic defense system. A negative experience (and the low-frequency energy that comes with it) can cause the associated chakra energy to close in order to block that energy out. Similarly, if we are clinging to a low-calibrating feeling like blame, prolonging the emotion because we refuse to deal with or move it, we close off the chakra (the channel through which the energy would otherwise escape), which then requires special chakra healing techniques like the Fire Breath exercise outlined below. Any of the emotions that sit at the lower end of the Quantum Lovemap (outlined in my book) will likely trigger a chakra energy constriction. I believe we feel that constriction as the tightness that comes into our mind and body when we are stressed.
As we open and heal our chakras, energy is able to flow freely once again and things return to normal. Sometimes it’s a matter of moving energy throughout our body, moving our own frequency up the Quantum Lovemap, or tackling and extracting a difficult thorn that is stressing us out. For now, I simply want you to understand how important chakra healing is and that your chakras be open and allow energy to move through you without obstruction. Each chakra’s connection to a key endocrine gland and nervous system in your body means that an energy deficiency could lead to serious physical consequences if you ignore it for too long. I often wonder if the heartbreak I experienced when my mother died suppressed my immune system enough—along with all the negative thinking, grief, and sugar (cancer cells have far more glucose receptors than normal cells)—to allow the cancer cells that were already in my body to grow.
Balance Is Key in Chakra Healing
No one chakra is better than the others or more important than any other in the process of energy body balancing and chakra healing. You don’t want to have extra heart chakra energy and less throat chakra energy; it simply doesn’t work like that. Ideally, all seven of your chakras are healed, balanced, open, and humming, allowing energy to flow into and out of your body. The amazing thing is that your body is going to find a way to move energy in and out (unless, of course, your ego self is telling it to hold on to something). If one of your chakras is closed or underactive, there is a very good chance that another chakra will be overactive to make up the difference.
Because your body wants to achieve energetic balance in your chakras, moving too far in either direction (underactive or overactive) in any one chakra can actually yield negative effects in your body and be counterproductive to the energy body and chakra healing process. An underactive chakra kicks another chakra into overdrive, which in turn pulls extra energy away from that part of the body. The descriptions below show how you may act or feel when your chakras get knocked out of balance and need healing. The first one lists the physical systems associated with each chakra and the potential physical symptoms that may tell you something’s out of whack.
How You May Feel or Act When Chakras Are Overactive or Underactive
Root Chakra
Overactive
Fearful, nervous, insecure, or ungrounded; materialistic or greedy; resistant to change
Underactive
Lacking a sense of being at home or secure anywhere, codependent, unable to get into one’s body, fearful of abandonment
Sacral Chakra
Overactive
Overemotional, very quick to attach and invest in others, attracted to drama, moody, lacking personal boundaries
Underactive
Stiff, unemotional, closed off to others, lacking self-esteem or self-worth, possibly in an abusive relationship
Navel (Solar Plexus) Chakra
Overactive
Domineering, aggressive, angry, perfectionistic or overly critical of oneself or others
Underactive
Passive, indecisive, timid, lacking self-control
Heart Chakra
Overactive
Loving in a clingy, suffocating way; lacking a sense of self in a relationship; willing to say yes to everything; lacking boundaries, letting everyone in
Underactive
Cold, distant, lonely, unable or unwilling to open up to others, grudgeful
Throat Chakra
Overactive
Overly talkative, unable to listen, highly critical, verbally abusive, condescending
Underactive
Introverted, shy, having difficulty speaking the truth, unable to express needs
Third Eye Chakra
Overactive
Out of touch with reality, lacking good judgment, unable to focus, prone to hallucinations
Underactive
Rigid in thinking, closed off to new ideas, too reliant on authority, disconnected or distrustful of inner voice, anxious, clinging to the past and fearful of the future
Crown Chakra
Overactive
Addicted to spirituality, heedless of bodily needs, having difficulty controlling emotions
Underactive
Not very open to spirituality, unable to set or maintain goals, lacking direction
The Chakras and Associated Glands, Organs, and Symptoms
Root Chakra
Associated Endocrine Glands & Organs
Adrenal glands, spine, blood, and reproductive organs
Physical Symptoms of Unbalance
Inability to sit still, restlessness, unhealthy weight (either obesity or eating disorder), constipation, cramps, fatigue or sluggishness
Sacral Chakra
Associated Endocrine Glands & Organs
Kidneys and reproductive organs: ovaries, testes, and uterus
Physical Symptoms of Unbalance
Lower-back pain or stiffness, urinary issues, kidney pain or infection, infertility, impotence
Navel (Solar Plexus) Chakra
Associated Endocrine Glands & Organs
Central nervous system, digestive system (stomach and intestines), liver, pancreas, metabolic system
Physical Symptoms of Unbalance
Ulcers, gas, nausea, or other digestive problems; eating disorders; asthma or other respiratory ailments; nerve pain or fibromyalgia; infection in the liver or kidneys; other organ problems
Heart Chakra
Associated Endocrine Glands & Organs
Thymus gland and immune system, heart, lungs, breasts, arms, hands
Physical Symptoms of Unbalance
Heart and circulatory problems (high blood pressure, heart palpitations, heart attack), poor circulation or numbness, asthma or other respiratory ailments, breast cancer, stiff joints or joint problems in the hands
Throat Chakra
Associated Endocrine Glands & Organs
Thyroid, neck, throat, shoulders, ears, and mouth
Physical Symptoms of Unbalance
Stiffness or soreness in the neck or shoulders, sore throat, hoarseness or laryngitis, earaches or infection, dental issues or TMJ, thyroid issues
Third Eye Chakra
Associated Endocrine Glands & Organs
Pituitary, eyes, brow, base of skull, biorhythms
Physical Symptoms of Unbalance
Vision problems, headaches or migraines, insomnia or sleep disorders, seizures, nightmares (though this isn’t a physical symptom per se, it is a common occurrence)
Crown Chakra
Associated Endocrine Glands & Organs
Pituitary and pineal glands, brain, hypothalamus, cerebral cortex, central nervous system
Physical Symptoms of Unbalance
Dizziness, confusion, mental fog, neurological disorders, nerve pain, schizophrenia or other mental disorders
As you can see, a lot of these physical symptoms are not to be taken lightly! The difficult thing to remember is that the physical and energy body is going to keep sending us its message—amping up the intensity if it needs to—until we pay attention and engage in physical, mental, emotional and energetic chakra healing.
Chakras and Your Energetic Frequency
The energy of our chakras influences our physical processes via inhibition and stimulation. Remember, chakras are like wheels whose job is not only to keep energy moving, but also to constrict or close as a defense against negative energy. In order to compensate for a constricted, underactive chakra, another chakra will become overactive, sending out your low-frequency vibes at a greater rate, which then requires further balancing in the chakra healing process. That in turn creates and prolongs a low-frequency reality. If your chakras are these energy centers emitting and absorbing energy, then are they the source of your frequency, or are they the result of it? Are your chakras the chicken or the egg?
I think they’re both. I think the dual role of the chakras, in terms of your consciousness and your physical self, really speaks to the relationship between the mind and the body. When you work on the body, the mind comes along for the ride, and vice-versa. It’s the same with your frequency and your chakra energy. When you’re in ego frequency, it affects the flow of energy within your chakras and your physical and energy body as a whole creating more of a need for energy body and chakra healing, among other things. However, as you clear, clean and heal your chakras by moving energy around, then you are also making a positive change in your frequency.
Just remember, if you’re operating on a lower frequency, then 1) you’re creating your reality, because your five senses are picking up what you’re applying your consciousness to (“This is where we are, find me all the things that reinforce that”), and 2) your resonant frequency is what you’re putting out into the quantum field and what you’re drawing into yourself through your chakras, impacting your physical state.
Exercise: Fire Breath Chakra Balancing & Healing
This exercise is a chakra healing and energy body oriented orgasmic meditation named by a Cherokee medicine man, Harley Swiftdeer. You will be breathing into each of your chakras and, as you do so, imagining the colors of that chakra illuminating with bright, healing light. As you continue to breathe, you will move this beautiful energy up your physical and energy body in circles, and by the time it reaches your upper chakras it will feel like it has taken on a life of its own.
Fire Breath is extremely relaxing, rejuvenating and healing for your chakras and energy body, but it can also yield some unexpected discoveries. Big emotions may move through you, often emotions you weren’t even aware you were holding. You may want to release tears or express anger. While it can absolutely be done with your partner, I suggest doing it on your own first.
1. Drop any expectations and put yourself in the mind-set and energy state of the feeling you desire. Let go of any attachment or expectation with regard to outcome.
2. Lie on your back with your knees up and feet flat on the floor (or bed). Relax your jaw. Breathe in through your nose and exhale through your mouth.
3. Imagine your breath filling up your belly like a balloon. As you exhale, flatten your lower back to the floor. There should be a gentle rocking in your pelvis as you do this.
4. Squeeze your Kegels as you exhale.
5. As you breathe in, imagine pulling energy from your root chakra—your perineum. You don’t have to push or pull the energy. It will follow your thoughts.
6. Next, inhale your energy from your root chakra up to your sacral chakra. Then exhale, circulating the energy back down to the root. Continue moving your energy between the root and sacral chakras by breathing in and feeling it rise, breathing out and letting it go back to the root. Repeat several times and you will notice it feels like the energy is moving easily and almost on its own.
7. Now enlarge the circle by breathing healing energy from your root chakra up to your solar plexus chakra, squeezing your Kegel muscles as you breathe out. Repeat this several times as well. When this feels complete, reduce the circle so that the energy goes between your sacral chakra and your solar plexus.
8. As you continue breathing and squeezing your Kegels, enlarge the circle of energy so that it moves between your sacral chakra and your heart. When this feels complete, reduce the circle so that the energy goes between your solar plexus and your heart center. You are moving your energy from sacral to heart and solar plexus to heart.
9. Next make a circle of energy between the solar plexus and throat, followed by a smaller circle between heart and throat. When you reach the throat, make some sounds if you aren’t already doing so, anything from sighs to moans to “aahs.” This is liberating and helps move energy and create deeper chakra healing. The energy may start moving up the chakras in circles on its own as the momentum gets building.
10. Breathe in, moving energy from the heart to the third eye, and breathe out and back down to the heart. Do this several times, followed by a smaller circle between the throat and the third eye. When you’re sending energy into your third eye, roll your eyes up (keeping them closed) as if you can see out the top of your head. This will help your energy rise and your chakras heal and balance.
11. The next circle is from the throat to the crown followed by a smaller circle between the third eye and the crown chakra.
12. Keep breathing and moving your hips and moving the energy in circles, giving your body the space to go through the full process of chakra healing and energy body rejuvenation.
This article on chakra healing and the energy body is excerpted with permission from Quantum Love: Use Your Body’s Atomic Energy to Create the Relationship You Desire by Laura Berman, Ph.D, published by Hay House.
About The Author
Laura Berman, Ph.D, is a leading sex and relationship educator and therapist, popular TV and radio host, New York Times best-selling author, and assistant clinical professor of ob-gyn and psychiatry at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago. She is the host of a new weekly podcast spin off of her radio show, Uncovered Radio with Dr Laura Berman, called Too Risqué For Radio. Berman is also a member of the American Association of Sex Educators Counselors and Therapists (AASECT), Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality (SSSS), National Association of Social Workers (NASW), International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health (ISSWSH), and American Urologic Society (AUA). Visit her website: drlauraberman.com
