There is unfortunately no way I could provide a full understanding of chakras and how this ancient energy system concept works in a short blog (as much as I would like to :)). However, I wanted to provide a quick ‘tip of the iceberg' overview, as well as my personal experience and how paying attention to chakra learnings have helped me develop, listen to my body, and ultimately improve my overall health and wellness. Hopefully, you will go away and want to learn more. To get started, I recommend reading a about the seven chakras in the body, where they are located, and what their meaning are, here is a quick 101 in German >>  and then in English >>

So, if your chakras are not free flowing and ultimately “blocked” this can affect the parts of your body that are close to these chakra points, including your organs, bones, joints, tissues, and your emotional wellbeing. This raises the question of, how do I help myself feel better, how I get my body in balance and how do I unblock/increase my energy in my affected chakras. First and foremost, you have to be very in touch with your body and be able to listen to and recognise what your body is feeling, and this in itself takes a lot of practice; it improves through meditation and visualisation and also healing stones are a tool to improve energies in your seven chakras. 

Meditation, Visualisation, Breathing and Yoga

The combination of meditation, visualisation, breathing and yoga - all of which crossover and go hand-in-hand, will help you to start feeling and understanding your body more. You naturally learn to feel the energies of your body and then ultimately if something is not quite flowing with your energies, or that they are imbalanced, you will recognise this and can act. For example, the Root Chakra can be unblocked with the warrior pose or the tree pose, and the Sacral Chakra can be unblocked with the bridge pose or pigeon pose, so you can build out a yoga plan with your favourite exercises that hit all seven chakras. 

The key here is to be proactive in your practice and not reactive, you can’t wait to feel something and then the next day be able to fix it, this will maintain your general wellbeing and help you be prepared for more “low moments” in the body. I find that practising these techniques not only help me to balance my chakras, and fill them with energy through breathing, visualisation and stretching but provide me with a deep understanding of how my body works together and brings a lot of self-reflection. By now, after multiple years of practice, I have a real sense of moments that cause stress, or people that cause stress in my life, simply through my body's reaction, which help me to make choices that bring peace and no hostility. 

To learn more about breathing exercises that I do, please read my previous blog, “Breathing and Relaxation” >>  for some tips and exercises.

To learn more about some of my favourite yoga poses that I frequently do you can read either “Yoga to improve your strength” >>  or “5 exercises in 5-minutes: A simple yoga routine to get your body moving in the morning” >> 

Healing Stones

There are a variety of healing stones available as well that support each chakra and what they stand for. Crystals have been used already for thousands of years, and while this is not a form of medicine by any means, I have been open to try the healing benefits that crystals can bring; it is believed they have vibrational energies and they transmit this energy to fill, balance and energise all your chakras. 

If you're open to try as well and see if they help you in your wellness journey - You can wear these stones and crystals as jewellery, close to the centre chakra points, meditate with them and sleep with them under your pillow, carry them in your pockets or even take a bath with them. These are the corresponding stones and stone colours for each chakra: 

• Root Chakra: Red and Black Stones (Spinel, Zircon, Hematite, Black Obsidian etc.) 
• Sacral Chakra: Orange and Blue-Green Stones (Imperial Topaz, Fluorite, Tiger Eye etc.)
• Solar Plexus Chakra: Yellow Stones (Citrine, Yellow Jasper, Amber, Golden Calcite etc.)
• Heart Chakra: Pink and Green Stones (Rose Quartz, Jade, Amazonite etc.)
• Throat Chakra: Blue Stones (Blue Calcite, Aquamarine, Angelite etc.) 
• Third Eye Chakra: Indigo Stones (Moonstone, Azurite, Tanzanite etc.)
• Crown Chakra: Violet and White Stones (Peal, White Topaz, Amethyst, Clear Quartz Crystal etc.)

If you would like to dive deeper into the topic of Chakras, here are some of my favourite books, that I would recommend if you would like to learn more about your body, its energies, and the topic of chakras:

English
1. The Secrets of Spiritual Healing: A Beginner's Guide to Energy Therapies by Elsie Wild
2. Chakra Healing Bible: The Complete Guide to Simple and Effective Self-Healing & Meditation Techniques to Balance Your Chakras, Boost Your Positive Energy, and Improve Your Psychic Abilities (5 in 1 book) by Willow Kumar 
3. The Ultimate Guide to Chakras: The Beginner's Guide to Balancing, Healing, and Unblocking Your Chakras for Health and Positive Energy by Athena Perrakis 

German 
1. Das Chakra-Geheimnis: Öffne die 7 Energie-Ebenen des Bewusstseins und manifestiere dein Wunschleben by Andreas Schwarz
2. Chakren: Chakren verstehen und geistiges Heilen durch Meditation für die Gesundheit anwenden by Erika Bader

I hope that expanding your learning on this topic will help you make steps forward on your health and wellness journey from a spiritual perspective, just as it has helped me. Remember in anything in life, you can always dig a bit deeper and look at the bigger picture to get the answers you need for yourself. Until next time ;) 

JG x