Chakra means “wheel” in Sanskrit, and we are most commonly taught they are spinning wheels of vital or life energy at certain locations in the body. They are hubs for collecting and channeling energy.
So are chakras real?
Chakras and science
There is no experimental or verifiable evidence for them. They are not organ, bone, joint, fat or any other material that our body is made up of. In that sense, if you dissect a body (pardon the imagery here), you will not find them. (Also, no one ever found the Mind or Soul dissecting a body, so does that mean they don’t exist? But I digress).
But as science progresses, and especially knowledge about hormones and our central nervous system, direct links between the ancient knowledge about the chakras and our internal network of glands, hormones and major nerve hubs have been found.
Chakras and spiritual practice
You’ll come closer to the truth about chakras (and ancient Yogic Teachings) if you visualise the chakras as concentration points on the body during meditation. There are many different chakra systems, some with 5, 7, 10, 12 or more chakras. They are used for practices to control your emotional states, and find the Divine within.
We can create our reality by first imagining something into being.
So by visualising the chakras, they become real. And in a broader sense, manifesting anything into our life can be done through the consistent practice of visualisation.
And that’s also what we do in Yoga Nidra practice. We visualise and embody a new state, a new reality, while relaxing our nervous system and allowing our hormones to be regulated.
Want to experience more? Join the 8 week Yoga Nidra Journey through the Chakras.
Each week in a 30 minute Yoga Nidra session we’ll explore one of the chakras, starting at the root and ending with the crown chakra. We’ll bring awareness to each chakra, visualise it, use affirmations. (please note these are 30 minute guided meditation sessions, not theory about the chakras).
Here is an excellent article if you want to read more about the chakras.
