where these two paths intersect.
The chakras are the basic foundation of our soul, connecting it to all layers of our being, including our physical body.
Although seemingly disconnected ways of thinking, the two streams of science and spirituality have revealed to us a common thread: that we are essentially compositions of cosmic, dynamic, responsive particles vibrating at a specific frequency. These particles of dancing matter form a web of connection with each other, sending signals and creating patterns, vortices, and cascading effects. One of the ways to tap into our soul selves involves a merging of the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual by accessing our vibrational selves. Many authors and researchers have begun to explain what that means.
The idea that we are more than our physical body is not a new concept. Traditional spirituality and philosophy, as originated in India and other parts of Asia thousands of years ago, have supported the idea that we are more than our physical bodies. Underlying the physical body are other less visible layers, lacing us with the energetic framework for the body template. This layer of our being is fueled by the universal life force that runs through us like electricity, referred to by some as chi, prana, or Divine light, a concept threaded throughout all major spiritual traditions. Ancient traditions teach that the core of this energy is present in the spinal column, running from the top of the head to the bottom of the spine. From the medical perspective, we could say that this energetic superhighway is analogous to the central nervous system, residing in the spine with distinct clusters and branches that extend throughout the body's surface area.
CHAKRAS ARE ENERGY CENTERS
All life-forms, including human beings, have inherent energy vibrations culminating from the cell's electrical activity. Basic biology shows us that one of the main ways that a cell lets something in and out of the body is by changing its polarity, or its electrical current. There is a specific voltage inside and outside the cell that can be changed by a number of factors and can be measured by various devices. For example, we have the ability to change our electrical potential when we relax or we get stressed. Humans work within a range of energy vibration, and these ranges are determined by specific centers in the body. They are like the control centers on the system of electrical energy flowing within the body. These are the same “highways” or “channels” targeted by acupuncture, an ancient healing practice of inserting needles to remove blocks or stagnation. The energy centers in the body have been categorized in diverse ways, such as nerve clusters, according to modern medicine and physics. New Age systems of thought and healing often use the phrase “energy centers” to refer to these same junctions. Some historians contend that Ayurveda is the oldest medical tradition from which all other medical systems were derived. Ayurveda refers to the energy vibration centers of the human being as chakras, or spinning wheels.
We all have chakras. We may not be aware of them. However, if we are conscious of them, they are excellent gauges of how we are responding to our environment on a subtle level. Within the chakras is the universal flux of consciousness, including archetypal information, so the complexity of the chakras and of what they provide to us if we tap into them is truly remarkable.
Very simply, the chakras are the basic foundation of our soul, connecting it to all layers of our being, including our physical body. They serve as points of integration for our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual selves. Chakras have been recognized for thousands of years by ancient civilizations in Asia and South America. In particular, Indian yogic literature addresses these subtle energy centers. My experience with chakras is that they can be perceived as light and color and are often associated with images, either symbolic or literal in interpretation. Some individuals perceive chakras as wheels, spiraling in energy from the collective consciousness into the inner core of the physical body and vice versa. Traditional literature states that the chakra structure is a coneshaped vortex vertically aligned at specific points from the base of the spine to the top of the head, transforming and transmitting the incoming finer energy into the more dense physical energy of the body.
In addition to the wheel image, chakras have also been associated with the symbol of a flower, with each chakra higher up the body (the head being the highest) having a relatively greater number of petals than the previous. The increasing complexity of the chakras moving from the lower to the higher parts of the body symbolizes the evolution from the material to the nonmaterial and from lower to higher consciousness.
According to Richard Gerber, M.D., in Vibrational Medicine, these important chakra centers have been discarded by Western scientists as “magical constructs of unsophisticated and primitive Eastern thinkers.” The existence of chakras, or at least of the subtle energy field, has not been validated directly by scientific methods or devices. There are various machines on the market to measure one's energy field by placing your hand on a panel, reading the electric charge, and correlating the charge with energy channels (referred to in traditional Chinese medicine as “meridians”) in the body. Although still slow in coming, the evidence for the existence of chakras has been initiated by various researchers such as Dr. Hiroshi Motoyama and Dr. Valerie Hunt, using technology designed to measure subtle energy. These are promising attempts that will propel us forward into doing more work in this area from a scientific perspective.
Quantum physics, seemingly more than any other scientific discipline, has provided us with support for the existence of the human energy field as a dynamic pattern of weblike interconnectedness. In the meantime, more practical means of accessing the chakras could come from indirect data, such as an individual's emotional and physical issues.
A majority of texts and philosophical systems agrees that there are seven major chakras and a multitude of minor chakras (some sources say up to 360). In this book, we work with the seven major chakras only. These chakras regulate key functions and issues and correspond to seven distinct anatomical areas (see Table 2.1). Since the chakras are central to the functioning of the body, symptoms or disease often begin in the chakras before moving into physical form. All thoughts, emotions, and actions are stored in our bodies. The chakras are a part of that process.
Table 2.1 Chakra Names, Locations, and Colors
When the chakras get overloaded with a negative message, the chakra may get blocked, and eventually the energy flow will be impeded in this area, causing symptoms or a disease in the organs that chakra is responsible for. You will learn more specifics as you read the chapters that correspond to the individual chakras. For example, if an individual has symptoms related to his or her stomach, then the solar plexus chakra should be addressed. A blockage in the heart chakra may suggest heart disease. Similarly, an individual who presents symptoms of adrenal stress would have issues to process in the root chakra.
COLOR AND VIBRATION
Have you ever thought to yourself that a certain person had a “bad vibe”? You were most likely tuning into their energy vibration. Every person carries an overall vibration reflecting the sum of the individual chakra vibrations. This vibration is the accumulation of the cell vibrations as the macrocosm (the individual) reflects the microcosm (the cells). The chakras are the “middle man” or collective center to which all the cells associated with that chakra report so that the chakra vibrates at that level. Each chakra will have a slightly different vibration, depending on its function and location.
Usually, a specific