Our external reality is nothing more than a reflection of our internal reality. Everything we experience in the world around us is a reflection of the particular stories we are telling ourselves about our reality.  Reality is nothing more and nothing less than a perfect mirror of our souls as they currently are.  

When we look at reality through this lens, we come to understand that everything is energy given form through meaning.  Physical reality is in many ways the exclamation point of our energetic existence, and our bodies are the exclamation point of how we actually view ourselves.  Our bodies hold the map to all of our karmas – all of the lessons we must learn to be our best selves in this incarnation.

As a physical manifestation of our consciousness, our bodies self-organize into a number of different chakras.  A chakra is a semi-intelligent, semi-permanent energy center within our body that is responsible for a particular portion of our body’s functioning or our psyche’s focus.  A chakra is created whenever you focus on any area of the body and intend for there to be a chakra.  You can have a chakra in the knuckle of your index finger, if you focus in on it and wish it to be so.

Although we can create a chakra anywhere, certain areas of the body generally play host to certain major chakras that the collective psyche of humanity has agreed are important, and that regulate major areas of the body and energetic system.  The specifics of the chakra system used vary from culture to culture and from person to person.  Some people enjoy using a 7 chakra system; others prefer a 10 chakra system.  Any coherent arrangement of chakras can be helpful in the right circumstances.  At Truth Resonates, we often use a 12 chakra system, which contains the basic 7 chakra system (although with some of the chakras, the colors are not in the same place as is traditional), along with chakras above and below the body, as well as chakras above and below the heart (since the heart energies are what humanity is moving into now as we continue to evolve our consciousness), and a mouth chakra as follows:

Many people teach that the indigo chakra is the third eye chakra, and the violet chakra is the crown chakra.  When I discern into most people’s energy structures, this feels incorrect. I perceive the crown chakra as the sum of the other bodily chakras, and therefore white light (or off-white or other colored light if the energy system is not balanced).  The indigo chakra is the mouth chakra, and the violet chakra is the third-eye chakra, which is why the violet of amethyst is so strongly related to the third eye.

The main chakras in our body run along our spine.  However, the hands also have chakras (the thumb is the root, index finger is the sacral, middle finger is the solar plexus, pinky is the throat, the center of the palm is the third eye, and the heel of the palm is the crown), as do the feet.  The arms and legs also have chakras (the ankle and wrist are the root, about ⅓ of the way up the arm/leg is the sacral, another third of the way up is the solar plexus, the knee/elbow is the heart, another third of the way up is the throat, then another third of the way up is the third-eye (near the bottom of the shoulder/hip), then the crown is the shoulder/hip.  You can work with the chakras in your limbs if you have particular blocks/tensions/pains there.  Otherwise, most of your work is best done with the main chakras, as the main chakras can coordinate the work of the other ancillary chakras if you are consciously aware of their existence.

Another important aspect of the chakra system is the front and back of the chakras.  Generally, blocks in the front of a chakra are related to an inability to project the relevant energy, whereas blocks in the back of the chakra are related to an inability to perceive/receive the relevant energy.  For example, if the front of our heart is blocked, we may have difficulty showing our love to others, or even feeling strong emotions related to love. If the back of our heart is blocked, we may have difficulty receiving praise or perceiving the positive ways in which others view us.

In addition to the chakras, our bodies also inhabit the archetypes of the divine feminine and the divine masculine.  These archetypes are present in all of us, regardless of whether we have the biological gender of male or female.  For most people the divine masculine represents the right side of our body, and the divine feminine represents the left side of our body. However, this is actually an unwholesome energetic arrangement, based on blocks we collectively placed on ourselves long ago. The divine masculine and the divine feminine interweave with each other, creating a rich tapestry.

Nevertheless, for most people, the physical division of masculine on the right side of the body and feminine on the left side is a useful guidepost in our healing work. In the Harmonization Exercise, we explore the different wholesome energies that resonate with the different chakras and the masculine and feminine energies, aligning the chakras and moving us towards these virtuous energies. If we are working with the energy of vitality for example, that is a sacral divine feminine energy, and so would be worked with primarily on the left side of the body, in the area between the sacrum and the tailbone.

Working regularly and actively with your chakras is a great way to clear your energy, learn valuable lessons, and grow spiritually.  You can gain much insight into what kinds of areas to focus on for growth based on where in the body tension or blankness arises.