We have seven psychic energy points which correspond to different parts of our body. The crown, the third eye, the throat, the heart, the solar plexus, the sacral and the root. These are also said to be associated with a colour. This is different to an aura, which is more of a reflection of how we’re feeling (and whether or not our chakras are in balance). Both our chakras and our aura are very much a bellwether for how we’re doing on the inside.

Chakras are said to control different parts of our being and correspond to the elements that make up the universe. It’s similar to the ancient Chinese concept of Chi, e.g. our lifeforce. We should aim to harmonise the energies associated with our chakras so as to achieve unity between body, mind and spirit. We don’t want these chakras to get blocked, because it can mean too much of some and not enough of other types of energy, and stop us from feeling mentally or physically well. Striving for an equilibrium of our chakras is a constant process or cycle, similar to the chakra ‘wheels’ or ‘discs’ which need to keep turning and remain unfettered. 

It’s important to note that the spiritual philosophy associated with chakras and the Buddhist and Hindu teachings which explain what our chakras are expansive. They are full of wisdom and to truly understand the ancient thinking that incorporates chakras requires a lot of studying and a deep respect for the religions with which they are associated, even if we don’t identify with that religion ourselves.

For those of us who are just getting in touch with our chakras and starting out on this psycho-spiritual journey, it can be hard to know where to start and what to do in everyday life to achieve an equilibrium of our chakras. So here are our recommendations for ensuring our chakras are in balance or unblocking our chakras. 

Mantras and meditation for unblocking our chakras 

To unblock a chakra, we need to think about how we are in ourselves and what might be causing us to feel out of sync, and use a mantra during a short meditation session to clear the chakra in question. 

Take the heart chakra - a blocked heart chakra can cause us to build up anger and resentment, or prevent us from showing empathy or practising humility. Using a mantra that focuses on others and our relationships with others, and repeating this during a meditation, can help clear our heart chakra and find peace. We also recommend combining mantras with a visualisation: visualise both the clearing of the chakra per se and the person we want to be after our chakra is unblocked. This makes for a very successful chakra-clearing meditation. 

Pro tip: when meditating, it can be helpful to create the right setting for each chakra that needs unblocking by using the right lighting. Each chakra is associated with a colour, so think about incorporating the use of a lamp or LED that can change colour to support the chakra clearing. Unclearing our chakras in nature, and performing our meditation or repeating our mantras outside, can also help us find our place in the universe and achieve that feeling of groundedness. 

Chakra-clearing yoga

There are different yoga poses that can unblock or help to open each of our chakras. It’s important to work on keeping all of our chakras open and unblocked, but to work on specific chakras, we need to tune into how we feel. 

For example, feeling tired, lethargic and out of sorts could be associated with an overall imbalance, and we might need to work through a series of individual poses that start the discs of each chakra turning again. Alternatively, if we’re feeling unsure of ourselves or out of control, we might need to work on our third eye to restore our intuition or our solar plexus to give us confidence. In this situation, we want to use balance poses or poses that are a little challenging, such as bow pose, wild thing, cobra pose or lotus pose. If we’re struggling to express ourselves and be creative, we might want to work on unblocking our sacral chakras and throat chakras. This can be achieved through bends and hip openers.

Pro tip: for those who find self-guided yoga difficult, there are also sequences of postures or types of yoga which help to balance all of our chakras to achieve that essential equilibrium. We also recommend trying kundalini yoga; there are lots of classes on Youtube which are a great introduction to this chakra-cleansing form of yoga before trying a kundalini class. 

Clearing and healing essential oils 

There are aromatherapy oils and essences that are closely associated with our chakras and can stimulate or awaken our senses to unblock our chakras when we’re out of balance. We recommend Aveda's range of chakra-orientated mists. When meditating or practising yoga, choosing an associated essential oil to roll onto wrists or the neck, or burn in an incense or oil burner, can help with the healing and clearing process. 

Pro tip: what we eat can also block our chakras. Think about eating foods that correspond to the colour of the chakra that needs clearing to get the right energy flowing around our body. There are also herbs and spices that unblock different chakras - it’s good to research what works depending on our mental and physical state.