Among yogis, the chakra (Sanskrit for “wheel” or “turning”) has long been known as an “energy station” (Eden, 2008), envisioned as a point of swirling energy, a vortex.
Eden also notes that while the term chakra has its origins in India, many cultures have identified and worked with the spiraling centers. Most healers sensitive to subtle energies eventually discover these centers of awareness in the human body. Neither physical nor anatomical, chakras reside in the subtle energy system.
According to Eastern tradition, subtle energies exist beyond the five-sense field. They compose an energetic spectrum in the thought realms, also known as the spiritual realm (Micozzi, 2015). The spiritual realm can be perceived in the human body as chakras: “Everything emits an energy field, and the human energy field is enlivened by the swirling, spinning streams of energy created by its constantly moving chakras.” (Davies, 2003, pp. 42-42)
Most traditions identify seven major chakras. Their English names refer to the parts of the physical body where they are believed to reside: the root chakra, the sacral chakra, the solar plexus chakra, the heart chakra, the throat chakra, the third-eye (pituitary) chakra, and the crown (pineal) chakra.
- Each chakra influences organs, muscles, ligaments, veins, and all other systems, especially the endocrine system, within its energy field.
- Chakras are energy centers traversing the length of the spine, each accounting for a different mode of perception (Smith, 2006).
“Memory is energetically coded in your chakras just as it is chemically coded in your neurons. While an ‘energy memory’ system parallels neural memory and is foreign to Western thinking, it is taken for granted in many healing traditions.” (Eden, 2008, p. 147)