Yoga is a combination of physical and mental practices to align the body and mind. It’s more than just a physical activity to improve balance and strength – yoga is a discipline that unifies the body with universal consciousness and the soul. After all, the physical body is more than bones and muscles.
When it comes to traditional spiritual science and medicine, the energy fields located throughout the body are as important as the bones and muscles. These energy fields are called chakras, which provide energy and unison between the body and mind. If a chakra becomes blocked, it can disrupt the energy flow of the individual.
Considering both chakras and yoga are believed to unify the body and mind, it makes sense that they are both interlinked. So, what is the role of chakras in yoga? How can you target chakras while practicing yoga?
Here is everything you need to know about the role of chakras in yoga, and why yoga helps to unblock chakras.
What Are Chakras?
Firstly, let’s take a look at what chakras actually are. Chakras are energy fields located in a vertical line in the body. These vortexes of energy should spin at the same speed, providing an equal amount of energy throughout the body to create harmony with the body, mind, and soul.
There are seven chakras overall, each with their own meanings and individual behaviors. It is believed that chakras govern our behaviors and values, as well as regulating bodily systems. When one of these chakras becomes blocked, it disrupts the energy, resulting in physical and metaphysical side effects.
What Is The Role Of Chakras In Yoga?
Yoga is all about creating physical alignment in the body. Considering that our chakras are located in a straight vertical line from the tops of our heads to the base of our spines, yoga literally helps to align these energy fields.
This means that not only does yoga help to improve our physical balance, but it also improves our spiritual and inner balance, too. Yoga can regulate and realign our chakras, which is essential for unblocking negative energies that are sending our chakras out of whack.
The 7 Chakras And Yoga Positions
Here are the seven chakras, including where they are in the body and what they are responsible for governing, and which yoga positions are best for realigning each chakra.
Root Chakra (Muladhara)
The root chakra is located at the base of the spine, and is responsible for helping us feel grounded. This is where our confidence and ability to tackle challenges comes from. When the root chakra is blocked, we feel unable to tackle these challenges, and often feel threatened and unstable.
The best yoga pose for the root chakra is the Mountain Pose. This pose helps to improve posture, strengthen your lower back and hips, boost circulation, tone core muscles, and relieve sciatic pain. Not only this, but the nature of this pose is grounding, which is essential for realigning the root chakra.
Sacral Chakra (Swadhisthana)
The sacral chakra is located in the lower abdomen, and is responsible for our creativity, emotions, and sexual energy. When blocked, this chakra leaves us feeling out of control of ourselves.
The best yoga pose for the sacral chakra is the Warrior 2 Pose. This pose is energizing, stimulates the abdominal muscles and organs, improves balance and circulation, stretches the hips and groins, and relieves backaches. It also helps us to connect with our creativity and pleasure.
Solar Plexus Chakra (Manipura)
The solar plexus chakra is located in the stomach area of the upper abdomen. This chakra is responsible for our gut feeling, which governs our intuition and confidence that we have control over our lives. When blocked, we can feel self-doubt and insecure about our decisions and ability to express ourselves.
The best yoga pose for the solar plexus chakra is the Plank Pose. This pose targets the core muscles, is responsible for energizing, and improves strength and endurance. As a result, it helps us to improve our gut feeling and confidence in our intuition.
Heart Chakra (Anahata)
The heart chakra is located just above the heart in the center of the chest. This chakra is responsible for allowing us to give and receive love from ourselves and others. When this chakra is blocked, we struggle to fully open up to others. When open, this chakra influences deep empathy and compassion.
The best yoga pose for the heart chakra is the Camel Pose. This pose is good for stretching and strengthening the abdomen and chest, and helps to tone the glutes and hamstrings. It also encourages us to become open to emotional cleansing.
Throat Chakra (Vishuddha)
The throat chakra is located in the throat, and is responsible for allowing us to communicate our true feelings and personal power. When blocked, we struggle to find the words to accurately communicate how we are feeling.
The best yoga pose for the throat chakra is the Bridge Pose. This is a grounding yoga pose which helps relieve the pains of menstruation, activate the adrenal glands and kidneys, and tones our glutes. It also stimulates the thyroid, thus activating the throat chakra.
Third-Eye Chakra (Ajna)
The third-eye chakra is located in the forehead between the eyes. This chakra is responsible for our ability to connect to our intuition. It’s considered the eye of the soul, and allows us to look at information beyond surface level. When blocked, we feel stuck and lost, without any self-guidance from inner wisdom.
The best yoga pose for the third-eye chakra is the Tree Pose. This pose is good for stretching the knees, hamstrings, quadriceps, and hips. It also opens the third eye by improving our balance and confidence in our inner abilities.
Crown Chakra (Sahasrara)
The crown chakra is located at the top of the head, and is responsible for connecting ourselves to spirituality. When blocked, we are unwilling to be open to other ideas and knowledge. When opened, we access a state of higher consciousness.
The best yoga pose for the crown chakra is the Corpse Pose. This pose helps to relax the body and encourage us to focus on breathing, which is the key to opening ourselves spiritually. This pose is typically performed at the beginning and end of a yoga session as a grounding method to open our minds and bodies.
Summary
So, there you have it! Chakras play an imperative role in yoga, even if you don’t realize it. Yoga is all about realigning the body, and while it comes with countless physical benefits, it’s also essential to re-energizing our chakras. If you think one or more of your chakras is blocked, yoga might be the answer to your struggles.
Frequently Asked Questions
In the same way that yoga is beneficial for our balance and aligning our posture, it is also useful for aligning our chakras. There are corresponding yoga poses for each chakra, allowing us to focus on one or more chakras that might be blocked.
Not only will this help us to feel the metaphysical benefits, but these poses also improve our physical health. These yoga poses will also help us feel the benefits across the whole body, and not just in one specific chakra area.
I created this website to help newcomers to yoga and enthusiasts alike, and to share our common passions for yoga.
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