Chakras within the System of Tantra

As a Reiki Master and a Yoga Teacher, I have found that practicing Reiki energy healing and Yoga regularly has helped me a lot to balance my chakras and most importantly to become aware of them and in some circumstances to actually feel them too.

Chakras are part of our subtle non-material existence and we have detailed information about them thanks to the sages of the past, who were able to perceive chakras’ subtle vibrations, colours, shapes and sounds through introspection.

According to Tantra tradition, the chakras are substations for the mind and communicate with the body and viceversa. Chakras are related to the endocrine glands and therefore imbalanced chakras will eventually leed to diseases. It is important to keep them balanced and Tantric Yoga highlights a variaty of practices that can control and balance them, such as asanas, pranayama, mudras, kriyas, kirtan and satvik food.

The original Sanskrit word for chakra was “cakra”; which means “wheel, vortex”. Chakras are generally described as cycle energetic centers projecting and processing vital energy: pranah. Chakras control certain factors in our body and are located within the spine but energetically they are projected forward and this is why often they are drawn in the middle of the body and also why during chakras’ meditation these can be felt in the middle or front of the body.

There are nine important chakras of which seven main chakras:

Muladhara Chakra – the root chakra
Svadhisthana Chakra – the sacral chakra
Manipura Chakra – the navel chakra
Anahata Chakra – the heart chakra
Vishuddha Chakra – the throat chakra
Ajina Chakra – the brow chakra or third eye
Sahasrara Chakra – the crown chakra

And two important one:

Lalana Chakra located at the root of the palate;
Guru Chakra which is located at the bottom of Sahasrara chakra.

Let’s look at the seven main chakras’ characteristic and what type of activities, herbs and asanas can help in balancing them. The below descriptions were part of my 200 hours Yoga Teacher Training but are also the foundation of Tantric’s system which is at the core of the book “The Chakras of Tantra, seven wheels of self-mastery”, written by my yoga teacher Ganga Devi.

Muladhara Chakra: root chakra, root of nadiis and kundalini
Fundamental factor: controls the solid factor, earth element, controls basic instincts and fears, survival, sense of groundedness and connection to earth
Location: base of the spine
Shape and colour: yellow-golden square
Biija mantra: LAM
Related organs: legs, spinal column, rectum, colon
Related endocrine gland: none
Activities: trekking, climbing, cycling
Herbs: lotus root, shatavari, ashwagandha
Key asanas: padahastasana, janus’irasana
Yogic techniques: mula bandha

Svadhisthana Chakra: sacral chakra
Fundamental factor: controls the liquid factor, water element, controls the sense of taste, creativity and relationships, it powers to subconscious mind
Location: base of genital organ in men and two fingers below the navel in women
Shape and colour: milky white crescent moon
Biija mantra: VAM
Related organs: reproductive organs, bladder, kidneys
Related endocrine gland: sexual glands, testes in men and ovaries in women
Activities: swimming, dancing, all water sports
Herbs: coriander, marshmallow, uva ursi
Key asanas: diirgha pranam, yogamudra, gomukhasana
Yogic techniques: uddayana bandha

Manipura Chakra: navel chakra
Fundamental factor: controls the luminous factor, fire element, relates the sense of sight and digestive fire (agni), it is the source of vision, enthusiasm and empowerment
Location: at the navel
Shape and colour: bright red triangle
Biija mantra: RAM
Related organs: small intestine, pancreas, eyes, feet
Related endocrine gland: adrenal glands
Activities: outdoor activities, sunbathing
Herbs: black pepper, cumin, cayenne
Key asanas: dhanurasana, ustrasana 1, mayurasana
Yogic techniques: uddayana bandha, kapalabhati

Anahata Chakra: heart chakra
Fundamental factor: controls the aerial factor, air element, relates the sense of touch, source of compassion and universal love
Location: at the centre of the chest.
Shape and colour: smoky green hexagon
Biija mantra: YAM
Related organs: heart, lungs, respiratory system, large intestine, skin, hands
Related endocrine gland: thymus gland
Activities: aerobic exercises, walking and dancing
Herbs: cardamon, rose, saffron, lotus seeds
Key asanas: bhujangasana, karmasana
Yogic techniques: anuloma/viloma pranayama

Vishuddha Chakra: throat chakra
Fundamental factor: controls the ethereal factor, ether element, relates to the sense of hearing (physically and telepathically), controls the talent of creativity and ability to express ideas eloquently
Location: middle of the throat
Shape and colour: multi coloured and shapeless.
Biija mantra: HAM
Related organs: liver, gallbladder, vocal cords, ears
Related endocrine gland: thyroid and parathyroid glands
Activities: singing and speaking
Herbs: cloves, licorice, bayberry
Key asanas: sarvaungasana, matsyamudra, halasana
Yogic techniques: jalandhara bandha, akashii mudra

Ajina Chakra: third eye or brow chakra
Fundamental factor: governs intuition and willpower, it is the seat of the mind, it is the doorway into complete knowledge of the mundane and supramundane world
Location: behind the point between the eyebrows
Shape and colour: eye-shaped, transparent with a moon white glow
Biija mantra: AUM
Related organs: hypothalamus
Related endocrine gland: pituitary gland
Activities: meditation
Herbs: basil, sandalwood, elecampane, skullcap
Key asanas: sarvaungasana, matsyamudra, halasana
Yogic techniques: trataka, concentration of the thrird eye, manasii mudra

Sahasrara Chakra: crown chakra,
(Controlling Station seat of consciousness, seat of our deepest spiritual truth of being pure consciousness, doorway into supreme bliss of the purely spiritual realm)
Location: top of the head
Shape and colour: thousand-petaled white lotus
Mantra: silence
Related endocrine gland: pineal gland
Activities: meditation, tandava dance
Herbs: calamus, gotu kola, valerian
Key asanas: shashaungasana, shivasana
Yogic techniques: dhyana

You may have noticed that the above descriptions don’t include the  rainbow colours that nowadays are associated to the main chakras. This is because the rainbow colours were “introduced” by Christopher Hills through his book: “Nuclear Evolution” in the early 70’. In addition to the relationship of the chakras to colours, Mr Hills also introduced the relationship between the chakras and personality types. Although these information are widely spread, don’t belong to ancient chakras’ systems.

What is your undergo with chakras?