What Are the Chakras?

by Elle, Essence Love

To put it simply: Chakras are information.

Chakras are energy points of awareness, insight and intelligence.

They are centers of information within the body that bridge the everyday/mundane world with the sublime, transcendent energy that resides in each of us, that permeates our lives.

We could say that the “supply chain of being” is found in the chakras.

To make chakras more accessible, practitioners of yoga have designated them with convenient color wheels that correspond to the seven colors of the visible light spectrum and to central meridian points of the body.

But know that chakras are more than just circles of colors.

Simply stated, both the miraculous and the mundane coexist seamlessly in each chakra.

The 7 Basic Chakras

The First Chakra (Root) Muladhara
Located at the base of spine, the Muladhara chakra provides for the foundation of our life in terms of safety and security. The stability of our life, or lack thereof, is found here. The grounding of self to Mother Earth is germane to the Muladhara chakra.
Concept: “I Am”
Color: Red
Element: Earth

Second Chakra (Sacral) Svadhisthana
Centered below the navel, the sacral chakra is the creative and sexual dynamo of the self, surging with procreative energies.
Concept: “I Feel”
Color: Orange
Element: Water

Third Chakra (Solar Plexus) Manipura
Often known as the “jewel chakra,” the Manipuri chakra is located below the chest and embodies concepts of willpower and self-esteem. Our self-worth and personal responsibility emanate from the Manipura chakra.
Concept: “I Do”
Color: Yellow
Element: Fire

Fourth Chakra (Heart) Anahata
The Anahata chakra is the heart chakra. Positioned in the center of the chest, the Anahata is the fount of all love, from self-love to the love of God and all love between.
Concept: “I Love”
Color: Green
Element: Air

Fifth Chakra (Throat) Vissudha
At the center of the throat is the fifth chakra, Vissudha. Unsurprisingly, speech and communication abilities are found here.
Concept: “I Speak”
Color: Blue
Element: Etheric

Sixth Chakra (Third Eye) Ajna
Often known as the “third eye” chakra, the chakra corresponding to the center forehead is the most well-known by Westerners. Deep psychic insight (and foresight) coupled with novelty and imagination are associated with the chakra information field of Ajna.
Concept: “I See”
Color: Purple
Element: Ajna (Ajna is its own element)

Seventh Chakra (Crown) Sahasrara
At the top of the head is located the “thousand fold” Crown chakra, Sahasrara, which connects us with the Multiverse while dispersing the universal life force energy of the Multiverse into the six other named chakras.
Concept: “I Understand”
Color: Violet (Also White)

Chakras: Beyond Time and Space

Whether your mindfulness practice includes the seven basic chakras or many more, know that chakras are not tangible objects per se, like an apple or a stone. Rather, they exist beyond time and space.

It is from the Eastern tradition of Tantra that the chakras were “discovered,” making the corridor of information between the subtle and supra-normal accessible.

Each of us is a nexus comprised of trillions of information points. Chakras can be thought of as collections of this information, “centers” of energy potentials or “information nodes” connecting the personal to the transpersonal and beyond. Their utility is a form of soft technology—perhaps the softest.

Understanding chakras as sites of possibilities within the body is crucial, because that’s what they are—always there as ever-present potentials of information, each a locus of being and time, accessible wherever and whenever you desire.

To those who are without any understanding of chakras, their value is best obtained by experiencing them directly with a trained dakini (or daka) who attempts to unify and balance the self through the information field of each chakra.

Mooring the body and mind to the chakras with a trained practitioner provides greater understanding of what each of us is, and what we are not. We can obtain incisive clarity about the nature of being when we re-integrate those essential parts of ourselves—facets that are often rendered dormant by the demands of modern daily life.