Manisha Arun Mahtani, BSH, S.A.C. Dip. (Clinical Nutrition), S.A.C. Dip. (Diet and Nutrition), S.A.C. Dip. (Nutritional Therapy).Manisha Arun Mahtani has received her Spiritual Healing Degree from California, specializing in Chakra Balancing and Healing, Spiritual Aromatherapy and Metaphysical Meditations. She has studied chakra healing extensively for several years from energy healers from USA and Australia and is a member of the prestigious Healing International, which is under the directorship of world-renowned energy healer Geoffrey Keyte, author of the international best-seller "The Mystical Crystal". Apart from her Healing Degree, she is also a certified Nutritional Advisor and a Natural Food Therapist., having completed her diploma in Nutritional Sciences and Clinical Nutrition from Stonebridge Associated Colleges, London. Through gentle lifestyle changes, dietary advice and energy healing, Manisha can assist you to make positive changes in your life by scanning your energy and removing blockages in the energy flow through chakra meditation. Contact Manisha at maht@netvigator.com

The seven major chakras are centers in the human energy field which distribute the energy that supports the functioning of the body, mind and emotions. If there is too much or too little energy flowing through a particular chakra, this can have a negative impact on the functions related to that chakra.

Chakra balancing will evenly distribute the energy throughout your body as it brings an optimal flow of energy through each chakra, which creates greater physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health. Chakra meditation dissolves the negative energy and blockages (of unwanted feelings and thoughts) before it manifests itself in the form of disease and disturbance in our lives.

Chakra meditation takes healing to a whole new level. Energy healing recognizes that pain and dysfunction, be it psychological or physical is due to a disturbance in your energetic system. Correcting the underlying energy imbalance allows the whole mind/body and soul system to return to its original healthy state. The key is to believe in energy healing, be open to being cured and be consistent with your meditations. Starting with 15 minutes a day and gradually increasing the meditation time will give you desired results in every field.

Chakra Meditation and Balancing will help you:

Remain calm about your daily pressures and challenges Maximize the flow of energy in your body by removing blockages Overcome previous life experiences which have left a mark on you Develop confidence, energy and happiness Gain freedom from diseases and improve your health Bring a positive impact on relationships Increase your spirituality and oneness with the Universe

Energy

Working with chakras is working with energy, so it is important to know what energy is and where it comes from. Mostly we think of energy as a form of electricity, radioactive waves, x-rays etc but physicists now recognize that all things are made of energy particles. Even a solid object which doesn’t move, such as a table, has energy, except that the vibration of the spinning atoms in a table are so slow that we think it has no motion. Fire, Air, Water are elements that are composed of less dense concentrations of energy particles that vibrate at a higher rate, so we can feel them.

Our thoughts and emotions are also made up of energy. These energy particles attract similar energy particles and what we have been thinking of or dreading, manifests itself in the physical world. We, as humans, are created and maintained by energy from the same source that creates all living things. When a person is balanced, energy readily flows through us and we are constantly healing ourselves. But when we face life challenges and perceive a situation as negative, we create energy blockages which creates imbalances in us and our healing abilities break down. The imbalance originates on the mental and emotional level and if not corrected, an imbalance can affect the physical body. As normal humans, our first stop will be to visit a doctor and get a surgery done, but if the original imbalance remains, a new set of symptoms will occur.

The Human Energy Field (Aura)

The human energy field is an energetic, multi-dimensional field which surrounds us, penetrates us and it is us. It has rivers of energy called meridians that nourish every cell and organ in our body. These meridians are supplied by cone shaped whirling vortexes of energy called chakras. The chakras in turn collect energy from the Human Energy Field which is around all of us. When blocks accumulate in the field, a disruption in the flow of energy through the chakras result. It is these blocks that disrupt the harmony in the aura and eventually are the cause of disease, emotional and mental disorders in the human body. During clearing and balancing these blocks are removed, the chakras are restructured and we reach a new level of awareness.

What are Chakras?

Chakra is derived from the Sanskrit word, meaning “wheel”. Chakras are our spinning energy-centers through which universal life force energy is translated into personal energy. The energy around us is called the aura and the energy of the aura is that of our thoughts and feelings. The chakras are located within our aura and they are the openings for energy to flow into and out of our aura and exchange energy with the universal energy force. They connect our subtle energy field to our physical body and they draw in, assimilate and release life force energy. There are many chakras in our body but healers look at the seven main chakras in our body and these work on our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual self. Each chakra point governs certain areas of our body. Each of them have a specific colour and they resonate at different frequencies.

Our chakras radiate and receive energy constantly. Since they are the regulators of life force that flows into, out of and through the human energy system, we must ensure that they are functioning optimally. If we hold negative thoughts, our chakras will become small and weak and will not be able to process the flow of life-force energy properly. Then we start feeling sluggish and out of balance. However, if we are happy and base our thoughts on unconditional love, these chakras function optimally and we experience good health, harmony and inner peace.

Slow moving light waves appear as warm colours and the lower and slower spinning chakras appear as red, orange and yellow colours. The upper chakras spin faster and appear as cooler shades of green, blue, indigo and violet purple.

The Shushumna runs from the base of the spine to the place at the top of the neck where the spine meets the head. On this path are the seven major chakras. It is in these chakra centers that energy is processed and distributed to both the subtle and the physical bodies.

Each Chakra looks like a flower of a wheel and each Chakra has a different number of petals and spins in a clockwise direction. By processing the energy, they make it available for our use. We can use it to improve our health, to manifest our desires into reality or increase our psychic abilities.

There are 7 major Chakras which are:

Muladhaar Chakra (Root Chakra)
Swadhisthan Chakra (Sacral Chalra)
Manipur Chakra (Solar Plexus Chakra)
Anahat Chakra (Heart Chakra)
Vishudhi Chakra (Throat Chakra)
Ajna Chakra (Brow/Third Eye Chakra)
Sahasrara Chakra (Crown Chakra)

The Muladhaar Chakra is located in the energy field at the base of the spine and is associated with a brilliant red colour. It means “support”. It’s element is Earth and it spins at the slowest rate of all the major chakras. It provides a firm foundation necessary to survival, offers a basic sense of safety and security, the desire to feel protected and is related to financial security. The Root Chakra’s main role is to help us meet our basic needs for survival in this physical world. It focuses attention on our daily needs and stimulates our ability to fulfill them. The result is confidence in ourselves and trust that the Universe will provide for us. We feel grounded to Mother Earth. The Root Chakra is powerfully related to our contact with Mother Earth providing us with the ability to be grounded into the Earth plane.

Life is ever changing and it is impossible to control our external environment so we must concentrate on creating an inner environment that is both solid and flexible. Our Muladhaar Chakra is related to physical security and is affected by thoughts about finances, career, home (buying a new home or shifting), physical safety, needs and material possessions. When we are trying to make things happen in the material world, in business and career, the energy to succeed comes from the Root Chakra.

Physical correspondence to our body is to our legs, feet, large intestine and base of the spine.

A balanced Muladhaar Chakra enables us to trust that the earth will provide for our needs as well as empowers us to be able to manifest what we need on a survival level. It gives us peace and harmony to enjoy the physical world. It also appears as a rich, clear shade of red.

An imbalance in the Muladhaar Chakra happens when we fear how our physical needs will be met. This makes our Root Chakra shrink and appear muddy red and dark in colour. This creates the feeling of limitations and a lack of abundance. It gives us a feeling of insecurity, anxiety and fear. Circumstances that cause a Muladhaar Chakra deficiency include feeling fearful and big changes in our body, finances and business.

The Swadhisthan chakra is located about 4 fingers below the navel and is associated with the colour Orange. This chakra means Sweetness”. It’s element is Water and it spins at a faster rate than the root chakra. Water flows, moves and changes and a healthy swadhisthan chakra allows us to move and flow with life’s changes. The second chakra allows us to learn to flow freely with our emotions, to reach out to others, opening up to pleasure and sensuality, to nurture ourselves and others and to be creative. As we learn to accept things in our life, we learn to relax the body parts which are associated with this chakra. It relates to a person’s confidence in their own creativity and their ability to relate to people in an open and friendly way.

Physical body parts associated with the sacral chakra are our reproductive organs, hips, sacrum, lower back, womb, kidneys, bladder and part of the lower intestine.

A well-balanced Swadishthan chakra results in physical gratification, emotional fulfillment and creative expression. It lets us experience the joy of being alive and to understand the connectedness of all life. It vibrates with the a warm orange colour.

An imbalance in the Swadhisthan chakra disconnects us from our sense and feelings, causes sexual dysfunction and depression.

The Manipur chakra is located at the solar plexus (half-way between your navel and your ribcage) and is associated with a fiery yellow colour. Manipur means “lustrous gem”. It’s element is Fire. This chakra relates to self-esteem, will, focus and the ability to manifest our desires. It is the place of warmth, laughter and vitality. It is the center of our intellect and personal power. It also controls our self-direction, self-control and personal power. Sometimes a feeling of being wrong can follow us into adulthood and diminish self-esteem. This is the center of confidence.

Physical body parts that correspond to the Manipur chakra are the stomach, pancreas, liver, upper intestines, gallbladder and middle back. It governs our digestion and metabolism.

An imbalance in the Manipur chakra can result in digestive problems, ulcers, irritable colon and gallbladder problems. Emotional imbalances would be inability to manifest at a physical level, suppressed anger, a big ego and abuse of personal power (over-emphasis on status, power and recognition). If it is blocked, we will worry about what others will think and it can cause depression.

A balanced, healthy and spirited Manipur chakra results in high self-esteem and enables us to develop and focus our energy and to shape our desires and manifest it. It also results in abundance in all ways. It makes us cheerful, outgoing, have respect for others and for ourselves. We will enjoy taking on new challenges and have a strong sense of personal power without mis-using it.

The Anahat Chakra is located in the center of the chest and is associated with Green. It means “Unstruck”. It is the core of our spirit. Spiritual energy passes through the core of the heart to be transformed into the lower physical energies. The Anahat chakra integrates the lower three chakras ( chakras related to the physical world) and the upper three chakras (world of spirit). It is the chakra that connects mind and body with spirit. It directs us to love ourselves and to be able to give and receive love. In Sanskrit, the word Anahat means “Unhurt” and below all our broken or unforgiving hearts lies unconditional love and abundant compassion. It’s element is Air. Air fills our breath and pranayama practice is the best to tone and balance this chakra.

A balanced and healthy heart chakra is filled with a beautiful emerald green energy, which radiates love to everyone. A person having a balanced heart chakra is compassionate, nurturing, affection, warmth and understanding. We the have the ability to fee joyful, tolerant , generous, sensitive and forgiving towards others. It is the most important center because it is where we radiate unconditional love and it is associated with family, friends and partners. A balanced heart chakra makes us positive and loving. We will be able to see the good in everyone.

A heart chakra which is imbalanced causes a person to be jealous, envy, over-secretive and unforgiving. We cannot feel love for others and even if we do, it is conditional. We may even unintentionally push loving people away from us, who in return will reject us again. As we keep pulling back, we keep getting pushed away and finally we become isolated. When we lose this sense of connection, we become defensive,critical and suspicious. We may become paranoid, indecisive, afraid of getting hurt or afraid to let go and unworthy of getting love. Our hearts and precious and full of love and usually deep heart hurts can cause aura obstructions called heart scars. When these scars are released, they cause a lot of old pain, but free the heart for healing and new growth.

In our bodies, the heart chakra is associated with our heart, circulation and arteries. Imbalance in the heart chakra can cause asthma, heart and lung diseases and shallow breathing. It can also cause high blood pressure.

The best way to open the heart chakra is to love ourselves and others, for love is the greatest healer. When the heart chakra is balanced, our blood is healthy, our heart beat is regular and our arteries are clear from blockages.

The Vishudhi chakra is located at the center of the throat and is a bright blue. It is the first chakra on the spiritual plane. It’s elements are sound and ether. The throat chakra resonates with the sound of our inner truth and helps us to communicate with the outside world. There are many ways to express ourselves through our throat chakra. Singing, dancing, music and the communication we make through writing and talking are all ways of expression. It is the center of our personal expression.

Vishudhi means “purification”. Through mediation, yoga, exercise and paying attention to our diet, we can experience our higher and subtler chakras better. Drinking more water and letting go of products such as dairy products, tobacco and nicotine helps to loosen the neck, shoulders and clear the voice. Sound itself is so purifying that after chanting “Om” in rhythm, we can actually feel the vibrations right down at a cellular level. The throat chakra is located where food, drink, drugs and smoke enter our body so it is important to see what we ingest and inhale. We must make a conscious choice of eating healthily.

Lack of energy in this chakra leads to stiffness in the neck, tension in the shoulders, jaw aches, throat ailments, an underactive and fear of voicing out an opinion. At the same time, excessive energy in this chakra leads to too much talking, an inability to listen, and an overactive thyroid. The idea is to have a balanced throad chakra.

When our throat chakras are in balance, we can connect and communicate with the world. We are able to voice our opinions firmly and express our beliefs. We can connect with our inner spirit and express ourselves in a gentle manner.

When the throat chakra is imbalanced, we tend to suppress our beliefs, our thoughts and what we are really feeling. At the same time, we are not ready to hear what others have to say. This results in anxiety, frustration and anger directed at people and life. Eventually people with throat chakra imbalances do speak up and then all the pent up resentments buried inside for years come out like a volcano. Lashing at everyone. The throat is where anger is stored and finally let go of. Sometimes it becomes more dangerous when they lash out inwardly at themselves through destructive behaviour. There is another imbalance resulting from a blocked throat chakra and that is when we want to speak up but are afraid of offending others. This is the time to realize that expressing ourselves and our needs to others is extremely important. Communication between partners and married couples, between children and parents and even communication between friends is very essential. When we express ourselves it is important to remember that we must say what we want in a firm yet polite manner. We do not have the right to hurt others with our words and speak in a blunt and reckless manner. Learning to speak our mind can be difficult especially when we want to express anger, but in a firm yet gentle way, it is possible and there is nothing inappropriate about having feelings and expressing them. In cultures where people are asked to keep their thoughts to themselves and where they are not allowed to express themselves, we see a wide range of diseases associated with the throat chakra because they have been suppressed individuals with a lot of inner anger in them.

Physically the throat chakra governs our throat, oesophagus (food-pipe), trachea (wind-pipe), neck, ears, teeth and mouth.

The Ajna chakra is located at the middle forehead and is associated with violet light. This is the perception center of our body. It is located between and just above the two physical eyes, in the center of the forehead. It means “to know, to perceive”. There is no element as such for this chakra but we associate it with inner light. Our two eyes see the material world and or third eye sees beyond the physical world. We are all sensitive to the images around us. Some of us can sense auras and are more intuitive than others because it depends on how developed our psychic abilities are. Our third eye chakra is associated with intuition, telepathy, clairvoyance, imagination and positive visualization. This chakra allows for the inward flow of wisdom and brings the gift of cosmic consciousness.

An imbalance in the third eye chakra makes it difficult for us to imagine and visualize positively and it makes us overly intellectual. Then we are able to just believe and deal with concrete concepts. We become to analytical and are unable to experience anything intuitive. Some other off-balance traits are lack of concentration, tension, headaches, bad dreams and eye problems.

A balanced third eye chakra makes us open to the ideas of others, gives us sharp intuition, highly developed clairvoyant abilities and emotional intelligence.

Physically, the third eye chakra is associated with the lower brain, left eye, nose and ears. Physical problems are brain tumors, brain strokes, brain haemorrhages, blindness, deafness, neurological disturbances, full spinal difficulties, seizures and learning disabilities.

The best way to open this chakra is to meditate.

The Sahasrara chakra is located at the crown of the head and the colour is pure white light. This chakra is our connection to our “higher selves” and to the “divine”. It is associated with wisdom and integration of our eternal selves with our current physical selves. Sahasrara in Sanskrit means “thousand fold”. It is often visualized as a thousand-petaled lotus at the crown of the head. When we say 1000, we do not mean it literally but rather it is seen as the infinite nature of this chakra. The pure white light that Sahasrara radiates is the combination of all colours. The crown chakra symbolizes the highest state of enlightenment. There is no physical element associated with the crown chakra. It is associated with pure bliss. It is associated with the highest functions of the mind. The mind, even though it cannot be seen or felt concretely, creates the belief systems that control our thoughts and actions. As the mind thinks, so we create our lives.

Meditation is the best yogic practice to bring this chakra into balance. The energy of the crown chakra helps us to open up to a higher and deeper consciousness. When we meditate daily, our mind is purified of old thoughts and it becomes clear, pure and in the present moment. The Kundalini shakti, which is coiled at the base of the root chakra slowly spirals up the energy channels (nadis), reaches each chakra to bring awareness to that particular chakra and then reaches the crown chakra. That is when enlightenment takes place.

A balanced crown chakra leads to connection to Divinity, faith, selflessness, spirituality and devotion.

Physical organs associated with the Crown chakra are the upper brain, right eye and skin.

The best way to open the crown chakra is to meditate.

Physical dysfunctions of the crown chakra includes bone cancer, multiple sclerosis, paralysis and genetic disorders.

Chakras get blocked when we shut the energy flow in our physical body. This happens when we go though a negative experience or life challenges. Illness first manifests from thoughts and feelings. Stress is a good example. When our mind says, “I’m under pressure.”, this message translates into an emotional feeling of being over burdened. This creates energy blockages in our mind and in our emotions and we then perceive the situation as a negative experience. If the mind and emotions continue to create resistance, the energy blockages will manifest itself physically, in whichever area of the body that is vulnerable.

Blocked energy creates stress and tension, which can create the conditions for physical illness. Fear is a form of blocked energy which also creates stress and tension. The belief that nothing will ever get better creates depression. Depression is a blockage in which energy moves very slowly and this condition can lead to a feeling of being stagnant and lifeless, which in turn deepens depression.

Many times our chakras get blocked with our beliefs. What we believe can have an effect on our ability to utilize energy. Ironically, most of our beliefs are invisible, something that may never happen in our lives, but we waste so much energy thinking about what might happen, that it becomes part of our reality.

The purpose of Chakra balancing is to dissolve the energy blockages before it manifests into a physical illness. A lot of us who seek higher consciousness forget about our lower chakras. But we have to have a solid support in our lower chakras in order to make our way up to the spiritual chakras. The lower chakras focus on our home, feelings, family, finances, manifestation at a physical level while the spiritual chakras give us the wisdom to understand the grander order of things set by the Universe. Our chakras are related to one another and work together, so if we balance our lower chakras, it automatically prepares us for the higher consciousness.

There are various ways to balance the chakras. Chakra meditation is the best way to align the chakras. There are yogic postures which help balance the chakras as well.

When our chakras are blocked or too open, an imbalance occurs. When our chakras are aligned, our emotions, thought and beliefs are positive and our chakras will be balanced. We need to clear our chakras every now and then so that they don’t get blocked. We must release our emotions and not suppress them. When we are faced with life challenges, a certain amount of negativity comes into our aura. Most of us react to unpleasant experiences by blocking our feelings and stopping a great deal of our natural energy flow. Whenever a person is blocking any experience he or she is having, the chakras get blocked. Meditation and yoga are good ways to balance the chakras. When the chakras are open, they are bright, open and clean. They spin clockwise to metabolize the particular energies needed from the universal energy field. When they are blocked and muddied, then they affect our emotional and physical health. The effects of our thoughts, beliefs, emotions, feelings, habits and desires are all imprinted in our energy bodies so we must balancing them is beneficial for the mind, body and spirit. Balancing the chakras purify the aura and can increase intuitive ability. It helps to raise our vibrations as energy beings and removes the negative energies that we collect in our daily lives. Comunication with people, family relationships, financial issues all create negative energies around us which we have to shed time and again.