Transcription:
What Are The Chakras? Keys to Our Physical, Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual Bodies

Deborah Howell (Host): Welcome to Stoughton Health Talk. I'm Deborah Howell, and I invite you to listen as we talk about the keys to our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual bodies, and get introduced to the concept of chakras.

Joining me is Amy Crull, a Reiki master teacher, yoga teacher, and holistic health coach. Amy, such a pleasure to have you on with us today.

Amy Crull: Yes, thank you. I'm happy to be here.

Deborah Howell (Host): You know, I love that so many people have had the time to explore our topic today because we've been working from home these days. The pandemic has put us all through so many physical and spiritual changes. So it's kind of a really good time to learn about the chakras. Can you give us an overview of the chakra system?

Amy Crull: Yes, I would love to. So, the chakra system is dealing with energy in the body. So it's this place where energy just converges into particular parts of the body. So, there's seven main chakras. And that's what I'll talk about today. There's more than that, but there are seven main ones and they deal with not only the physical parts of your body, but the mental, the emotional and the spiritual.

So the actual definition of chakra is a wheel or a disc and it's spinning within your body. So think of it as vibration, think of it as frequencies. And you want that disc to be spinning at a good speed. You want it to be not wobbly. And so that's what we're dealing with when we're talking about the chakra system. It's a vibration, it's a balance and it's just dealing with every part of your body.

Deborah Howell (Host): Fascinating. How can I see the energy of a chakra system?

Amy Crull: So there is a nice way you can do that, because so much of energy, we can't see. It's like our cell phone, we know it works, but we don't really know how it works. I always suggest people to take a necklace with maybe a pendant at the end and then just hold it out in front of you. So you'll hold it by the clasp and then that pendant can be just kind of floating down. So hold it in front of your heart, maybe two to three inches away from your body. And then I tell people to look away, because energy observed sometimes changes, but just see what it does.

So it might do three different things. It might just sit there, might not do anything, or it might go front to back, side to side, or it might go in a circle. That's just kind of an indicator of what your energy is doing in that moment. There's no judgment to it because this changes on a daily basis, it changes hour to hour. But it's just a way of seeing the energy.

You know, if it's going in a circle, that might show you that it is more open, it is more balanced. If it's going crosswise, it might be a little bit more closed. But I always tell people, there's no judgment there. It's just a way to see the energy.

Deborah Howell (Host): And if it's just sitting there?

Amy Crull: Oh, if it's just sitting there, sometimes that's a sign to fire up, to bring energy into that part. A lot of times, I see that with people with depression or they're just kind of in flux. And so that's the way to bring in some rejuvenation, just bring in some good fiery energy.

Deborah Howell (Host): Got it. So let's go through the chakras. Starting from the beginning, what can you tell us about the root chakra?

Amy Crull: Okay. The root chakra is going to be associated with the base of the spine, the legs, the feet, are bony structure and it's associated with the color red. And it's earth energy. So think of it as very grounded energy. It's formed in the body when we're in utero, as well as up to a year old. So this is our survival. This is like our basic needs being met. It's your family, your roots, your ancestors. And it's also fear, anxiety. Those are kind of the emotions that we can deal with with the root chakra. So if someone's anxious, when they come in for a Reiki session, just hands on the feet is going to alleviate a lot of that anxiety and stress.

Deborah Howell (Host): Incredible. What can you tell us about the second chakra or sacral chakra?

Amy Crull: Yes. So the sacral or second chakra is going to be just located right above that. So we're talking about the lower abdomen. Internally, it's reproductive organs, your intestines, your pelvis, your hips, and associated with the color orange and it's water energy. So this is formed when we're like that crawling baby. What does a crawling baby do? They pick everything up and they put it in their mouth. So it's your senses. It's figuring out the world around you. It's exploration. It's creativity. It's literally where we create life in the body. So, this is a great place for people to release any traumas they'd gone through because a lot of times it's stored here. And it's a great way to relieve stress as well, because a lot of people carry their stress in their hips. So the second chakra, really good way to alleviate a lot of that.

Deborah Howell (Host): Let's move on to the third chakra, our solar plexus chakra.

Amy Crull: So the solar plexus is going to be below that rib, the lowest rib and above your belly button. So that's your abdomen, your upper abdomen, your stomach, your liver, your gallbladder, your kidneys, your pancreas, and your adrenal glands. So adrenal glands, you know, pumps out that cortisol when we're stressed. So this is a really good way for people who are overstressed to just alleviate a lot of that. Associated with the color yellow and it's fire.

So like you were saying before, what happens when that necklace just sits there? This is going to be a really good way to just fire up that area. It's associated with our ego, all the kinds of human things we have. So our identity and our career, the things we do in life. Also associated with self-esteem, power boundaries, and it's your gut intuition. So a lot is housed in the solar plexus. Really good for people who are depressed to just fire up this area. Really good for people suffering from self-doubt, you know, like we all do from time to time.

Deborah Howell (Host): Got it. Now, we move on to the very important heart chakra.

Amy Crull: Yes. The heart is the bridge. So we've talked about these lower chakras and those are really the human part of us. And then, now we're bridging up into this connection to something higher than us. So the heart is associated with the color green, and it's air energy. So it's going to deal with our lungs, our heart, our breasts, our diaphragm, our sinus, also includes our arms, hands, and shoulders and our circulatory system.

This Is, of course, when we're dealing with the heart, we're dealing with the emotion of love, compassion, forgiveness, self-healing and acceptance, relationships in our life. It's also a place for grief. So if someone comes to me and they just always have these pent up emotions and they always kind of think, "Oh, I'll get to that someday. I'll get to that someday," sometimes just having my hands on the heart chakra will just release, that you might have this emotional release of just like, "Oh, finally, I can just express it and let it go."

Deborah Howell (Host): Yeah, incredibly important. What can you tell us about the throat chakra?

Amy Crull: The throat chakra is going to be the color blue and it's sound, it's a vibration. That's going to be your throat, your jaw, your mouth, your teeth, your gums and, interestingly, your thyroid. So anybody with thyroid issues, this is a wonderful place to deal with that. It's expression. It's how do we express ourselves. Are we speaking our truth? It's how you are choosing to live your life and how you are choosing to communicate. So really vital chakra here for all people. So, kind of hard to get to in a Reiki session, but incredibly essential.

Deborah Howell (Host): Okay. This is an interesting one, the third eye chakra. What should we know about it?

Amy Crull: Our third eye, I always tell people, "Your third eye can see what your other two eyes can't see." So it is that intuition that comes from wisdom that we're kind of born with and it's associated with the color indigo and it's light energy. So it's going to be your eyes, your ears, your nose, your brain, your forehead, your nervous system. This is your imagination, how you're perceiving your world, your discernment, your truth. And it's so good. You know, we all overthink these days. We all have so much on our plate. This is just a really good way to take a break from all of that, and just really release a lot of that energy that's just kind of stuck in that area.

Deborah Howell (Host): Got it. What can you tell us about the crown chakra, Amy?

Amy Crull: The crown chakra is going to be associated with the color violet or white. And that is our consciousness energy. So that is the top of our head. And that's our connection to our spirit, that's something that's higher than us. You know, the chakra system isn't tied to any religion. It's only going to be a path or kind of a conduit to your higher, whatever you believe in, maybe it's God or divine or this life force energy. It's going to be that connection with that. But it's also going to be that connection with everyone in your life, seeing everyone as one. So bigger picture, faith, that kind of thing.

Deborah Howell (Host): And in a Reiki session, how would you attend to the crown chakra?

Amy Crull: The crown chakra, I'm going to have on the top of your head. And then a lot of times, my hand will push out. So it's like, there's just so much room there. And it's interesting you asked that because we come with freewill here and I always kind of remind my clients we just need to ask for help. Now, there's all this help behind the scenes and they're waiting for us to ask. So just throwing out into the universe, I" need help right now," you will be amazed what comes into your life.

Deborah Howell (Host): I love that. Amy, would you like to share a short meditation with us to help balance our chakra system today?

Amy Crull: Yes, I would love to. It's a very short meditation you can do and you don't need any props and it's just a great way of balancing each chakra. Like I said earlier, your chakras have colors associated with them, but they also have sounds. So there's a very simple mantra that goes with each chakra. And so I'll just have you repeat it with me as we go through each chakra.

Go ahead and just kind of get comfortable in your chair. Kind of move around a little bit and you can put both feet on the ground and take a deep breath. Good. And from there, you can put your hands on your thighs, and that will be a connection with your root chakra. Go ahead and take a big inhale. On the exhale, you're going to say "lam." Inhale in and then exhale, lam. Good.

And then move your hands to the second chakra. Connect to that lower abdomen. And if you want to, you can imagine the color orange and then inhale in and exhale "vam." And then from there, we'll go further up to the solar plexus, so right underneath that bottom rib and you can think of the color yellow and we'll say "ram" together. So inhale in and exhale "ram."

Good. And then hands to the heart, connect with a green color and we'll say "yam" together. So inhale in, exhale "yam." Good. And from there, we'll go up to the throat, front to back or side to side and connect with a blue color. And then, we'll say "ham" together, like hum. So inhale in, exhale "ham." Good. And then hands to the third eye, which you can go side to side or front to back and connecting with an indigo color. And we'll just say "aum" together, so inhale in and exhale "aum."

And last one is the crown. So hands on top of the head. And for this one, it's silence. We just listen. Good. And with that, you can open your eyes. And that's just a really nice way of acknowledging every chakra, connecting with every chakra and it does help to balance it with sound. You know, when we use sound, we connect with different pathways in the brain and it opens us up.

So I just encourage people, you know, try that for a week and see what happens, you know, maybe even think of it as a little experiment. And then if you have a particular issue or pain in the body, do it that maybe 20 times with just that mantra. And they're very easy to find. You can just Google sounds for each chakra and just experiment with that as well.

Deborah Howell (Host): I know that I feel calmer and I'm not making that up. I mean, I just definitely feel calmer. So I want to thank you. This has been just wonderful, Amy Crull. Thank you so much for joining us today.

Amy Crull: Well, thank you very much. You're welcome. It was wonderful to be here.

Deborah Howell (Host): And I hope to have you back soon and we can find out a little bit more about our chakras and also more about Reiki itself.

Amy Crull: Great. Thank you.

Deborah Howell (Host): For more information, head over to our website at stoughtonhealth.com to get connected with one of our providers. And that concludes this episode of Stoughton Health Talk. Please remember to subscribe, rate and review this podcast and all the other Stoughton Hospital podcasts. I'm Deborah Howell. Have a terrific day.