Listening to Your Energy: A Guide to the Chakra System

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Last week on Three Cups and a Dash of Spirituality, we explored Reiki as a form of energetic healing. Well, this week, Stacy and I will continue the conversation by breaking down the chakra system, what chakras are and how they connect to real life scenarios. Let's start the music. Hello everyone, and welcome to this week's episode of Three Cups and a Dash of Spirituality. Today you have two cups. You have me, Michelle, and Stacy. Hi, Stacy. Hi, Michelle. Long time nurse.

SPEAKER_00 0:39

I'm good. How are you?

SPEAKER_01 0:40

I'm good. I'm excited about this conversation because last week we talked about Reiki and being the practice of healing. And you can do it remotely or you can do it in person. But we talked so much about that that we didn't get a chance to talk about what you're working with in a Reiki session, which is the chakra system.

SPEAKER_00 1:04

Yes. And and just so um you you're gonna hear us say it differently because most of us know them as chakras in the US particularly. Most outside of the US say chakras with a hard CH. And that's the technical correct way of pronouncing it. I've heard people get pretty, I'm gonna say loud around the pronunciation, but I also look at it as where are you from culturally? Like I said, I bounce between chakra and chakra because we uh we know them as both.

SPEAKER_01 1:38

Yes. And it's funny that you say that because in the last episode I heard you say chakra, and I'm like, am I saying it wrong? Because I've always said chakra.

SPEAKER_00 1:47

Yeah, yeah. It's I uh the only reason that I'm bringing up the pronunciation before we dive in is because I've had people get really spicy with me by saying sh for saying chakra. It it's it's the language that we use a lot in Reiki as well as yoga, as well as energy bodies. What do you and I'm gonna throw you under the vest. What are chakras? Energy body, energy bodies or centers within the body, energy centers. That's that's the right word. There are seven points. There are actually more than that, but they are the central energetic areas that we are looking at when we're seeing flow.

SPEAKER_01 2:27

Yes. And when you're studying it, it can get really confusing because not only do you have the chakras, but you have like the meridian, if that's what you call them, like the different lines intersecting, and then there's the seven here, but they really go up much higher. It can get really confusing.

SPEAKER_00 2:46

So the idea behind the chakra is that they are map of energy centers within the body, and they originate in ancient Indian spiritual traditions. Chakras are believed to influence physical health, emotional state, spiritual awareness. There are seven main chakras, but you can expand from there. There are different energy bodies throughout the entire world. I mean, there are energy bodies to earth, there are energy bodies to anything that you can imagine.

SPEAKER_01 3:17

So when, like, I'll just go back to Reiki real quick, and maybe this is too early in the episode to ask this question. But when you're working with the chakras, you're working with the main seven, do you ever go beyond that?

SPEAKER_00 3:30

I'm gonna say yes and no. So I guarantee, yes, I will do, I treat the entire energy body, I treat all per parts of a person. With that said, I center it around for explanations and you know, the ability to share with what I'm working on. I center it around what we know. Because it's really hard to explain to somebody what I'm doing energetically when they're not experiencing it from my perspective or my touch or what I what I'm seeing necessarily. I can explain to you what I'm seeing, I can explain to you the breakdown in the body what you're going to envision is going to be different than what I'm even sharing. Does that make sense? It does.

SPEAKER_01 4:20

So when we talk about the seven main chakras, chakras, now I'm like distracted. Why don't we start at the base, which everyone considers chakra chakra number one, and move up through number seven?

SPEAKER_00 4:37

We're starting at the base of the spine with the it's called mudalahara in Sanskrit. It's the root chakra. The color of the root chakra is typically red. The themes that surround the root chakra are safety, surviving, grounding, stability. So this is in last week's episode, this is where I started talking about foundational things like housing situation, housing instability being a big key like notification that this chakra might be a little off. When it is balanced, the person typically feels secure, supported, and present, easily grounding, kind of connected to the world around them, out of balance, imbalance, overactive. It presents as fear, anxiety, financial stress. That's a big one, and just general instability, unsure of like how to move forward, where you're going.

SPEAKER_01 5:28

So it's basically your home base. It's the anchoring of things. It's located at the bottom of the spine.

SPEAKER_00 5:35

Is that correct? Yeah, it's the base, the very base of the spine. I like to think about the chakra system if you're looking for a visual as almost a pyramid, because your your root chakra is that that's your foundation for everything that you've got in life or that you're doing and moving through in life.

SPEAKER_01 5:52

That's a great visualization. And it's the part of you that is closer to Earth, holding you down, grounding you. And I love all the definitions you gave for what it looked like when it was overactive or underperforming, because yeah, I I know many times it rocks everything else. Almost if it starts at the root, it does have an effect on everything that comes after it.

SPEAKER_00 6:19

When when the root is blocked, I see it as a hose that is kinked. So I and again, you know, with the visuals, I for some reason with chakras and energy healing, I I get pictures whenever I step in to do the healings. But if the root chakra is blocked and not moving, it shows in my mind as a kinked hose because when that kink is there, you're not gonna get any water out of it. But you could potentially have the buildup on the other end where it's trying to flow, but it's just not working.

SPEAKER_01 6:51

That's a great visual. So from the root chakra, you're gonna move up to what location in the body? Just above it?

SPEAKER_00 7:00

The lower abdomen below your belly button. Below your belly button as it's um and that's the sacral chakra or spadhisthana. I can't, I'm so bad at Sanskrit. So if you're listening to this and and you know how to say these words, congratulations.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

I don't just do the best that you can do. We're all human, and some of us don't have a great shift in the dialect, one of them being me.

SPEAKER_00 7:29

Same. So the color of sacral, do you do you want to dive into this one or do you want me to? Sure.

SPEAKER_01 7:35

The color of the sacral chakra is orange. So just like a rainbow, you're moving up red to orange. This is a chakra that is connected to creativity, to your emotions, and to feeling pleasure. Now, if it's balanced, you're gonna have good emotional flow. You're gonna have ways to get it out there. However, if it's unbalanced, you're gonna feel creative blocks and perhaps numbness and emotions and feelings. Is there anything else you'd like to add to that one, Stacey?

SPEAKER_00 8:14

No, I there's not a lot that I need to add for that. You know, the other thing, if it's blocked, that you'll see is guilt, a lot of guilt coming up, emotional numbness, inability to connect with other people. This is the the chakra that surrounds our sensuality and sexual pleasure as well. So this is if if it's inactive or stunted, this this will prevent us from seeking pleasure or having the ability to be open to it. And if it's overactive, we might be trying to get laid every other day or like 10 times a day.

SPEAKER_01 8:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:56

That's very true.

SPEAKER_01 8:58

Okay, so from the sacral chakra, we are moving up to the solar plexus, and they are located.

SPEAKER_00 9:04

Upper abdomen, stomach area. And this is also Manipura, Manipura in Sanskrit. The color of this chakra is yellow, and this is where we get personal power, confidence, and identity. So this is your gut. This is like my gut is telling me, you know, that I'm on path too. So you can you can actually get a little bit of intuition from this, but this is that power behind it. When it's balanced, your self-esteem is is is good. You have motivation and inner strength to continue to move forward with, you know, overarching goals or things along those lines. When it's out of balance, there is, there can be shame control issues. So again, overactive, underactive, I want to make all the decisions, or I just want somebody to step in and make decisions for me because I'm not feeling very confident. And again, low confidence is is one of those imbalanced notices there too.

SPEAKER_01 10:03

Horrible self-doubt that sneaks in, that low vibrational feeling, and also maybe a lot of people pleasing going on. Yeah. Giving away your personal power if it's not working the way that it should. And I'm just listening to this, and it just reminds me how much power there is in the chakra system and how it really, and I we've already talked about it, builds on each other because you have the base. And if it's all good there, it's easier. Like the solar plexus feel like the oomph to me, the stand my ground. I don't know how else to say it when it's balanced. It is that confidence, it is that part of you you show to the rest of the world. And that's how you function in the world. So I love that.

SPEAKER_00 10:46

It's it's how you show up. It's are you showing up as, you know, I'm here, hear me roar, or are you showing up as I'm here, but I'm not sure what I should be doing. I'm gonna hide behind something somewhere, somehow, and avoid situations.

SPEAKER_01 11:02

Yeah, making yourself small. And this the thing or the image coming into my mind is from the play Chicago and that song Cellophane, Cellophane, a Mr. Cellophane. Have you ever seen that? I don't think so. No, but he's got a wife who's got a very big presence, if I remember correctly. It's been a lot of years, and he just feels unseen. So it's making yourself unseen.

SPEAKER_00 11:26

Right. And it it's it's allowing that to kind of be how you show up in the world, is I'm just standing in somebody else's shadows. What I'll throw out there is I'm gonna throw myself under the bus and I will share very honestly that I know the difference between the sacral and the solar plexus, but sometimes I flip them just by language, not by what they're by by what they're doing and and what the utilization is. But I will get because I think it's because they both start with S. I was gonna say they both start with S and the colors are very similar. I f I flip them in my in my head often, but it's not it's not that I'm utilizing the wrong energy. It's that in my brain the names just flip. No, I get that.

SPEAKER_01 12:09

It's happened to me before, too. So just above the solar plexus, we are gonna move into that area or the chakra that so many people talk about, the heart chakra. And the heart chakra can be associated with the color green, or for some people, the color pink. Do you know why that difference exists?

SPEAKER_00 12:33

Uh, I think it's because we associate hearts with being red and and pretty colors like that. The the green is more balanced, it makes it makes more sense in the grand scheme of like the chakra system. But it's the pink shows up because we use pink quartz and stuff like that to represent love and heart. And, you know, I think it's just what's what it's associated with. But this one in Sanskrit is annahana.

SPEAKER_01 12:57

Anahana. And it is that beautiful green healing energy. And I find it very interesting because, you know, seven chakras, there's got to be a middle point, and your heart center is that middle point in so many meditations and so many things you do. It's let's pull the light in through our heart and let it expand, that heart space and let it expand. So this really is a very important chakra. And this chakra is all about love. It's about compassion, it's about the ability to forgive other people. And when it is balanced, you are open to it all. And you're not bounded by anything, if that makes sense. You're just open to the idea of love, both receiving and giving it, and there's a nice flow there. Right. But when it is unbalanced, that would mean you could be feeling grief. You could be over-giving, oversharing, or putting walls up.

SPEAKER_00 14:01

Emotional withdrawal for sure. Um, and and the only other thing that I'm gonna add is having a balanced heart chakra, you're more likely to be able to be to empathize with other people's pains, other people's experiences, which is also really important in the human experience.

SPEAKER_01 14:18

It is. Yeah, being able to relate to other people and have empathy for them. Yeah, that it was an important and sorry, I can't even talk. That was an important piece of information. So thank you for sharing that.

SPEAKER_00 14:31

Well, just above the heart chakra, we have the throat chakra that is Vishuda, which is located just, you know, the throat right there. And this the theme around this or the the ideology behind the throat chakras is communication, truth, and self-expression. When it is balanced, we have the ability to clearly communicate. We are more authentic to ourselves typically and communicate more openly and honestly. When it's out of balance or imbalanced, it's you have this fear of speaking, you may be being dishonest with yourself or with others, and you're suppressing your emotions. I find, just as a side note, that in women, the throat chakra tends to be blocked the absolute most. And I think it's because we as females tend to stifle a lot of what we're feeling and what we're experiencing because we want to be taking care of others.

SPEAKER_01 15:28

And I love that you just added it because when I think of the heart, or I'm sorry, the throat chakra being unbalanced, it can be silence, it can be overexplaining, it can be not speaking up. And I was thinking, I'm gonna throw myself under the bus here. And I would say 95% of the time I have Reiki sessions, there is an issue with my throat chakra and the fact that I'm not speaking up for myself or others or sharing where I'm coming from.

SPEAKER_00 15:58

And and sometimes that block can even come to come through because we don't know how to communicate. It's it's this I need to share something with the people that I'm closest to, but I'm not sure how to language it or word it in a way that they're going to understand. So that's that's a piece of the throat chakra too.

SPEAKER_01 16:18

Yeah, and you can see how they start working together too, because you're like, I have to have a conversation with this person, but I don't know how. And that eats away at your confidence. So now you have your solar plexus and your throat working together. So they do all interact that way. And it can be a whole lot of lot going on.

SPEAKER_00 16:41

I don't know another way to say it. Even going down from there, you lose confidence if you don't know how to communicate, which can also actively impact your foundation or your comfort in your living situation, which really rocks the root. And I mean, it it kind of trickles down. And you can you can see that.

SPEAKER_01 16:59

It definitely does. And because we haven't shared it yet, or I don't believe we have the throat chakras associated with the color blue. Okay, so from the throat chakra, we are gonna be moving up to the third eye chakra, which I don't know, I just love the chakra. It just makes me smile.

SPEAKER_00 17:19

It does. It's a great chakra. And it's anjna.

SPEAKER_01 17:22

Anjna. And it's located at the center of your forehead, right above your other two eyes. And what a color, Stacy? Indigo. And I'm gonna I see I let you say that one because, like you said, you got the S words mixed up. I get indigo and purple mixed up. So I thought it was indigo, but I just wanted to confirm that.

SPEAKER_00 17:45

No, I get that. Well, tell us about the third eye chakra. What is it associated with? Oh, intuition. This is where your insight and perception come from, come from. When it's balanced, you have really solid mental clarity, intuition, and awareness. So this, so I'm gonna say the third eye and your solar plexus. That's yeah, are both associated with your gut pulls, that intuition, those pieces, those, those typically communicate more than others. Is this doesn't feel right to me, my gut's telling me I'm off or something's off about this situation. Your intuition is picking up on that too when they're communicating with each other. Out of balance, it looks like confusion, overthinking, and sometimes lack of direction. You know, again, going back to those decision-making capabilities where you're going, I just I don't know what to do, I don't know where to go, I'm not sure what to do from here. And and that lack of confidence almost. See, it it's it's interesting to me how well the two speak to each other.

unknown 18:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:44

And I And that's the solar plexus now though. I did it. See, I did it. See, you did it.

SPEAKER_01 18:49

I did it. Yeah, no, the the third eye chakra just for me, I don't know. It just seems like the one that I need to make sure is in balance, but that's not true. They all need to be in balance. But I find myself so much more me when that is functioning correctly, if that makes any sense whatsoever. I do know when I go into meditation, when my third eye is open, I'm seeing lots of colors. I'm getting lots of images in through that. And yeah, I can't say enough. I love the third eye. But sometimes I get the third eye's function and the crown functions mixed up because they're both about opening up. So why don't you tell us a little bit about the crown chakra that is associated with the color purple? Sahasrara.

SPEAKER_00 19:42

So purple or white. So it's either of those colors. It's at the top of the head, and this is your spiritual connection. So this would be where my connection to Simon or my guides are, or you know, archangels, guardian angels. This is where we kind of see consciousness, enlightenment, ability to access information kind of outside of ourselves. When it's balanced, we experience inner peace and spiritual awareness. So again, the third eye and the crown really do that collaborative, like, this is your intuition kind of speaking. And, you know, out of balance, it looks like disconnection, cynicism, lack of purpose. And with an out-of-balance crown chakra, you can also feel very ungrounded, which is interesting because that's not typically where that is housed. That's usually your root chakra, it's making you feel ungrounded. But if you've got an overactive crown chakra, it can make you feel aloof and just unable to touch that foundational piece.

SPEAKER_01 20:43

Yeah, disconnected, spiritual bypassing, all of that. I think you just really helped me in what you said there. Because again, I was saying I was getting the third eye and the crown, what their jobs are, what they do, a little confused. But now I think I get it because you said with the crown, that's where you're talking to Simon. That's where you're talking to your guides. And I get that. That's the openness to consciousness, the collective consciousness. I'm getting that now, where the third eye is more the inside, the individual thing where the crown moves up and it's opening it up to. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 21:21

Thank you.

unknown 21:22

You're welcome.

SPEAKER_00 21:23

Well, and we have to hear things many different ways before we can ingrain them into ourselves or understand them differently.

SPEAKER_01 21:30

Yeah. Well, now that we've gone through the chakra system, I do have to ask, do you have a favorite chakra?

SPEAKER_00 21:38

I don't think I have I I I do really love the third eye, but I don't think I have a favorite. I because I just like how they all work together.

SPEAKER_01 21:46

Yeah, and that's what I was thinking as we were going through it too. I say my third eye is, but like my third eye wouldn't be functioning properly if my chakra wasn't working or my heart chakra wasn't working. So they all do work so beautifully. Together when they're in balance. And when they're not in balance again, something is sluggish, it's not turning right. You're going to feel it throughout the system and how you're living your day-to-day life. Well, I did come up with a couple scenarios that I'm going to share with you. And after listening to them, I want you to tell me which chakra it's associated with or which chakra may be out of balance. All right. It is a challenge, but hey, I trust that you're up to it. Okay. So here's the first one. Someone is always the strong one and the helper. They give a lot to others, but they're feeling drained, unseen, or resentful. And rest feels undeserved.

SPEAKER_00 22:50

Ooh. I immediately go to solar plexus, personal power and confidence, because that can be overactive where you're trying to do everything and people please and take care of everybody else, but it can also be root because we are taught to take care of others growing up. So it depends on a little bit more background. But I I lean to solar plexus first. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 23:12

Well, what I had written down here was overgiving. So going to the heart chakra. But you're right. See how they all work together and how they all play a role. So that's just a great demonstration. Okay, here's another one. Someone says they're constantly worried about money, even when things are technically okay. They feel like there's never quite enough. They hesitate to spend on themselves and they're always bracing for something to go wrong. Their body feels tense and relaxing feels unsafe.

SPEAKER_00 23:43

So that typically goes right with that root foundational chakra. Money problems, stability, like just being able to care for the self and others is generally associated with root.

SPEAKER_01 23:56

Yeah, definitely getting a lot of root chakra vibes that need to feel safe, to feel secure, to feel grounded, and like your world isn't falling apart. So I agree on that one. Okay. A person feels the need to explain themselves constantly. They worry about being misunderstood and they struggle to be heard.

SPEAKER_00 24:17

That is a direct reflection of the throat chakra. I love that we just went through all of these, and this is like the definitions that I think you provided. I know they're pretty similar.

SPEAKER_01 24:26

I'm like, I gotta change it up a little bit, but you know, they're really good too.

SPEAKER_00 24:31

Yeah, they are.

SPEAKER_01 24:32

They are. Okay, let's see. Someone says that they constantly doubt their decisions and they look to others for validation. They have a hard time saying no, they worry about disapproving other people, and they feel uncomfortable taking up space.

SPEAKER_00 24:48

This again brings me back to solar plexus, that control, that that lack of ability to make those decisions. But again, with the combination, this can also be, you know, the the inability to make those decisions, fear uh overthinking, third eye distractions, you know, it's so it's it's a combination there. But yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:11

Yeah. When I read that scenario, I went immediately into that people pleasing, that trying to show up and be what everybody else needs before being what I need and doubting yourself, doubting that you're enough. So I went into the solar plexus for that one too.

SPEAKER_00 25:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:28

Okay, let's see. Let's do one or two more. A person is feeling mentally foggy, they're feeling overwhelmed with information, and they're feeling very disconnected from their inner guidance. Third eye. Third eye, definitely. Third eye. Yeah. That one's like so easy. Okay, and then someone feels very open spiritually but struggles with their practical life, money routines, or staying present in the body.

SPEAKER_00 25:57

So that feels like crown chakra to me, but that can be a connection of all of them too, because you've got your root being that foundational money spending piece and you know, not being able to connect to me as the crown.

SPEAKER_01 26:12

Exactly. It I did write down crown and root, and it really goes to what you said earlier that when everything up here is jumbled and not able to ground like make sense to you, then you feel threatened in your root chakra. So very good, Stacey. You did really good with all of these. Well, thanks. I I was like, let's see, let's see how I do. I was being good. It's like you work with them or something.

SPEAKER_00 26:40

Weird. So weird. Weird.

SPEAKER_01 26:42

Well, before we wrap up this episode, is there anything else that you'd like to say about the chakra, the chakra system?

SPEAKER_00 26:48

I think if if anything, it would be that the everything that we've shared uh is not hard and fast. These are not information that's written in stone. These these are the beautiful thing about the chakra system is it is energy that you're talking about. So it flows. And that's one of the reasons that each chakra can kind of flow into the other or or just another and be two it can look two different ways, you know.

SPEAKER_01 27:14

Yeah, and I'm getting a beautiful visual as you're talking about that because as you know, the chakras line up one on top of the other throughout the the body, and just that beautiful, like the root chakras going and almost seeing a flowy energy coming up and affecting the one above it, and then that flowy energy just all interconnected, like with this beautiful flowy life force energy.

SPEAKER_00 27:37

And and truly, when the chakra system is in balance, that's what it kind of does feel like and look like, is it's just this beautiful flow of energy within the body.

SPEAKER_01 27:47

Yeah. Oh my gosh. This has been a great episode. It's been a great couple episodes on first Reiki and then explaining a little more in depth what the chakra system is. So thank you, Stacy. You're so welcome. And I think next week we're gonna be talking a little bit about spiritual or energetic clearings. We've both done them, we both had experiences, we've both been affected. So that'll be a great topic, I think. It will be. And that's my teaser. So, with that, do you want to close out this episode? Yeah, stay classy, stay sassy, and stay a little badassy. Until next time, everybody, get those chakras in balance. Bye. Thank you for listening to this week's episode of Three Cups and a Dash of Spirituality. If you'd like what you heard, please know that we have a full library of episodes now available on your favorite podcasting platform. You can listen to it now or you can download it to listen to later. Also, if you'd like to give us a review, we'd appreciate it. We love connecting with listeners and thank you in advance.