Positive Health Online

Chakras are our energy centres. There are at least nine situated in our body, and many more in our auras. They function as pumps or valves, regulating the flow of energy through our energy system. The word chakra is an ancient Sanskrit word, literally translated as wheel or vortex, and refers to the spinning energy emanating from our core.

Humans are made up of four bodies – physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. To be in good health, all four must be working in harmony. Plato and Socrates spoke about this subject centuries ago, so this is not new thinking; it is just as relevant to us today as it was then. When things happen to us, we can only control how we choose to react.  We all have free will; how we choose to think, feel and be is affected by the world around us. This is reflected back to us through our chakras, via our subconscious. Tensions in our emotional being affect the functioning of our physical bodies.

All of our senses, perceptions, possible states of awareness, everything it is possible for us to experience, can be divided into categories. Each category can be associated with a particular chakra. Many ancient texts and modern books talk about the seven main body chakras, although there are many more. (For more information on the 15 chakras that I work with please refer to www.organic-aromatherapy.co.uk)

Chakras are more dense than auras, but not as dense as the physical body. They are hardwired to the physical body through two major vehicles, the endocrine system and the nervous system. Each of the seven main body chakras is associated with one of the endocrine glands, and also to a group of nerves called a plexus. This is the connection between the physical body and the emotional, mental and spiritual bodies. Each chakra can be associated with particular parts of the body and particular functions within the body.

If a chakra is out of balance or blocked then an area of dis-ease can develop. This can be caused by a build up of unacknowledged negative emotions. If left unacknowledged, the dis-ease, or 'whisper', can become a greater problem as the body starts to 'shout' to gain our attention, eventually breaking down into pain or disease.

As far as the physical is concerned, doctors are increasingly talented at the mechanics of surgery. They can fix parts that are broken but they don't heal the body...the healing process is up to the patients themselves and this largely depends on the quality of care they experience to ensure their emotional, mental and spiritual side is equally balanced.

When a person feels cared for and secure, has good nutrition, water and plenty of rest...they will heal. Our bodies are good at that as we have the DNA within us to fix any part of ourselves. However, we now often see hospitals struggling to do their jobs due to time and funding issues. This leads to a lack of real 'nursing', leaving patients feeling uncared for and undervalued, leading to slower healing and an increase in complications and infection. Florence Nightingale was an excellent example of a wonderful healer, as she showed true care and support for her patients in the Crimea war, helping them to be in the best emotional place to heal.

We are all aware that chemically manufactured medication often has a negative side effect, sometimes requiring further chemical medication to counteract it. The resulting cocktail cannot be good for us, can it? If we are ill or feeling challenged, the last thing we need to do is overload our liver and kidneys with more detoxifying/elimination work. The choice is to use natural vibrational remedies, like essential oils and herbs that are often more powerful and have no negative side effects.

Mind-Body Connection

Our mind controls our body and all of its processes.  We are a reflection of our thoughts.

As we believe, so we create. Therefore if we believe that we cannot heal for some reason, then we will be right. We should guard against accepting 'inevitability', such as when we are told by the medical profession that we are 'bound' to suffer a problem later in life. For instance, some doctors suggest that damaging a joint will inevitably lead to arthritis later. By expecting something to happen we remove the ability for the body to take action and heal itself. We should remain open to all possibilities and allow nature to take its course.

Here are some examples of how the mind controls bodily responses:

• Our mouths water at the thought of a favourite food if it's described when we are hungry, even if we don't see or smell it. This salivation is an established 'Pavlovian' response;
• Embarrassment causes the physical response of the face flushing in a blush;
• Some sexual thoughts provoke a physical response.

Holistic healthcare suggests that if we can maintain an open mind, even old injuries can heal. Miracles can happen when this thought process is applied.

It is up to us to decide what ideas to accept and which to reject. We decide what to think and what to feel. If certain decisions and ideas leave us stressed, then we may develop symptoms in certain areas of our bodies. When the issues are left unacknowledged, dis-comfort becomes dis-ease, which in turn becomes disease.

This can also apply to inherited conditions. Our parents have been an influence on us but we can choose how we respond to their influences. No parent is perfect...we are all human. We learn how to be and also how not to be from our parents/family. Our choice is which aspects of our thought processes and learning we choose to practice and retain, and which we choose to let go of because they may not be serving us any more or causing us angst. For example, just because a parent holds grudges, doesn't mean that we have to because this will only stress our heart area. We are constantly evolving and growing, so to stay stubbornly fixed in old thought patterns is a great way to stagnate, and will cause our bodies to object and shout for attention.

Whenever we have pain, dis-ease or illnesses we must seek the reason behind the symptom. This often means looking deep within us, but we must acknowledge the message our bodies are giving us so the body can release the blockage. Each part of the body holds a particular emotion. i.e liver=suppressed anger, kidneys=fear, lungs=suppressed grief. This is the essence of psychoneuroimmunology (pni). For optimum healing, each new pain/ache must be treated as a fresh, new and current communication from our body, letting us know that we have an emotional angst about something.

The chart below shows a few of the most common symptoms of chakra imbalance/blockage.

Body Regeneration

Our bodies totally re-build themselves in less than two years through natural cell regeneration, so we should ask ourselves the question: "Why am I still creating the same body?"

Take a close look at your body. Are there any areas of your body that are either overly large or small? Is there a layer of protective fat in places that is hard to shift? If you do, then these are areas where you are feeling challenged and vulnerable energetically – your body is responding to the vulnerability of the area and either protecting it or reflecting a blockage.

Do you have constant problems in one area of your body – perhaps lower back or knees? Again, these are areas where your chakra is out of balance and your body is asking you to pay attention.

The closer we listen to our bodies and react when we start to feel pain or discomfort, the healthier we can become. If we understand the way our bodies talk to us, then we can respond quickly, acknowledge how our subconscious is manipulating us, change our thinking allow the body to heal.

By keeping our chakras happy and balanced, we can maintain good health and happiness, even to the point of looking more youthful, and that's surely something we all want for ourselves and our families.