Positive Health Online

An extract from the book by Richard Ellis

How is dysfunction caused?

As the description of the chakras and the energetic bodies demonstrates, our lives are a journey, and during this journey we develop ourselves on all levels. The outside world and the people around us play an important role in the shaping of who we are, both emotionally and in terms of our beliefs about the world. As we grow up we develop emotional patterns that are based on the patterns of those people. We also inherit the belief systems of our immediate environment, so in a sense we begin to mimic the behaviour of others as a way of validating our own beliefs. We learn how to function in the world through the teachings and guidance we receive from those around us.

CASE STUDY

From birth to the age of seven, our subject is developing her base chakra, and if her basic needs are not met by her parents, she will begin to lose trust in her ability to survive. At the age of eight she moves into the next stage of her development, her second chakra, and is working on issues such as sexuality, self-worth, feelings and emotions. She is looking to expand her horizons, she wants to fit in with her peer group, and her self-worth depends on it.

At the age of nine our child's parents move home. Suddenly she is ripped away from the surroundings that are familiar to her. She has already developed issues relating to security and trust, and now they are enforced with a new set of issues.

At the age of 15 our subject moves into her third chakra. She is working with issues of control, power and her personal identity. She is, however, very fragile, as she carries unconscious fears that the world is a dangerous place, and is still very dependent on her parents.

At the age of 21 our subject moves into her heart centre, the fourth chakra, developing issues related to love. She meets someone and falls in love. She wants so much to love and be loved but for some reason it doesn't work out that way. Issues from her earlier life are starting to surface and they are preventing her having the relationship she wants. Unexpressed anger, insecurity and the need for control start to surface.

Our subject moves into her fifth chakra, the throat, at the age of 28. Now she is dealing with all forms of expression and communication and is at the age where all she has learned is beginning to take form. However, her feelings of insecurity are preventing her from expressing herself fully in all areas of life.

At 35 she moves into the sixth chakra. She is developing her own conscious perception of herself. If, by this stage in her life, she has failed to look at some of her own deep-seated fears and unresolved issues they may surface more strongly.

At 42 she moves into her last cycle, the seventh chakra, and begins to develop understanding of her eternal self. She may yearn to travel to lonely places, embarking on voyages of discovery to find herself. If she does not allow this flowering to occur she will remain in the conflicting cycle of her previous 42 years.

We pass through each stage of development as the relevant issues relating to that chakra are worked on. After the 49th year we will return again to start a new cycle starting with the base chakra.

Lightening the load

Quite often we can ignore and suppress thoughts, feelings, and unresolved issues, choosing to find ways to cope in spite of them. However, this is like carrying excess baggage that simply weighs us down, serving no purpose other than to limit us. If we can identify this excess baggage we may find it is no longer needed – we can continue on our journey with a lighter load.

It is impossible to separate our emotions from our physical body – they are all connected. If we carry unresolved issues on an emotional level, the chakra that was being developed at the time the issue occurred will be affected too. This may mean the flow of vital energy reaching the physical body served by that chakra will be affected as well. Consequently, we find that issues related to any chakra will have an effect on each layer of the three bodies related to it.

* Extracted with permission.

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