By now, you’ve likely heard of the Kundalini energy and chakras. At Sahaja, we try to demystify these concepts as much as we can and explain how these things correlate with aspects of your life. Truthfully, meditation doesn’t have to be mystical or separate from real, normal living. Real meditation is actually quite the opposite, tightly integrated into practitioners’ everyday lives.

Our chakras are a system of inner energy centers at the core of our being and are at work each day. To give you an example, when we overeat, our Nabhi chakra becomes imbalanced. On a deeper level, when we strengthen our heart chakra, we get rid of our fears and insecurity.

Here is everything you need to know about the chakras in simple terms.

What are Chakras?

Chakras, or inner energy centers as we like to call them, are a part of our subtle energy system. This is a system at the core of our being and comprised of three other components other than the chakras – the Kundalini energy, the energy channels or nadis and our Inner Self or Spirit. You can think of chakras as points of concentration of our inner vital energy – the energy that we ultimately draw upon for everything in our lives – our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual activity and energies. In that sense, the chakras drive us – they’re at the root of our existence.

Why do they exist or why do I need them?

The subtle energy system is formed within us at birth, so everyone has them. It is put in us by nature just like all other systems of our body – physiological, nervous systems etc. So, they only need to be discovered. We can’t do without them as they inevitably control our being at the deepest and innermost levels of our existence. Science stops with analyzing our physical, mental and emotional side. Chakras exist on a subtle system that cannot be seen by microscopes or scientific experiments. Yet, their effects can be felt in various ways by us – in our behavior, most of all, and in our evolution to higher or lower states of existence. That’s the way nature has designed human beings.

Is there scientific proof of their existence?

Not yet, but there are several pointers to their existence based on outcomes and behaviors exhibited by human beings and studied in clinical trials. Scientific research on meditation correlates and confirms many of the expected or anticipated behaviors in human beings when they meditate and these behaviors are also attributed to specific chakras and their functioning in spiritual teachings and literature. This correlation can help us get closer to the basis of their existence. More than this, individual experiences and feelings can more easily confirm them, regardless of the form or system of meditation. To date, a vast number of meditation and yoga offerings have plenty of such experiences from a large number of people who in some form have experienced the effect of chakras and the Kundalini energy through personal experiences. Sahaja is not alone in this regard.

How do I use the chakras in a practical sense?

Our subtle energy system is activated and energized during the process of the Kundalini energy awakening known as Self-Realization in Sahaja. From that point on, we’re able to sense and feel our chakras over time and detect and correct problems with them. Clear and energized chakras mean that we have more energy in general, fewer problems relating to multiple aspects of our lives and most importantly, a noticeable degree of self-improvement that occurs within us. Activating and using our chakras doesn’t have to be a mystical, exotic experience like levitating or feeling as though our being is floating – those are clichés created from a half-baked knowledge of chakras.

In fact, chakras and the Kundalini energy are truly meant to help human beings become more mature, better people and develop stronger character and personality. And they do not work magically or overnight. This needs work, patience, and perseverance on part of the practitioner.

What happens to those people who do not activate or use their chakras?

Nothing at all. They continue to be normal. However, they may be limited in their evolution to higher states of maturity and especially spiritual evolution. Spiritual evolution is about discovering the truths deep inside of ourselves and our place in this universe and experiencing them so we can progressively move to higher states by virtue of that experience. It’s about finding answers in our lives that are not found in textbooks or taught in schools or even real-world experiences. But not everyone is looking for a great degree of spiritual evolution. Most people are happy and contented with their achievements in life, which by themselves are in no way inferior. In fact, seeking spirituality and the eternal happens to each individual at stages when they are ready and receptive.

So, the use of chakras and spiritual evolution is not a must in life and it doesn’t cause anyone to lose anything significant, it’s a personal choice and a pathway to higher states of evolution.

What happens if I try activating my subtle system and chakras but stop using them after a while?

Again, nothing at all. Your potential to achieve self-improvement may be limited. The subtle energy system simply goes back to its dormant state after a while. It can be reactivated again, when you choose to.

What exactly is the correlation between meditation and chakras? Can there be meditation without the chakras?

Yes, absolutely. Meditation can be defined as a state – one in which we experience something different or special – like minimal or no thoughts and consequently lower levels of stress, anxiety and other problems. Or it can be a heightened spiritual state as well, where we can experience subtle things like the energy of the universe.

Meditation is possible with or without the Kundalini and chakras. Typically, those that do not use them tend to use our cognitive abilities. Sahaja meditation operates by elevating our consciousness to a higher state – a plane where we experience minimal or no thoughts and also can feel our connection to the universe in tangible terms.

In Sahaja meditation, once the Kundalini energy rises, it passes through the chakras, energizes them and achieves a connection to the all-pervading energy of the universe by passing through the seventh energy center or Crown chakra. The state of meditation results from this phenomenon. In that sense, meditation is nearly automatic or spontaneous in Sahaja, it happens when this phenomenon occurs, of course, most of the time when we desire for it to happen and explicitly prepare ourselves for it to happen.

How can I maximize the benefits of chakras based meditation?

At Sahaja, we have a comprehensive mapping of chakras to different character and personality traits. When you practice Sahaja meditation, you have the ability to work on each of your chakras individually, feel each of them and work on a journey of long-term improvement in your chakras. Each one of us is different as individuals and our own strengths and weaknesses. The practice of Sahaja meditation grants you the ability to sense where your strengths and weaknesses lie in your chakras. Accordingly, you can focus more on the chakras that need improvement. Through your meditation, once your chakras are nourished and energized, you will find the associated traits and characteristics beginning to manifest within you.

The extent of positive changes inside yourself may surprise you. The chakras and the Kundalini energy are amongst the most powerful tools we can tap into for our health, well-being, and self-improvement.

Finally, the power of collective meditation sessions enhances your progress greatly as you are able to tap into the collective energy to help nourish your chakras.

Can I feel the chakras in my body? How does it feel?

The concepts about feeling chakras in our body are dime a dozen out there. Almost everyone who has anything to do with Kundalini and chakras claims that they feel different things. While we cannot speak to individual experiences, we strongly suspect that over 80% of these are simply wishful and conjured. A lot of people think they’re feeling this or that. In our experience, having gathered and tested practitioner experiences over 47 years and across multiple countries after they went through the same set of methods and techniques, i.e., Sahaja, we believe that the feeling and experience of chakras is very tangible. You can feel your chakras through the flow of energy in your fingertips (and sometimes through your toes). Each finger and toe corresponds to a specific chakra and the flow of the energy determines how healthy your chakras are. In addition, there are feelings like pin pricks, heat, cool, etc. which give further detailed insights into the state of your chakras.

Once again, lots of people think feeling chakras is something mystical, magical and an out of the body experience. Hardly so – it’s a very tangible, practical sensation and most important of all, it’s meant to be for taking corrective action on our chakras – such as clearing and balancing.

Can I feel the chakras of others?

If you try and learn how to, then yes. However, at Sahaja, we only recommend that you understand your own subtle energy system and develop the sensitivity to feeling your own chakras. Even that can be quite a tedious process with patience and hard work, so we don’t recommend anyone trying to feel others’ chakras. Spirituality is about self-improvement, we don’t teach people to become healers and advisors.

How is the word “chakras” pronounced?

After hearing nearly everyone who hasn’t had an exposure to the Sanskrit language pronounce it wrong and almost as they please, we’d love to tell you that the closest pronunciation is how you would pronounce the phrase “chuck-ross” in American English.