Have you ever wondered where your emotions go once you've experienced them?

You may guess that they become a memory. But where is the memory held?

The ancient yogis were convinced that just as the body has a physical structure to hold in place the organs which represent bodily functions, they thought surely there must be a system that represents emotional states. This system they called chakras.

The word, chakra, comes from the ancient Indian Sanskrit word meaning wheel.

Chakras are considered to be rotating vortexes of energy.

The energy represents different emotional states such as love, compassion, anger, fear, and the myriad other emotions experienced on a daily basis.

The more you hold onto an emotional state, the bigger the vortex whirls within you. 

What's more, different emotional states are considered to have different energy points within the body.

Most chakra experts agree there are 7 chakra centers representing different emotional states, corresponding to different energy centers within the body. 

Meet Your 7 Chakras

First (Muladhara) Chakra

Emotional State: feeling grounded, stable, survival

Location: base of spine (coccyx), hips, legs, feet

Color: red

Element: earth

Second (Swadisthana) Chakra

Emotional State: creativity, impulse, procreation

Location: reproductive organs

Color: orange

Element: water

Third (Manipura) Chakra

Emotional State: zest for life, passion

Location: stomach, liver, intestines, digestive area

Color: yellow

Element: fire

Fourth (Anahata) Chakra

Emotional State: love, compassion, gratitude

Location: heart

Color: green

Element: air

Fifth (Vishudha) Chakra

Emotional State: expansive calmness, silence

Location: throat, neck, vocal cords, thyroid

Color: blue

Element: ether

Sixth (Ajna) Chakra

Emotional State: release ego-centeredness, willpower

Location: 2 locations -- the brain stem and the point between the eyebrows

Color: indigo

Element: super-ether

Seventh (Sahasrara) Chakra

Emotional State: seat of the soul, liberation

Location: crown of head

Color: violet or purple

Element: super-ether

How to Meditate on the Chakras

There's so much more to the chakras, including sounds, stones, and negative and positive poles that represents each chakra. For the purpose of meditation, simply visualizing a particular color of a chakra you'd like to focus on can be helpful. It's also helpful to visualize a part of your body that represents the chakra you're focusing on.

For example, if you'd like to focus on love and gratitude of the fourth chakra, you could visualize the area of your heart and the the color green. You could cultivate the feeling as though you are expanding your heart with love and gratitude. You could even visualize someone else to send love and gratitude towards.

If you are new to chakras, the main things is not to feel intimidated by the chakras. They are simply locations within your body where you may harbor particular emotions and memories.

In Western culture, the notion of chakras may seem esoteric and even superstitious. However, with a little practice tuning into different emotional states and where you hold these emotions within your body, you may soon find yourself intuitively tuning into the concept of chakras.

 Be Guided in a Chakra Meditation 

Every Thursday on The Daily Meditation Podcast you're guided in a 10-minute episode using with a chakra focus that is customized around the weekly theme. Or, for a deeper, in-depth guided chakra experience, enjoy Day 5 of every week's new themed meditation series on the Sip and Om meditation app. Try it free for a week!