Color: Purple - Indigo 

Element: Light 

Organs: Forehead, brain, eyes, pituitary gland, nose, ears 

Sense: Intuition 

Crystals: Amethyst, Labradorite, Fluorite

The Third Eye (or also called the brow chakra) is the seat of our intuition, understanding, intelligence, insight, and goals. This chakra helps us with experiences that lead to wisdom. The Third Eye also stands for dreams, mediumship, and the ability to look inward into ourselves. A balanced and open Third Eye gives us the ability to receive visions, visualize, and intuitively sense things that are sometimes inexplicable.

The chakra has a strong connection with the pineal gland and to some extent, the Third Eye is also associated with the pituitary gland. In this way, it controls and balances the physical and the spiritual. An imbalanced or blocked Third Eye can make us confused. We don't know what we want to achieve in our lives and have difficulty making decisions, which often leads to melancholy. Those with blockages in this chakra also lose contact with their intuition and their psychic abilities. Our dreams and visions do not materialize as the strength and courage are lacking. Imbalance can lead to a series of poor choices as we become judgmental of people, events, actions, and situations. This chakra has 96 lotus petals.

A balanced Third Eye gives us a sense and power of direction in life, as we know which path to take and are not afraid to follow it. We see all aspects of a situation and can be objective. We are helped and strengthened to distinguish between thoughts originating from fear and those coming from our inner strength. It becomes possible to live based on a deeper intuition and a sense of what is long-term right for oneself. The energy in this chakra is very important for us to realize our goals. Many children are born with the ability to see other people's auras, but they are not encouraged to hold onto this and are met with dismissive responses that it's just fantasy. This inhibits their intuitive abilities and development, creating a blockage.

Often, what we experience as resistance in life is a drama that takes place within us rather than something that befalls us from the outside. Much of our fears come from imagination, and it is unlikely that what we dread will actually happen. In this chakra, we have the opportunity to look inward at this, change our behavior, and send out what we truly wish to receive back. We also come close to the ability to care about other people, increase our sensitivity to injustices, and accept differences. It creates a desire to live our lives with dignity and security. Here, our imagination and creativity also flow.

A good exercise for the Third Eye is meditation.

Find a quiet place where you can sit, preferably in the lotus position. If you wish, light a candle, listen to music, or sit in silence (it's up to you). Let your thoughts rest, set them aside. Focus on breathing calm breaths. Sit for five minutes if you are not used to meditating and increase the time gradually.

Color: Light Blue 

Element: Sound 

Organs: Mouth, teeth, throat, esophagus, trachea, thyroid gland, ears, and neck 

Sense: Hearing 

Crystals: Turquoise, Amazonite, Aquamarine

The throat chakra is associated with our ability to communicate and speak the truth. Located just between the head and the rest of the body, it sometimes acts as a mediator between what the mind wants to express and what the body feels. When we experience an inner conflict, the throat chakra determines whether emotions or reason will prevail in our expression.

There's a connection between the sacral chakra and the throat chakra. The sacral chakra holds our creative energy, and it's through the throat chakra that we find ways to express it. Our mode of communication is also a creative process. Blocking our communication or suppressing conflicts effectively blocks energy flow. This can manifest physically as neck problems, sore throat, stiff neck, or tension headaches. One can often hear whether the chakra is balanced or not – a relaxed and calm voice indicates balance, while a tense and strained voice may suggest imbalance. An underactive throat chakra may result in a weak voice, reflecting a fear of speaking one's truth in life. Those with blockages in this chakra struggle to make decisions and often defer to others.

When the throat chakra is in good balance, we can express our feelings easily and communicate effectively with others. The chakra is associated with being able to listen to one's intuition and influences our communication on physical, sexual, emotional, verbal, and spiritual levels. It also influences our ability to keep promises and fulfill commitments, both to ourselves and others. An imbalanced throat chakra can make us arrogant, less considerate, and prone to talking too much, defensively, or boastfully.

On a spiritual level, individuals with a well-balanced throat chakra are adept at listening to their inner voice and receiving messages from guides and angels. Balanced intuition enables us to discern between our own thoughts and messages from angels, spirit guides, and more. We can balance our throat chakra by awakening our willpower and creativity and understanding cause and effect. Taking responsibility for our actions and their consequences, standing up for ourselves, and speaking our truth are essential for throat chakra balance.

A beneficial yoga pose for the throat chakra is Cobra Pose.

Lie on your stomach with your hands placed on the floor outside your chest. Draw your navel in and inhale. Lift your upper body with your hips remaining on the floor, without pressing your hands too much into the ground. The back is what lifts the upper body off the ground, while gently pressing the toes down. Allow the shoulders to relax away from the ears. Exhale and come down again. Repeat this for 3 minutes.

Color: Green & pink 

Element: Air 

Organs: Heart, lungs, chest, shoulders, and diaphragm 

Sense: Touch 

Crystals: Rose Quartz, Aventurine, Amethyst

This is the chakra that energetically connects our physical self/ego with the spiritual body, guiding us not only to seek our own best interests but to see the best for everyone. It teaches us to live in love and compassion, as it holds our ability to feel unconditional and selfless love. Loving ourselves and others, providing inner security, feeling our self-worth, and finding joy are all within the realm of the heart chakra.

When we have a balanced heart chakra, we find our place in the grand scheme of things, enabling us to trust deeply in ourselves and others. The power of this chakra helps us accept our emotional trials and challenges, understanding that their purpose is to develop our consciousness. By freeing ourselves from emotional behaviors and patterns that do not serve us and letting go of the need to know why certain things happen or have happened, we achieve a state of peace and tranquility. We also balance our heart chakra by genuinely caring for others.

The energy here is different compared to our other chakras, particularly in the context of healing, where energy flows out from the heart chakra. The color associated with this chakra is green or pink. Pink arises when the three lower chakras are open, allowing sex and love to merge. Pink symbolizes both eroticism and romance, while green represents growth.

The hexagram or the two united triangles, one pointing upwards and the other downwards, is the symbol of the heart in the Tantric tradition. It signifies the union of the higher and lower, as the heart lies midway between the three lower and three upper chakras. An imbalanced heart chakra can manifest as susceptibility to depression or difficulty finding joy in life. Suppressed tears and grief here may lead to conditions such as asthma, allergies, lung issues, and circulation problems. Imbalance in the heart chakra may also manifest as jealousy, hysteria, and self-pity. A blocked heart chakra can render us unreceptive to love, regardless of the love and care we receive from the world around us, it doesn't affect us, and we constantly seek more. This is also where our inner martyr resides, who fails to understand unconditional love. One who indulges in self-pity, is anxious, fearful, and dares not let go and surrender to life.

Affirmation: "I love myself for who I am and the possibilities within me. The love I feel for myself and others is unconditional."

Meditate on the word 'love' and listen to your feelings, for they know the way.

A yoga exercise to balance the heart chakra is Cat & Cow.

Get on all fours with your knees on the floor. Inhale and arch your back, raising your head and looking diagonally upwards towards the ceiling. Exhale and round your back towards the ceiling, bringing your chin towards your chest, and gaze towards your navel. Gentle, slow movements for 3 minutes.

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-The solar plexus chakra / Mutadhara-

Color: Red 

Element: Earth 

Organs: Lower part of the spine, legs, feet, anus, immune system, connective tissues. The glands associated with the root chakra are the adrenal glands and gonads, and its placement also links it to our sexual drive. 

Sense: Smell 

Crystals: Garnet, Jasper, Smoky Quartz

When the root chakra is balanced, we often say: We stand with both feet on the ground, have earth connection. The chakra is also tied to the material world, success, and needs such as financial support, work, and home. When the chakra is balanced, our individuality, stability, self-confidence, courage, and patience are strengthened. We dare to stand for our own individuality (to be ourselves), we are stable and secure in our knowledge, we dare to be here and now. We are brave enough to test our limits, and we have infinite patience.

During blockages and imbalances, one becomes more self-centered, insecure, and anxious. In an attempt to correct the imbalance, overcompensation may occur, leading to overactivity, which can manifest as aggressiveness.

Its task is to make us feel that the world is a safe place for us to live in. An imbalanced root chakra can give you a feeling of being unwelcome, unworthy, unloved, and afraid. Regardless of whether your root chakra is overactive or underactive, try to address the imbalance. You can see it as the foundation of a house. If the foundation is unstable or has cracks and other weaknesses, the rest of the house will also become unstable. Blockages in Muladhara affect the entire pelvic floor musculature. It thus affects the muscles that control bowel movements, urine, and sexual release.

The red color for the root chakra is the color of life force. It is the color of blood and the first color we come into contact with when we are born. Red signifies energy for our connection with the earth and promises survival. On a spiritual level, the color red is a color that touches us, awakens us, and leads us towards change. It is the color of passion and righteous anger, of revolution, movement, and progress. Red energy is courage, daring, but also the energy of love.

There are various ways to strengthen and balance your chakras.

You can use crystals that affect and cleanse your chakras with their frequencies. Meditations are a good way to connect with yourself and your inner being, balance your chakras, and cleanse your aura. Initially, you can meditate with guidance, but you will soon become adept at doing it yourself.

A good yoga pose is Crow Pose.

Sit on your heels with the entire sole of your foot on the floor. Keep your back straight and your toes pointing slightly outward, with the heels remaining on the floor. Let the hips sink down between the feet so that the legs are not in front of the abdomen but alongside the upper body. Wrap your arms around your knees. Close your eyes and take long, deep breaths for 3 minutes.