Every year around this time, I do a little life coaching exercise that’s featured in Give Your Life Direction.  The idea is to make a list of things I wish I could say but, for whatever reason, can’t.  Maybe because the other person is dead.  Maybe because it would be too dangerous to confront them.  Maybe because the other person lives far away.  Or maybe because I just don’t feel I can be honest with my emotions, whether they are jealous, angry, or wounded.  My fifth chakra, the throat chakra, has often been rather weak, but I’ve been actively strengthening it.

The first year I tried this exercise, I had a list as long as my arm.  It was only  “supposed” to be ten things, but I kept going, shocked at how much I’d kept bottled up.  A few years later, the list was down to the five to eight range. Last year, I had to dig a little harder and still ended up in the five to eight range, thanks mostly to some secrets I was keeping for someone else. Every year of this exercise, the burden gets a little lighter.

I sat down a few days ago to make my list for the year…and nothing.  Absolutely nothing.

The closest I could come was a conversation I’d like to have with one particular man in my life who has been out of town, but I’ve held off only because it would be nicer to have the conversation  face-to-face, alone.  It’s nothing bad–no anger, no jealousy, no I’m-hurt, no why-did-you-do-this?, no nothing of that sort.  Instead, it’s just a nice talk about something personal and lovely.

Right now, there’s little to nothing that I have bottled up, no emotion I’m swallowing because I’m afraid to say it or fear the ramifications if I do.

I kinda like it this way.

The seven Chakra Energy Centers embody the life force of the human body from root to third eye to crown. Each correlates to specific energy centers vertically along the spinal column as well as a specific meaning and color.

Several years ago, I was dating a young physician who was open-minded enough to attend some of my spiritual gatherings in my home. At one of these gatherings, an energy healer in my group demonstrated her healing techniques on him as well as on another attendee whom he could observe. Even with 11 years of schooling and a burgeoning medical practice, he’d never been introduced to the system of energy centers, except in passing as some kind of New Age concept.

That night, he saw first hand how each energy vortex could be opened and closed and the effects of the life force of each. We were able to feel open heart centers that extended like a palpable force field all the way to the ceiling and beyond. We could feel open root vortex and third eye as high as six feet above the person on the massage table that we were using for our “experiments” in energy work. It was as definitive as a physical ball of goo–this “aura” would bounce a little under our outstretched palms as we found the top of this field of life force energy.

My friendly physician left that night bubbling about how he planned to go back and tell all his doctor friends what he’d experienced and how he suspected they might ridicule him but he could explain the correlation between anatomical energy centers of the body with the oh-so-New-Age-y chakra system. We were thrilled with his scientific explanation.

Here are the correlations we explained to him:

These vortices of life energy can be overstimulated or understimulated, or closed. In these cases, there will be sickness or some kind of blockage of that energy.

If the chakras are open and balanced, then the person is generally happy and healthy.

There are seven main energy centers but you may have more, smaller ones throughout your body, such as in your hands.

The base or root chakra:

Located at the base of the spine, at the coccyx or tailbone

Represents the physical, survival

Color correspondence: red

Gemstones: ruby, red jasper, jet, obsidian, smokey quartz, bloodstone, garnet, black tourmaline

Physically effects: base of spine, bones, feet, kidneys, knees, legs

Manifestations (some) of imbalance: weight gain, physical instability, knee problems, back problems, arthritis

The sacral chakra:

Located at about 2 inches below the navel; the womb area for women

Represents sexuality and reproductive issues

Color correspondence: orange

Gemstones: carnelian, orange calcite, coral, amber, citrine

Physically effects: reproductive organs, spleen, lower intestines, bladder

Manifestations (some) of imbalance: infertility, urinary tract infections, sexually transmitted diseases/infections, anger, jealousy, incontinence, allergies, cervical cancer

The solar plexus chakra:

Located at the solar plexus/navel area, about 4 fingers’ width above the navel

Represents control, the “gut feeling” or “gut response” or the feeling of being “kicked in the gut”

Color correspondence: yellow

Gemstones: citrine, amber, yellow calcite

Physically effects: nerves and muscles, stomach, gall bladder, liver

Manifestations (some) of imbalance: digestive issues, “nervous” stomach, stomach ulcers, diabetes, fear, insecurity or distrust of intuition

The heart chakra:

Located in the heart/chest area

Represents emotions, particularly love, anger, jealousy, hatred;

Color Correspondence: green

Gemstones: jade, chryoprase, green adventurine, green or pink tourmaline, seraphinite (my favorite), kunzite (also a favorite), green peridot

Physically effects: heart, blood issues, arms, hands, chest

Manifestations (some) of imbalance: heart-related issues, stress, tightness in chest over emotional issues, circulatory problems, high blood pressure

The throat chakra:

Located in the throat and neck area, normally considered at the base of the throat

Represents ability to speak out, communication

Color Correspondence: blue

Gemstones: kyanite, aquamarine, blue lace agate, sodalite, lapis, celestite (my favorite), larimar (dolphin stone–another favorite), blue topaz

Physically effects: neck, throat, ears, thyroid, esophagus

Manifestations (some) of imbalance: thyroid, cancer of the esophagus, throat problems, ear infections, breathing problems, sore neck

The third eye or brow chakra:

Located in the brow area, between the eyes but in the middle of the forehead

Represents intuition and vision

Color Correspondence: indigo

Gemstones: lapis, sapphire, sodalite, azurite

Physically effects: eyes, nose, brow

Manifestations (some) of imbalance: blindness/vision problems, sometimes depression, lack of focus (ADHD), headaches

The crown chakra:

Located at the top of the head (remember Ballerina Barbie with the little blossom crown on her head that made her dance?)

Represents spirituality and connection to Deity

Color Correspondence: purple/violet; sometimes seen as white

Gemstones: quartz, selenite, amethyst, alexandrite (very pricey)

Physically effects: brain

Manifestations (some) of imbalance: mental confusion, sometimes depression, lack of motivation, mental illness, personality disorders, migraines, stroke