What Are Your Chakras Telling You?
You’ve probably heard someone say their heart chakra is blocked, their throat chakra needs opening, or they need to “balance their chakras.”
But what does that actually mean? And more importantly, what does it feel like when your chakras are in—or out of—balance?
In yogic traditions, chakras are described as energy centers within the subtle body. The seven main chakras run from the base of the spine to the crown of the head, and each is associated with different aspects of our physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual experience.
I like to think of them as another way of listening.
Our bodies communicate through sensations. Our emotions communicate through feelings. And our energetic system can offer another layer of information about what may be happening beneath the surface.
When I talk about a chakra being “out of balance,” I don’t necessarily mean something is wrong with you or that you need to immediately clear or fix it.
Sometimes, it’s simply asking for your attention.
What does a balanced chakra feel like?
Balance doesn’t mean that you never experience fear, grief, anger, insecurity or doubt.
- You can have a healthy heart chakra and still grieve.
- You can have a balanced root chakra and still feel afraid.
- You can have a healthy solar plexus and still have moments when you question yourself.
To me, balance is about having enough openness and flexibility that we don’t become chronically stuck in one state or pattern. And because life is constantly affecting us, our chakras aren’t going to remain perfectly balanced all the time. They shift just as we do.
The more interesting question becomes:
- What is this part of me asking for right now?
What is this part of me asking for right now?
Root Chakra
Safety • Grounding • Belonging
When your root chakra is balanced, you may feel grounded, present and secure within yourself. There can be an underlying sense of I’m okay. I belong here.
When it’s out of balance, you may experience persistent fear, insecurity, restlessness or disconnection from your body. You may have difficulty feeling settled, even when nothing is obviously wrong.
What can help: Spend time in nature. Walk barefoot. Move your body. Create routines that provide stability. Tend to basic needs such as nourishment, sleep, your home environment and finances. Practice grounding techniques that bring your awareness back into your physical body.
Sacral Chakra
Emotion • Creativity • Pleasure
A balanced sacral chakra allows us to feel. We can experience pleasure, creativity, desire and emotional intimacy without becoming overwhelmed by them.
When it’s out of balance, you might notice emotional numbness or emotional overwhelm, difficulty receiving pleasure, creative stagnation or shame around your wants and desires.
What can help: Dance. Swim. Create something without worrying whether it’s good. Allow yourself to experience pleasure without having to earn it. Notice your emotions and give them space to move rather than immediately trying to change them.
Solar Plexus Chakra
Confidence • Agency • Personal Power
When the solar plexus is balanced, there’s a sense of I can.
You can make decisions, take action, set boundaries and trust yourself without needing everyone around you to agree.
When it’s out of balance, you may feel powerless, indecisive or overly concerned with what others think. It can show up as people-pleasing and difficulty saying no—or on the other end of the spectrum, as a strong need to control.
What can help: Practice making small decisions and trusting them. Strengthen your boundaries. Notice where you’re saying yes when you mean no. Move your body in ways that make you feel strong and capable.
Heart Chakra
Love • Compassion • Connection
A balanced heart isn’t a heart that is open to everyone all the time.
It’s a heart that can love while still having boundaries.
You can give and receive. You can experience compassion for others without abandoning yourself in the process.
When the heart chakra is out of balance, you might notice guardedness, resentment, difficulty receiving love, unresolved grief or a tendency to overgive.
What can help: Allow yourself to grieve. Practice receiving. Spend time with people with whom you feel safe enough to be yourself. Offer yourself the same compassion you naturally extend to others.
Throat Chakra
Truth • Communication • Expression
When the throat chakra is balanced, we can express ourselves honestly and authentically. We can speak—and we can listen.
When it’s out of balance, you might find yourself holding back what you really want to say, afraid of disappointing someone or being misunderstood. Or you may overexplain, talk excessively or struggle to truly listen.
What can help: Sing. Hum. Journal. Practice saying what you actually mean, starting with small things. Notice the moments when you silence yourself and gently ask why.
Third Eye Chakra
Intuition • Insight • Inner Knowing
A balanced third eye allows us to access our intuition while still practicing discernment.
We can notice an inner knowing, image, feeling or intuitive nudge without immediately dismissing it—but we also don’t need to interpret everything that happens as a sign.
When it’s out of balance, you may distrust your intuition, overthink everything or constantly look outside yourself for answers.
What can help: Create quiet. Meditate. Journal. Pay attention to intuitive impressions before your analytical mind jumps in. Become curious about your inner knowing without demanding certainty from it.
Crown Chakra
Connection • Meaning • Spirituality
The crown chakra relates to our connection with something greater than ourselves—however we personally understand that.
When balanced, there may be a sense of meaning, trust, spiritual connection and openness.
When it’s out of balance, we may feel disconnected, spiritually lost or without meaning. At the other extreme, we can become so focused on spirituality that we disconnect from our bodies and ordinary human life.
What can help: Meditation, prayer, contemplation, time in nature and whatever spiritual practices genuinely connect you to something greater than yourself. And just as importantly: stay connected to your body, your relationships and your life here on Earth.
Do You Need to “Balance” Your Chakras?
Not necessarily.
Sometimes simply becoming aware of what’s happening is enough to begin creating movement.
If you notice that you’ve been afraid to speak up, perhaps your throat chakra doesn’t need an elaborate clearing ritual. Maybe it needs you to finally have the conversation you’ve been avoiding.
If your root feels unsettled, perhaps it needs grounding, consistency and rest.
If your heart feels heavy, perhaps it needs space to grieve.
Our energetic patterns can sometimes point us toward something that wants our attention.
And that’s where I find chakra work most valuable.
Not as another thing to perfect.
- But as another way to listen.
Crown Chakra
When a Chakra Reading + Reiki Can Help
Sometimes we know exactly what’s happening within us.
And sometimes we don’t.
You might notice that you keep encountering the same emotional pattern. You may feel “off” without really knowing why. Or you may simply be curious about what your energetic system has to say.
In my Chakra Reading + Balancing sessions, I tune into each of the seven main chakras and share what I sense—where energy seems to be flowing freely, where there may be constriction or depletion, and what may be asking for attention.
The reading can offer another layer of insight into patterns you may already be noticing emotionally, physically, spiritually or in your life.
From there, Reiki and energy work can support the energetic system in releasing, settling and moving toward greater balance.
But I don’t think of this work as me “fixing” your chakras.
Your energy belongs to you.
My role is to listen, reflect back what I perceive and offer support to your system.
Because sometimes what we need isn’t another person telling us what’s wrong with us.
We simply need another way to hear what has been trying to get our attention all along.