Throughout your day pause to reflect on how your body feels. Straighten your spine, relax your shoulders and hips, and allow any feelings of flow or presence to arise.

Don’t visualize or force any imagery at this time. Simply pay attention to what is here, in your body.

Holding your hands in front of you, elbows bent, palms facing upward, is often a great way to experience the subtle body. You may feel a sense of presence or warmth in one or both hands; explore this, allowing the sensation to move and change as it will.

Close your eyes and focus on how your body feels. Do you feel or sense a very subtle stirring within?

With practice you will be able to move the sensation from your hands into your arms, chest, and anywhere else you choose. Also you will, with time, be able to feel the warm glow of presence originate from sources other than the palms of your hands.

This simple exercise is highly effective for tuning into your body’s energy meridians. At first don’t try to focus your attention on any specific chakra point or pathway; just allow whatever feelings and presence that occur to be and grow.

This should lead to an increased awareness of your chakra system, and of improved sensory perception like sight and hearing. Also you may become more intuitive as a result of these observation sessions.

Certainly people with eating disorders or smoking habits are very likely to strengthen their resolve to quit by paying sincere attention to the body. Likewise if you are overweight or unwilling to get physical exercise when you begin these sessions, it’s possible you will become spontaneously interested in getting more exercise.

Practice basic body awareness throughout the day whenever you want. Eventually your overall state of alertness will raise to the point where you are always tuned in to what your body is feeling and communicating to you.

And by approaching life from the perspective of energy, we can address many issues at the root level. The chakra system allows you to enhance your health and create a wide range of results by working with the energy beneath the physical manifestation.

You can find a more in-depth discussion of just a few studies relating to energetics and metaphysical practices at my main site.

One method in particular is EFT - or Emotional Freedom Technique. The name actually limits one’s perspective of what this amazing practice can help you achieve.

In essence, EFT is the art of tapping along the chakra centers and energy meridians of the human body while performing specific meditations, visualizations, mantras, or other energy work. You might be surprised by what can be accomplished with this simple but powerful practice.

Because you are working with source energy in many ways, you can create some pretty incredible manifestations. EFT was originally taught as a way of removing negative energy from the body to deal with stress, guilt, self-sabotage, and so forth.

But new studies are linking EFT practice to a whole range of specific creative applications. For instance many people are now teaching EFT as a way of attracting abundance. I recommend you spend a little time researching ETF on your own using the links above as a starting point.

I’ll be adding more content here in the near future. EFT can be leveraged as a really powerful method of releasing negative energy, clearing blockage, and allowing your true greatness to express; so I hope you’ll spend some time looking into this practice on your own.

But for purposes of this article, meditation is a great way for increasing your awareness of the chakra points. By engaging in simple breath observation meditation you will begin to sense your body’s subtle energy system.

Over time, simple meditation will still your mind. As this happens you will naturally begin to sense each of your chakra centers.

Some people feel their chakra points as warm areas, while other people simply know they are there. Exactly how you become aware of your subtle energy will depend on your individual personality and the way you normally perceive the world around you.

And once you become more aware of your chakra system you can begin to focus on specific meditations for each chakra, if you desire. It’s not necessary to ever do this, but many people find it a useful practice for remaining in balance or for addressing specific energetic needs.

You can learn to meditate by visiting our basic meditation tutorial here.

While not yet accepted by Western medicine, the chakra system is an integral part of acupuncture and other proven studies. Chakra knowledge was, according to ancient Vedic texts, discovered thousands of years ago.

Originally, the chakras were thought of as centers of consciousness. Today, most descriptions refer to chakras as points of “power” or “energy”.

Study of this esoteric system continues to this day, and modern theories include discoveries made as recently as the 20th century. There are many schools of thought surrounding the human chakra system, and specific ideals and functionality vary quite a bit from one method of study to another.

However, unlike many other spiritual studies, discrepancies rarely result in bitter disputes. It is commonly accepted that, because human beings continue to evolve, the chakra system can expand and change across the span of generations.

Because the chakra system is very much driven by the powers of thought and consciousness, participants can enjoy tremendous benefit even from minimal exposure. Chakra knowledge can be integrated into any health regimen, any religious practice, and any spiritual study. You don’t need a special ceremony, the permission of any guru, or a college degree to begin reaping the immense rewards this ancient and beautiful knowledge has to offer.

Most Yoga programs will give you a hands-on introduction to the chakras. Additionally, there are a number of breathing and visualization exercises that will help you become acquainted with the chakra system.

Many ancient forms of spirituality embrace the chakra knowledge at some level. You can even experience the flow of chakra energy through the metaphysical study of semi-precious stones and an examination of crystal healing philosophy.

I recommend you explore various informational resources to learn the specifics of the chakra system, and focus on the content that resonates with your intuition. Check out my complete chakra system or chakra points education portal for further research.

Bright yellow coloration and the element of fire are both associated with this chakra point. Many times  emotional issues are caused by imbalances here.

Too much energy concentrated in the solar plexus chakra can result in anger issues.

Digestive issues are said to be the result of not enough energy flowing through this chakra.

The majority of martial arts involve breathing and movement exercises that empower this chakra. This again goes back to the fact that your solar plexus is a seat of great power; linear movements and direct, assertive attitudes are characteristic energies of this chakra.

Some schools of thinking teach students to visualize a sun within the center of the body in an effort to activate the solar plexus chakra.  The guidance of a professional Reiki master, meditation/Yoga instructor, or martial arts teacher is recommended when going deep into this chakra.

There is another chakra very close to this one, and often martial artists refer to the area as the “one point”. Many argue that one point is a frame of mind, and to relate it to an exact physical location is a misnomer.

The point is (no pun intended) that the sacral area is the focus of much subtle energy technology. If you relax your body and put your awareness in the area just below your belly button you will most likely begin to feel the sacral chakra as a warm point of energy.

Joy, inspiration, and creativity are said to be at their strongest when the sacral chakra is flowing freely. Meditation and breathing exercises that empower this chakra often leave you feeling exhilerated on an emotional level.

The sacral chakra is aligned with the water element, indicating flexibility and flow. A good, informal way to experience and strengthen this chakra is any form of stretching that works the hips and inner thighs, especially in low stances and postures. Perhaps even more important than the physical specifics is the mindset of flexibility and going with whatever comes.

Mental and emotional flexibility are extremely important to total wellbeing, and the practice of these will lead you to an initial understanding of your second chakra.

Whether you believe in the conncetion to earth or not, just a little meditation and experimentation will reveal the deep connection between the base chakra and physical bliss, sexual impulses, basic security, and groundedness.

This chakra is the beginning of the journey in many ways. An acceptance of the relations here is necessary for a full immersion in the study of subtle energy.

A great way to center and open the base chakra is to stand with your feet shoulder width apart and your hands loosely by your sides. Bend your knees slightly and feel your weight sink into your thighs and down into your feet.

Cultivate the feeling of sinking into the earth, and open your self to the sensation of deep, red energy flowing up into and through the point in the base of your spine. Don’t push this, but rather be open to it and allow it to happen.

To learn more about the base chakra and other chakra points visit our complete Website.

I have seen many different teachers reference this, ranging from Indian, to Chinese, and even Hawaiian instructors. Having tried it myself I can attest to the power of this method.

The effects could be purely psychological, or they could be metaphysical. I am of the opinion that it makes no real difference which is true, and in fact I suspect both are at play.

Here’s how it works:

Find yourself one or more deeply colored glass bottles. Ideally you’ll find a red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and purple bottle.

Using one color per day, fill a bottle up and let it sit in the sun for at least one hour. Then take the bottle inside and proceed to use the water throughout your day.

You can sip it, cook with it, or even rinse with it. While doing so be sure to visualize the appropriate color and integrate any other applicable breathing or mantra exercises.

For instance you would use an orange bottle for opening the sacral chakra, and apply the visualizations and mantras correlating to this center.

Some advocates say you can use moonlight instead of sunlight.

When you consider the water experiments performed by the Japanese scientist Emoto the power behind colored water treatments becomes obvious. In numerous properly documented scientific experiments, Emoto demonstrated that sending intentions into sealed containers of water actually changed the molecular structure of that water and resulted in specific shapes appearing consistently in crystalized specimens.

Open your mind and try this exercise a few times.

It’s also worth pointing out that traditionalists and modernists have different opinions on the exact colors for the seven major chakras. This is perfectly fine, because true spiritual disciplines recognize the paradox of life:

It is entirely possible for two different realities to occupy the same space and time.

So don’t get hung up on descrepancies you might find while studying the chakra system. Just have fun and empower yourself.

Some healers I have spoken with even say you should let colors come to you intuitively and not worry about any color charts. This too makes a lot of sense.

But for purposes of this article, here is the color system I learned and still use with my chakra meditations:

Base Chakra - Red

Sacral Chakra - Orange

Solar Plexus Chakra - Yellow

Heart Chakra - Green

Throat Chakra - Blue

Third Eye Chakra - Indigo (think of a mixture of blue and purple)

Crown Charka - Purple

Note that different writings and teachers assign different values to each color; i.e. deep red, brilliant yellow, grass green, etc.

But you just need a basic color chart to start working. When you are visualizing your chakras or doing specific breathing/yoga exercises, visualize your body being filled with the appropriately colored energy; some students also imagine their breath is the given color and watch it come in and out with their meditation.

As with any subtle energy channeling, the way you respond to this will be an individual experience. And of course to learn more about the chakras visit our complete chakra system Website.

Some people have an aversion to group physical training. To be honest, it would be good for you to work past this fear.

Even if you end up not sticking with a Yoga program, you will benefit from learning the basic stretching and breathing exercises. These will help you a great deal in your ongoing journey through the chakra system.

You’ll learn infinitely more with hands-on instruction than you will with books and videos. And again, you can always return to training alone once you have been shown a few solid basics.

People of all ages, backgrounds, and religious beliefs can benefit from participation in Yoga sessions. You will likely feel both invogorated and highly alert after each lesson, and this is due in part to the activation, cleansing, and balancing of your chakra system.