There may have been times in your life when you felt a little out of whack and couldn’t figure out why. Maybe you were feeling more run down than usual or just couldn’t seem to get it together (or didn’t want to). It is possible that your chakras were – and still are – out of alignment or balance.

In order to understand what it means to be out of balance, it’s best to explore what a chakra is (there’s more than one) and how each of them interact with one another to create balance and energy in you.

The word “chakra” is usually translated to mean a wheel or a disk that spins. These wheels create a spinning energy within each of us. They can also collect and store the energy that comes from around us. It is generally believed that each of us has seven major chakras that are found up and down our spines and affect a different area of our bodies as well as minds and spirits. Each chakra is part of a larger system, interacting with and directing the flow of energy to and from other chakras. If one of these chakras becomes unbalanced because of an illness or bad mental state, it can affect the whole flow of our energy, leading to physical and mental problems. Rebalancing the chakras is an important step toward feeling better again.

Next time: looking at the different chakras and what they represent.