Chakras. What are they and why should I care?

The simple definition: a vortex of energy in your body. But I have come to learn that nothing about the many philosophical ideas intertwined into yoga are ever simple. I first learned about Chakras from my first yoga teacher, Amy. I was quickly drawn to her calm, peaceful demeanor at a time when my life was anything but calm. We were working on a series of standing poses and she commented that they were good for balancing your "root chakra". I didn't know what that meant at the time, but was intuitive enough to know that there had to be some connection between my preference for standing poses and my chaotic personal life at the time. So I did what I always do when I'm curious about something; I googled it. And what I learned was mind-boggling.

The word "chakra" is Sanskrit for wheel. There are seven basic chakras, or energy centers along your spinal column. Each of these centers correlates to a major nerve bundle that branches out from the spine and is connected to various glands in your body's endocrine system. It is believed that you can have an excess or a deficiency of energy in these centers, which can affect both your physical as well as your mental well-being. What does this have to do with yoga you ask? It is believed that a regular practice of yoga that includes forward, backward, and side bends keep the spinal column active and can keep these nerve bundles from getting blocked.
So what are the seven chakras?
First Chakra: Your root center. It determines your relationship with the material world, controlling how you deal with money, your body, your family. In other words: the things that ground you. Excessive characteristics can be sluggishness, resistance to change, overeating, material fixation, workaholism, excessive spending, and just being a control-freak. Deficient characteristics can include anxiety, anorexia, flightiness, restlessness, and resistance to structure. Balanced characteristics include groundedness, being comfortable in your own body, a sense of safety and security, and having the ability to be in the present moment.
Second Chakra: Your navel center. It relates to creativity and pleasure. Excessive characteristics can be sexual addictions, excessive mood swings, obsessive attachments, and poor boundaries with others. Deficient characteristics can include rigidity in your body, beliefs or behavior, lack of desire, avoidance of pleasure, and emotional numbness or insensitivity. Balanced characteristics include the ability to embrace change, healthy boundaries, passion, and a healthy ability to enjoy pleasure.
Third Chakra: Your solar plexus center. It is the one that governs your intuition, your gut instinct. Excessive characteristics can be dominating, controlling, competitive, arrogant, stubborn, compulsively driven. Deficient characteristics can include lack of energy, submissiveness, blaming, and lack of confidence. Balanced characteristics include a positive sense of self, confidence, warm and energetic, and able to take risks.
Fourth Chakra: Your heart center. This is the bridge between the 3 lower, more earthly chakras and the 3 higher, more spiritual ones. Excessive characteristics can be jealousy, codependency, and being a pleaser or a martyr. Deficient characteristics can include being antisocial or withdrawn, critical or intolerant, feeling lonely and isolated, and lack of empathy. Balanced characteristics include being compassionate, empathetic, accepting, caring, peaceful and centered.
Fifth Chakra: Your throat center. This is how you communicate and express yourself. Excessive characteristics can be talking too much or inappropriately, gossiping, stuttering, excessive loudness. Deficient characteristics can include fear of speaking, excessive shyness, difficulty putting things into words, speaking with a small or weak voice. Balanced characteristics include clear communication with others, good communication with self, being a good listener, having a full, resonant voice.
Sixth Chakra: Your "third eye" center. This governs our ability to separate reality from delusion. Excessive characteristics can be excessive fantasizing, obsessions, difficulty concentrating, and lack of direction. Deficient characteristics can include difficulty visualizing, lack of imagination, excessive skepticism, and an inability to see alternatives. Balanced characteristics include having a creative imagination, ability to visualize, strong intuition, and a guiding vision for life.
Seventh Chakra: Your crown center. This is considered to be the seat of enlightenment and the ultimate goal of any spiritual practice. Excessive characteristics can be spiritual addiction, over-intellectualization, living "in your head". Deficient characteristics can include spiritual cynicism, a closed mind, a rigid belief system. Balanced characteristics include open-mindedness and the ability to assimilate and analyze information.

After reading through all of that information I quickly recognized myself in many of these characteristics, both excessive and deficient. Do I strive to be that perfectly balanced individual? Sure, don't we all? But in reality I know in my heart that perfection doesn't really exist. So what do I do and how do I do it? I try everyday to be tuned in to what I am feeling by listening to that internal voice in my head. And then I allow that inner wisdom to guide me both on and off my yoga mat. But more about that in another post......