According
to the ancients, and an integral aspect of Chinese medicine, a person
has both a physical body and a qi body. The qi body, or energy body, is
an electro-magnetic field that serves to vitalize the physical body and
support its healthy functioning and well-being. The energy body both
interpenetrates and extends beyond the physical body forming the
multi-dimensional and interconnected nature of life.
Within the energy body there are two primary systems: the Chakra-Nadi system and the Acupuncture Meridian system. Nadis are channels through which the qi, life force, or vital energy moves and circulates throughout the body. The major channel in the Nadial system is within the spinal column and is called the Energetic Spine or the Central Vertical Channel.
This energy channel extends below the coccyx and up into the medulla oblongata, into the brain and above the head. There are thought to be more than 72, 000 channels that branch off of this central vertical pole and distribute energy into each cell within the body. The entire Nadial Structure can be thought of as the energetic blueprint of the body’s Central Nervous System.
Along this energetic spine are the main chakras. They can be described as dynamic swirling energy centres that act as vortexes or whirlpools. They hold their core centred in the Central Veritical Channel and expand in a vortex to the front and the rear of the body, except in the case of the Crown and Root chakra. The chakras interact with and exchange with the Universal or Cosmic Energy Field and also with Divine Energy. These vortexes pull in both vital energy and Divine energy to circulate within the human energy system. There are seven major chakras associated with the physical body and many minor chakras such as those on the palms of the hands, fingertips and soles of the feet. Some say that each acupuncture point is itself a tiny chakra.
Essentially, all chakras are openings for energy to flow into and out of the energy body. Following the pathway of incoming energy through the major chakras, the chakra absorbs and processes the universal energy and sends it through the nadis to the nervous system, on to the endocrine system, and then to the blood. These chakras are also a system within themselves which is interdependent and connected with each other along the central vertical channel.
The two narrow ends connect to each other in the central vertical channel and the wide ends radiate out through the front and back of the body. As each chakra opens from the energetic spine, it opens through all the layers of the energetic bodies and out into the vital web of the world. The points where the chakra connects to the main energy channel are the roots, the heart or the seed of the chakra.
Each of the major chakras may also be thought of as a centre of consciousness. Each one helps to express particular aspects of human consciousness and emotional issues.
The chakras put energy out into the world and take it in, and they put out consciousness and take it in. They are centres of both energy and consciousness.
Healthy chakras are essential for physical vitality and for the ability to expand consciousness and awareness.
The word Chakra or Chakram was first used to describe a disk-shaped projectile weapon used in ancient India. Chakra is a Sanskrit word that translates as “wheel” or “turning” however in the yogic context is better described as “vortex or whirlpool.”