Meet my chakra

I saw my chakra and it was blue.  I later discovered that this is known as the Vishuddha or the throat chakra. It happened during Savasana after practice. I lay there positively satiated by my practice when my teacher, who is also a Reiki healer, ever so subtlely positioned her warm hands over my joints and finally upon my closed eyes. The light shade of blue I saw was at once calming and enhanced the "superior" Savasana I was already enjoying.

Intrigued I read up on the chakras. Mine I found out relates to communication and growth through expression. No surprise that this is my dominant chakra as I've had many, many years working in media! Visuddha is located in the throat area where the thyroid hormone, responsible for growth and maturation, is produced. Symbolised by a lotus with sixteen petals, Vishudda governs self-expression and communication, emotionally it governs independence, mentally it governs fluent thought, and spiritually, it governs a sense of security.

There are seven other chakras, or energy centres located within the subtle body and are aligned and ascending in a column that spans from the base of the spine to the middle of the forehead. And the seventh which is beyond the physical region found at the crown of the head.

Our chakras whirl around in a vortex and when they are open, bright and clean, then our chakra system is balanced. When a chakra becomes blocked, damaged, or muddied with residual energy, then our physical and emotional health can be affected. Often this occurs habitually as the result of negative or incomplete belief systems. The effects of our habits, feelings, beliefs, thoughts, fears and desires can be found in our chakras. Practicing yoga promotes the balance between chakras.

According to spiritual websites I've browsed if you "close off" your emotions because they're painful or overwhelming, your heart chakra is likely to become tight and closed and block emotional energy. If you, on the other hand, are extremely centered in your intellect, you may have a bulging and bright third eye chakra but a disproportionately small heart chakra or root chakra or womb chakra. Or perhaps you're cerebrally focused on finding answers to deep questions about "reality."

These are the seven primary chakras:

Muladhara (Sanskrit: मूलाधार, Mūlādhāra) Base or Root Chakra (last bone in spinal cord *coccyx*)
Swadhisthana (Sanskrit: स्वाधिष्ठान, Svādhiṣṭhāna) Sacral Chakra (ovaries/prostate)
Manipura (Sanskrit: मणिपूर, Maṇipūra) Solar Plexus Chakra (navel area)
Anahata (Sanskrit: अनाहत, Anāhata) Heart Chakra (heart area)
Vishuddha (Sanskrit: विशुद्ध, Viśuddha) Throat Chakra (throat and neck area)
Ajna (Sanskrit: आज्ञा, Ājñā) Brow or Third Eye Chakra (pineal gland or third eye)
Sahasrara (Sanskrit: सहस्रार, Sahasrāra) Crown Chakra (Top of the head; 'Soft spot' of a newborn)

Ancient texts documenting the chakras date back as far as the later Upanishads, such as the Yoga Kundalini Upanishad with the following translation below:
 

Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad

Translated by K. Narayanasvami Aiyar

Om ! May He protect us both together; may He nourish us both together;
May we work conjointly with great energy,

May our study be vigorous and effective;

May we not mutually dispute (or may we not hate any).

Om ! Let there be Peace in me !
Let there be Peace in my environment !
Let there be Peace in the forces that act on me !

Om.