Chakras are an ancient healing modality that have been in use for thousands of years in Ayurveda, meditation, and yoga traditions.
Chakras are unfamiliar to us, but they’ve been studied since ancient times in India.
According to the Chopra Center, chakra is a Sanskrit word that means wheel or disk. You can picture a chakra as a “swirling wheel of energy where matter and consciousness meet.”
We have seven chakras–each located near a major nerve center or organ–that correspond to different areas of healing and wellness.
The energy that flows through chakras is called prana. According to spiritual gurus, free-flowing prana enables a fulfilled, happy life, but blocked chakras cause stress, disconnection, and even bodily illness.
Root Chakra Healing | Sacral Chakra Healing | Solar Plexus Chakra Healing | Throat Chakra Healing | Heart Chakra Healing | Third Eye Chakra Healing | Crown Chakra Healing
What is Sacral Chakra Healing?
The sacral chakra (svadhisthana) is located below the navel and is the seat of creativity, fertility, sexuality, and emotions. It also governs the intestines, the lymphatic and circulatory systems, and the reproductive organs.
When your sacral chakra is flowing freely, you feel confident and positive. Your emotions don’t feel out of control, and your relationships feel stable and connected. You feel creative and alive.
What Happens When Your Sacral Chakra is Blocked?
If the sacral chakra is blocked, you can experience:
- Insecurity
- Guilt
- Low self-worth or self-esteem
- Hormone or emotional imbalances
- Low libido
- Hip tightness (which can affect pelvic floor or knees, glutes, etc.)
- Depression or low creativity
- Low energy or lack of motivation
- Addictive behaviors
- Overwhelm
- A sense of scarcity instead of abundance
- An inability to find pleasure in things you used to enjoy
How Do I Unblock My Sacral Chakra?
There’s lots of way to unblack, reset, or awaken your sacral chakra:
1. Work With Essential Oils
Aromatherapy plays a powerful role in energy healing, especially because it can be paired with almost every other method for unblocking your sacral chakra, and also because it’s so easy.
The best essential oils for unblocking your sacral chakra are:
- Orange, tangerine, or grapefruit (energizing, motivating)
- Sandalwood (heart-opener, intuitive)
- Cinnamon bark (warming, energizing)
- Jasmine (self-love)
- Clary sage (balancing)
- Ylang ylang (increases self-esteem and helps with depression and anxiety)
You can use these oils in a diffuser, or make your own roller bottle and roll it over your sacral chakra whenever you’re feeling stuck or blocked. Breathe deeply and follow application with an affirmation (see below).
2. Work With Water
Water is the sacral chakra’s element, and working with it can help release and unblock a stuck sacral chakra. Take long, healing baths, swim, drink lots of water, etc.
3. Work With Crystals
Crystals are fantastic tools for energy healing, and can help unblock stuck chakras. Look for orange crystals, like sunstone (tiger’s eye), citrine, tangerine quartz, carnelian, or orange kyanite.
You can place your crystal or crystals on your sacral chakra while you meditate or lay quietly, or you can use an essential oil roller bottle with a sacral chakra crystal already inside.
Note: essential oils + crystals work really well together. Learn more about how to use them together in our guide to crystals + oils here.
4. Yoga and/or Hip Openers
Hip opening stretches (like the goddess pose) are great for helping to unblock your sacral chakra.
Pair them with a breath affirmation, like this one:
Breath in: I feel
Breath out: freely
5. Have Fun, Dance, Be Creative, Journal!
The sacral chakra is all about flexibility and flow, and sometimes you just have to cut loose! Dance to your favorite music, take up creative journaling to help you express your feelings, try a new hobby or something fun… just take a chance on life and see where it leads you!
Unblocking the Root Chakra
The root chakra is the first chakra and is located at the bottom of the spine, right at your tailbone. It’s often mentioned first because it acts as a foundation. When it’s open and your prana is flowing through it freely, you feel grounded.
When your root chakra is blocked, you can feel a lack of confidence, and you might fear challenges because you feel like you can’t withstand them. You may also be extra stressed about survival concerns, like food and money, and feel very insecure.
Also, if your root chakra is blocked, you may have trouble manifesting.
How Do I Unblock the Root Chakra?
To unblock the root chakra:
- Work with essential oils to trigger release (Frankincense, grapefruit, pine, myrrh, and vetiver are grounding, confidence-boosting oils that can help you connect to the earth and draw courage from it. Diffuse or make a roller bottle and roll at the base of the spine regularly.)
- Practice manifestation, with a focus on surrender and opening your heart to abundance.
- Work with the color red (you can eat red foods like grapefruit, strawberries, and peppers, or you can work with red or dark crystals, like ruby, garnet, hematite, tourmaline, or smokey quartz. Add them to your essential oil roller bottles, or place them at the base of your spine while you meditate to this affirmation: I AM GROUNDED.
Unblocking Your Throat Chakra
The vishuddha chakra is aligned with communication. And, because your ability to both listen and express your truth is part of your personal power, a blocked throat chakra means that you can both have trouble listening to other people without expressing judgment and have trouble expressing yourself in healthy ways.
An overly talkative person who can’t find ways to listen and be silent, for example, might have a blocked throat chakra.
However, when your throat chakra is flowing freely, you’ll be able to honor your own truth by speaking it clearly and confidently.
The element associated with the vishuddha is ether or space, and its color is blue.
How to Unblock Your Throat Chakra:
- Work with the color blue (Eat blue foods like blueberries or work with blue crystals like blue lace agate, turquoise, topaz, amazonite, and lapis lazuli. Use your crystals with essential oil roller bottles or place them on your throat while you meditate or breathe deeply.)
- Work with essential oils (Aromatherapy is very powerful, both to trigger mental changes and to state intentions. Use blue tansy, rosemary, peppermint, cypress, or Roman chamomile to unblock the throat chakra.)
- Work with affirmations, like I SPEAK HONESTLY. Use these multiple times a day, whenever you diffuse or use an essential oil roller bottle over your neck/throat.
Unblocking Your Heart Chakra
The lower three chakras are associated with physical material, while the upper three chakras are associated with spirituality. The anahata or heart chakra is the bridge between the two.
This chakra sits right above our hearts, in the center of our chests. Its element is air and its color is green, and unblocking this chakra can lead to emotions like joy and love.
If you’re struggling to find acceptance, forgiveness, or compassion for yourself, this chakra may be blocked. This is also the chakra to focus on if you’re struggling to maintain or have healthy relationships with other people because of past hurts.
How to Unblock the Heart Chakra
- Practice yoga poses (Especially heart openers, like humble warrior, cow face pose, and camel pose, or try the heart-opening session for the heart chakra below.)
- Work with essential oils and crystals (These make a great pair for energy healing. Use rose, spearmint, lime, geranium, or copaiba, and green or pink crystals like rose quartz, malachite, aventurine, pink opal, or emerald. You can diffuse oils while you hold a crystal or crystals over your heart, or you can add crystals to your essential oil roller bottle, and roll it over your heart before you practice, when you meditate, or whenever you’re feeling disconnected or stuck.)
Unblocking Your Solar Plexus Chakra
Your solar plexus is located in your upper abdomen, and that’s where the manipura or solar plexus chakra is located. It’s related to self-esteem, confidence, and self-worth, so if you’ve ever felt your stomach drop when you enter a new full of new people, you’ll understand why this chakra is so important!
The solar plexus chakra is also associated with productivity and feeling the energy to take action. It governs your core, so if you have a core weakness, you should focus here.
Its element is fire and its color is yellow. If you’re feeling stagnant or afraid of taking risks, this is a great chakra to focus on.
How to Unblock Your Solar Plexus Chakra:
- Focus on core-building yoga poses, like the plank or the triangle.
- Work with essential oils (Use cedarwood, ginger, sweet marjoram, or grapefruit for courage, motivation, and strength. You can diffuse these in any combination you’d like, or make your own roller bottle and roll over your upper abdomen frequently.)
- Work with crystals that are brown or orange. (Crystals are very helpful energy healers. Solar plexus crystals are brown or orange citrine, tiger’s eye, tangerine quartz, and orange kyanite.)
- Use affirmations (You can use them whenever you use essential oils and crystals, or yoga. Our favorite to unlock the solar plexus chakra is: I ACT BRAVELY.)
Unblocking the Third Eye Chakra
The ajna chakra or third eye chakra is probably the most commonly-known chakra, though it can take a lifetime to fully understand it.
Its element is light and its color is indigo, and it governs your “sixth sense” or your intuition.
Western thought doesn’t give a lot of credence to intuition, but learning to trust your inner wisdom is a powerful thing to learn, and unblocking this chakra can help with that.
Somebody with a blocked third eye chakra can have trouble trusting and is often uber logical and cynical, without leaving room for hope or mystery.
If you’re struggling to gain perspective or see the bigger picture, this would be an excellent chakra to focus on. It’s located between the eyes.
How to Unblock the Third Eye Chakra
- Work with indigo or purple crystals (amethyst, tanzanite, sodalite, rainbow moonstone, or labradorite) by placing them on your chakra while you breathe deeply, or use them with essential oils (below).
- Work with essential oils as aromatherapy (This is a type of energy healing that can be especially powerful for the spiritual chakras, like the third eye chakra. Look to oils like frankincense, ylang ylang, clary sage, lavender, and pine to help you release your imagination and trust your inner wisdom. You can diffuse these oils, or you can make your own roller bottle with third eye chakra crystals, and roll on your third eye during yoga, meditation, or whenever you feel blocked or stuck.)
Unblocking the Crown Chakra
The crown chakra is beautifully named, and sits right at the crown of your head.
It is a powerful chakra that is associated with spiritual connectedness. Somebody with an open crown chakra is believed to be able to access a higher consciousness.
Some people feel that this is the most mysterious chakra to unblock and access, but not being able to unblock means you suffer from unfulfilled wants, because you believe peace and contentment come from outside yourself.
This chakra is associated with cosmic energy and with the color white or violet.
How to Unblock the Crown Chakra
- Practice Savasana (Corpse pose; this pose helps you connect to your soul, the eternal self. You can also use crystals and aromatherapy while you practice.)
- Use essential oils for aromatherapy/energy healing (Frankincense, lemon, sandalwood, and rosewood are spiritual, clarifying oils that help you see beyond yourself. Use them in a roller bottle along with chakra crystals, and roll them over your forehead or the base of your neck, and inhale deeply.)
- Work with chakra crystals in white or violet, like clear quartz, moonstone, and amethyst.
