“What is your weak point? What is the part of your body where the stress goes?” I asked my friend Sara during a conversation about her work.
She thought about it and then told me that her gums were often swollen. I knew I could help her understand what was going on in her life. I don’t have magical powers. I simply read a book by Caroline Myss that opened my mind to the idea that stress hits the part of our body corresponding to the area of our life that needs attention.
I took out my notes and quickly found the reply that Sara was looking for. “You are scared of not having choices in life.” I declared. She has a stressful job, but things are complicated because she works for the family business and she can’t just quit.
In Hinduism and Buddhism, a chakra is an energy point in the spiritual body. Chakras represent the points of energy through which life force moves. There are seven chakras. If they are all in balance the vital force can flow without interruption and this ensures physical and spiritual health. Each one of us has a specific chakra that is weaker than the others.
The fifth chakra corresponds to the throat, upper back, neck, mouth, teeth and gums. For every chakra, there is an ultimate goal and a hidden fear that comes out in the form of stress. The core value of this chakra is the will power. Sara doesn’t want to disappoint her parents, but this situation makes her feel the pressure of not having a choice. This affects the part of the body where the chakra resides: the gums.
Sara confirmed her fear and added that she was trying to surrender her personal will to the divine through prayer. This is, in fact, the ultimate goal of the fifth chakra. The more Sara believes in the divine will, the more she will be able to win her fear and accept what life will bring her without stress. The first step to healing is to be aware of our fears and imbalances.
The first chakra is located at the base of the spine, in the legs, bones and immune system. The truth of this chakra is that we are all part of a community and its core values are loyalty, honor, and justice. The fear connected to it is the loss of group identity. We all need a sense of belonging to a group or community. This need is rooted in all human beings and it’s especially important when we are young.
As we grow up we start to develop relationships and meet the challenges of the second chakra, located in the lower abdomen, lower back, and sexual organs. The discovery of relationships brings the need of control and the fear of being controlled (sex, money, and creativity are part of the control chain). The balance to reach here is based on the idea of respecting and honoring one another.
In this complicated picture of groups and relationships, we have to define our personality and our values. That’s the third chakra. It’s located in our stomach and upper intestine. We need to reach self-understanding and development without falling into the fear of rejection and judgment.
Once we form our personality the focus shifts to emotional development and love. This chakra is located at the center of the chest, in the lungs and shoulders. Love is the first connection to divine power and it creates healthy relationships with others. The main fears experienced by people with a weak point of energy in the fourth chakra are loneliness, commitment, and betrayal.
The last three chakras focus on the divine calling and the spirituality. I have already mentioned the fifth chakras with Sara’s story, which is also an example of what happens to our body when the fear wins over the balance. Surrendering the will to the divine or the Universe (if you don’t believe in God), is the faith in something bigger than ourselves which will guide our choices.
The sixth is the chakra of wisdom, detachment and emotional intelligence. It’s located in the center of the forehead, in the brain, eyes, and ears. It’s the human mission to look for the truth. If this chakra is suffering, it means that we are afraid to look into our dark side and face our fears.
The last chakra is the one that is fed by meditation and commitment to live in the present moment. It’s located on top of the head, in the nervous and muscular system. The fear of spiritual abandonment is associated with this chakra.
The chakras theory teaches us that spiritual force and enlightenment can’t be reached if we don’t practice a deep analysis of our daily life and find the courage to face our fears.
Originally published at medium.com