What Are the 7 Chakra Colors?: Meaning, Location & Symbolism

Chakras are described in the oldest Vedic texts as wheels or vortices of energy that exist on the surface of the subtle body. The chakra system outlines seven primary energy centers along the spine, from the base to the crown of the head. While chakras are not physical constructs, they interact with the human body's endocrine system, emotions, and consciousness.

What Does a Chakra Do?

The chakras play a vital role in circulating our life force energy to maintain optimal physical health and well-being. Each chakra is associated with specific functions like security, sexuality, willpower or communication.

Some key elements of tantric lovemaking include:The chakras intimately link our physical body & emotional and spiritual states. Energetic imbalances can breed psychological disorders, trauma or disease. In contrast, balanced chakras cultivate joy, groundedness and spiritual connection.

What Do the 7 Chakras Represent?

The 7 chakras systematically represent our core life issues at every stage of development. From survival instincts to transcendent bliss, each chakra holds lessons to integrate as we evolve. While each chakra governs distinctive properties, the ultimate aim is to create synergy and balance among all 7 energy centers. This equilibrium empowers us to thrive as multi-dimensional beings.

How Did the Chakras Get Their Colors?

The colors associated with the chakras originated from the ancient Vedic texts and spiritual teachings of the Hindu/yogic traditions. The specific hues were not chosen arbitrarily, but carefully correlated to the natural elements, frequencies, and symbolic meanings connected to each chakra:

The Link Between Color Psychology and the Chakras

The vibrant colors of the chakras are more than just aesthetic - they hold profound influences over our emotional states and behaviors according to the principles of color psychology. Each hue resonates with specific wavelengths of energy that can stimulate or calm different qualities within us.

The Link Between Color Psychology and the Chakras

Root Chakra: Muladhara - Red

The root chakra or Muladhara chakra is our primal connection to the earth and all of life's blessings. Located at the base of the spine, this powerful center governs our most fundamental needs and instincts for security, survival, and sensual fulfillment.

The Sanskrit word "muladhara" beautifully encapsulates its grounding essence - "mula" meaning root or base, and "adhara" referring to the support or bedrock. This red chakra establishes our physical and energetic foundation. When open and balanced, we feel deliciously at home in our bodies, nourished by a replenished wellspring of vitality. We embrace our biological urges, liberating the life force that fuels our passionate creativity and spiritual awakening.

Balancing The Root Chakra

To balance the root chakra, we must overcome any repression, shame or disconnection from our primal desires and instinctual nature. Practices like dynamic meditation, primal screams, pillow beating, and ecstatic dance can release stagnant energies. Emerging from our mental prisons, we reclaim our birthrights of pleasure, spontaneity, and trust in the abundance of the earth.

An unbalanced root chakra breeds greed, jealousy, and emotional lockdown. We may struggle with disconnection, anger, or sexual dysfunction. By rooting daily into the sensual wisdom of our bodies, feeling the solidity of our weights on the earth, we open to the gifts of empowered desire and instinctual vitality.

Sacral Chakra: Svadhishthana - Orange

Located in the lower belly around the naval area, the Sacral Chakra or Svadhishthana is all about emotions, sensuality, and is also the portal of both birth and death. This vibrant orange chakra is the seat of our feelings - both the intense joys and deepest sorrows. It governs our relationships, and pleasure principle.

When the Sacral Chakra is open and balanced, we experience profound emotional fluidity. We can ride the waves of life with grace, embracing the full depth of human emotion and intimacy without getting stuck in negativity. Our energy flows freely, sensual energy is awakened, and we feel enthusiastic zest for living.

Balancing The Sacral Chakra

Balancing practices include sensual experiences like self-massage, dance, swimming, and tantric intimacy (solo or with a partner). Pursuing creative outlets like art, music, or cooking can help this chakra sing. Therapy, journaling, and processing stuck emotions are also hugely helpful.

If this chakra is in stagnation or excessive, we become trapped in negativity - plagued by depression, addiction, shame, or emotional repression. Unhealthy hang ups around relationships, and basic needs can take root. Anger and fear lurk under the surface.

Solar Plexus Chakra: Manipura - Yellow

Located in the solar plexus region above the navel, the Manipura chakra or Solar Plexus Chakra is a swirling nexus of contradictory energies. It contains both personal power and vulnerability. We need to expand ourselves, becoming vast enough to contain contradictions and this in turn to will lead to higher wisdom based on our own lived experience.

Our self-esteem is linked to whether we are living our soul calling or not. If lived rightly, this chakra will support us in throwing off the chains of warped conditioning and embracing our true nature. Glowing a brilliant yellow like the sun itself, this chakra governs our ability to metabolize all we take in - from food to ideas to life experiences.

When the Manipura is open and balanced, we digest the wisdom of our experiences and cultivate an unshakable sense of self-worth and purpose. We ride the rollercoaster of life's dualities with resilience, able to embrace contradictions. Our personal power emerges not from ego, but a rooted inner wisdom. We feel satisfied, generous and radiant. Peaceful relations with others and the entire natural world comes easily to one who is balanced in the Manipura chakra.

Balancing The Solar Plexus Chakra

To keep Manipura balanced, we must learn to alchemize all we consume - integrating life's lessons into conscious growth and inner alchemy. Practices like meditation, pranayama, and chakra work help process "spiritual nutrients." Yoga, martial arts, laughter, and facing fears help integrate all contradictions posed by life.

If this chakra is in stagnation or excessive, we become plagued by control issues, repressed anger, jealousy and cold ambition. We rigidly cling to limiting beliefs, afraid to evolve. The fire of personal power warps into excessive pride or a paralyzed sense of inadequacy. Issues like digestive problems, blood sugar imbalances, and fatigue can manifest.

Heart Chakra: Anahata - Green or Pink

Radiating in the center of the chest, the Heart Chakra (Anahata) is a spinning vortex of unconditional love, compassion and emotional healing. Glowing a rich emerald green or soft rose pink, this powerful chakra is our gateway to the divine within.

The Heart Chakra governs our ability to give and receive love in its purest form. When open and balanced, we are overflowing with acceptance, empathy and authentic connection to all beings. We feel spiritually courageous, following our inner wisdom and highest truth. Physical imbalances like heart issues, asthma and immune problems are less likely to manifest.

Balancing The Heart Chakra

To keep the Anahata chakra or the heart chakra in harmony, we must engage in practices that dissolve the barriers around the heart. Forgiveness rituals, devotional chanting, acts of selfless service, and learning to love yourself unconditionally are transformational. Visualizations, breathwork, and heart-centered meditations provide healing resonance.

To open and activate the Heart Chakra, you can work with the seed sound YAM while envisioning a brilliant green or pink blossom spinning over your chest. Call on the divine energies of compassion to enter your heart space. Send love to yourself, those around you, and our whole interconnected world.

If the fourth chakra is excessive, we become plagued by grief, anger, jealousy and emotional isolation. We struggle with betrayal, codependency and the inability to truly love ourselves or others. Emotionally, we feel anxious, bitter and untrusting, often shutting down or lashing out.

Throat Chakra: Vishuddha - Turquoise

Spinning in the throat area, the Vishuddha or Throat Chakra is a vortex of truth, communication and creative expression. Glowing a brilliant turquoise blue like the infinite sky, this chakra is the gateway to manifesting our highest vision and soul's calling. When the Vishuddha is open and balanced, we have the courage and clarity to speak our authentic truth, in tune with nature and universal laws of life.

We become vessels for divine inspiration, our words imbued with wisdom and artistic brilliance. Physically, the thyroid and vocal cords thrive with vibrant energy flow. To keep Vishuddha in harmonious balance, engage in practices that free your authentic voice. Chanting, singing, and eloquent writing and truth-speaking are incredibly powerful.

Balancing The Throat Chakra

Explore creative outlets like art, music, singing, chanting mantras, writing or dance. Cultivate good listening skills and be discerning about the company you keep. To activate and open this chakra, work with the seed syllable HAM while visualizing a brilliant turquoise vortex at your throat. Hum along with tuning forks or listen to magical soundscapes. Call on Vishuddha to amplify your ability to articulate, create and live your highest truth.

If this chakra is in stagnation or excessive, we feel creatively stifled, unable to express our deepest selves. Communication becomes distorted - we may lie, gossip or speak harmful untruths. We may create from an egoic mind, cut off from nature. Thyroid issues, sore throats and problems with the ears/hearing can surface. Mentally, we struggle with overthinking and lack of clarity.

Third Eye: Ajna - Indigo Blue

Located in the center of the forehead, right between the eyebrows, the Ajna or Third Eye Chakra spins with mystical indigo and deep dark blue hues. This powerful vortex governs our intuition, spiritual insights and connection to the transcendent.

When the Third Eye is open and balanced, we cut through surface appearances to perceive profound cosmic truths. We have striking intuitive flashes, able to see past, present and future with clarity. Physically, the pituitary and pineal glands function optimally, regulating sleep, hormones and our circadian rhythms.

Balancing The Third Eye Chakra

To keep the blue chakra in harmonious flow, practices like meditation, visualization, and dream work are essential. Spending time in nature connects us to the cosmic intelligence flowing through all life. Creative rituals and spiritual studies also activate the Third Eye's insights.

To open and activate this chakra, you can work with the sacred OM vibration while focusing on the point between the eyebrows. Call on Ajna's unlimited vision to burn away illusions and attune you to your highest path and purpose. Imagine a spinning, luminous indigo eye revealing profound universal truths.

If this chakra is in stagnation or excessive, we feel caught in a spiritual blindspot - unable to see the bigger picture or access our inner guidance. Mental fogginess, vision problems, headaches and irregular sleep patterns can arise. We struggle with overthinking, delusion and an inability to make wise choices.

Crown Chakra: Sahasrara - Violet Merging Into White Light

Radiating from the crown of the head, the Sahasrara or Crown Chakra is a thousand-petaled lotus of pure luminosity. Its vibrant violet hue seamlessly blends into rays of brilliant white light, a vortex of transcendental consciousness.

When this chakra is open and balanced, we are bathed in the radiance of our own divine nature. Physical existence merges into unlimited spiritual awareness as we become one with the cosmos itself. We experience profound peace, bliss, and the liberation arising from entering into universal consciousness.

Balancing The Crown Chakra

To keep Sahasrara in harmonious flow, engage in practices that dissolve you into the vastness. Meditation, breathwork, spending time in nature, and studying spiritual truths all activate this chakra. Selfless service, devotional practices, and living with radical authenticity also open the gateway.

To activate your Crown center, envision a brilliant thousand-petaled lotus radiating from the top of your head. Work with the sacred OM vibration, feeling it resonate from the infinite silence within. Call upon the divine light of your true nature to pour in, aligning you with cosmic truth and boundless love.

If the Crown is in stagnation or excessive, we feel cut off from our true essence - ungrounded, confused, and lacking spiritual direction. Physical issues like headaches, sensitivity to light/sound, and hormonal imbalances can arise. Mentally and emotionally, we struggle with disconnection, egoic restlessness, and an inability to access deeper meaning.

The Link Between the Chakras and the Colors of Your Aura

Just as each chakra resonates with particular vibrant hues, your aura acts like an exquisite energetic mirror - displaying a luminous kaleidoscope of colors that reflect your chakra system's current state of balance or imbalance.

A radiant red aura, for example, may indicate an excess of root chakra energy. You could be extremely grounded and vigorous, but potentially also angry or overly materialistic. Balancing with some heart-opening green would provide more emotional centeredness. An aura rich with blues and indigos signals an open third eye and spiritual communication flowing.

However, if these cool tones dominate completely, you may be getting a bit ungrounded from reality. The ideal is a gorgeous rainbow spectrum - each color glowing in balanced harmony, perfectly calibrated to your needs in that moment.

Aura Color Identification Meditation

To work on interpreting your own aura, simply try this visualization: envision yourself surrounded by an egg-shaped energy field, then notice what colors spontaneously arise. Where do they manifest in the aura? How vibrant or muted do they appear? Cross reference with the chakra correspondences for deeper insight.

For those struggling to tune in visually, don't fret - you may actually perceive auras through other senses like sound, smell, or simply an intuitive gut feeling about the energies present. Keep an open mind and keen attention.

By opening to your aura's vivid streaming of colors, you gain an extraordinary lens into your entire energetic system. It's like beholding a beautiful living portrait of your chakras' current landscape - one that shifts continually as your consciousness expands.

FAQ

Why Do Chakras Have Colors?

The rainbow hues of the chakras colors directly correlate to the vibrational frequencies of each energy center. From a scientific perspective, the colors relate to the particular electromagnetic wavelengths of energy emitted and absorbed. From a more spiritual framework, the chakra colors are associated with representation of the entire vibrational spectrum, encompassing all of creation.

What Does the Word “Chakra” Mean?

The word chakra originated in the Sanskrit language and literally translates to "wheel" or "disk." This term reflects how the chakras are conceived as spinning vortices of energy, almost like little multi-colored whirlpools or cyclones along the central channel of the subtle body.

Can You See Your Aura?

While aura perception is somewhat rare, anyone can potentially develop the ability to visually discern these colorful energy fields with enough sensitivity training. Some people are simply born with an innate aptitude, often correlating with being a highly sensitive empath. More commonly, most will perceive auras through other senses like feeling temperature fluctuations, subtle sounds/vibrations, or simply an intuitive gut sense of the energies present.

Author

Danelle Ferreira

Danelle Ferreira, also known as Ellastrology, is the creative force behind the Tantra Essence blog, where she passionately explores and shares the transformative power of Tantra. As the editor and manager, Danelle curates content that delves deep into spiritual growth, self-discovery, and the intimate connections that Tantra fosters.