Chakras

---

Flower in the crannied wall, I pluck you out of the crannies, I hold you here, root and all, in my hand, Little flower—but if I could understand What you are, root and all, and all in all, I should know what God and man is. ~ Alfred Lord Tennyson, “Flower in the Crannied Wall”

---

In Western medicine, we believe that energy in our bodies is stored in our muscles so that we can perform work in our daily lives.  In traditional Eastern medicine, e.g. in Japan, China, and India, energy is also believed to be centered in seven parts of the body called chakras, an ancient Sanskrit word meaning “wheel.”  It is believed that energy flows through and spins out of these chakras, constantly balancing our physical, emotional and spiritualenergy.  There are also many minor chakras in the limbs, hands and feet. The principal chakras are normally ordered from one to seven going from bottom of the torso to the top of the head.  Unfortunately, since the energy in chakras cannot easily be seen or measured, there is not universal agreement on what happens in each chakra.  However, I have culled a variety of sources to provide an overview here (Ellis, 1999;  Honervogt, 1998;  Lubeck et al. 2001; Mercier, 2000; Sherwood, 1992).  The following chart details many of the properties of each of the chakras.