aSoon after I learned about chakras, I learned that your chakras can become blocked! I became quite concerned with how to tell if your chakras are blocked, and how to unblock your chakras if that was indeed the case for me.

What causes blocked chakras, and how can you undo it? Chakras can be blocked due to physical problems, emotional or psychological problems, or spiritual problems. You can unblock them by using meditation, yoga, tapping, mantras, and other techniques.

In this article you’ll learn what chakras are, what causes them to become blocked, what the signs of a blocked chakra are, and how to unblock them.

What Are Chakras?

Chakras are believed to be energy centers located throughout the human body. The idea comes from Hinduism, but many other spiritual belief systems now make use of chakras as well. Including Buddhism and various New Age systems.

By using various types of yoga, visualizations, breathing techniques, and other methods, it’s believed that you can move energy through the chakras to unlock a variety of health and spiritual benefits.

There are multiple different systems to choose from, but by far, the seven chakra system is the most widely used. From top to bottom along the spine, the seven chakra system includes the crown, third eye, throat, heart, solar plexus, sacral, and root chakras.

Blocked Chakras – What Causes Chakras To Become Blocked?

Chakras aren’t physical organs that become blocked in the way that your arteries can become blocked and cause a heart attack. It’s not anything like that. Think of it more like having a car that hasn’t has its oil changed in a while. Your chakras can get clogged up like that, and cause energy to flow less efficiently throughout your body.

Along with the idea of chakras usually comes the concept of prana, or a universal life-force energy. A healthy person with clean chakras will have prana that can flow easily through them all the time. But if your chakras become blocked, your energy flow can be restricted. In China or Japan, prana is also called chi, qi, or ki. They all refer to the same type of energy.

Cause #1 – Anxiety and Stress

The main cause of blocked chakras for most people are anxiety and stress. You probably understand first hand how when you’re stressed, it feels like everything in your body tightens up. That also extends to an energetic level, and your chakras can tighten up and restrict how energy flows in your body in the same way.

Psychological and emotional issues like depression, anxiety, and addiction can take a toll on a person’s energy. These negative feelings build up over time, just like toxins like lead or mercury can build up in your body from contaminated food. Since these feelings normally accumulate over months or years, removing these toxic feelings is also usually a long and gradual process.

Nowadays, almost everyone is stressed or anxious to some degree. So it’s important to learn techniques like meditation and yoga to help calm yourself and reduce any tension that you feel day to day.

Cause #2 – Physical Ailments

Physical problems can also affect how closed or open your chakras are. A tumor or cyst, a buildup of cholesterol and plaque in your arteries, or even a backed up digestive system can cause the chakras to become blocked. Generally the healthier you are, the more likely it is that your chakras will be working at peak efficiency.

Other physical things you can do to impair your chakras include a poor diet, lack of sleep, drug use, overexertion (working too hard), or a lack of exercise.

Before you consider working on any other reasons why your chakras might be blocked, I would highly recommend visiting your doctor first to make sure you’re in good physical health. If you have any of the problems that I’ve mentioned above, try to deal with those first before dealing with any suspected chakra issues on a spiritual or emotional level.

Cause #3 – Spiritual Problems

Along with the Hindu beliefs in chakras and prana normally comes the idea of karma as well. In Sanskrit, karma means “action” and in simple terms, you can think of it as the balance of all of our good, bad, or neutral actions. If you help a homeless person, that will give you good karma. But if you lie or steal, that will cause bad karma, for example. A neutral action might be something like cleaning your laundry.

Some people believe that this karma builds up for our entire lifetime, and we carry the burden of all our past positive and negative options with us. Good or bad karma is even believed to pass between lifetimes, and you may carry bad karma from your past life that you still need to repay.

This bad karma can manifest as everything from bad luck to chakra blockages. So if you try everything else and nothing seems to work, you may try doing good deeds to improve your karma and see if that helps.

Spiritual issues besides karma can include other spiritual forces. If you fail to acknowledge who you genuinely are and what your life purpose is, this can block off the higher chakras. In some theologies they may even believe in entities like demons that hold people back from full spiritual growth.

Some believe that even things like the earth, sun, moon, and planets can have an energetic impact on people and help or limit the flow of energy throughout the body.

How To Tell If You Have Blocked Chakras

The symptoms of having blocked chakras are numerous and varied. So it can be difficult to necessarily tie any specific issue back to your chakras, as opposed to medical conditions or other problems.

Somebody who has clear and healthy chakras will normally feel a sense of satisfaction and well-being. So we can say that someone who feels the opposite may be suffering from blocked chakras. If you are constantly feeling unhappy, criticizing people, quick to anger or find fault, then blocked chakras may be at play. Unfortunately it’s a bit of a paradox. Being stressed and upset will lead to blocked chakras, but having blocked chakras will also lead to you feeling more upset and stressed. So it can be a vicious cycle to try and escape from.

In terms of physical problems as a result of blocked chakras, different symptoms and illnesses are linked to different blockages or imbalances in the various chakras. In the section below I’ll go in to more detail about what kinds of ailments are associated with each of the seven chakras being blocked.

Generally if you have one chakra that’s blocked, it will also cause imbalances in all of the others. It’s important to find out which chakra has a blockage, what caused it, and how to fix it. Although normal practice is to start from the root chakra and work your way up until all of the chakras have been cleared.

Root Chakra

The root chakra is found at the base of your spine and is associated with the color red.

If your root chakra is blocked you might feel lazy and sluggish, stressed, full of hatred or anger about your body, and even financial problems.

If it’s open you’ll feel confident with your body, have enough money, and feel wanted and loved by your friends and family.

Sacral Chakra

The sacral chakra is found right below your belly button and is associated with the color orange.

If your sacral chakra is blocked you might feel hurt, abused, or confused. You might distrust your partner or be in a toxic relationship. You might have trouble being sexually or emotionally intimate or feel that sex is bad.

When your sacral chakra is open you’ll be comfortable with your sexuality and romantic relationships.

Solar Plexus Chakra

The solar plexus chakra can be found above your belly button, about two inches under your breastbone.

If it’s blocked you may suffer from low self esteem, low self-worth, and feelings of shame. You might feel like a victim or like you don’t have any power.

You might also feel anxiety and stomach pains.

When your solar plexus chakra is open you’ll be confident in yourself and feel powerful. And you’ll want to use that power to do good for the rest of the world.

Heart Chakra

The heart chakra, like you’d expect, is found in the middle of your chest and is associated with the color green.

If your heart chakra gets blocked you might have a fear of commitment or like you need to protect yourself from being hurt again if you’ve been hurt in the past. You might also have problems either giving or receiving love, as well as generally being compassionate or forgiving to others. You may also hold grudges.

Physically, you might suffer from allergies or asthma, as well as heart disease.

When your heart chakra is open it is easy to be in relationships and to easily give and receive. You feel a strong sense of gratitude.

Throat Chakra

Like the name suggests, the throat chakra is located in the throat. It’s associated with the color blue.

If your throat chakra has become blocked you might have problems with public speaking or standing up for yourself and saying how you feel. You might just go along with what other people want to avoid upsetting them. Or you might feel frustrated like nobody listens to what you say.

You can also feel like your throat is physically blocked or you have a sore throat.

If your throat chakra is open you’ll feel like you’re listened to and respected, and you’ll feel comfortable speaking and telling people how you really feel.

Third Eye Chakra

The third eye chakra is located between the eyebrows and is associated with the color indigo.

If your third eye chakra gets blocked you might have trouble making choices and decisions. You might feel lost like you don’t have a purpose in life, or something might just generally feel a bit off.

Physically you might experience headaches or feelings of tension between your eyebrows.

If your third eye chakra is open you’ll have a good sense of who you are and what your purpose is. You’ll have a strong sense of intuition and potentially even unlock psychic abilities.

Crown Chakra

The crown chakra is found at the top of your head and is associated with the color violet.

If your crown chakra is blocked you might feel lonely, aimless, or like you are insignificant. You might not feel like you have a connection with God or a higher power, or like you’re unworthy of God’s love or have been abandoned. You might be strongly attached to physical possessions.

Physically you may experience tension headaches or migraines. People believe it also impacts your brain function and central nervous system.

When your heart chakra is open you’ll feel a sense of connection with a higher power and like you’re cared for and watched over. You’ll feel bliss, gratitude, and love and offer that to other people.

How Do You Unblock, Open, or Balance Your Chakras?

After reading all of the information above, it might seem a bit disheartening. It seems like all sorts of things can cause your chakras to become blocked or clogged up.

But luckily there are also many ways to open your chakras up if they get blocked.

Meditation

Various forms of meditation can help to calm your mind and unblock your chakras. With the right meditation technique and focused concentration, you can clear all of your blocked chakras.

There are tons of different meditation techniques to choose from. I’ll likely do an entire article about meditation in the future, so look forward to that and be sure to check back!

Things that go along with meditation that can help unblock your chakras are mudras and mantras. Mudras are specific hand postures, and mantras are specific words or sets of words that you chant. They can both help you to focus on a particular chakra that you’re trying to unblock. Mantras vibrate in a different part of your body like your throat, chest, or lower abdomen depending on what chakra you’re trying to target.

Want to really up your meditation game? Check out my article on rudraksha prayer beads.

Chakra Mantras

Root – LAM or UH

Sacral – VAM or OO

Solar Plexus – RAM or OH

Heart – YAM or AW

Throat – HAM or EYE

Third eye – OM or AYE

Crown – silence or EEE

Chakra Jewelry

Chakra jewelry is designed to help balance and open your chakras. Normally they are made with a mix of semiprecious stones, crystals, and minerals that can assist you in your spiritual journey. Particularly crystals are well-known in spiritual communities for their energetic properties.

Normally this jewelry will have one stone for each color of the chakras. You can see an example of this jewelry here (Amazon link.) They can also be incorporated into a mala, or set of prayer beads, like this.

Tapping

Tapping is where you use your fingertips to tap on specific energy centers in your body. Usually while tapping you also say positive affirmations and accept any emotions or memories that come up. Tapping is also sometimes called Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT, as coined by Nick and Jessica Ortner who founded the Tapping Solution Foundation.

The basic technique is to take your index and middle fingers on your dominant hand. Use the pads of your fingers to firmly but gently tap each chakra nine times, starting from your crown chakra and working your way down to your root chakra. You can also combine tapping with mantras if desired.

Energy Healing or Reiki

Reiki masters or other energy workers can assist you in unblocking your chakras. These alternative healers are able to channel and direct energy into your blocked chakras to help open them back up. This type of healing is usually done in-person, but it can even be done remotely while the healer and client are in different physical places.

Yoga

Specific types of yoga can be used to unblock the chakras. Particularly kundalini yoga is designed for this purpose. The usual type of fitness yoga you find done at gyms generally has been stripped of any spiritual practices and won’t likely help.

Kundalini yoga uses a combination of different poses, mantras, and meditation to stimulate the chakras. It’s the oldest and arguably best practice for opening up the chakras and other spiritual abilities. Although it is a more complex practice and it may take years to learn and master all of the techniques.

Kundalini may pose some risks if not practiced correctly. Check out my article What Are The Dangers of Kundalini? (And How To Avoid Them) to learn more. 

Conclusion

Working with your chakras and figuring out if they’re blocked can help you to unblock them. This may give you a sense of wellbeing and potentially better overall health.

Now you know that chakra blockages can be caused by physical ailments, emotional problems like stress and anxiety, or even spiritual issues. You can identify the symptoms associated with different chakra blockages, and know a few techniques that can be used to unblock them.

Of course if you are experiencing any physical or emotional discomfort, always seek out a professional doctor or therapist before trying alternative techniques.

If you’re interested in learning more in-depth about chakra healing, I would recommend picking up a whole book dedicated to the topic. There is far more to be said on the topic than I can fit into a short blog post. Here is a book I would recommend. (Amazon Link)

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