A student walked into our shala on her first day of 200-hour yoga teacher training in Ubud and said something I hear almost every month:
“I keep hearing about chakras in yoga class. I nod along like I understand. But honestly — I have no idea what they are.”
She is not alone. Chakras are mentioned constantly in the yoga world — in class, in books, in wellness apps — yet most people who practice yoga for years still feel they only half-understand them. The word gets used casually and then surrounded by language that feels either too mystical to grasp or too vague to be useful.
This guide is different. I am going to explain chakras clearly, practically, and honestly — the way I teach them to our students at Bali YTTC in Ubud. By the end, you will understand what chakras actually are, where they are in the body, what happens when they are blocked, and most importantly — what you can do about it.
No jargon. No fluff. Just the real thing.
What Are Chakras? The Clear Explanation
The word chakra (चक्र) comes from Sanskrit and means “wheel” or “spinning disc.” In the yogic system, chakras are centres of energy located along the central axis of the body — the spine — from the base to the crown of the head.
Think of them as junction points where thousands of energy channels (called nadis) in the body converge. Just as the heart is a physical hub where blood from the entire body meets and is pumped forward, chakras are energetic hubs where life force (called prana) concentrates, transforms, and is distributed to different parts of the body, mind, and spirit.
Each chakra governs a specific area of physical health, an emotional theme, a psychological function, and a dimension of spiritual development. When a chakra is open and energy flows freely, you experience health, clarity, and ease in that area of life. When it is blocked or imbalanced, you may experience physical symptoms, emotional difficulties, or mental patterns that feel stuck.
The chakra system is not a modern invention. Its roots appear in the Rigveda — one of the oldest texts in human history, dating back to around 1500 BCE. It was further developed in the Upanishads and through centuries of Tantric and Hatha Yoga tradition. The seven-chakra system most widely taught today was systematised in the Tantric texts and brought to the West in the early 20th century.
The 7 Chakras — Complete Guide
Here is everything you need to know about each of the seven chakras — location, meaning, signs of blockage, and how to balance them.
Muladhara — The Foundation
What it governs: Safety, security, survival, grounding, basic needs — food, shelter, financial stability. This is the chakra of belonging and feeling at home in the world and in your own body.
Signs of blockage: Chronic anxiety, financial stress, feeling unsafe or unstable, lower back pain, digestive issues, disconnection from the body, constant worry about survival.
Signs of balance: Feeling grounded and secure. Trusting life. Financial stability. Strong physical health. A calm sense of safety in the body.
How to balance:
Walk barefoot on earth or grass. Practice grounding yoga poses — Tadasana (Mountain Pose), Malasana (Squat), Warrior I & II. Use the mantra LAM. Spend time in nature. Eat red foods — tomatoes, beetroot, red lentils. Anything that connects you physically to the earth restores this chakra.
Svadhisthana — The Creative Centre
What it governs: Creativity, pleasure, sexuality, emotions, fluidity. This is the seat of creative life force — not just in the reproductive sense but in the deepest sense of your capacity to create, flow, and feel joy in being alive.
Signs of blockage: Creative blocks, emotional numbness or instability, difficulty experiencing pleasure, guilt around pleasure or sexuality, lower back pain, reproductive issues, rigidity or emotional brittleness.
Signs of balance: Creative flow. Comfortable with emotions. Healthy relationships. Ability to experience pleasure without guilt. Flexibility — physical and emotional.
How to balance:
Yoga poses that open the hips — Pigeon Pose, Butterfly, Hip Circles, Goddess Pose. Spend time near water. Dance freely. Create without judgment. Use the mantra VAM. Allow yourself to enjoy pleasurable activities without guilt.
Manipura — The Power Centre
What it governs: Personal power, confidence, self-esteem, willpower, and the ability to act on your intentions. This is the fire of the self — the “I can” chakra. When you feel that gut instinct, when you say “I just know,” that is Manipura speaking.
Signs of blockage: Low self-esteem, people-pleasing, difficulty making decisions, shame, digestive problems (ulcers, IBS), control issues, inability to follow through on intentions.
Signs of balance: Strong sense of self. Decisive. Confident without being arrogant. Ability to set and maintain boundaries. Healthy digestion. Following through on goals.
How to balance:
Core-strengthening yoga poses — Navasana (Boat Pose), Plank, Twists. Kapalabhati pranayama. Spend time in sunlight. Do one thing each day that scares you slightly. Use the mantra RAM. Yellow foods — bananas, yellow lentils, ginger, turmeric.
Anahata — The Bridge
What it governs: Love, compassion, forgiveness, connection, and self-acceptance. The heart chakra is literally the centre of the seven-chakra system — the bridge between the lower three (earth, survival, power) and the upper three (communication, intuition, spirit). Everything rises and falls at the heart.
Signs of blockage: Difficulty giving or receiving love, codependency, jealousy, resentment, grief, emotional armoring, heart or lung issues, feeling isolated or lonely even in company.
Signs of balance: Genuine compassion for self and others. Ability to forgive. Deep meaningful relationships. Sense of interconnection. Openness and warmth.
How to balance:
Heart-opening yoga poses — Ustrasana (Camel), Bhujangasana (Cobra), Wheel Pose, Fish Pose. Practice daily loving-kindness meditation (Metta). Forgiveness exercises. Spending time in nature. Use mantra YAM. Acts of service and kindness.
Vishuddha — The Voice
What it governs: Communication, self-expression, truth, and the ability to speak your authentic voice. The throat chakra is about expressing not just words — but your deepest truth, your creativity, your feelings, and your boundaries.
Signs of blockage: Difficulty speaking up, fear of judgment, saying yes when you mean no, chronic throat problems, neck stiffness, talking too much without depth, or swallowing your feelings.
Signs of balance: Clear, honest communication. Comfortable expressing feelings. Ability to listen as deeply as you speak. Confident in sharing your truth.
How to balance:
Yoga poses — Sarvangasana (Shoulder Stand), Fish Pose, Plow Pose, Lion’s Breath (Simhasana). Sing, chant, or hum. Journaling to find your authentic voice. Use mantra HAM. Practise Bhramari pranayama — the vibration directly activates Vishuddha.
Ajna — The Witness
What it governs: Intuition, inner wisdom, clarity, perception, and the ability to see beyond the surface of things. The third eye is not about supernatural powers — it is about developing a clear, unbiased perception of reality, including the ability to see your own patterns and conditioning honestly.
Signs of blockage: Mental fog, overthinking, poor judgment, inability to trust intuition, headaches, nightmares, rigid thinking, over-reliance on others’ opinions, disconnection from inner knowing.
Signs of balance: Trusting your gut. Mental clarity. Strong intuition. Ability to see situations from multiple perspectives. Vivid dreams. Calm, perceptive awareness.
How to balance:
Meditation — especially trataka (candle gazing) and Yoga Nidra. Child’s Pose, Dolphin Pose, forward folds. Spend time in silence. Reduce screen time. Use mantra OM. Journaling your dreams. Trust a gut feeling this week — without overthinking it.
Sahasrara — Pure Consciousness
What it governs: Spiritual connection, consciousness, meaning, and the experience of unity with something larger than yourself. Sahasrara is the thousand-petalled lotus — the point where individual consciousness meets the infinite. It is not about religion; it is about the felt sense of being part of something vast, meaningful, and interconnected.
Signs of blockage: Feelings of meaninglessness, existential depression, cynicism, spiritual disconnection, closed-mindedness, inability to see beyond material reality, chronic loneliness despite connection.
Signs of balance: Sense of purpose and meaning. Deep inner peace. Openness to mystery. Connection to something greater than yourself. Acceptance of life as it is.
How to balance:
Meditation and deep silence. Savasana. Yoga Nidra. Headstand (Sirsasana) and Rabbit Pose (Sasangasana). Fasting. Spending time in contemplation of nature. Use mantra AH or deep silence. The crown chakra opens naturally as the other six come into balance — you cannot force it open. You only prepare the ground.
The 7 Chakras at a Glance
| # | Name | Location | Theme | Colour | Mantra |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Muladhara | Base of spine | Safety & grounding | Red | LAM |
| 2 | Svadhisthana | Lower abdomen | Creativity & flow | Orange | VAM |
| 3 | Manipura | Solar plexus | Power & confidence | Yellow | RAM |
| 4 | Anahata | Centre of chest | Love & compassion | Green | YAM |
| 5 | Vishuddha | Throat | Communication | Blue | HAM |
| 6 | Ajna | Between eyebrows | Intuition & clarity | Indigo | OM |
| 7 | Sahasrara | Crown of head | Unity & consciousness | Violet | AH / Silence |
How the Chakras Work Together
One of the most important things to understand is that the seven chakras do not work in isolation. They are one interconnected system — like instruments in an orchestra. When one is out of tune, the others compensate, and the whole piece suffers.
The traditional yogic view sees the chakras as a ladder of consciousness. We begin with the most fundamental human concerns — survival and safety (Root), pleasure and creativity (Sacral), power and purpose (Solar Plexus) — and gradually evolve toward the more refined: love (Heart), truth (Throat), wisdom (Third Eye), and ultimately, unity (Crown).
This is not a hierarchy where the upper chakras are “better” than the lower ones. The root chakra grounds the entire system. Without a healthy foundation in safety and belonging, the upper chakras cannot fully open. You cannot have genuine spiritual insight (Third Eye) if you are living in constant fear of survival (Root). You cannot speak your truth (Throat) if you have not yet opened your heart (Heart).
The 8 Limbs of Yoga described by Patanjali mirror this ascent perfectly — beginning with ethical guidelines for living (Yamas and Niyamas) before moving to physical practice, breath, concentration, and finally meditative absorption. Working with the chakras is working with the same journey.
Chakras and Your Yoga Practice
Every yoga practice works with the chakra system — whether the teacher mentions it explicitly or not. Physical postures (asana) move energy through the body. Breath (pranayama) directs prana to specific centres. Meditation cultivates awareness of the subtle body.
Once you understand the chakras, your yoga practice becomes significantly richer. You no longer just do a hip opener because it feels good — you understand that you are working with the energy of creativity and flow (Svadhisthana). You no longer just do backbends — you recognise that you are opening the space of love and courage in the chest (Anahata).
At Bali YTTC, we teach chakra theory as an integrated part of all our programs. Students do not just learn the names and colours — they learn to feel the chakras in practice, to design sequences that work with specific energy centres, and to understand how their own habitual patterns of blockage show up in the body and in life.
“I had been practicing yoga for three years before I did my training at Bali YTTC. Learning the chakras was like getting a map I didn’t know I was missing. Suddenly everything — the poses, the breath, the philosophy — made sense as one coherent system.”
— Aline, Switzerland, Bali YTTC graduate
How to Start Working With Your Chakras Today
You do not need to overhaul your entire life or practice to begin working with the chakras. Start with these simple steps:
Step 1 — Notice where you feel stuck
Look at the seven themes: safety, creativity, power, love, communication, clarity, connection. Where in your life do you feel the most imbalance, difficulty, or recurring challenge? That points toward the chakra that needs attention.
Step 2 — Begin with the body
The body is always the most accessible entry point. If your root chakra needs work, practice grounding poses. If your heart chakra needs opening, practice backbends. The body and energy are not separate — physical movement directly affects the subtle body.
Step 3 — Add the breath
Pranayama is one of the most direct ways to work with chakra energy. Kapalabhati awakens the solar plexus. Nadi Shodhana balances the entire system. Bhramari activates the throat and third eye. Even five minutes of conscious breathing transforms the energy of a chakra.
Step 4 — Meditate on the chakra
Sit quietly. Bring your attention to the location of the chakra you are working with. Breathe into that space. Visualise the associated colour. Silently repeat the mantra. Simply being aware of a chakra begins to shift energy there.
Step 5 — Be consistent
One session will create a shift. A daily practice over weeks and months creates transformation. The chakra system responds to consistent, patient attention — not to urgent fixing.
The language of “blocked” and “unblocked” chakras can sometimes create anxiety — as if there is something wrong with you that needs fixing. The more helpful frame is this: the chakras are a map for self-awareness, not a diagnosis. Use them to understand yourself more deeply, not to judge yourself. Every person has patterns of strength and patterns of growth across all seven centres. That is what it means to be human.
Chakras in the Yoga Teacher Training at Bali YTTC
Understanding the chakra system is a core part of every program at Bali YTTC. In our 200-hour YTT, students explore:
- The history and philosophy of the chakra system — from the Vedas to the modern classroom
- How to feel the chakras in your own body through asana, pranayama, and meditation
- How to design yoga sequences that work with specific chakra themes
- How to teach chakra concepts to beginner students in accessible, non-esoteric language
- How the chakra system relates to the 8 Limbs of Yoga and the Kosha model
The setting in Ubud, Bali adds a dimension that no classroom can replicate. Balinese Hindu culture has worked with subtle energy for centuries — in temple ceremonies, in offerings, in the daily rhythm of life. Practicing chakra work here, surrounded by ancient stone temples, jungle rivers, and a culture that takes the subtle world seriously, creates an experience our graduates consistently describe as transformative.
“On the last day of training, during our final meditation, I felt something open in my chest that I can only describe as the heart chakra actually opening. I know how that sounds. But it happened. And everything changed after that.”
— Sam, United Kingdom, Bali YTTC graduate
Frequently Asked Questions About Chakras
Are chakras real — or is it just spiritual belief?
This is the honest answer: chakras cannot be measured by current scientific instruments, and there is no peer-reviewed evidence for their literal existence as physical structures. However, the system is thousands of years old and has proven itself as a remarkably useful map for understanding the relationship between physical health, emotional patterns, and states of consciousness. Many of the correlations between specific chakras and specific physical or emotional issues are consistent across cultures and centuries. Whether you engage with them as literal energy centres or as a symbolic framework for self-awareness, the practice works. What matters is not what you believe about them — it is what you experience when you work with them.
How do I know which chakra is blocked?
Look at the seven themes above and honestly ask: where in my life do I feel the most persistent difficulty, stuckness, or imbalance? Recurring physical symptoms often point to a specific chakra — lower back pain and root, digestive issues and solar plexus, throat problems and Vishuddha. Emotional patterns are equally revealing. The area where you feel least free, most contracted, or most reactive is usually the one asking for attention.
Can I work on multiple chakras at once?
Yes. A well-rounded yoga practice naturally works all seven simultaneously. If you want to focus, however, starting with the root and working upward is the traditional approach — you build the foundation first. A complete practice that includes grounding postures, core work, heart openers, pranayama, and meditation will touch every chakra in a balanced way.
How long does it take to balance a chakra?
There is no fixed answer. Some people feel an immediate shift in a single yoga class. Deep patterns that have been held in the body for years take longer — weeks or months of consistent practice. The key is gentleness and consistency. You are not forcing anything. You are creating the conditions for energy to move naturally.
Are chakras related to the 8 Limbs of Yoga?
Deeply. Read our complete guide to Patanjali’s 8 Limbs of Yoga to explore this connection in depth. The 8 Limbs describe the path from outer ethical life (Yamas and Niyamas) through physical practice (Asana), breath (Pranayama), withdrawal (Pratyahara), concentration (Dharana), meditation (Dhyana), to absorption (Samadhi) — a journey that mirrors the ascent through the chakras from root to crown.
Can I learn about chakras in depth at Bali YTTC?
Yes — chakra philosophy and practice is a core part of our curriculum in both the 100-hour and 200-hour YTT in Bali. You will not just learn the theory — you will experience the chakras directly in your practice and learn how to teach them to your own students. See our full teaching team and graduate testimonials for more.
Explore the Chakras in the Heart of Ubud, Bali
At Bali YTTC, chakra philosophy is taught as a living, embodied practice — not just theory. Join 2,500+ graduates who discovered the seven chakras through yoga, pranayama, and meditation in our jungle shala in Ubud. Yoga Alliance certified since 2018.
200hr YTT — From €1,600
100hr YTT — From €999
300hr Advanced YTT
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📧 info@baliyttc.com | 📍 Villas Dur Pekerisan, Ubud, Bali
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