Wheels of Fortune - The Chakras in Yoga (updated)
Originally published in 2015.
In this blog, I’ve shared my views on the concept of chakras, which might be different from the more popular, Western interpretations. I am not dismissing or making fun of anyone who believes in chakras, nor do I deny the possibility that they may be real. My intention here is to explore different viewpoints, emphasizing that education often involves considering alternative perspectives with an open mind. Whether you believe in chakras or not, it's important to engage in this discussion without losing our temper. Ultimately, my view is that perhaps the experience of chakras is tied to something far deeper, something that may only unfold with dedicated practice and personal realization.
Wheels of Fortune - The Chakras in Yoga
Yogic science recognizes that spiritual health is activated by a system of chakras or “nerve” centers, said to be located within the spinal column. Cosmic energy lies coiled within these chakras and has to be awakened for self-realization. On the Deepak Chopra website, the "Vedic Educator" Michelle Fondin says that you can have alignment issues within your chakras. She says frequent constipation can indicate a blockage in the first chakra. A recurring sore throat leaves clues to a blocked fifth chakra. Frequent headaches around the area of the forehead may mean your sixth chakra is blocked. Chopra's site then provides information on a 'Chakra Mister Box Set'. These are aromatherapy body mists that are infused with essential oils, blended to help balance all 7 chakras. These can be purchased online, of course.
What is she going on about, I thought?? I was under the impression that the system of chakras was part of the subtle body. I thought our understanding of chakras was just for knowledge/information—not something that we could actively influence. The chakra system is part of the subtle body, meaning it is as much a mystery to us as the atman/soul. The soul cannot be targeted or influenced in a standard yoga class. What happens to the subtle body is a byproduct of the physical body. So, get the physical body ready and then maybe after a lifelong practice, you can experience the sensation of your subtle body.
How on earth can this subtle energy center be influenced by mist? Is it that easy? Yogis have been dedicating their lives to yoga and their gurus for thousands of years in the hope of experiencing the subtle body, but it looks like now all you need is an OM necklace, some beads around your wrist, and Chopra's mist. Chopra's site also recommends a chakra healing course. Of course, it does. So, for our TT students, I decided to investigate.
The Meaning of Chakras
Chakra means “wheel” or “ring” in Sanskrit, and our chakras have energy coiled within them. They are the critical junctions that determine the state of the body and mind. Just as the brain controls physical, mental, and intellectual functions through nerve cells or neurons, chakras tap into the cosmic energy (known as prana) that is within all living beings and transform it into spiritual energy. This is spread through the body by the nadis, or channels.
So, "being invisible, chakras are tangible only through their effects," according to B.K.S Iyengar. They can only be experienced, not felt. They cannot be individually "targeted" without the aid of a "Guru" (NOT a teacher. But an actual Guru. The difference is like day and night) and without a lifelong Sadhana (disciplined and dedicated practice or learning). B.K.S Iyengar (2007) says, "The chakras and the chakra system can only be accessed once the student of yoga has achieved all 8 aspects of yoga, when the human self merges with the divine self." So, the father of modern-day yoga says that the system of chakras can only be "accessed" once the student has ACHIEVED all 8 aspects. That is, the 8 limbs. A quick reminder... they are:
1 & 2 - Yāma and Niyāma. Think of these as the code for ethical behavior. It's fair to say that most students already have their moral ethics in place.
3 - Asāna. Iyengar asks for mastery of asana before you can experience or even comprehend the subtle part of the body. The subtle body (where the chakras lie) cannot be experienced if the vessel that carries them (the physical body) has any distortions. Therefore, asana has to be "mastered." What is mastery of asana? When every asana attempted has become steady and comfortable. When all effort has vanished. In Yoga Sutra III.47, Patanjali explains the effects of an asana as “Rupa lavanya bala vajra samhananatvani kayasampat”. This means that a perfected body has beauty, grace, and strength that is comparable to the hardness and brilliance of a diamond.
4 - Prānayama. Patanjali in the yoga sutras clearly specifies that pranayama should be attempted only after the asanas have been mastered. Pranayama is the art of breathing, and all the breathing "exercises" that are available must be achieved. Once Pranayama is mastered...
5 - Pratyāhāra. When the senses withdraw from objects of desire, the mind is released from the power of the senses, which in turn become passive. Then the mind turns inward and is set free from the tyranny of the senses. This is pratyāhāra.
6, 7 & 8 - Samyama – essentially meaning Liberation. In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali groups Dhāraṇā (concentration), Dhyāna (meditation), and Samādhi (illumination) under the term samyama – the integration of the body, breath, mind, intellect, and self.
To summarize, B.K.S Iyengar says that the system of chakras can only be accessed by the seeker once they become an enlightened yogi. What are enlightened yogis? Examples? Buddha, Shiva, Ram, Krishna, Vivekananda, Sadhguru, etc. You must become a realized yogi to experience the subtle body. So, according to the man who is responsible for all of us doing yoga today, the system of chakras is beyond our grasp until we become a Buddha. Iyengar says "accessed," so can a modern Western yoga practitioner (who isn't doing yoga to merge with the divine self) at least influence the chakras?
Research Materials
In his manual The Path to Holistic Health (2007), B.K.S Iyengar dedicates two pages out of over 400 to the concept of chakras. Even then, all he does is introduce the subject. There are no chakra balancing methods.
In Iyengar's Light On Life (2008), chakra is mentioned only once in 308 pages. There are no methods to neutralize or cleanse chakras. There are no mists you can order from the Iyengar website.
There is no mention of any chakra techniques in The Gheraṇḍasaṁhitā - A Treatise on Hatha Yoga (2015). One of the three classic texts of hatha yoga. Yoga teacher trainees will remember this text; this is the text of 32 hatha yoga poses that you all practiced on day one 😁
The Haṭhayōgapradīpikā (1998) talks about the chakra system in Chapter 2. It says that "through hatha yoga all these chakras are influenced and stimulated, and blockages removed. The influence of each chakra can be felt in the body and seen in a person's behavior. Correct balance of energy in each of the chakras is extremely important."
The text then gives instruction on asanas and pranayama as a dedicated approach, rather than teaching poses and breathing exercises for any specific chakra. The text also says that mastering sadhana (the practice) can take 12 years.
Satyananda Saraswati, in his works on Kundalini Tantra (1996), introduces the subject of chakras and gives breathing and centering techniques to bring awareness to the chakras. This particular text is aimed at a yogi who is seeking spiritual enlightenment/liberation. The text is not aimed at the Western asana practitioner like you and me. How do I come to this conclusion? Look at the rules and preparations for this practice:
The text also gives dietary advice, tells you to practice in the same place every day, says that you must practice every day 2 hours before dawn, and says you should have practiced both hatha and raja yoga (Patanjali's 8 limbs) for at least 2 years. The text then outlines various methods the practitioner should be proficient in. These include asanas and the basic pranayamas. So, according to this text, you can influence the chakra system, but in return, you have to give your life up to the practice. It warns you not to try to influence the subtle body before the physical body is prepared. How does it define preparation? It uses the word "proficient." Iyengar uses "Mastery," meaning the process of Asana and Pranayama (of the 8 limbs) is complete. This text just requires proficiency.
In the Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra (2010), the literal birth of Yoga, Shiva, in his dialogue with his wife Parvati, does not mention chakras specifically. Parvati asks Shiva; "How can man realize a higher state?" Shiva, in response, outlines 112 centering techniques—yogic methods of realizing a higher state. There is no mention of chakras or chakra influence as a technique because, at this early stage, chakras are not relevant to the seeker. This will only be experienced upon mastery of one of these techniques. Shiva never once says; "Thou must cleanse thy chakra because thy third eye is blocked." Regardless of "blockages," if you are disciplined with your practice and you give up your soul in search of the divine—or bhairava, in the case of this text—the body will cleanse itself
The closest you come to reading about a chakra is via the following centering technique: "Consider your essence as light rays from center to center up the vertebrae, and so rises ‘livingness’ in you." Some commentators have said of this technique that one must visualize a spark of light jumping from one chakra to the next. Through MASTERY of this dharana, you can reach the highest state. So, I guess, based on this, you can influence your chakra system in class. BUT, what one must remember is that in order to sit silently and fall into this state of meditation, one must have mastered all the moral ethics, mastered asana, mastered pranayama, and now even mastered dharana. Once all this is mastered, you can influence the chakra system via this meditation technique.
I have, however, found a commentary by Satyananda Saraswati on Technique (Dharana) 29 of the Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra. In his translation of the verse, Saraswati says; "Meditate on the shakti (divine energy) moving upwards like lightning through all the chakras one by one to the dwadashanta (the crown). Then at last the glorious form of Bhairava dawns." Again, one must have mastered the other limbs of yoga before commencement of Dharana. If the previous limbs have not been mastered, the so-called chakra experience in your yoga cleansing course is just an illusion.
The mystic and modern-day guru in India, Sadhguru Jagi Vasudev, says the following (2016); "There is a great deal of chakra talk nowadays and it has a very specific meaning and significance in the yogic system. These days there are “wheel alignment centers” that claim to balance your chakras, clear your blocks, and heal you of ailments, past, present, and future. Lots of people are “doing” chakras these days. It has become a huge fad, but it can be dangerous. It is time to approach this very subtle subject with care and precision." Sadhguru goes on to explain that the concept of chakras is only to be experienced as a result of Sadhana (discipline) and a lifelong practice. Chakra "awakening" is a byproduct of a dedicated lifelong yoga practice and not something that can be targeted or manipulated before the body is ready. Before there is mastery of the 8 limbs.
The mystic Osho Rajnessh (1981) puts our fascination with chakras down to our overactive imaginations. Isn't this one of the 5 modifications of the mind Patanjali warns us of in the Yoga Sutras? Patanjali says imagination can create all sorts of things: you can imagine kundalini is arising, your chakras are "opening", you can imagine all sorts of things, and you will be convinced they will all happen to you. The problem is they are not true. Osho warns us in his commentary on the Yoga Sutras to not become a victim of imagination. Whatever you feel you are experiencing in your "chakra class" is imagination. The realization of the "truth" and the subtle body can only be experienced. This experience will occur once you have lost your physical body. Osho says you will first say; "Help me, I am bodyless." This is the first realization. Then after this realization, there will be the final experience. This is the feeling of the subtle body.
P.D. Ouspensky coined a word; he used to call it "imaginazione". Whenever somebody came and started talking about inner experiences: “The kundalini has arisen, I have seen a light in the head, chakras are opening,” he would stop them immediately and say, “Imaginazione.” So people would ask, “What is this imaginazione?” He would say, “The disease of imagination,” and he would simply drop the matter. Immediately he would say, “Stop! You have fallen victim.”
Enough about the cultural view on chakras, what does a Western academic make of this? Richard Rosen authored Original Yoga, Rediscovering Traditional Practices of Hatha Yoga (2012). On the subject of chakras, Rosen says this: "I’m not going to say much about subtle physiology or kundalini, even though they’re of crucial importance in Hatha Yoga. These subjects, particularly the chakra system, have been greatly misunderstood and misused in the modern West. Considering the space limitations of this book, I fear I’d only be adding insult to injury if I tried to do the system justice. Besides, at this point in our practice, when we’re still dealing mostly with the physical body and its wildly rearing mind horses, tossing in simplified information about subtle anatomy isn’t really of much use. Subtle teaching demands direct transmission from a living teacher; reading about it in a book without being able to ask or respond to questions can lead to all sorts of difficulties."
In the Book of Chakras (2015), a question is asked of Rajneesh, "Is knowledge about esoteric subjects such as chakras, collective unconsciousness, energy fields, really helpful along the way, or not? Or will whatever is needed come to me through experience, in its own time?" - The answer - "Anything that is needed will come of its own accord, in its own time. All this so-called esoteric knowledge about chakras, energy fields, kundalini, astral bodies, is dangerous as knowledge. As an experience, it is a totally different thing. Don’t acquire it as knowledge. If it is needed for your spiritual growth, it will come to you in its right time, and then it will be an experience."
So, what are we to make of this desire to experience chakras? Why are Western practitioners so fascinated by "opening" and "cleansing" chakras? Is it ego-driven? Is it insecurity? Rajneesh said somewhere that the ego is greedy to experience this and that: to experience kundalini, and to experience the seventh body. It is hungry to experience something spiritual and to claim it's spirituality. The mind becomes convinced that you can genuinely influence the subtle body. So the problem is the ego. The ego is part of the mind. So it all comes down to the mind. What is it that Patanjali says of Yoga? - "Yoga is the cessation of mind." Clearly, the Western practitioner has forgotten that. Hey, I am not perfect by any means. I don't claim to be. But I recognize that my journey from physical to subtle will be my own. Perhaps aided by a realized Guru, if I wish. This search for 'subtle spirituality' is the search for the real being that is inside. Searching for the true reality that is. All greed for experiencing must be ceased. This true nature, the nature of chakras, will be revealed to the seeker when the urge to experience is no longer there. So the very fact that you are trying to experience your chakras is against the very nature of Yoga. Patanjali warns us not to desire. He says drop desire and adopt discipline. The great Lao Tzu once said, "A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving." If an experience is meant for you, it will come to you. The yogi cannot pursue something he or she is not ready for.
So...
The seeker will not experience the system of chakras until they have experienced enlightenment.
Only someone who has "experienced the experience" of the chakras should be teaching the science of chakras.
Remember, as I said earlier, unless the Limbs of Yoga have been mastered, the chakra experience is just a trick of the mind.
The subtle body is not experienced just by closing your eyes. This is not meditation. Pure yogic meditation, which is how you actually feel the chakras, is not even an actual experience, it is a realization. Pure yogic meditation is not an experience; rather, it is a stopping of all experience. Because of this, those who have really tried to express the inner happenings of the subtle body – for example, Buddha – say, “Don’t ask what happens there.” Or, if you insist, they will say, “Nothing happens there.”
You cannot describe in words the realization of the chakras according to yogic culture.
Something tells me you won't experience the "experience" in a church hall with Wendy the 200-hour Alliance verified yoga teacher. I suspect you will only experience what Osho speaks about—this out-of-body sensation—when you have detached yourself from the world. Perhaps you are living in a cave and following your master/guru’s instructions. Here, you literally give your body and your life up for the higher experience. OR, you can ignore the above and purchase Deepak Chopra's mists. It's cheaper and less travel appears to be involved.
A Reflection on This Blog in 2024
It’s been nearly a decade since I first wrote this blog in 2015. In that time, life has changed dramatically—I’ve gotten married, become a father, and, in many ways, settled deeper into myself. Yet, as I revisit these thoughts about chakras, I realize that one thing hasn’t changed: my skepticism.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not here to say chakras don’t exist or that those who believe in them are misguided. In fact, the journey I’ve taken since 2015 has softened my perspective. I understand now that much of spiritual growth is deeply personal, and what resonates with one person may not resonate with another. But I still maintain that chasing after these fleeting, feel-good experiences—like the promise of a cleansed chakra—can be a distraction.
As a father now, I’m constantly reminded of the patience and presence that life demands. I see how easy it is to get caught up in quick fixes, whether it’s in parenting, relationships, or spirituality. The mind, as I’ve written before, can create all sorts of illusions. And while imagination can be a beautiful tool—especially when it sparks creativity or hope—it can also deceive.
In 2015, I was skeptical of the modern obsession with chakras, and that hasn’t changed. What has deepened, however, is my belief that imagination, while helpful at times, can hold us back from true spiritual growth. The allure of "cleansing" a chakra or achieving a mystical experience is tempting, but often, it leads us to chase after temporary highs instead of working through the deeper, more uncomfortable truths.
Becoming a father has made me more attuned to the long-term journey, not just in spirituality but in life. Raising a child reminds me daily that real growth isn’t about instant gratification. It’s about showing up consistently, staying grounded in the present, and being open to the slow, sometimes imperceptible progress that happens over time.
What I’ve learned over the years is that the more we focus on external validations—whether it’s mystical experiences, cleansed chakras, or even the approval of others—the further we move away from the true work of spiritual practice. That work, I believe, is internal. It’s about removing the layers of conditioning, ego, and illusion. It’s about discipline, self-awareness, and—most of all—patience.
So, as I reflect on this blog in 2024, I find that I still hold my skeptical mind, but with more nuance. I’m open to the possibility that chakras, in some form, exist. But I remain cautious about the seductive nature of imagination. We must be wary of chasing after temporary feelings of spiritual accomplishment because, in doing so, we can lose years of real progress. True growth, as I’ve come to understand it, is slow, steady, and far less glamorous than a “cleansed” chakra.
Ultimately, I encourage others to approach these practices with curiosity and openness, but also with discernment. It’s important to take on board different viewpoints without losing our temper or becoming overly attached to any single idea. Growth is personal, but the path we choose should be grounded in something deeper than the fleeting highs of spiritual trends.
This reflection is less about proving what’s right or wrong and more about recognizing that spiritual growth isn’t a race. It’s a long, often meandering journey, and sometimes, the most progress is made when we stop chasing the next big spiritual experience and start sitting quietly with ourselves.
Zahir Akram - Eternal Seeker
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References:
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Michelle Fondin. 2016. What Is a Chakra?. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.chopra.com/articles/what-is-a-chakra#sm.000772us811x7ej0y0d1h1rei77f7. [Accessed 7 November 2017].
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Swami Muktibodhananda, S., 1998. Hatha Yoga Pradipika. 4th ed. London: Bihar School of Yoga,India; 4th Rep edition (9 Jan. 1998).
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