What Are Chakras and Why Should They Matter to Us?

by Lisa Erickson

I came to energy work through meditation.

In my 20s when I first entered the workforce after college I started experiencing headaches that didn’t seem to have a physical cause.

My doctor felt they were stress-induced, and suggested meditation – which was actually not that common at the time!

As it happens, the meditation course I found was a chakra, or energy center, meditation class. It started a lifelong love of chakras, meditation, and energy work.

I Needed to Write to Support My Chakra Classes

I really consider myself a teacher who writes.

I began writing to provide materials for attendees of my energy work, chakra, and meditation classes.

Eventually I started a blog, Mommy Mystic, to share some of these ideas. Then I wrote a small e-book. Eventually, Chakra Empowerment for Women was born, followed by The Art and Science of Meditation.

If anyone had told me 20 years ago I would have 2 books published by an established publishing house, I would never have believed them!

My writing career is really an example of taking baby steps. If you keep putting one foot in front of the other (or in this case keep putting pen to paper!) you will eventually create more than you can imagine at the start of your journey.

How Pregnancy and Birth Impacted My Energy Body

After the birth of my first daughter I experienced a lot of health issues. This was highly unusual for me, and somewhat unexpected as I had a very smooth pregnancy.

I had already been doing chakra and kundalini meditation for 15 years at that point. I could also sense the impact to my energy body. But I had not found any information that indicated there were differences in women’s and men’s energy bodies. Or that pregnancy and birth impacted a woman in this way.

So I began a deep dive into research, and discovered many energy healing and spiritual traditions that did speak of this.

I began to put much of this work together into women’s energetics workshops.

I had already been doing women’s empowerment and meditation classes, and gradually incorporated more and more women’s energetics exercises.

I also developed chakra healing tools specifically for sexual trauma, as I had so many women in my classes who had experienced this.

These tools were the foundation for my first e-book – parts of which are a precursor to Chakra Empowerment for Women.

What Are Chakras and Why Should They Matter to Us?

The chakras are intersections of mind, body, and spirit and different tools can help us connect with them on any of these levels.

Someone experiencing physical issues, or stress-induced problems, may want to focus on the root or heart chakras to generate feelings of safety or soothing.

Someone who is in therapy to heal feelings of unworthiness may want to incorporate heart and navel power work to bring in greater feelings of self-affirmation and confidence.

Someone looking to increase their intuition might use third eye tools.

A spiritual seeker may focus on the crown for spiritual guidance.

These are simple examples, but there is just an infinite number of ways to utilize the chakras. They are an energy technology available to all of us, and as helpful to work with as our physical body!

And there are access methods for everyone – affirmations, visualizations, chants, or simple body focus.

Chakras Are Accessible to Anyone

Chakras really are accessible to anyone. In this book I have presented 12 straightforward tools that any women can use.

A reader can pick and choose what is most relevant to them and where they are in their life. For example, someone trying to manifest a big career change in their life might initially want to focus on different tools than someone working to heal a relationship or improve boundaries.

Energy underlies everything in our world. Beginning to connect with your own energy is life- changing. It adds an entirely new dimension to personal development and growth work, and even business work.

What Meditation Can Do for You

My meditation practice truly is the foundation for my life.

Meditation shows you that all your thoughts and emotions are transient, and that none of them are all you are.

Once you know this you discover the space to choose your response to events, rather than simply reacting from a habitual place.

Then chakra meditation connects us to transformative energies we can use in so many ways.

What Are the 3 Myths People Believe About Meditation?

Firstly, that they can’t meditate.

Many, many people say they can’t meditate because they are too restless/busy/drowsy/hyper/distracted/you-name-it.

But the truth is, these things are true for all of us, and meditation is similar to exercise – you get benefits from it whether you think you’re “good” at it or not.

And that leads to the second myth…

To get benefits you have to ‘enjoy’ meditation, feeling bliss and peace.

That’s great when it happens, and fortunately most people do experience this at least once in awhile in meditation, but it’s not the point.

Many, many studies have confirmed that we benefit from meditation whether we experience these gratifying moments or not.

So again, it’s about the routine and process – you don’t have to feel you “excel.” Every time you pull your mind back from a distraction, you have done a meditation “push-up.”

Even if that only happens once or twice in your sessions that’s still 1 or 2 push-ups!

Over time it builds up.

I think the 3^rd myth is probably…

You need to do it for long periods of time.

That’s great when you can and if you’re interested, but there’s benefit to even short periods of meditation.

My Top 3 Daily Life Chakra Exercises

Here are my top 3 ‘daily life’ chakra exercises that anyone can do and that can help them on the spot:

1. When Feeling Stressed

Focus on your tailbone (seat of the root, or first, chakra) and imagine a vibrant light here. Say the affirmation “I am safe and present in my body.”

2. When Feeling Hurt

Focus on the center of your sternum (seat of the heart chakra) and imagine a gentle, soothing light here. Say the affirmation “I am loved and supported. I know my worth.”

3. When Feeling Insecure or Unfocused

Imagine a flame like that of a candle inside your belly just below your navel (seat of the third chakra) and affirm “I am centered and know my power. I claim my boundaries.”

Forthcoming: Chakra Empowerment for Men?

I was really excited to release the audiobook version of Chakra Empowerment for Women last fall, that was a big project.

Now I’m busy teaching my workshops and developing social media material. I am focusing a lot on chakra combinations that individuals can use in their daily lives, and I’m developing new tools for chakra empowerment that I hope to incorporate into a new book.

I also have had many requests for a Chakra Empowerment for Men, so we’ll see if that happens!

* * *

Lisa Erickson is an energy worker specializing in women’s energetics, sexual trauma healing, chakra manifestation, and kundalini awakening.

She is the author of Chakra Empowerment for Women and The Art and Science of Meditation both published by Llewellyn Worldwide.

Lisa is certified in mindfulness meditation instruction and trauma sensitivity, and has trained in a variety of energy healing and somatic modalities. She is a member of The Breathe Network, a non-profit dedicated to supporting holistic healing and healers for sexual trauma survivors.

For more information on Lisa’s work, visit her website and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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Chakra Empowerment for Women: Self-Guided Techniques for Healing Trauma, Owning Your Power & Finding Overall Wellness

Learn to move past trauma, find strength, and thrive with twelve chakra tools that are based on the feminine energy body and life phases. These tools focus on challenges that women often face in owning our power, balancing work and family, and maintaining physical and emotional health. Featuring an eight-page, full-color insert with clarifying chakra figures, this essential guide presents a no-nonsense, easy-to-use approach to the chakras that helps you manifest your highest potential.

Each chapter focuses on a new chakra tool, helping you explore how to use it within your daily life for long-term growth, overcoming blocks, healing sexual trauma, and more. Chakra Empowerment for Women supports your journey in practical ways as you recover the energy of your empowered self.

Available on Amazon.

The Art & Science of Meditation: How to Deepen and Personalize Your Practice:

Featuring hands-on exercises to make your meditation more effective as well as science-based advice for using it in your daily life, The Art & Science of Meditation takes your practice to the next level.

This vital resource provides ways to overcome common obstacles, easy-to-understand explanations of classic spiritual texts, guidance on choosing meditation teachers and retreats, and much more. Lisa Erickson presents practical, in-depth information drawn from both historical sources and contemporary scientific research.

Explore ways to enhance your journey through each chapter’s integration tools and contemplation methods. Discover how to achieve mystic states, meditate on the sacred feminine, and find the best modality for you. Easy to personalize to your own needs, this book helps you truly unite your life and meditation practice.

Available on Amazon.