Life is shaped by experiences, both good and bad. As well as affecting the development of personality and worldview, experiences can affect your Chakras. They can cause them to become too open or too closed, causing personality problems or illnesses.
Experiences Good and Bad
Childhood events affect your Chakras. For example, neglect or criticism can cause feelings of inadequacy, and the lower Chakras will close as a defence mechanism. Traumas such a bullying or abuse can result in alienation and depression, causing the upper Chakras to close for protection of the self when you have not yet learned to cope with such traumas. Some schools of thought even suggest that dysfunctions in your Chakras are a result of 'karmic patterning', where the challenges you need to deal with in this life, as a result of past life experiences, are built in to you. Learning about the Chakras enables you to reopen them and attain balance.
Keeping an Open Heart
As a baby, all your Chakras tend to be open and receive input from the environment. Events in your life can cause them to partially or even fully close, however.
- Upper Chakras These tend to close first because from early on in your life, you are taught the accepted way of viewing the world, and your imagination becomes reined in.
- Lower Chakras From your heart down, your Chakras will tend to stay more open, though they will also close if your environment becomes threatening or if they are not stimulated by the happiness of family love or by encouragement to learn and succeed.
Learning to prevent your Chakras from closing can help you continue to grow.
How the Chakras Close
Learn how the exact nature of your experiences determines which Chakra it will affect and cause to close, and also how to help each Chakra reopen.
The Chakras usually begin to close from the top of your head downwards. According to some systems of Chakra belief, the Chakras are not simply opened or closed but move gradually through degrees. According to Swami K.M. Tayumanavar, who was responsible for much of the theory of closed Chakras, there are seven degrees of openness within each of the seven Chakras, and these can be measured by professional healers. You can use this helpful list to discover what causes each of the Chakras to gradually close down and what you can do to help them reopen and regain their balance, so that they can begin to process input from your environment once again.
The Root Chakra
Abuse to the Root Chakra through bullying, ffamily neglect or excessive criticism can cause it to close down as self-esteem is damaged. Assertiveness training and learning to value yourself can help it to reopen.
The Sacral Chakra
Feeling guilt for events for which you are not responsible can close the Sacral Chakra. Trauma and emotional abuse can also damage it. This affects your ability to develop friendships and to honestly express yourself.
Stomach Chakra
When others lead you to believe your opinions have no worth or if you suffer from lack of attention, the Stomach Chakra can suffer. Developing hobbies that cause you to socialise and learn a new skill can help.
Heart Chakra
Being rejected and made to feel unworthy of love causes the Heart Chakra to close. This damages your ability to nurture and can result in self-pity. Exercise and learning new skills can help to reactivate it.
Throat Chakra
Exposure to prejudice and prevention from self-expression will negatively affect your Throat Chakra, causing it to close. Learning to discuss and debate issues will help stimulate this Chakra to open.
Third Eye Chakra
An absence of discipline, a lack of goals and inconsistent behaviour can all affect the Third Eye Chakra. Practices such as Yoga and meditation can help to establish self-discipline. Setting life goals and achieving them can help to keep the Third Eye Chakra open.
Crown Chakra
An unhealthy diet resulting in lethargy, combined with a lack of expression of your feelings can close the Crown Chakra. Major trauma can also damage it. To reopen this Chakra, learn to put yourself first.
