spirit, and once this connection has been made, we are able to extend it to others by giving and receiving love through sound, song, and embrace. The heart chakra keeps the physical heart and lungs circulating with currents of blood and oxygen. Without the heart chakra and its organs, the body is unable to live on the earth plane of existence.
Working upwards from the heart chakra in the center of the chest is the throat chakra, or vishuddha (Sanskrit word for “pure wheel”), which oversees the throat, thyroid gland, mouth, ears, and nose. The throat has been likened to a birthing canal for the heart: it is the part of us that is responsible for choices we make, and we express those choices and who we are through the vehicle of the voice. In its highest form, it speaks the language of the heart.
Since there is choice and communication involved in this center, it also has a connection to a more refined form of creativity than that of the sacral chakra. The sacral chakra births raw ideas in a primitive form, and the throat chakra sculpts them according to the wishes of the heart. The throat chakra provides the physical manifestation of vibration through chanting, singing, and spoken words. It is also the point of entry for much of the energy that is exchanged through the solar plexus chakra, since the throat chakra can take in food, liquid, dietary supplements, and sensory input through the mouth, ears, and nose, and give out words in response to what the solar plexus chakra is processing.
All the energy exchange, sensory input, and communication produce thoughts. The activity of the brain falls within the realm of the third eye chakra, or ajna (Sanskrit word for “command”). Logically formed thoughts, emotional pattern recognition, and the master control center for much of the body's hormones live within this chakra's rapid vibratory rate. Think of the speed of a thought or the blink of an eye; this quick and dynamic energy reflects the resonance of this chakra.
The chakras are largely vessels of transition, places of our invisible, energetic landscape that funnel energy in all forms through the ethers into the flesh, and from the flesh into the ethers. The third eye chakra spins in many directions, gathering and receiving energy like an antenna, from many sources. It may be processing information from the physical plane, or it may be receiving signals from abstract, otherworldly places. So the third eye manages not only thoughts, but also intuitive insight that may be an amalgam of our earthly experiences and universal guidance underlying a Divine plan.
Finally, the crown chakra, or sahasrara (Sanskrit for “the supreme center of contact with God”) sits at the top of the head like a halo. It has the finest, lightest vibration of all the major seven chakras, and it feeds the body with cellular intelligence, universal consciousness, and life force. It represents our direct line to the spiritual part of us, the essence of us that knows no time, boundaries, form, or opposites. When we are in union with this part of ourselves, through prayer or meditation, we remember our true nature and origin and their spiritual roots.
Figure 2. The body with anatomical structures
CHAPTER 3
THE INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HERBS, SUPPLEMENTS, AND CHAKRAS
It was not meant that the soul should cultivate the earth, but that the earth should educate and maintain the soul.
MARGARET FULLER (1810–1850), Memoirs
Depending on our life choices, the process of living may dull, dim, or deplete the vivid rainbow of energy we are composed of. Since everything that surrounds us carries an energy signature, it would be reasonable that we could tweak, shift, repair, and restore our rainbow energy with the assistance of external sources. Because we eat every day, one way to change our energy is through foods. Indeed, people can eat specific foods to help heal the chakras.
This concept and its application are described in detail in my previous book, Chakra Foods for Optimum Health. However, sometimes food is not enough. We may experience repeated injury and long-term imbalance in the energetic field, resulting from compounded everyday stresses and burdens. To assist in the healing process, some people find that supplementing their healthy eating regimen and lifestyle approach with additional, fine-tuned nutritional or herbal support helps restore and shift their subtle energy to carry a different vibration—ultimately one that supports optimal wellness.
The distilled vibratory essence of foods and plants in supplement form can affect the vibration of the chakras. When ingesting any number of the 29,000 dietary supplements on the market, people are most likely attempting to balance the life issues the chakras represent on a more philosophical and even spiritual level, but perhaps they are not always aware they are doing so. For example, not everyone realizes that high cholesterol and heart issues may be signs of deeper issues within the heart chakra—that is, how love is given and received, and even whether one has difficulty loving oneself. But if you examine the connection beyond the laboratory measurement of cholesterol, the relationship seems to be a logical one. The body-spirit paradigm is not new. Fortunately, it is on the verge of shifting into greater visibility, which may lead to increased awareness of the multilayered reasons for symptoms and, ultimately, enhanced healing.
Based on this model, certain nutrients resonate with one or more chakra centers. Like the healing effects of foods, the healing effects of these potent nutrients are determined by their physical properties (solid, liquid, oil, powder, plant extract), origin, color, and function in the body. Pigments, minerals, vitamins, and plants are all part of the palette of dietary supplements used in the art of healing the chakras. For example, the colorful compound which is available in dietary supplement form, beta-carotene, a well-known orange-red plant pigment that converts in the body to vitamin A, imparts its orange color vibration and protective properties as an antioxidant to serve a deficient sacral chakra. Since its origin is carrots, a root vegetable, betacarotene also extends its energy to the root chakra.
Minerals, through their contribution to physiological structure and, eventually, to function, stabilize the energy flow to and from chakras. This concept is seen with the mineral supplements zinc and iron, which compose the anatomical matrix governed by the root chakra. (For example, zinc is a component of protein-containing enzymes, and iron composes red blood cells.) Vitamins, either singly or in combination, may orchestrate activities in the chakras. If it weren't for the family of B vitamins working together as a team (referred to as the “B complex”), the solar plexus chakra would not be able to metabolize carbohydrates for energy. And, finally, plant extracts can be taken as a supplement to promote the vibration of healthy chakras; St. John's wort, for instance, can be taken to support healthy mood and third eye chakra activity. Along these same lines, ginkgo extract helps with memory and cognitive function, both of which fall within the realm of the third eye chakra.
MACRONUTRIENTS AND THEIR CONNECTION TO THE CHAKRAS
As discussed earlier in Chapter 2, the lower three chakras, the root, sacral and solar plexus centers, tend to be more connected to the physical body than do the upper four chakras. As a result, the major macronutrients, protein, fat, and carbohydrate, correspond respectively to these chakras:
Protein and the root chakra: Protein provides the basis for the strong support of body tissues that are governed by the root chakra, like muscles, bones, skin, and the immune system. On an energetic (symbolic) level, it
