Everyone has a favorite color or preference towards one color over another. We choose to wear colors that make us feel good or paint our room a specific color to evoke a certain mood in the space. Colors have a profound effect on us on all levels – physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. During a Reiki session, I will often experience visualizations of light in an array of beautiful colors, from bright white to colors of the rainbow. These colors vary depending on one’s energy. It is also common for clients to experience color visualizations during a healing. The use of colors in a Reiki session can help to rebalance chakras that become blocked or depleted of energy, thus preventing the body from functioning properly.
Let’s look first at how colors can impact our health. Think about this… If you were needing to relax and remain calm, would you opt to sit in a room that was painted bright yellow or light blue? For most, the answer would be blue. Why? Because yellow is a very high energy color that stimulates and creates excitement. Blue is symbolic of the ocean and water, creating a calming and soothing effect. Just as we give off energy with our own affect and can change the feeling in a room, so too can colors. Each color has an energy or vibration. This energy can be used to balance or enhance the body’s energy and stimulate healing. This is known as color therapy. Many holistic, alternative practitioners find color therapy helpful in addressing the “whole” person, as we are a culmination of our mind, body, and spirit.
How do colors relate to our chakras, and what are chakras? Chakras are known as the 7 main centers of the body in which energy flows through. Each chakra vibrates to the frequency of a color and represents various aspects to our wellness. As we go through life, experiences leave an impression on us, some positive and some negative. It is our negative experiences that can manifest into physical and emotional challenges that infringe on our wellness and effect the free and flowing energy of our chakras. Chakras are aligned from the top of our head to the base of the spine, spinning like a vortex down the center of our body and connecting our spiritual body with our physical body. Irregular energy flow can result in physical illness or a sense of being mentally or emotionally out of balance. It is the disruption in this energy that can be sensed in a Reiki session. Let’s take a closer look at each chakra and color as it relates to Reiki.
Chakra I – Root/Base Chakra – Color: Red
Our first chakra is referred to as the root or base chakra, located at the base of the spine or tailbone region and closest to earth. This chakra is represented by the color red. Red is the color of self-awareness. It feeds us with the earth’s power and gives us energy on all levels. It is a positive color of security, courage, and passion. The root chakra’s function is grounding and physical survival, also known as our fight or flight response. It serves as the foundation for life and all our basic needs. It is here that we ground ourselves into the earth to feel safe and secure enough to explore life. This chakra also houses our fears, paranoia, and procrastination, known as the negative aspects to the color red. This is caused by an imbalance in the energy at this chakra, leading to a constant state of survival mode, excessive negativity, and control issues regarding food that manifest as eating disorders.
Chakra II – Sacral Chakra – Color: Orange
Our second chakra, as we move up the body, is referred to as the sacral chakra, located in the lower abdomen (just below the navel). This chakra is represented by orange, a color of creativity and emotional strength. Orange relates to adventure, physical confidence, and rejuvenation. It is also the color associated with that “gut” feeling one can experience from time to time. It is at the sacral chakra that we become connected with our physical body and unite with others on an emotional level. This chakra represents desire, pleasure, sexuality, and relationships. It functions to connect us with the world around us, allowing us personal expansion and identity formation. An imbalanced or blocked sacral chakra can lead one to be ruled by emotions, resulting in negative aspects to the color of orange, including overindulgence, lack of desire, dependency or co-dependency to people or substances, insincerity, and feeling “stuck” in a mood.
Chakra III – Solar Plexus Chakra – Color: Yellow
Our third chakra is referred to as the solar plexus chakra, located above the navel and between the upper abdomen and base of the diaphragm. This chakra is represented by the color of yellow, another color representing creativity, but also inspiring thought and inquisitiveness. Yellow stimulates our mental intellect, helps us to express our thoughts, and uplifts our spirit. The solar plexus chakra houses our intellect, power, confidence, personal beliefs, and judgements. This chakra functions to create the momentum in life needed for one to reach personal goals and move forward in the world. If out of balance, this chakra becomes associated with anger, frustration, manipulation, excessive control, or lack of direction.
Chakra IV – Heart Chakra – Color: Green
Our fourth chakra is referred to as the heart chakra, named for its proximity to the heart at the center of the chest. It is here that we experience love, compassion, and peace. This chakra is represented by the color of green, the color of harmony and balance between the head and the heart. It is an emotionally positive color, allowing us to love unconditionally both ourselves and others. The heart chakra functions to open us up to love, relationships and the beauty of life. This chakra also houses jealousy, fear of intimacy, inability to forgive, and need for acceptance. These negative aspects, also associated with the color of green, give meaning to the expression “green with envy.”
Chakra V – Throat Chakra – Color: Blue
Our fifth chakra is referred to as the throat chakra, located at the throat and associated with the neck, esophagus, thyroid, ears, and jaw. This chakra is considered our “true” voice and the chakra of expression. The throat chakra is associated with the color of blue. It can range from turquoise to aquamarine. Blue represents communication, truth, and self-expression. It is also a color of spiritual perspective, enhancing devotion, prayer, and mediation. The throat chakra is our center for communication and listening. It also functions to connect us to the spiritual world. An underactive throat chakra can lead to insecurity, shyness, and/or fear to express one’s self. An overactive throat chakra can lead to verbal aggression, gossiping, and dishonesty.
Chakra VI – Third Eye Chakra – Color: Indigo
Our sixth chakra is referred to as the third eye chakra or brow chakra because it is located between and slightly above our eyes in the middle of our forehead. It is known as the chakra of question… What is the meaning of life? It is represented by the color of indigo, a blend of red and blue. This color represents intuition, perception, and a deeper level of consciousness. Unlike the gut feeling associated with the sacral chakra, this chakra is driven by intuition. Along with indigo, this chakra is characterized by its luminescence or radiance. It can even be described as translucent purple or bluish white, representing devotion and faithfulness. This chakra holds our dreams and inner visions, and it functions to allow us to see with our eyes closed! An imbalance at this chakra can leave you lacking clarity, feeling stuck in a rut, or depressed. If this chakra becomes overactive, one can manifest fantasies as reality leading to an unhealthy state of mind.
Chakra VII – Crown Chakra – Color: Violet
Our seventh chakra is referred to as the crown chakra, located at the top of the head. It is also known as the chakra of our divine purpose. It is here that we seek the meaning of life. This chakra sits like a crown above our head pointing upwards to a higher power. Remember, our root chakra functions to ground us while our crown chakra functions to transcend us. This chakra is represented by the color of violet, the color of transformation. Violet relates to our imagination, awareness, selflessness, and spiritual enlightenment. Though violet is the most common color associated at the crown chakra, the energy of gold, white, or clear light can also be experienced when working with this chakra. The crown chakra allows us clarity, wisdom, enlightenment, and a blissful union with all this is. An imbalance to this chakra can cause one to become closed-minded, cynical, disconnected, and result in psychological impairments.
Reiki is one method for awakening and strengthening the chakras. Through Reiki and the use of color therapy, balance can be brought to all areas of life.
