What Are Chakra, and How Many Are There?

What Are Chakra, and How Many Are There?

Chakras are energy centers in the body that act as gates to the flow of energy. This is all manner of energy including emotional and spiritual energy.

It is most often heard to open the chakras. However, the chakra should never be too open or too closed. If the chakra (aka an energy gate) is too open, then too much energy is allowed downstream flooding the system. If the chakra is too closed, then the system down stream is starved of energy. The goal is to open the energy valve to the right setting. This setting I call the Goldilocks Zone because it's just right.

In the Goldilocks Zone, the energy is not starving or drowning the system down stream. This results in a physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually fit human being. Yet through training in energy arts such as Yoga and QiGong, one can drive their chakra to open to the ideal setting within the Goldilocks Zone. This is, in fact, one of the goals of any energy art.

We can use water coming out of a hose to visualize the energy, a water valve as the chakra, and crops as the downstream system. If we close the valve, no water flows and the crops wither and die. If we open the valve a little but not enough, the crops still die just slower. If the valve is opened to the Goldilocks Zone, then plants thrive. Open the valve beyond the Goldilocks Zone, and the plants drown. Open the valve to the full on position, and not the plants and soil get eroded away.

Being in the Goldilocks Zone will sustain life, but there is an ideal location within the Goldilocks Zone that is the best zone. Looking at the water coming out of the hose, the flow can be tranquil or critical, laminar or turbulent. Ideally we want tranquil laminar flow.

In tranquil flow, the flow is smooth whereas critical flow is chaotic. You can see this when you empty a bottle. If you pour too fast the outflow becomes pulse like. This is critical flow. You don't want critical flow in your energy system.

In laminar flow, the particles or energy packets travel in parallel lines. Turbulent flow involves any particles or energy packets traveling in paths that deviate from parallel. We want all the energy in our system working together without waist in the flow.

It is the goal, to train our energy system to flow in a laminar and tranquil way.

There are major, minor, and external chakra. Different numbers of each are assigned by different schools of thought. There may be 5, 7, or 8 major chakra, depending on the school, with the seven chakra system being most common. There are many minor chakra but only 21 are agreed upon between various schools of thought. Then there are the external chakra with even less agreement.

Kevin Dewayne Hughes
Tenkidokan Kancho
Yoga Teacher