The Chakra System Explained – All 12 Chakras Including the Transpersonal Chakras

The Chakra System Explained

A complete guide to all 12 chakras — from the 7 energy centres within the body to the 5 transpersonal chakras that connect us to the earth, the cosmos, and the divine.

There is a map of the human energy system that has been refined over thousands of years of direct inner investigation — not by theorists, but by practitioners: yogis, healers, mystics, and meditators who mapped what they could perceive directly in their own bodies and energy fields. The chakra system is that map. It describes a set of energy centres that concentrate, distribute, and regulate the flow of life force through the human system — each one governing a distinct dimension of physical, emotional, and spiritual experience. Understanding the chakras is not an abstract exercise. It is a practical diagnostic and therapeutic framework that tells you where you are blocked, where you are overextended, and what kind of support will restore balance and flow. Browse chakra crystals →

What Is a Chakra?

The word chakra comes from Sanskrit and means “wheel” or “disk.” Chakras are understood in Vedic, Tantric, and many Western esoteric traditions as vortices of energy within and around the human body — points where life force (prana in Sanskrit, chi in Chinese traditions, ki in Japanese) concentrates, flows, and radiates outward. Each chakra has its own frequency, colour, element, sound, and set of qualities governing specific areas of life.

When chakras are open and balanced, energy moves freely through the system and we experience vitality, emotional clarity, mental focus, and spiritual connection. When a chakra becomes blocked, underactive, or overactive, we experience difficulties — physical, emotional, relational, or spiritual — that correspond precisely to the qualities of that centre. The chakra system provides a framework for understanding the relationship between our inner life and our outer experience, and for working with that relationship intentionally.

The Seven Physical Chakras

The seven primary chakras run along the central channel of the body from the base of the spine to the crown of the head. Each is associated with specific qualities, colours, elements, musical notes, and crystal allies.

1. Root Chakra — Muladhara

Location: Base of the spine
Colour: Red
Element: Earth
Musical note: C
Qualities: Safety, security, survival, grounding, physical vitality, belonging, tribe

The Root Chakra is the foundation of the entire system — our connection to the physical world, to our body, and to the most primal sense of safety and belonging. Before any higher work can be sustained, this foundation must be stable. When balanced, we feel grounded, physically present, secure, and at home in our body and in the world. When blocked or underactive, anxiety, financial fear, chronic insecurity, and a feeling of not belonging arise. When overactive, materialism, rigidity, and resistance to change.

Crystal allies: Red Jasper, Black Tourmaline, Smoky Quartz, Obsidian, Garnet, Hematite
Shop grounding crystals →

2. Sacral Chakra — Svadhisthana

Location: Lower abdomen, below the navel
Colour: Orange
Element: Water
Musical note: D
Qualities: Creativity, pleasure, emotion, sexuality, flow, intimacy, relationships

The Sacral Chakra governs our relationship with pleasure, creativity, and the full range of emotion. It is the seat of creative life force in its most fundamental sense — the capacity to bring new things into being, whether children, art, relationships, or any other creative expression. When balanced, we feel emotionally fluid, creatively alive, and comfortable with intimacy and pleasure. When blocked: emotional numbness, creative stagnation, disconnection from pleasure and from the body. When overactive: emotional volatility, addictive patterns, over-dependence on others.

Crystal allies: Carnelian, Orange Calcite, Sunstone, Peach Moonstone, Tiger’s Eye
Shop sacral chakra crystals →

3. Solar Plexus Chakra — Manipura

Location: Upper abdomen, above the navel
Colour: Yellow
Element: Fire
Musical note: E
Qualities: Personal power, confidence, will, self-esteem, boundaries, transformation

The Solar Plexus is the fire centre — the seat of personal power, will, and self-definition. It governs our capacity to act from a clear sense of self and to establish and maintain healthy boundaries. When balanced, we feel confident, purposeful, and capable of taking effective action in the world. When blocked: low self-esteem, indecision, inability to say no, chronic people-pleasing. When overactive: control issues, aggression, domineering behaviour.

Crystal allies: Citrine, Yellow Jasper, Pyrite, Golden Tiger’s Eye, Amber
Shop solar plexus crystals →

4. Heart Chakra — Anahata

Location: Centre of the chest
Colour: Green (and pink)
Element: Air
Musical note: F
Qualities: Love, compassion, connection, forgiveness, healing, balance, integration

The Heart Chakra is the bridge and the centre of the whole system — the meeting point of earth and heaven, body and spirit, self and other. It is the seat of love in its broadest sense: not romantic love alone but compassion, forgiveness, genuine human connection, and the capacity to feel moved by beauty. When balanced, we feel open, warm, connected, and able to give and receive love freely. When blocked: emotional closure, fear of vulnerability, grief that cannot move, bitterness. When overactive: co-dependency, loss of self in relationship.

Crystal allies: Rose Quartz, Green Aventurine, Malachite, Rhodonite, Emerald, Amazonite
Shop heart chakra crystals →

5. Throat Chakra — Vishuddha

Location: Throat
Colour: Blue
Element: Sound / Ether
Musical note: G
Qualities: Communication, truth, authentic expression, listening, creativity through voice

The Throat Chakra governs our ability to express ourselves honestly and authentically — to say what is true, to speak from the self rather than from fear of how we will be received. It is also the centre of listening: genuine communication requires both. When balanced, we express ourselves clearly and honestly and listen with real presence. When blocked: chronic difficulty speaking up, swallowing words, feeling chronically misunderstood, physical throat issues. When overactive: talking over others, inability to listen, verbal aggression.

Crystal allies: Blue Lace Agate, Sodalite, Aquamarine, Lapis Lazuli, Turquoise, Angelite
Shop throat chakra crystals →

6. Third Eye Chakra — Ajna

Location: Centre of the forehead, between and slightly above the eyebrows
Colour: Indigo
Element: Light
Musical note: A
Qualities: Intuition, insight, inner vision, imagination, clarity, wisdom, perception beyond the physical

The Third Eye is the centre of intuition and inner vision — the faculty that perceives what cannot be seen with the physical eyes. It integrates rational understanding and intuitive knowing into wisdom. When balanced, we have clear, reliable intuition, vivid inner vision, and the ability to see situations with depth and clarity. When blocked: confusion, difficulty trusting inner guidance, inability to visualise, rigid thinking. When overactive: excessive fantasy, difficulty distinguishing inner vision from reality, headaches.

Crystal allies: Amethyst, Labradorite, Lapis Lazuli, Sodalite, Purple Fluorite, Iolite
Shop third eye crystals →

7. Crown Chakra — Sahasrara

Location: Top of the head
Colour: Violet / White / Gold
Element: Thought / Cosmic energy
Musical note: B
Qualities: Spiritual connection, unity consciousness, divine awareness, purpose, transcendence

The Crown Chakra is the point of connection between the individual self and the universal — between the personal and the divine. It is the centre of our deepest sense of meaning, purpose, and belonging to something larger than ourselves. When balanced, we feel spiritually connected, purposeful, and at peace. When blocked: spiritual disconnection, existential emptiness, inability to connect with anything beyond the material. When overactive: spiritual bypass, disconnection from embodied life, excessive abstractness.

Crystal allies: Clear Quartz, Selenite, Amethyst, Howlite, Moonstone, White Calcite
Shop Selenite → | Shop crown chakra crystals →

The Transpersonal Chakras — Chakras 8 to 12

Beyond the seven physical chakras lies a further system of energy centres that exist outside the physical body — below the feet and above the head. These transpersonal chakras connect us to dimensions of experience that extend beyond the personal self: our soul history, our ancestral and karmic roots, the earth itself, and the wider cosmos. They are recognised in advanced energy healing traditions including certain schools of Reiki, shamanic practice, and esoteric spirituality. A foundational principle for working with them: the higher transpersonal chakras open most safely and beneficially when the lower chakras — and particularly the Earth Star — are well grounded.

8. Earth Star Chakra

Location: 30–60cm below the feet, within the earth
Colour: Black / Deep brown / Maroon
Qualities: Deep grounding, ancestral connection, earth energy, karmic roots, full physical incarnation

The Earth Star connects us not to the surface of the earth but to the deep earth itself — to the geological, ancestral, and karmic roots of our incarnation. When open, we feel profoundly grounded, fully embodied, and able to bring our spiritual experiences into practical, physical reality. When blocked: chronic ungroundedness, inability to fully inhabit daily life, difficulty completing things, a pervasive sense of not quite belonging to the physical world. Particularly relevant in shamanic and ancestral healing work — the Earth Star is where that lineage connects.

Crystal allies: Black Tourmaline, Smoky Quartz, Obsidian, Hematite, Black Kyanite, Nuummite

9. Soul Star Chakra

Location: 15–30cm above the crown
Colour: White / Magenta / Gold
Qualities: Soul purpose, higher self, karmic records, past life wisdom, divine love

Sometimes called the “seat of the soul,” the Soul Star holds the record of our soul’s journey across lifetimes — accumulated wisdom, karmic patterns, and the deeper purpose our soul has chosen for this incarnation. When open, we may experience a deepening sense of soul direction, a felt quality of being guided by something that knows us more completely than our conscious mind does, and an increasing alignment between our daily life and our deeper purpose.

Crystal allies: Selenite, Danburite, Phenacite, Moldavite, White Calcite, Petalite

10. Stellar Gateway Chakra

Location: 30–60cm above the crown, above the Soul Star
Colour: Gold / Orange-gold
Qualities: Cosmic consciousness, universal connection, angelic realms, divine will, stellar origins

The Stellar Gateway is the point at which our individual energy field opens to the wider cosmos — to the energy of stars, galaxies, and dimensions of consciousness beyond ordinary perception. It opens naturally as the overall energy system matures and as the lower chakras become well established. When activated, profound states of expanded awareness and a deepening, unmistakable quality of spiritual guidance become available.

Crystal allies: Moldavite, Phenacite, Danburite, Azeztulite, Gold Calcite, Stellar Beam Calcite

11. Galactic Chakra

Location: Above the Stellar Gateway
Colour: Pink-orange / Pearlescent
Qualities: Galactic consciousness, universal flow, advanced spiritual gifts, cosmic service

The Galactic Chakra is associated with connection to the wider galactic field and, in some traditions, with the activation of advanced spiritual gifts and a deepening orientation toward cosmic service — the lived understanding that individual spiritual development contributes to the evolution of consciousness in the larger whole.

Crystal allies: Phenacite, Azeztulite, Herderite, Natrolite, Scolecite

12. Universal Chakra

Location: The outermost boundary of the individual energy field
Colour: White / Iridescent / All colours
Qualities: Divine source, universal consciousness, unity, oneness, the absolute

The Universal Chakra is the outermost point of the individual energy field — the horizon at which the personal dissolves into the universal. It is associated with the direct experience of pure consciousness and unity with all that is. It functions less as a working centre than as a reminder that our individual energy system is always already part of something infinitely larger than itself.

Crystal allies: Clear Quartz, Selenite, Diamond, Phenacite, Azeztulite

Chakra Sound Frequencies

Each chakra responds to specific sound frequencies, and sound healing is one of the most direct and effective methods for chakra balancing. Crystal singing bowls tuned to specific notes, and Heola wind chimes tuned to healing frequencies, are particularly well suited to chakra work.

  • Root (C) — deep, grounding tones; large singing bowls; bass frequencies
  • Sacral (D) — warm, flowing tones; medium bowls; fluid rhythms
  • Solar Plexus (E) — bright, energising tones; mid-range bowls
  • Heart (F) — warm, resonant, open tones; the note most associated with love frequencies
  • Throat (G) — clear, carrying tones; high-mid range bowls; Koshi Air or Water chimes
  • Third Eye (A) — high, clear, penetrating tones; small singing bowls; Tingsha bells
  • Crown (B) — very high, crystalline tones; crystal singing bowls; Heola chimes

See our Sound Healing at Home guide → and Singing Bowl Size Guide → Shop Singing Bowls → | Shop Koshi & Heola Chimes →

Working With the Chakra System

You do not need to work with all twelve chakras simultaneously. The most valuable starting point for most people is ensuring the seven physical chakras are open and balanced — and particularly that the Root and Earth Star are well grounded. A reliable principle: before opening to higher transpersonal energies, establish the foundation below. Without strong grounding, expanded spiritual experiences can feel destabilising rather than nourishing.

Practices for Chakra Balance

  • Crystal placement — lie down and place the appropriate crystal on or near each chakra during meditation or rest. Allow 15–20 minutes. See our Crystal Guide → and How to Meditate with Crystals →
  • Sound healing — use a singing bowl, Tingsha bells, or Heola chimes tuned to the note of a specific chakra, working from the Root upward. See our Sound Healing at Home guide →
  • Chakra meditation — visualise each chakra as a spinning wheel of coloured light, beginning at the Earth Star below the feet and moving upward through each centre to the Universal Chakra above the head. Spend longer with any centre that feels contracted, dim, or unresponsive
  • Smudging & energy cleansing — clearing the aura with sage, Palo Santo, or a sacred spray before chakra work creates a cleaner field for the work. See our Smudging Guide → and Energy Cleansing Guide →
  • Grounding practices — walking barefoot on earth, time in nature, and grounding crystals (Black Tourmaline, Smoky Quartz, Hematite) all support the Root and Earth Star. Essential before opening upper chakras. See our Balance & Spiritual Wellbeing guide →
  • Sacred space — working within a dedicated, energetically clear space amplifies chakra work significantly. See our Creating a Sacred Space guide →

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