If you’re experiencing physical concerns, like hip pain or headaches, or emotional stresses such as feeling overwhelmed or anxious, you could have a “blocked” chakra — an area closed off to energy flow. Here’s how to pinpoint which chakra energy centers to work with, plus a simple way to clear blockages.
Our seven chakras are understood to be powerful energy reservoirs that run along the center of our bodies. A balanced chakra positively impacts how we feel physically, psychologically, and spiritually, explains Cyndi Dale, author of Advanced Chakra Healing, to DailyOM. When your chakras are balanced, you may feel healthier or able to repair from injury or sickness, be emotionally resilient, have a good sense of your life dreams and goals, and, at least most of the time, be able to be in flow and enjoy your life.
The Difference Between Balanced and Blocked Chakras
A blocked chakra points to “something that isn’t working, whether in the body or mind, or on a soul level,” says Dale. “If you’re unable to budge an issue on your own — either through your own introspection, journaling, meditation, or with outside help (e.g., a doctor, a therapist) — [you may] have at least one blocked chakra.”
Of course, you should never delay contacting a medical professional if you’re experiencing any questions or concerns about your mental or physical health. Chakra work is not intended to replace other important and necessary healthcare, but rather to complement and support it.
Tanya Corona, who specializes in energetic clearing and alignment with ascension reiki, crystal therapy, and sound therapy, likens chakra imbalance to a clogged drain. The expert, whom DailyOM spoke with for this story, says, “Let’s say you have an upstairs shower, and there’s a hairball stuck somewhere. Maybe it’s at the top or middle [of the drain]. Pull it out and then it’s flowing properly. Like a drain, the chakra system is a central channel [with various points at different areas of the ‘body’] that needs continual maintenance. The more maintenance you do — the more you feel your feelings and acknowledge what’s coming up — the clearer it’s going to stay.”
According to Dale and Corona, by listening to your body, it is possible to suss out issues with your chakras, starting by identifying that there may be a block, figuring out where it is, and then taking actions to balance your chakras. Here is what the experts advise — and a reminder to speak with a doctor or other member of your healthcare team if you have questions or concerns, or are experiencing physical or mental symptoms (such as these outlined by the American Academy of Family Physicians) that warrant immediate care.
Interested in learning more? Check out Awaken Your Chakra Energy
How to Unblock Your Chakras: A Step-by-Step Process
Step 1: Tune In
When something feels off to you in some way — you know yourself best — and you recognize a block, even if you can’t yet pinpoint which energy center it belongs to, Dale advises to start by simply acknowledging it. “Feel it immediately. It’s okay to pause, to wait, to say, I’ll get back to you.”
Step 2: Determine Which Chakra(s) You Need to Work With
Do an intuitive assessment to see if you can sense where the blockage is located. Below, Dale and Corona share signs of imbalance in each energy center to help you pinpoint which chakra(s) you need to work with. Bear in mind that the chakras are interconnected, and there will be overlap in the ways these chakras work together and how they signal to you when there is a problem.
Signs Your Root Chakra Is Blocked
Physical Signs: Dale says a blocked root chakra may lead to chronic or acute health conditions, or cause you to feel fatigued easily. Sometimes it’s the opposite and you feel wired. Issues in the tailbone, hips, rectum, or large intestine could be present.
Mental and Emotional Signs: This is where we’d find fear of abandonment, the wounded child, and trauma from past lifetimes, says Corona. You might be fearful or oversolicitous. Issues with people-pleasing, codependency, and avoidance manifest here, as do issues around employment. Dale says if you experience addiction to sex, or fear of sex, that may be due to the root chakra, too.
Signs Your Sacral Chakra Is Blocked
Physical Signs: There might be issues within the microbiome, womb, uterus, or prostate, according to Dale. Corona says a closed sacral chakra might also translate to issues with conceiving a child.
Mental and Emotional Signs: Dale says you might be overly emotional or feel emotionless, or you find yourself taking on another’s emotions. You may feel blocked creatively. Corona adds that this is the energy of being really hard on yourself, having manifestation and creation problems, and experiencing issues with making money. Guilt and emotional problems around sex may occur with a blocked sacral chakra.
Signs Your Solar Plexus Chakra Is Blocked
Physical Signs: Blockages manifest in the liver, pancreas, stomach, and gallbladder, Corona points out. There could be digestive issues like Crohn’s disease or IBS (IBS might also be tied to the sacral chakra).
Mental and Emotional Signs: You’re overthinking everything and you’re wide open to other people’s energies, Dale explains. Corona says that blockages might be due to anger, resentment, and victimization.
Signs Your Heart Chakra Is Blocked
Physical Signs: You could be experiencing cardiovascular, lung, or immune system issues.
Mental and Emotional Signs: Dale says that if you have no close friends or experience emotional intimacy issues, that’s a heart chakra block. Lack of compassion and grief also show up in the heart chakra, Corona says.
Signs Your Throat Chakra Is Blocked
Physical Signs: Issues with the throat, jaw, ear, thyroid, cervical spine (neck), or upper shoulders may appear, Dale suggests.
Mental and Emotional Signs: Looping thoughts and self-critical ruminating or challenges with expression could be present, says Dale. Corona says throat chakra issues may cause difficulties with decision-making or communicating your emotions.
Signs Your Third Eye Chakra Is Blocked
Physical Signs: Problems with eyesight could be related, per Dale, as are some reproductive issues, since they begin here, in the pituitary gland. Corona says headaches may occur.
Mental and Emotional Signs: Dale says that if you see yourself as “less than,” that is a feeling that locks into the third eye chakra. This is also the center of clairvoyance, or clear seeing, so you might have issues interpreting messages from your guides. Corona says that if you’re not looking at things through your own perspective, worrying what others think of you, or feeling like your mind is spinning out, those are third eye chakra concerns.
Signs Your Crown Chakra Is Blocked
Physical Signs: The crown chakra involves the hormones necessary for balanced moods and sleep and circadian rhythms, Dale says, so this can cause issues with getting quality sleep and attuning to your natural rhythms.
Mental and Emotional Signs: You feel depressed, anxious, or flat, says Dale. You’re doubting your spiritual purpose and the meaning of life. Any rigid belief system is a seventh chakra problem. Also, you might be worrying about things you don’t need to be, per Corona; listening to the news, for example. could send you down a rabbit hole and trigger fear that isn’t yours.
Step 3: Gently Return Any Energy That’s Not Yours
You’ve identified where you are feeling unbalanced, but make sure the energy belongs to you before you do the work of unblocking your chakras. We’re constantly absorbing other people’s problems, according to Dale. To determine whether or not it’s yours, says Dale, “Ask yourself, How much of this issue is mine? If you get an upward sensation of energy in your body, that’s a yes [meaning the issue is, in fact, yours] — and vice versa.” The expert also says journaling can be helpful.
If you realize that this isn’t your energy, try Corona’s visualization exercise: Envision “scooping out” the energy and seeing it being gently returned to its rightful owner.
Dale suggests that “if you believe in God or a higher power, make that connection and ask that the energies be returned to their source in a healthy, uplifting way.”
Step 4: How to Unblock Your Blocked Chakra
Once you confirm that the issue is yours and you’ve identified which chakra is blocked, Corona suggests you recognize the issue and affirm your intentions. “Say out loud, ‘I’m clearing my root chakra,’ for example, and put your hand [at the base of your spine].”
Then, do a deep-dive within yourself, Dale instructs. Ask out loud or in a journal if there is an action you need to take, or if there’s something you need to do differently. Dale says you can also try meditating and asking for the core of the problem to be revealed to you — e.g., the age it occurred, what it was about, what you might have done, the event/situation — and the subconscious or unconscious belief you took out of what occurred. Then, you can reexamine the belief with kindness and compassion to help you release some of the stagnant energy and clear your chakra.
Dale suggests using the four elements (earth/metal, air, fire, and water) to help clear any chakra. Find an element that you relate to and invite it to help clear the chakra you’re working on. That may mean walking along the beach to be near water while you do your work, or lighting a candle while meditating. Or it may be as simple as using mental imagery of the element to add power to your thoughts. Corona says, “One of my favorite visualizations for general chakra clearing [i.e., the release of stagnant energies] is a violet fire coming up through your central channel, starting at your feet and swirling through each of your chakras.”
Specific yoga postures help release stuck energy in your chakras, or you may opt for chakra-specific exercises. “For example, for the third eye and crown, one of my favorite exercises is what I call Broom of Light,” Corona says. “Visualize a broom with bristles made of light — white, gold, sparkly, iridescent light. Use the broom to sweep up any debris.”
Step 5: When to See a Healer
Dale says if you’re doing the work of self-care and you still feel the block, then it might be beneficial to seek outside help. “A therapist would address all the chakras; a really good energy or body worker would also be great. If you have deep blocks, consider EMDR therapy, which takes you into the body to access your memories.”
Seeing a reiki practitioner or someone who does energy work, such as Quantum-Touch or Hands of Light, may also be helpful to work with a closed-down, locked chakra, Corona says.
Final Thoughts
Keeping our chakras balanced, both individually and holistically, requires our attention and focus. The good news is that a little love goes a long way; a quick daily check-in with yourself can help keep your energetic body — which affects every aspect of your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual body — in alignment. And when issues come up, address them with the wisdom and compassion you deserve.
