Demystifying & Debunking the "Chakras"

Creating Clarity About the Ancient Information System of Chakras

Before We Begin: A Note on Spelling (and Respect)

Let’s start with a little housekeeping—and a lot of respect. The word is cakra, not chakra. You’ll often see it spelled with an “h” in English, but that’s a transliteration hiccup. In Saṃskṛtam (Sanskrit), the letter “c” already carries the “ch” sound. So, when we follow the International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST), it’s correctly spelled cakra. That’s the spelling I’ll be using throughout this article—not to be pedantic, but to honour the linguistic and cultural roots of the tradition.

Let’s Talk About Cakras: The Real Ones

The cakra system has become a symbol of spiritual wellness in mainstream culture. It’s everywhere—from crystal-charged water bottles to rainbow yoga pants, from Instagram reels promising to “unlock your abundance” to sound baths that claim to realign your entire being. And while much of this reflects a genuine yearning for healing and meaning, the popularized version of the cakra system is, frankly, a long way from its roots. When I first began practicing yoga, I too inherited the version of the cakras that painted them as rainbow energy centers aligned with specific emotions. It was only after years of philosophical study, self-inquiry, and deep immersion in the roots of yoga that I began to understand the cakras not as metaphysical light switches or emotional buttons—but as sacred, esoteric maps on the nature of consciousness, grounded in Tantric cosmology.

The truth is, much of what we hear about cakras in wellness spaces is a Western remix, influenced by 20th-century Theosophy, pop psychology, and modern marketing. What’s often missing is the profound spiritual depth these systems actually hold—their connection to mantra, prāṇa, devotion, subtle anatomy, and the path of liberation (mokṣa).

So let’s peel back some of the myths, not to dismiss people’s experiences, but to return to something more whole, more reverent, and—yes—more powerful.

Myth 1: The Cakras Are Spinning Wheels of Light in the Physical Body

One of the most enduring myths is that the cakras are literal spinning discs of rainbow light aligned along the spine. While this imagery is often helpful for guided meditations, it’s a symbolic visualization, not a physical reality.

In the classical yogic view, the cakras are located in the sūkṣma śarīra, or subtle body; not the physical body (sthūla śarīra). You won’t find them on an anatomical chart. They don’t “spin” in a measurable way. Rather, they represent subtle concentrations of prāṇa—life energy—and serve as contemplative entry points into deeper layers of awareness.

Each cakra is embedded in a symbolic and vibrational system of Sanskrit syllables, yantras (geometric diagrams), deities, and elemental qualities. These are not decorations; they are precise metaphysical instruments designed to support awakening—not diagnostic tools for fixing emotions or managing moods.

Myth 2: “Blocked” or “Open” Cakras Determine Your Emotional Health

Modern wellness language often describes cakras as “closed” or “open”—with the implication that your love life, career, or emotional wellbeing depends on whether your heart or root cakra is functioning properly. This is an oversimplification, and it risks reducing spiritual complexity to pop psychology.

In classical traditions, cakras are not binary. They are not “on” or “off.” Rather, they are part of an interwoven, dynamic system that reflects your energetic, emotional, physical, and spiritual state. They shift, fluctuate, and respond to the conditions of your life—especially the regulation of your nervous system.

For example:

• You can’t “open” the mūlādhāra cakra (root) if your body is chronically unsafe or hypervigilant.

• You won’t fully access the svādhiṣṭhāna cakra (sacral) if you’re stuck in dissociation and numbness.

• True strength in the maṇipūra cakra (solar plexus) doesn’t arise from dominance or hustle, but from clarity, humility, and transcendence of ego.

• The anāhata cakra (heart) won’t bloom in unconditional love unless grief, betrayal, and heartbreak are acknowledged and tended to—not bypassed.
  

Contrary to popular belief in contemporary New Age circles, you cannot open a cakra simply by placing a crystal over your third eye, burning a colour-coded candle, or soaking in “cakra-aligning” bath salts from Etsy. If awakening or self-liberation could be bought and bottled, we would all be walking around enlightened, grounded, and free from suffering. But transformation is not a commodity. It is a lived, disciplined, and often uncomfortable process that unfolds over time.

This is why yogic practice is so multidimensional. To harmonize the cakra system is not to “fix it”—it is to restore flow, embodiment, and trust.

In fact, contrary to popular New Age belief, there is nothing you can do to “open” the upper cakras—including the hṛtpadma (ethereal heart), viśuddha (throat), ājñā (third eye), or sahasrāra (crown). These energy centers belong to what is known as the Kāraṇa śarīra, or causal body ...the deepest layer of our being, inseparable from collective consciousness itself. This causal body is not something you can manipulate through willpower, technique, or intention. These cakras are always open because they are not governed by the individual ego.

They are ever-connected to the universal field that permeates all things. The work, then, is not to “open” them, but to remove the obscurations in the subtle and gross bodies that prevent us from experiencing their presence. Just like the sun doesn’t stop shining when clouds cover it, the upper cakras never close, our awareness simply loses contact.

Myth 3: Each Cakra Has a Colour from the Rainbow—and You Can Make Your Own Symbols

The popular association between each cakra and a color from the ROYGBIV spectrum (red to violet) isn’t found in the original yogic texts. These assignments came much later—popularized by Theosophists in the 19th and 20th centuries and cemented by authors like Anodea Judith in the 1980s.

In traditional texts, each cakra has a specific symbol called a yantra. The cakra yantras are sacred information systems which actually help maintain the integrity of the Saṃskṛtam language as each of the outer petals actually corresponds with the Saṃskṛtam varnam (the consonants, vowels, semi-vowels, and silibants) these information systems also include, bija mantras, they correspond with elements, and associated deities. These are not interchangeable. They are precise symbols developed through centuries of insight.

A page from Kendra's book on yoga depicting the varnam attached to each chakra

Making up your own cakra designs may feel expressive, but it risks distorting a lineage that depends on the integrity of sound and symbol to maintain its power. These yantras were not meant to be purely aesthetic—they are vibrational technologies encoded with wisdom. In fact, chanting particular Sanskrit sounds actually reproduces particular breathwork practices that are used to settle the nervous system to make meditation more accessible - by making up our own symbols we lose this precious information system entirely.

Artistic interpretations of the cakras causes practitioners to lose the esoteric meaning behind the symbols.

If you want to work with the cakra system respectfully, begin with what’s already there. It’s deeper than anything we could invent.

Myth 4: The Cakra System Is a Single, Universal Framework

Another misconception is that there is one universal cakra system, usually the familiar seven-cakra model taught in most yoga classes. In reality, there are many cakra systems, depending on the lineage and tradition.

Some systems have five, others six, ten, or even twenty-one. What we refer to as “the chakras” in the West is mostly based on a specific Tantric text, the Ṣaṭcakra Nirūpaṇa, written in the 16th century.

The cakras are not originally Vedic. They arise from the Tantric traditions of Śaiva and Śākta philosophy, which developed outside the mainstream priestly Brahmin tradition. Understanding this distinction helps us appreciate the diversity within Indian spiritual systems, and the risks of flattening them into a single, commercialized narrative.

Myth 5: You Can Manifest Anything by Aligning Your Cakras

One of the more seductive myths is that aligning your cakras will bring success, wealth, and love. The idea of energetic optimization, of “upgrading” your energy body to get what you want, is rooted more in self-help ideology than in yogic philosophy.

The cakras were never designed to manifest your dream life. They are part of a path toward liberation (mokṣa) freedom from suffering, ego-attachment, and illusion. They ask us not to manipulate reality, but to be present with it.

This is hard, lifelong work. It involves descent before ascent. Grounding before awakening. Integration before expansion. And it happens slowly, within the rhythms of your own body, breath, and life.

Rather than asking “How can I open this cakra?”, consider asking:

• What is the wisdom here that I’ve been avoiding?

• What is needed for me to feel safe enough to feel?

• How can I honour the intelligence of this moment—not fix it, but befriend it?

A Return to Integrity

To truly engage with the cakra system is to enter a living tradition—not a curated aesthetic. This means study. Practice. Patience. It means letting go of the urge to master or monetize, and instead entering into relationship—with your body, your breath, and the lineage itself.

If you’re a yoga teacher, healer, or spiritual seeker, I invite you to move slowly. Speak carefully. Teach what you’ve integrated, not just what you’ve read. And let your practice become less about performance and more about devotion.

The cakras are not shortcuts to bliss or hacks for success.

They are mirrors.

Maps.

Portals.

And when approached with reverence, they can guide us—gently, persistently—back to the wholeness we’ve never lost.

Let’s Deepen The Practice Together

If this article resonated with you and you're ready to explore the cakras from a deeper, more embodied and tradition-rooted perspective, I’d love to support your journey.

I offer one-on-one mentorship for yoga teachers, dedicated practitioners, and curious beginners alike. Together, we can unravel the misconceptions and explore your energetic body through the lens of trauma-informed yogic wisdom, somatic awareness, and classical philosophical teachings.

If you're local to Metro Vancouver and looking for a gentle way to begin, I also teach free public classes every Monday and Friday Morning at the Gathering Place Community Centre. These sessions are a welcoming space to reconnect with your body, breath, and inner landscape—no experience required.

Visit my website to book a session or learn more about upcoming classes.You can also reach out directly—I'd be honored to walk beside you on this path toward self-liberation.