Mooladhara Chakra: Root chakra at the base of the spine.

Swadishtana Chakra: Sexual chakra behind the sex organs.

Manipura Chakra: Personality chakra behind the solar plexus

Anahata Chakra: Heart chakra behind the heart.

Ajna Chakra: Knowledge chakra between the eyebrows.

A chakra is believed to be an energy centre. There are seven chakras placed over the spinal column. These are subtle and cannot be seen through dissection. Yoga believes that the male and female parts o Cosmic Consciousness are present in every human being.

The female Cosmic Consciousness is called Kundalini or ‘serpentine power', which is dormant in ordinary human beings and lies coiled at the base of the spinal column. The male part of Cosmic Consciousness is located at the crown chakra in ‘sahasrara', which is at the top of the head.

Several other spiritual schools all over the world have also accepted the concept of chakras and believe that their purification can be achieved in various ways and once purified, meditation practices will help in spiritual progress.

While the physical body is connected to all the chakras and the defective chakras can induce disease as mentioned above, on the mental level also chakras have a remarkable influence and determine the behaviour, acceptance levels and the ay a person operates in society.

For example, when the root chakra is defective a person may suffer from physical ailments like improper evacuation, piles, fistula, constipation etc. The defective chakra also affects one at the mental level.

When the root chakra is defective, a person becomes aggressive and confused. His aggressive behaviour makes others keep away from him but the person himself is not aware that he is aggressive. The problem with such people is that even when somebody takes pains to explain what is wrong with their behaviour, they hardly understand this, as they are convinced their behaviour is normal.

When defective, the mental aspect of the sexual chakra results in mental withdrawal and creates phobias. Almost all phobias like fear of the dark, fear of being alone, fear of flying, fear of heights, fear of crowds, fear of water, fear of fire, etc, are due to malfunctioning of the chakra at the mental level.

The personality chakra – also called the solar plexus chakra – controls feelings of guilt and shame. When this chakra is defective, the person becomes over-anxious about himself and how society is reacting to him. He is cursed with greed and becomes envious. While taking any action he is always worried about how he is perceived by others and goes out of the way to impress others. Instead of living for himself, he tries to live for others.

The heart chakra interferes with the way a person reacts to people around him. Compassion, kindness, forgiveness and an attitude of give and take are all at the base of this chakra. When this is defective, it makes a person hateful and vengeful.

When the expression chakra or throat chakra is defective, it makes a person unreasonable. This type of person wants everyone to obey him unquestioningly. He becomes a hard taskmaster, but in the process loses the love and respect of others.

The knowledge chakra or ajna chakra is perhaps the most critical one. If this chakra is functioning properly, it will act as a divine guide in he sojourn of life. When this chakra is fully functional, man is completely aware of his activities and responsibilities in life. This chakra guides him in proper planning of life so that progress is continuous and hurdle-free.