What Are the Seven Chakras?
Chakra means wheel in Sanskrit, and in yoga and tantra it names the centres where energy is understood to gather in the body. Seven main ones sit along the spine. Root (muladhara) at the base of the spine, red. Sacral (svadhisthana) a few fingers below the navel, orange. Solar plexus (manipura) above the stomach, yellow. Heart (anahata) at the centre of the chest, green. Each centre is also given an element and a seed sound.
The upper three gather above the shoulders. Throat (vishuddha) at the larynx, blue. Third eye (ajna) between the brows, indigo. Crown (sahasrara) at the top of the head, violet or white. The lower centres carry themes of safety, desire and will; the upper ones of expression, intuition and connection. The sequence is read from the bottom up, and practice starts at the root. These are symbolic maps, not anatomical organs.