Chakra Theory

The chakras are a part of yogic theory and refer to 7 centers distributed along your spine that hold the energy of key developmental challenges intrinsic to human life. I have developed a schematic paradigm, described in my new book, The Root of Trauma, linking blockages in the chakras to developmental trauma and addiction.

Your 3 lower chakras are linked to your sense of safety in your body and the world, your ability to feel, and the formation of your identity. These milestones are faced during your formative years and set the foundation for your life. Your second chakra, known as the sacral chakra, is the center of your feeling body. When you experience physical or emotional trauma during your formative years, your sacral chakra is damaged, impairing your ability to feel, to self validate and your overall relationship to your own self. Your sacral chakra is also your energy center, what I like to think of as your power source and your link to prana, or universal energy. You are essentially an energetic being and a transmitter of energy. When your ability to circulate life energy is blocked due to trauma and addiction, your capacity to engage fully in life and with others is compromised. Your system slows and you stagnate; Avoidance and numbing come to dominate your system. People come to therapy due to mental health challenges that manifest these energetic disturbances.

My framework posits that when your lower chakras are blocked due to trauma or addiction, it traps your energy in survival based consciousness and interferes with identity formation (the third chakra), as well as the opening of your upper chakras. Your upper chakras allow you to access more creative potentiality in your life and kindle your capacity to love, create, and see the opportunity latent in obstacles. When you begin to name and process the developmental traumas that have congested your sacral chakra, your energy is freed and begins to move upward, opening your higher chakras. I have found these ideas highly relevant in my own personal development and applicable to others, who seek to deepen relationships and have more creative vitality.