Chakra Balancing Dangers
by Diane Linsley
Working with the chakras means focusing on them with the intention
to balance their energy. This article explains why this is dangerous
and what you can do instead.
Chakra Balancing Warnings
Stimulating the chakras can cause real problems. I'm speaking from
my own experience, as well as that of clients and friends. In my early
forties, I did chakra work until all my chakras opened, one by one,
over a period of a year. The end result was a kundalini awakening,
which was more than I'd bargained for. I got severe energy sickness,
and it took a long time to recover.
Having open chakras is not as fun as you might imagine. It makes
you extremely sensitive to energy. If you are an empath or an energy-sensitive person, imagine this problem being multiplied by 10. Is that really what you want? It's like throwing gasoline on a fire.
For the first year after my chakras opened, I had difficulty going out in public because I could feel the feelings of everyone around me. I once experienced a sensation like being punched in the stomach when I walked past a man in the grocery store. Apparently, there was something going on with his solar plexus or his physical stomach. It left me nauseated for an hour.
Another time, a friend whom I hadn't seen in months came to visit. From the moment she walked into the house, I started experiencing pain in my root chakra. After we chatted for a while, I finally told her about the pain and asked her what was going on. She revealed that she recently had surgery in that area, and it was still sore. No kidding - I was feeling it, too!
Eventually, the hypersensitivity decreased as I stopped doing energy work. But it took years for my system to get back to normal.
The Safe Way to Balance Chakras
Is there a safe way to balance your chakras? Yes, but it requires a shift in perspective. First, you have to give up the idea of working directly on the chakras. That's a shortcut approach that usually backfires. If you want to be safe, then neither you nor any other person (like an energy healer or Reiki practitioner) should be messing with your chakras.
These days, rather than trying to change my life by balancing my chakras, I work on changing my life by working on my life. No more band-aid approaches that backfire!
The upper chakras are the most sensitive, and they are likely to cause problems when stimulated. I've read that people in the modern world have an excess of energy in the upper chakras because of computer work, and they have a deficiency in the lower chakras because they don't spend enough time outside in nature. There is evidence that computer work may be a common cause of mental and emotional problems. The solution is to minimize computer exposure and spend more time outside.
Reiki and Energy Work Dangers
What about having a "professional" work on your chakras? I've had experiences with that, too.
During the year before I was diagnosed with Graves disease in my mid forties, I was having periodic episodes of hyperthyroidism. I thought it was a problem with my energy, so I went to a Reiki healer. It seemed to help at first, but the problem kept coming back until it became very serious. By the time I finally got a diagnosis from an endocrinologist, the Graves disease was life-threatening. Thankfully, I made a full recovery with the help of drugs to shut down the production of excess thyroid hormone, along with herbs and a special diet, which I still follow to keep the problem from coming back.
I had a client who dated a man who called himself an energy healer. He did lots of things to her, including messing with her chakras. This led to a severe emotional breakdown bordering on psychosis. It took more than a year for her to recover.
Mental symptoms can be hard to identify. I visited with a friend whose energy healer had been working on her chakras. I immediately sensed a new energy imbalance in her system that wasn't there before. She was extremely agitated, but she didn't recognize this as a negative symptom because she was endorphinated out of her head.
When the brain is very stressed, it releases endorphins to cover up the pain. Endorphins are the body's natural pain relievers. This type of high can end in a crash, leading to long-term symptoms like anxiety or depression. The endorphin high can also cause someone to become addicted to the energy work, which is good for the practitioner's pocketbook, but not good for the client.
I personally don't think that energy work is helpful, and I know people who have been harmed by it. But if you decide to do it, at least take some precautions. If you experience any side effects - physical or emotional - stop immediately and ground yourself in the physical world. Focus on physical exercise, and eat a well-balanced diet with healthy snacks between meals to make sure your brain has plenty of glucose to function. Also make sure you get adequate protein, which may be grounding. Don't fast, as this starves the brain of glucose.
Sitting on the ground outside is very helpful. After my kundalini awakening, my nervous system was overwhelmed. It was the middle of winter, but I was burning up from the overload of energy flowing through my body. So I went outside and sat on the ground in the snow until I felt better. Kundalini awakenings are rare, but now you know what to do in case it ever happens to you. Of course, you can avoid it altogether if you stay away from energy work, especially chakra balancing.
For more information on the dangers of chakra balancing, watch this interview with a former yoga teacher who exposes the dangers of chakra balancing. Also see her YouTube channel.
Be well,
Diane Linsley
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