How to Identify the Symptoms of Blocked Chakras

When it comes to chakras, it’s all about balance in body, mind, and spirit. However, when there are blocked chakras, you may find yourself having to deal with the symptoms. And that’s no fun, is it?

So what can you do about? Well, it helps to familiarize yourself with the following:

• Blocked Chakras: Understanding the Symptoms
• How to Know if Your Chakras Are Blocked
• How to Clear Blocked Chakras

Blocked chakras aren’t the end of the world, though. The great thing is that there are ways to identify the symptoms and unblock them, so that you can be on your way to feel more grounded and secure.

Blocked Chakras: Understanding the Symptoms

If you struggle to elevate some areas of your life, you may just be dealing with blocked chakras. “Even one imbalanced chakra will affect all the other chakras in your system,” explains leading chakra expert Anodea Judith. “If your foundation is off, everything else is compensating because they’re all interconnected.“

But before going further into “Which of my chakras are blocked?“, it’s important to know what are signs and what are symptoms.

• A sign is the effect of a health problem that’s observed by someone else, usually a doctor or an expert.
• A symptom, on the other hand, is the effect of a health problem that apparent to only you.

So, for instance, if you look at a blocked heart chakra, a sign may manifest as a heart condition while a symptom of it may be that you feel like you’re afraid of commitment.

Why do chakras get blocked?

All seven chakras are interconnected and creates loops of energy that surround the body. And when there’s resistance to the energy (like stress or poor diet), then blockages occur.

From an outsider’s point of view, the signs of blocked chakras can include financial turmoil, sexual oppression, low self-esteem, illnesses, stubbornness, heartbreak, just to name a few.

A lot of people who want to live a well-balanced life, but they “haven’t cleaned out the basement,” according to Anodea, who is also the trainer for Mindvalley’s Chakra Healing Quest. “They haven’t healed their issues. They’re going to doctors to fix the body, but they don’t look at the spirit and what’s going on [there].“

How to Know if Your Chakras Are Blocked

Your chakras can be blocked by life challenge. It can manifest as something physical (like a never-ending migraine) or even emotional (like self-doubt).

Here are a few more blocked chakra symptoms that are telltale signs you need to open your chakras:

• Difficulty sleeping
• Difficulty concentrating
• Chronic depression or anxiety
• Mood swings
• Trouble communicating
• Difficulty connecting with others
• Feeling ‘stuck’

So how can you tell which of the seven chakras is blocked?

Great question! Let’s take a closer at what those blocked symptoms look like in each chakra and what you’ll experience when they’re open.

#1: Root chakra

Color: Red

Element: Earth

Position: Base of the Spine

Objective: It corresponds to the physical body and connection to the Earth. Just like a foundation, it is concerned with the basics of survival: food, shelter, safety, comfort, and belonging.

Symptoms of blocked chakras:

• Feeling stuck and sluggish
• Stress due to over-reliance on external circumstances
• Persistent financial problems
• Feeling that you have been abandoned by your parents
• Constantly getting by or going without
• Hatred and anger toward your body
• Feeling you are not good enough the way you are

When your root chakra is open you…

• Have a strong connection with your family
• Have friends that are like family to you
• Feel wanted and loved
• Feel content with your body
• Are confident with money
• Always have enough for what you need and want
• Feel safe on Earth and on your life path

Affirmations that help you heal your root chakra:

• “I am safe and protected.” 
• “I am safe on Earth.”
• “I am safe on my path.”

#2: Sacral chakra

Color: Orange

Element: Water

Position: Below the belly button. Look at the body from head to toe – this is your physical center.

Objective: Sexuality, the nature of your relationships, freedom from guilt, pleasure, sensation, creativity, and the joys of life.

Symptoms of blocked chakras:

• Finding it difficult to allow yourself to become emotionally and sexually intimate
• The belief that sex is bad, that it can hurt you, or that you feel you have to be sexy to be loved
• Feelings of abuse, hurt, and confusion
• The distrust that you can be loved for being you
• Having an unhealthy self-image
• A string of unsuccessful, toxic relationships

When your sacral chakra is open…

• You have a strong sense of your sexuality and recognize it as one of your most powerful creative energies
• You create healthy sexual experiences with others that honor you, and you enjoy pleasure in many different ways in life
• You are creative in all your endeavors

Affirmations that help you heal your sacral chakra:

• “I am connected to my community.” 
• “I am connected to my family.” 
• “My sensual sexuality serves as fuel to my creative endeavors.”
• “I am creative in all my endeavors.”

#3: Solar plexus chakra

Color: Yellow

Element: Fire

Position: Above the navel – two inches below the breastbone.

Objective: Relationship with yourself, personal power, self-esteem, self-worth, and freedom from shame.

Symptoms of blocked chakras:

• Feeling powerless or victimized
• Giving your power away to others as you feel this is necessary to keep peace in relationships
• Difficulty taking action on your dreams due to low self-esteem
• Stomach pains and anxiety

When your solar plexus chakra is open you…

• Have a strong sense of your power and how to use it in healthy ways
• Admire others with power and influence and choose to emulate people who are
• Want to use your power and influence for good in the world
• Trust your intuition and inner guidance
• Don’t feel the need for other people’s confirmation and validation

Affirmations that help you heal your solar plexus chakra: 

• “I trust my intuition and guidance and follow it wherever it leads me without question and hesitation.”
• “I am calm, powerful, and confident.”
• “I am ready to pursue my purpose with confidence.”

#4: Heart chakra

Color: Green

Element: Air

Position: Center of chest

Objective: Love and spirituality, compassion, emotional zone, masculine/feminine of the self, and forgiveness. Love doesn’t mean only love for others; it also applies to self-love and self-acceptance.

Symptoms of blocked chakras:

• Fear of commitment and feeling like you have to please others to be loved
• Hurt from past relationships and now feel like you have to guard yourself against being hurt again
• The trouble with giving and receiving love and being compassionate
• The need to hold grudges
• Heart disease, asthma, and allergies

When your heart chakra is open you…

• Are comfortable in your relationships
• Give and receive love easily
• Feel a heartfelt sense of gratitude for how wonderful your life is
• Appreciate others and feel compassion for yourself and others without feeling sorry for anyone
• Love yourself unconditionally

Affirmations that help you heal your heart chakra:

• “I am a divine expression of unconditional love.” 
• “I truly love myself.” 
• “Love is all that I am and ever will be.” 
• “Unconditional love of Source is my birthright.”

#5: Throat chakra

Color: Blue

Element: Sound

Position: Hollow of throat

Objective: Your communication center — your voice, your creative self-expression. Speaking your truth, coming from the center of your willpower, listening, and being heard.

Symptoms of blocked chakras:

• Fear of speaking up and saying what you want or feel
• Feeling inclined to go along with others so you don’t upset anyone
• Frustration because you don’t feel that other people hear what you have to say
• Sore throats or feeling like your throat is blocked

When your throat chakra is open you…

• Are comfortable speaking your truth
• Experience others listening to you
• Feel that you are heard and honored for your truth
• Knowing that you alone are responsible for expressing yourself in an open and honest way

Affirmation that helps you heal your throat chakra: 

• “I speak my truth freely and openly, being honest with myself and others.” 
• “I am safe to express myself truthfully.” 
• “My honesty attracts what I deserve on my path.”

#6: Third eye chakra

Color: Indigo

Element: Light

Position: Between the eyebrows

Objective: Responsible for psychic abilities such as intuition as well as your sense of purpose in life — self-reflection, visualization, discernment, and trust in your intuition.

Symptoms of blocked chakras:

• Struggle to find meaning in life and often ask yourself, “Why am I here?”
• Disconnect from your intuition
• Find it difficult to make decisions
• Feel lost when it comes to your spiritual purpose and path in life
• Feel that something’s wrong or out of alignment
• Suffer from headaches and tension in your brow area

When your third eye chakra is open you…

• Trust and act with confidence
• Have a strong sense of your inner truth and listen to and follow it as it guides you on your life path
• Inner wisdom and clarity on your path
• Strong connection with celestial love

Affirmations that help you heal your third eye chakra:

• “I am connected with celestial love that runs through my vessel and life.”
• “I trust my inner wisdom and have total clarity on my path.”

#7: Crown chakra

Color: Violet

Element: Thought

Position: Top of the head

Objective: This is the connection between you and the divine. It is responsible for spirituality, belief systems, revelation, divine consciousness, and enlightenment. Your brain functions and central nervous system are associated with the crown chakra.

Symptoms of blocked chakras:

• Loneliness, insignificance, and aimlessness
• A strong attachment to material possessions and achievements (and define yourself according to them) and a disconnect from the spiritual side of life
• A lack of connection or guidance from a higher power
• Feeling unworthy of spiritual help and angry that your higher power has abandoned you
• Migraines and tension headaches

When your crown chakra is open you…

• Feel connected to a higher power and sense that you are being watched over and cared for
• Know you deserve immense blessings
• Feel immense gratitude for the universal love and appreciation you feel towards yourself and others
• Connection to Source and the Mother Earth

Affirmations that help you heal your crown chakra:

• “I am transmuting anything that doesn’t serve my highest purpose and my path today.”
• “I am guided by a higher power and inner wisdom.”
• “I honor the Divine in me.”
• “I am open to new ideas.”

How to Clear Blocked Chakras

There are many ways you can help clear blocked chakras and heal them. Some popular methods include meditation, mudras and mantras, and using chakra jewelry as well as essential oils.

• Meditation is one of the best ways to open your chakras. With powerful awareness and concentrated focus, you can fix symptoms of blocked chakras all on your own.

• You can try mudras and mantras to unlock a blocked chakra. Mudras are hand postures and mantras are chants that you use during meditation to help you focus on a specific chakra that you want to open or unclog.

• Chakra jewelry are pieces of semiprecious stones and minerals that you can use in your daily life and meditation as well. The crystals’ energy affects your chakras and helps in chakra healing.

• Essential oils have been used in aromatherapy for centuries. They can help you elevate your inner state and external environment. 

Learn more: How to Open Chakras for Powerful Physical and Emotional Healing

Get Started With Energy Healing

The chakras are the portals connecting your inner world with the outer world. Whatever you do inside transforms the outside.

— Anodea Judith, leading chakra expert and trainer of Mindvalley’s Chakra Healing Quest

When you clear chakra blockages, you clear the blockages in your life. And in doing so, you awaken, heal, and transform yourself in and out.

If you want to align your chakras and learn how to use them to elevate your life, join leading chakra expert and energy healer Anodea Judith in her free Unlocking the Healing Power of Your Chakras Masterclass.