The 7 Chakras: Names, Colours, Meanings and Where They Sit in the Body

The 7 chakras, in order from the base of the spine to the top of the head, are the root (Muladhara), sacral (Svadhisthana), solar plexus (Manipura), heart (Anahata), throat (Vishuddha), third eye (Ajna) and crown (Sahasrara). Chakra is Sanskrit for wheel. In yoga tradition, each one is a spinning wheel of energy with its own place in the body, colour and meaning.

Put simply, the root means safety, the sacral means pleasure, the solar plexus means confidence, the heart means love, the throat means your voice, the third eye means intuition, and the crown means connection to something bigger. The chart below holds all of it in one place.

In this guide: where they sit · each chakra's meaning · where they come from · a five-minute check-in · choosing a piece · questions

Where are the 7 chakras in the body?

All seven sit on the centre line of your body, counted from the bottom up. The root is at the base of the spine. The sacral sits in the lower belly, just below the navel. The solar plexus sits in the upper belly, just under the ribs.

The heart chakra is in the centre of the chest, not off to the left like the physical heart. The throat chakra sits in the soft hollow at the base of the neck. The third eye is on the forehead between the eyebrows, and the crown is at the very top of the head.

In yoga tradition, these belong to the subtle body, the energy body that lies along the physical one. That is why the chakras sit near the spine and not inside any one organ. Run a hand slowly up that line, from tailbone to crown, and you have touched the whole map.

🔮 What do the 7 chakras mean? One by one

Each chakra below has its meaning, how it feels in balance and out of it, one small practice, and one stone. Jump straight to the one you need:

• Root · Sacral · Solar plexus · Heart · Throat · Third eye · Crown

1. Root chakra (Muladhara): safety and belonging

Where: base of the spine. Colour: red. Element: earth. Seed sound: LAM. Its lotus has four petals.

The root chakra meaning is foundation. It holds your sense of safety, home, money for the rent and feeling at ease in your own body. In balance, you feel steady and present. Out of balance, tradition says, you feel shaky, restless or always braced for the next problem.

Try this: stand barefoot on grass or a cool floor, press your feet down, and count five slow breaths. Its stone: red jasper, dense and brick-coloured, such as this red jasper worry stone. For more root practices, see our four ways to open your root chakra.

2. Sacral chakra (Svadhisthana): pleasure and creativity

Where: lower belly, just below the navel. Colour: orange. Element: water. Seed sound: VAM. Six petals.

The sacral chakra meaning is flow. It is creativity, pleasure, play, sensuality and the feelings that move through you like water. In balance, ideas come easily and joy feels allowed. Out of balance, life feels flat, stuck or all work and no play.

Try this: do one thing purely for pleasure today. Paint, dance in the kitchen or run a warm bath. Its stone: carnelian, warm as a sunset, worn as a carnelian bead bracelet.

3. Solar plexus chakra (Manipura): confidence and willpower

Where: upper belly, under the ribs. Colour: yellow. Element: fire. Seed sound: RAM. Ten petals.

Manipura means jewel city, and this is your inner fire. Its meaning is confidence, willpower, drive and the gut feeling that just knows. In balance, you make a decision and stick to it. Out of balance, tradition says, it shows up as self-doubt, people-pleasing or a short fuse.

Try this: rest a hand on your upper belly and say out loud one thing you decided today. Small decisions count. Its stone: citrine, the sunny quartz, as a citrine bead bracelet.

4. Heart chakra (Anahata): love and connection

Where: centre of the chest. Colour: green, and many people add soft pink. Element: air. Seed sound: YAM. Twelve petals.

Anahata means unstruck, a sound that rings without anything being hit. The heart chakra sits in the middle of the seven, linking the earthly three below with the spiritual three above. Its meaning is love, kindness, forgiveness and connection. In balance, you give and receive care easily. Out of balance, it feels closed off, or like giving with nothing coming back.

Try this: sit with a hand flat on your chest and think of one person you are glad exists. Its stone: a green aventurine tumble, with a rose quartz tumble as its pink partner. Our heart chakra guide has more ways in.

5. Throat chakra (Vishuddha): your true voice

Where: the hollow of the throat. Colour: blue. Element: space, also called ether. Seed sound: HAM. Sixteen petals.

Vishuddha means very pure. Its meaning is honest speech, being heard, and saying the thing you keep swallowing. It also covers listening well. In balance, you say what you mean, kindly. Out of balance, tradition links it with mumbling, going quiet when it matters, or talking over everyone.

Try this: hum a low note for three breaths and feel it buzz in your throat. Its stone: lapis lazuli, deep blue with gold flecks of pyrite, as a lapis lazuli chip bracelet.

6. Third eye chakra (Ajna): intuition and insight

Where: between the eyebrows. Colour: indigo. Seed sound: OM. Two petals, like a pair of wings.

Ajna means command, and the third eye chakra meaning is inner sight. It is intuition, imagination, dreams and the quiet knowing you cannot quite explain. In balance, you trust your hunches. Out of balance, tradition says, it feels foggy, or stuck in a loop of overthinking.

Try this: close your eyes, rest a stone on your brow for one minute, and notice the first picture that comes. Its stone: amethyst, dusky violet. A dark amethyst tumble costs less than a coffee.

7. Crown chakra (Sahasrara): stillness and the bigger picture

Where: the top of the head. Colour: violet or white. Its lotus has a thousand petals, which is what Sahasrara means.

The crown chakra meaning is connection to something larger than you: spirit, nature, the universe, whatever word fits. It holds stillness, perspective and wonder. In balance, you feel part of something bigger. Out of balance, it feels cynical, lonely or spiritually flat.

Try this: sit tall, picture soft white light above your head, and let your face relax. Its stone: clear quartz, the blank page of crystals, as a clear quartz chip bracelet. Our crown chakra crystal guide goes deeper.

Want more than one stone per chakra, and where to put them? Our guide to the best crystals for each chakra has the full list.

✨ Where do the chakras come from?

The chakras come from the tantric yoga traditions of India, both Hindu and Buddhist. There they are pictured as lotus flowers or spinning wheels along the spine. That is where the petals and seed sounds above come from.

The old systems do not agree on a number. Some name as few as four chakras, others as many as forty-nine. The seven we know best come from one sixteenth-century text, the Sat-cakra-nirupana, written by Purnananda in 1577.

That text reached English readers in 1919. Sir John Woodroffe, a High Court judge in India, translated it as The Serpent Power under the pen name Arthur Avalon. Most Western books on the chakras still trace back to it.

The rainbow came later. The Indian texts give the chakras colours, but not red-to-violet in order. Western writers gave each chakra one rainbow colour from the 1930s, and the rainbow and the meanings above first came together in Ken Dychtwald's 1977 book Bodymind. So the map you see today is an old Indian wheel with a modern Western coat of paint, and people have loved using both for decades.

For colour work itself, our guide to visualising the chakra colours walks you through a full colour meditation.

🌙 A five-minute chakra check-in you can do tonight

You need a chair and five quiet minutes. No mat, no playlist.

1. Sit with both feet on the floor. Take three slow breaths.
2. Put a hand at the base of your spine. Picture red. Ask: do I feel safe today?
3. Move up one centre at a time: lower belly, upper belly, chest, throat, brow, crown. Picture each colour and ask one honest question.
4. Notice which spot felt tight, empty or noisy. That is your chakra for this week.
5. Keep that chakra's stone with you tomorrow. That is the whole ritual.

🕯️ For a longer practice, lie down and rest one stone on each centre for ten minutes. Our crystal layouts for chakra balancing show seven ways to arrange them. When one centre keeps calling, our guide to chakra healing has eight ways to balance it.

Not sure where to start? Our chakra quiz points you to one centre in seven questions.

💎 Choosing a piece

Start with how you want to use it. A pocket stone is for holding. A bracelet wears the colours all day. A seven-stone set is for a lying-down layout and a shelf.

Live shop prices, October 2026. They move a little over time.

A little care, because these are real minerals. Amethyst and citrine are quartz and take a rinse in warm soapy water, but amethyst fades in strong sun. Lapis lazuli is softer, so wipe it with a soft cloth and skip the soak. Selenite is gypsum, which dissolves in water, so keep the pendant and the moon dry.

Everything posts from our Auckland shop, or come and hold the stones first at Rivendell in Westfield Manukau.

Frequently asked questions

What are the 7 chakras in order?

From the base of the spine up: root (Muladhara), sacral (Svadhisthana), solar plexus (Manipura), heart (Anahata), throat (Vishuddha), third eye (Ajna) and crown (Sahasrara). Their colours run red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet, and their meanings rise from safety at the root to connection at the crown.

What does the word chakra mean?

Chakra is Sanskrit for wheel or circle. In yoga tradition the chakras are pictured as spinning wheels of energy, or as lotus flowers, set along the spine. Each has its own number of petals, from four at the root to a thousand at the crown.

Are the chakras part of the physical body?

In yoga tradition they belong to the subtle body, the energy body that lies along the physical one. So each chakra sits at a place you can touch, such as the chest or the brow, without being an organ. People feel them as warmth, tightness or ease at those spots, and that is exactly how the check-in above works.

Why are the chakras rainbow coloured?

Western writers set them in rainbow order in the twentieth century. The older Indian texts give the chakras colours, but not red-to-violet. Today the rainbow is the colour system most people learn, and it makes the map easy to picture and to remember.

Which chakra should I start with?

Start with the one that answered loudest in the check-in. If nothing stood out, start with the root. In chakra practice, a steady root makes every centre above it easier to work with.

Which crystal goes with each chakra?

One easy set: red jasper for the root, carnelian for the sacral, citrine for the solar plexus, green aventurine or rose quartz for the heart, lapis lazuli for the throat, amethyst for the third eye and clear quartz for the crown. Colour is the usual guide, and the seven-stone set holds all of them.

Sources

• American Heritage Dictionary: chakra, Sanskrit for wheel or circle.
• Kurt Leland, "The Rainbow Body", Quest, on the origins and the Western rainbow colours.
• Internet Archive: The Serpent Power, the 1919 translation.
• Chakra, for Sanskrit names, petals, seed sounds and elements.
• GIA: Amethyst care, IGS: Lapis lazuli and IGS: Gypsum, for hardness, fading and cleaning.