Chakra One: Muladhara (Root)
Location: Base of Spine
Color: Red
Element: Earth
Gland: Adrenals (fight or flight response)
Sense: Smell
Seed Sound: Lam
Gems: Ruby, bloodstone and hematite
Essential Oils: Cinnamon, garlic and sandalwood
Primary Characteristics: Survival, security, safety, stablility, patience, physical sturdiness, ability to meet one's basic needs (food, shelter, money).
To Balance: Do Grounding meditation, rest and sleep well, walk with attention to your connection to the earth, drum, garden, make pottery on a wheel or sculpt with clay, observe trees (and imagine their roots under the ground). Ingest red foods and drinks (beets are particularly strong since they are a root vegetable). Place a Muladhara Chakra Booster Tattoo on the very lowest part of the back.
Best Yoga Poses: Squat, chair pose, mountain pose, warriors and other standing poses as you pay particular attention to muscular energy (drawing inward) and feeling gravity and good grounding. Also, hold the poses longer.
Affirmation: I am safe.

Chakra Two: Svadhisthanna (Sacral)
Location: Pelvis
Color: Orange
Element: Water
Gland: Testes/Ovaries (reproduction)
Sense: Taste
Seed Sound: Vam
Gems: Carnelian, tigers eye
Essential Oils: Jasmine, neruli, orange blossom
Primary Characteristics: Sexuality, creativity, reproduction, adaptability, emotional release.
To Balance: Indulge in sensual pleasures like a good massage, delicious meal, or hot, aromatic bath. Dance, move, hoola hoop to shake things up (especially in the hips). Engage in a wonderful session of love-making (or self-pleasuring). Ingest orange foods – especially juicy ones like the orange itself. Place a Svadisthana Chakra Booster Tattoo on the sacral portion of the back or below the belly button on the front.
Best Yoga Poses: Cat-cow undulation, lunge, pigeon, bound-angle pose (hip-oriented poses). Do vinyasa flow, one movement with each breath, and close your eyes as much as possible to go deeper into your bodily experience and really feel the physical sensations.
Affirmation: I am creative.

Chakra Three: Manipura (Solar Plexus)
Location: Solar Plexus (above navel, just below rib cage) Color: Yellow
Element: Fire
Gland: Pancreas (assimilation and digestion)
Sense: Sight
Seed Sound: Ram
Gems: Amber, topaz, citrine
Essential Oils: Lemon, juniper, fennel
Primary Characteristics: Personal power, confidence and “can do” attitude, mental agility, ability to differentiate, ability to shine one's own light and to lead effectively. To Balance: Get plenty of sunshine, read books and/or do mind puzzles, do detoxification programs, perform before a group or lead a group, eat and drink yellow foods. Place a Manipura Chakra Boosters Temporary Tattoo on the front and/or back of the solar plexus.
Best Yoga Poses: “Core” poses like boat pose, pendant pose, or any version of plank (regular, side, or staff pose). Inversions in the headstand and handstand family, and twists as they naturally detoxify. Adding breath of fire to your practice is good for this chakra too.
Affirmation: I can.

Chakra Four: Anahata (Heart)
Location: Heart
Color: Green (secondary: Pink)
Element: Air
Gland: Thymus (immunity)
Sense: Touch
Seed Sound: Yam
Gems: Jade, peridot, rose quartz
Essential Oils: Eucalyptus, pine essential oils, rose.
Primary Characteristics: Love of self and others, compassion and kindness, peace and calm.
To Balance: Practice GRATITUDE (keep a gratitude journal). Do “inner child” work – anything that is loving and supporting to your child-self, put a higher priority on spending quality time with yourself and loved ones (remember, nobody comes to the end of their lives and wishes they had worked more hours ;-D). Eat and drink green (and pink) foods. Place an Anahata Chakra Boosters Temporary Tattoo on the front or back side of the chest.
Best Yoga Poses: Backbends, backbends, backbends – bow, upward facing bow, camel, locust, bridge and fish, and arm balances while focusing on the focal point being at the bottom of the heart. Be sure backbends are emphasizing the upper back behind the heart chakra, and that the arms and hands are actively expressing heart energy (they are vibrantly extending – even if into the ground).
Affirmation: I am love.

Chakra Five: Vissudha (Throat)
Location: Throat
Color: Blue
Element: Ethers/Sound/Vibration
Gland: Thyroid (and parathyroid)
Sense: Hearing
Seed Sound: Ham
Gems: Turquoise, aquamarine, blue agate
Essential Oils: Ylang ylang, blue chamomile, gardenia
Primary Characteristics: Expressing one's deepest truth and creativity (that which is connected to the soul), integrity in all areas, listening and speaking in a balanced fashion, living one's dharma and receiving abundance.
To Balance: Sing, write, speak, or use your voice in any expressive way. Have deep, meaningful conversations, and most importantly, continually remind yourself to speak your deepest truth and to set verbal boundaries – practice saying “no” when you mean it! Eat and drink blue foods (blueberries are great!). Place a Vissudha Chakra Boosters Temporary Tattoo on the back of the neck.
Best Yoga Poses: Poses that open the throat appropriately like fish and camel are good. Throughout the entire practice focus on keeping the natural curve of the neck (not tucking the chin in toward the chest). Also, practicing mantra is extremely effective for this chakra. Om, or ham by themselves, or Om Namah Shivaya are simple mantras you can practice.
Affirmation: I express truth.

Chakra Six: Ajna (3rd Eye)
Location: Above the brows between the eyes
Color: Indigo (deep, purplish blue)
Element: Light
Gland: Pineal (senses light)
Sense: “6th Sense” (Intuition and E.S.P.)
Seed Sound: Om
Gems: Lapis lazuli, sapphire, blue fluorite
Essential Oils: Lavender, camphor, sweet pea
Primary Characteristics: Wisdom, imagination, vision, deep discernment, perception that transcends duality.
To Balance: Do exercises that balance the right and left hemispheres of the brain, gaze at the stars or ocean, meditate, follow your intuition (and/or notice what happens when you don't – awareness comes first ;-), make a vision board, ingest indigo food and drink. Place an Ajna Chakra Boosters Temporary Tattoo above and between the brows or anywhere else on the body.
Best Yoga Poses: Restorative poses where you go within and poses where you cross the midline of the body (which helps to balance the hemispheres of the brain): eagle and gomukhasana are two good ones.
Affirmation: I know (or I am intuitive).

Chakra Seven: Sahasrara (Crown)
Location: On (or just above) the crown of the head
Color: Violet to White
Element: Space/Energy
Gland: Pituitary (master regulatory gland)
Sense: Beyond senses – pure bliss
Seed Sound: Silence
Gems: Diamond, clear quartz, amethyst
Essential Oils: Lotus, Violet, Frankincense and Myhrr
Primary Characteristics: Total experiential connection to the Universal Life Force, grace, beauty and bliss.
To Balance: Meditate and visualize kundalini rising, keep a dream journal, engage in prayer or communicate with angels, acknowledge saints and loved ones who have passed, put clear quartz crystals in your water bottle or container to purify your water and drink plenty. Place a Sahasrara Chakra Boosters Temporary Tattoo on the top of the crown (if you're bald) or anywhere else on the body.
Best Yoga Poses: Lotus and being still and silent (restoratives are good for this one too). Upright twists like seated lotus twist. All upward reaching poses – emphasize the lift of the crown.
Affirmation: I am one with all (or God and I are one).