Does it feel like something is out of balance in your life?

Maybe you’ve done a ton of healing work, you’ve read all the self-help books, you’ve meditated with the best of them, but still something feels off.

Here’s what you need to know: your seven chakras aren’t just energy centers. They are sacred containers of knowledge which contain an enormous amount of specific information for your growth. Each chakra holds within it a soul task which must be mastered. If any soul task is left incomplete, painful symptoms will show up in your life and your relationships. These symptoms are signs showing you where you need to do your work.

First Chakra Task:   Keep Yourself Safe

If you’re out of balance in this soul task, you might notice that you put others needs before your own - to your detriment. You may allow situations or relationships into your life that hurt you. You may rationalize that you deserve the pain. You might turn on yourself, speak harshly to yourself, you may even hate yourself. To improve your health in this chakra, make a commitment to observe the ways that you devalue yourself and let others devalue you. The truth is - no one is more important than you, and you are no more important than anyone else. Your needs matter as much as anyone else’s.Stay mindful every day. A deep purification process like this takes time, so keep at it until you feel more stabilized. Read books like “Self Compassion” by Kristin Neff, and “Healing the Shame that Binds You” by John Bradshaw.

Second Chakra Task:   Connect with Others

We can’t make healthy connections with others if we believe everyone else is better, smarter, or that they matter more than we do. (See how the health of each chakra has to be solid before we can fully master the next?) If you’re out of balance in this soul task, you might notice that it feels hard to make and keep friends. Connection may feel difficult for you. To improve your health in this chakra, start with a commitment to daily self-inquiry and examination. Observe your own behaviors and feelings around others. Take small steps toward interaction with people. Set goals for joining in with groups. Remember, your commitment is all you need. If you are committed, the healing will come. Read books like “Safe People” By Henry Cloud.

Third Chakra Task:     Set Boundaries

Symptoms of ill-health in the third chakra show up as either a tendency to be “too nice” and let people walk all over you, or to be “the Big Cheese”, believing you are entitled to more than your fair share.  We must learn healthy boundaries.  If you are out of balance in this chakra, you might have a hard time saying no. You may grieve a lot about other people’s pain. You may worry about how someone will feel if you set down boundaries. Or – you may feel an impulse to run over people to get your needs met. To improve your health in this chakra, first commit to observing your patterns and discover the reasons for them. Then make a solid commitment to boundary setting. Learn to say “Yes” and “No” at appropriate times, both to others and to YOURSELF. You must learn to say NO to toxic people, places and situations, and say YES to beautiful, fair, kind ones. The third chakra soul task balances the ego. Read books like: “Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life” by John Townsend and Henry Cloud, and “Reclaim Your Life: Understanding Toxic Relationships, What to Do, and When to Leave” by Jennifer Reed.

Fourth Chakra Task:   Forgive

If you’re out of balance in this soul task, you might notice that you have trouble forgiving yourself or others. You might be hurt or angry about things that happened a very long time ago. You might hold grudges. Forgiveness is the soul task that opens the heart. If we are unable to forgive, we will be unable to move into fourth density consciousness (4th chakra heart), which is vital if we are to shift into the New Earth. Forgiveness requires a change of heart. Forgiveness occurs when we accept that our brother (or our self) is, in truth, innocent, and deserves our compassion. No matter what you did, no matter what they did, the soul is innocent. If you’re having trouble discerning whether or not to trust someone who is toxic or dangerous, go back to the third chakra – you have more work to do there. Read books like: “Forgiveness: A Bold Choice for a Peaceful Heart” by Robin Casarijan, and “Love is Letting Go of Fear” by Gerald G. Jampolsky.

Fifth Chakra Task:   Embody Fearless Truth

Symptoms of ill-health in the fifth chakra show up as a fear of speaking your truth. You may be afraid of the consequences when you say what you deeply believe. You may fear hearing what someone else deeply believes. When this chakra is balanced, you’ll know how to discern Truth from falsehood, because you will have effectively grasped all of the soul tasks from the previous chakras. Here, the soul is becoming pure. To heal an imbalanced fifth chakra, practice knowing your Truth. Practice standing firm in your truth. And finally, practice speaking your truth while maintaining pristine compassion and respect for others. Read books like: “The Fifth Chakra Healing Book” by KG Stiles, and “The Storm Inside: Trade the Chaos of How you Feel for the Truth of Who You Are.” By Sheila Walsh

Sixth Chakra Task:   Become One with the Creation

When the sixth chakra soul task is incomplete, we do not see others as our self – we see them as separate. It is a very high state of being to actually be able to see others as yourself. It’s more than just sympathy. It’s more than just being able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. We are talking about literally seeing your brother as YOU. Seeing that you are the same being at the core. The truth is – we are all only ONE being. Symptoms of ill-health in this chakra show up as subtle projections onto other people: “He is less evolved than I am.” Symptoms also show up as a sense of separation: “I’m glad it’s them and not me.” To restore health in the sixth chakra, meditation is necessary. Become quiet and get to know yourself in stillness. Practice seeing your neighbor as yourself. Practice seeing a terrorist as yourself. Practice seeing a tree as yourself. Feel it as though it were REAL. Read books like “A New Earth” by Eckhart Tolle, and “A Course in Miracles”.

Seventh Chakra Task: Become One with the Creator

Becoming one with the Creator is such a high state that humans are not capable of maintaining it for long periods of time. Like the story in the bible when God revealed Himself to the mountain and it crumbled to dust, we dissolve back into All-ness when we reach this eternal station. We slip into states of Divine knowingness, drink from it, and then we slip back out. It’s that way by design. Each time we slip in, the experience changes us so profoundly, we are never the same human being again. Our soul task in this chakra is not a matter of reaching perfection, because we never will. This chakra is infinite. Our task here is to open to the mystery of the absolute as often as possible, and to surrender our small self to its Intelligence. Practice by meditating on loving your Creator. Meditate on opening your entire being and offering it to the service of your Creator. Ask for help from your Creator, for your human self cannot know how to explore the realms of the Most High without help from the Most High. Read books like “Mystics, Masters, Saints, and Sages: Stories of Enlightenment” by Robert Ullman and “Along the Path to Enlightenment: 365 Daily Reflections” By Dr. David Hawkins.

Have fun in your travels – for in truth-
Growing through these soul tasks is the entire reason you’re here.

Credit: paigebartholomew.com

Paige Bartholomew is a licensed psychotherapist in Austin, Texas. She has been a devoted student of Sufism for 17 years, where she is ordained with the station of Sufi Master Teacher by the Shadhuliyya Higher Sufi Council. She is a long-time spiritual healer, student of A Course in Miracles, shamanic journey guide, energy healer, certified hypnotist and passionate writer about consciousness and existential issues. Be watching for her upcoming Book: The Soul Map: Understanding the Divine Path of Soul Evolution, where these concepts, and so many more, are explained in glorious detail!