Amber StewartSymptoms of Chakra Imbalances and How to Improve Them
There are seven main chakras, each of which corresponds to a different aspect of the human experience.
- The root chakra is associated with survival and security.
- The sacral chakra is associated with creativity and sexuality.
- The solar plexus chakra is associated with power and personal will.
- The heart chakra is associated with love and compassion.
- The throat chakra is associated with communication and self-expression.
- The third eye chakra is associated with intuition and inner wisdom.
- The crown chakra is associated with enlightenment and spiritual connection.
When a chakra is out of balance, it becomes either underactive or overactive.
An overactive chakra is one that is blocked and not flowing properly. This can cause problems in the corresponding area of the body, as well as in the corresponding emotional and spiritual aspects of life. On the other hand, an underactive chakra is one that is not open enough and is not receiving enough energy. This can also cause problems in the corresponding area of the body, as well as in the corresponding emotional and spiritual aspects of life.
If you’re interested to learn more about the seven different chakras, common symptoms of imbalances as well as tips to bring them back into balance, then you are in the right place! Read on to learn more about the symptoms that arise from chakra imbalances.
Chakra-Related Issues & Diseases
Before I start explaining the different chakras and the symptoms associated with their imbalances, It’s important to understand how chakra imbalances can contribute health issues or diseases. Because it takes a long time for energy to manifest in the physical world, diseases tell us which chakras have been out of balance for a while. Be aware that our beliefs feed our chakras, so a person can be overactive in one aspect of a chakra, while being underactive in another. For instance, if a woman is very insecure, the self-esteem aspect of her solar plexus chakra may be very underactive, but the action-taking part of her chakra could be really overactive in an attempt to prove her worth through her actions or achievements. So, when you read the following symptoms, don’t be surprised if you resonate with both underactive and overactive qualities because it just may be the case.
Understanding Your Root Chakra
Your root chakra is your base chakra and is about physical embodiment, meaning that is related to your overall health and vitality, as well as your ability to manifest physical things like money, good health, and other things you may desire. It is centered around your sense of security and determines how you approach change. It is associated with simplicity, organization as well as anything foundational in your life. In addition, your root chakra directly influences your finances, work, family, and home life.
Since it is connected to your sense of security, safety as well as your feeling of belonging in your body, your natural “fight or flight” response is administered by your root chakra.
When its balanced, you have no problem living in the moment, you feel confident without showing off, you are passionate about your ambitions, you have a healthy outlook on life and you have faith that everything will be ok regardless of the circumstances.
Also, having a balanced root chakra makes you feel:
- Safe to express yourself
- No fear of ridicule or judgement
- An ongoing sense of harmony and peace
- A winning mindset for all
Now this doesn’t mean that you will never get upset or you aren’t allowed to get upset. In fact, the opposite is advised. Suppressing your emotions does not work and only magnifies them when they finally address them. Its important to feel them and let them go instead accepting them as your identity. If you need help, read this blog.
Overactive and Underactive Root Chakra
Having an underactive root chakra can have individuals:
- Feel like they’re trapped in a vicious cycle
- Have an overall sense of mistrust
- Be low in confidence
- Stuck in their opinions
- Feel as though they’re at the end of the road
- Consider ending their life/suicidal
- Assume they are in everyone’s way
- Or as though they can’t help or be of assistance to anyone
On the other hand, an overactive Root Chakra can cause individuals to:
- Be lazy, bored or tired
- Feel heavy, stuck or be a hoarder
- Obsess over routines and structure
- Overspend
- Feel controlled by their family
- Avoid change
Root Chakra Imbalance Symptoms
A Root Chakra imbalance can create both physical and emotional symptoms.
Physical imbalances include problems in the legs, feet, rectum, tailbone, immune system, male reproductive parts and prostrate gland. Other physical imbalances include here are also likely to experience issues of degenerative arthritis, knee pain, sciatica, eating disorders, and constipation.
Emotional imbalances include feeling trapped in a vicious cycle, overall sense of mistrust, lack of confidence or unwilling to alter your opinions.
Problems with the part of your body from your feet to your tailbone may be related to the root chakra. This includes, but not limited to, the following:
- Diseases of the intestines, colon, anus, rectum, or any other issue related to elimination.
- Any issue associate with bones, bowels, or blood (also known as the 3 Bs).
- Skin problems ranging from eczema to leprosy and everything in between.
- In men, issues with the testes, such as prostate cancer and infertility issues.
- All addictions are associated with the root chakra since they deal with the body’s memory, homeostasis, and repitition, which are all qualities of the root chakra.
Root Chakra and Addictions
Addictions are a form of illness that tell us a lot about our chakras. All addictions are based in the root chakra, the energy center of memory and repetition, but the nature of the addiction- food,drugs, sex etc. – is often influenced by an additional chakra. Below is a list of chakra associations for common adicitions, and when you look through it, you may notice that most of the addictions only apply to the lower (bodily) chakras. This is because where the biggest physiological traps lie. Even still, a person can have an upper chakra-related addiction such as obsessively meditating (crown chakra) or practicing too much divination (brow chakra).
Chakra Associations for Common Addictions
- Alcohol: Overactive Root ; Overactive Solar Plexus
- Cocaine/Crack: Overactive Root; Underactive Solar Plexus
- Coffee: Underactive root; Underactive Solar Plexus
- Food: Overactive Root
- Gambling: Overactive Root; Underactive Solar Plexus
- Marijuana: Overactive Root; Overactive or Underactive Sacral
- Nicotine: Overactive Root; Overactive or Underactive Solar Plexus
- Sex: Overactive Root; Overactive Sacral; Underactive Heart
- Shopping: Overactive Root
- Work: Overactive Root; Underactive or Overactive Solar Plexus
Understanding Your Sacral Chakra
Your sacral chakra is your base chakra and focuses on the relationship you have with your emotions. It helps inform how we relate to our emotions and the emotions of others (so it gauges our level of emotional intelligence). It also governs our creativity and sexual energy as well.
When you have a balanced sacral chakra you:
- Have a positive approach to life
- Are pleasant to be around
- Exuberate warmth, generosity and kindness
- Could be a good person to talk to for advice
- Will say to many things and if you say no, it will still leave the other person motivated and empowered despite the rejection
- Typically have a win-win attitude
- Careful with your word choices and you try not to put people down.
Overactive and Underactive Sacral Chakra
When your sacral chakra is underactive you can feel:
- Overly rational or unemotional
- A lack of creativity
- Avoidant towards intimacy
- frigid, asexual
- Rigid or stiff, lack of flow in movement
- Hopeless with an overall sense of being depression
On the contrary, when your sacral chakra is overactive individuals report feeling:
- Irrational, unstable
- Promiscuous
- Codependent, neurotic
- Emotionally unstable or like you don’t even know who you are anymore
- Addicted to drama, with a loud or crass attitude
- As though you have a lack of control in your life
- Flexible, moves well without limitation
Sacral Chakra Imbalance Symptoms
Since the sacral chakra governs the pelvic bowel and lower back area, physical symptoms associated with sacral chakra include:
- Issues involving the ovaries, like female reproduction or hormonal problems, menstrual irregularities, PMS, and other forms of chronic emotional swings.
- Urinary or bladder problems
- Dehydration (the sacral chakra is associated with the element of water)
- Sexually transmitted diseases
- Scoliosis (When there is a weak root chakra combined with too much sacral chakra energy, our bones literally curve)
Emotional symptoms associated with a sacral chakra imbalance include: a loss sense of identity, being addicted to drama, feelings of depression or feeling out of control of situations and helpless/hopeless about it.
Understanding Your Solar Plexus Chakra
Your solar plexus chakra is your 3rd energy center and it focuses on your personal power. This chakra governs your self-worth, self-esteem and your ability to be confident and in control of your life. The Solar Plexus chakra determines how you will interact with life based on your perception of how it relates to you. Life is just one big mirror reflection. You are a living being reflecting life back onto itself. When the solar plexus chakra is balanced, we feel self-respect and self-compassion. We feel in control, assertive and confident. Other signs of a balanced solar plexus chakra include:
- Looking forward to all the good stuff that life is bringing your way
- Healthy sense of purpose
- Having an air of confidence about you
- A healthy relationship with your emotions
Since the solar plexus chakra governs your self-worth and confidence, this chakra is closely connected to the sacral chakra.
Overactive and Underactive Solar Plexus Chakra
People with an underactive solar plexus chakra tend to have low self-belief in who they are and what they are capable of accomplishing. Other signs of an underactive solar plexus chakra include:
- Constantly putting yourself down
- Dwindling self-belief
- Overly humble
- Seeking approval from others (people pleasing)
- Problems with authority at work
- Havoc in close relationships
- Not feeling worthy if you don’t have a life purpose or goal to obtain
- Having purpose driven goals that you always seem to self-sabotage or fail to complete
In the same way a chakra can be underactive, it can also be overactive. Having an underactive solar plexus chakra can affect your life in a number of ways:
For starters, it can make you seek constant approval, which can easily lead to a pattern of people pleasing. Getting a significant amount of praise from another person may be required before allowing yourself to feel fully satisfied with your choices and accomplishments, which can alter between huge life decisions to perceived smaller life decisions. Its possible that you are fed up with this behavior pattern but have difficulty overcoming it.
Whereas individuals with an underactive solar plexus chakra have difficulty stepping into their power, people with an extremely overactive solar plexus chakra tend to go on power trips, abuse their power or be extremely selfish. Extreme selfishness could result in overeating since they are so selfish, they want to eat everything before anyone else gets a chance to. Bullying, arrogance, nitpicking and hostile takeovers, detrimental stubbornness and an unwillingness to compromise or even consider another person’s viewpoint are all signs of an overactive solar plexus chakra. Other examples of an overactive solar plexus chakra include:
- Being egotistical or a know-it-all
- Behaves recklessly
- Acts too hastily
Solar Plexus Chakra Imbalance Symptoms
A solar plexus chakra imbalance can show up in our lives in a variety of ways:
Ongoing health issues, such as chest pains which can be so intense that you mistake it for a heart attack. Your digestive system may also be a little bit off. Abdominal fat can accumulate too and in extreme cases, one may develop diabetes, liver problems and ulcers.
- In the workplace, you may have problems with authority, decisiveness and leadership (either when you are required to step up and be a leader from or being subordinate). When an employee begins doubting themselves, suddenly, they find it difficult to fulfill tasks due to an increase in self doubt.
- In relationships, a blocked solar plexus chakra can cause a lot of problems. First, it can cause a parent to feel unworthy of parenthood so they walk away. Secondly, it can cause a partner to get cold feet and walk away. Also, a blocked solar plexus chakra can cause a person to cheat or feel unworthy if they are cheated on and left.
- It can cause a lot of self-sabotage. You could be doing well in any area of your life but due to your core beliefs (either something said to you in childhood or a fear of losing everything again) an over-active solar plexus chakra can cause you to self-sabotage. Other signs that your solar plexus chakra is over-active include:
- Concerning self image, it can make you refuse to accept the body’s natural biological clock. You could be addicted to self care or plastic surgery
- When it comes to trying new things, it can inspire you to embark on unsafe activities
- When concerning morals, it cant compel someone to become passionate about bringing evil to light or calling people out on their mistakes.
If you’re not aligned with your own personal power, then it will be hard to find balance in your life. When your solar plexus chakra is not in balance, you can experience digestive problems, liver dysfunction, chronic fatigue, high blood pressure, diabetes, stomach ulcers, pancreas and gallbladder issues, colon diseases.
Emotional imbalances include issues of personal power and self-esteem, our inner critic comes out. Fears of rejection, criticism, physical appearance.
Understanding Your Heart Chakra
The heart chakra is your fourth energy center which is represented by the color green. It determines our level of trust and also influences our ability to love and be loved. When the heart chakra is balanced, we feel joy, gratitude, love and compassion; forgiveness flows freely and trust is gained. Not only that, but you feel emotions in healthier ways which makes it possible to bypass a lot of hurt and pain. Other signs of a balanced heart chakra include:
- Having a general passion for living
- Wanting the best for everyone
- Having a deep faith that everything will be ok.
- You don’t stay in a bad mood for long
- Life seems to flow with ease
Overactive and Underactive Heart Chakra
Different things can cause your heart chakra to be underactive such as:
- Having your emotions linked to love in negative ways
- Experiencing extreme life disappointments
- Possibly being/feeling unwanted as a child
- Being under a lot of stress
- Carrying a lot of guilt
Sometimes when you stop feeling a level of emotions that you become almost cold, the heart chakra can become overactive. When this happens, you can feel:
- Bombarded with emotions, or as though you feel everything all the time
- Difficult to manage your emotions
- Sad and overwhelmed at the same time
In addition, feelings of an overactive heart chakra can also include:
- Being everyone’s doormat
- Constantly socializing and being a social butterfly
- Easily loses your identity in relationships
- Being overly polite or self conscious
- Consistently put yourself last when it comes to getting your needs met
Heart Chakra Imbalances
The most obvious problems associated with the heart chakra mainly concern the heart or breasts (i.e. heart attacks or breast cancer). Additional heart chakra imbalance symptoms include:
- Pulmonary related health concerns such as asthma, allergies, apnea (also known as the 3 As) and bronchitis
- Colds, flus, pneumonia (and COVID now lol)
- Failure to thrive (when babies or children aren’t loved and hugged enough)
- Thymus or auto-immune problems, including lupus
- Since the heart chakra energy runs down the arms of the body, other physical symptoms of a heart chakra imbalance include, carpel tunnel syndrome and tendinitis in the elbow. If these issues show up on the right side of the body, then the issue is related to a weakness in the masculine heart which is associated with giving or showing love. If they show up on the left side of the body, then they are associated with a weakness in the feminine heart, which is associated with receiving love.
Aditional physical symptoms of a heart chakra imbalance include: asthma, heart disease, lung disease, issues with breasts, lymphatic systems, upper back and shoulder problems, arm and wrist pain.
Emotional symptoms of a heart chakra imbalance include issues of the heart; over-loving to the point of suffocation, jealousy, abandonment, anger, bitterness, as well as a fear of loneliness.
Understanding Your Throat Chakra
Your throat chakra is your 5th energy center located in the throat area and focuses on communication, confidence and self expression. When it is balanced, we have free flowing of words, expression and communication. If you were ever around somebody and you felt like you could talk to them for hours, chances are your throat chakra opened up around them. However if you ever felt like you had a frog in throat, then your throat chakra was blocked, or underactive.
When you have a balanced throat chakra, you:
- Radiate positivity and have the confidence to speak your truth.
- Are honest and truthful, yet firm.
- Can be a person of deep integrity, but may find it difficult to be romantically faithful. Your dynamic charm may have you connect with others so much that monogamy can sometimes be a challenge.
- Tend to be a good listeners. In fact, having a balanced throat chakra can help you avoid any unhappiness caused by miscommunication.
- Have great communication skills and your speaking abilities can inspire others to take action
Think of your throat chakra as a sort of lie detector, because it only opens up in a healthy way when you’re authentic and honest. Your throat chakra weakens when you tell lies, stifle your truth, keep toxic secrets, or try to be someone you’re not.
Lastly, your throat chakra is intrinsically connected to your true-life purpose because when you’re authentic and refuse to wear false masks or compromise, your highest destiny naturally emerges from everything you do. This energy center develops the most from age 29-35, which is a time when we all feel a need to mature and discover our real reason for being here.
Overactive and Underactive Throat Chakra
Feeling threatened, afraid or having your nerves on edge can cause your throat chakra to be underactive. Your chakra can also become underactive when you have excessive adrenaline released or you are always in fight or flight mode (i.e. dealing with chronic stress or staying in unhealthy/toxic relationships or work environments). Other signs of having an underactive throat chakra include being:
- Quiet or soft spoken
- Uncommunicative
- A drifter, or feeling purposeless
- Secretive
- A pathological liar
On the other hand, when your throat chakra is overactive, individuals tend to be overly communicative and more concerned with speaking about themselves. Other signs of an overactive throat chakra include:
- Using critical words, being brutally truthful
- Engaging in malicious gossip or lies
- Tend to be vindictive or trouble-making
- Overly talkative, loud
- Bad listener
- Obsessing about causes
- Shares unsolicited advice and opinions
Cheating can also be indicative of an overactive chakra when the cheating is not about the physical act, but more about “stating a message”.
Throat Chakra Imbalance Symptoms
Physical symptoms of an imbalanced throat chakra include: thyroid issues, sore throats, panic attacks, violent sweat outbursts, uncontrolled shaking, feeling claustrophobic laryngitis, TMJ, ear infections, ulcers, any facial problems (chin, cheek, lips, tongue problems), neck and shoulder pain, as well as possible convulsions or throwing up.
Emotional imbalances include issues of self-expression through communication, both spoken or written. Fear of no power or choice. No willpower or being out of control as well as experiencing writer’s block.
The best way to balance your throat chakra is to focus on healing your inner child. Since a throat chakra imbalance causes one to be unkind to themselves, it can create a lot of negative self talk and have you develop a negative relationship with your inner child.
The best way to heal your inner child is to talk to it, nurture it and do things that you enjoyed to do in your youth. Over time, you will see an improvement in the way you speak to yourself and ultimately strengthening your relationship with yourself.
Understanding Your Third Eye Chakra
The third eye chakra is your 6th energy center and allows you to see the big picture that is usually hidden within your subconscious. It is actually considered to be our pineal gland and governs our pituitary gland. It also regulates our circadian rhythm. When the third eye chakra is balanced, we feel clear, focused, and can determine between truth and illusion. Also, we are open to receiving wisdom and insight which allows us to connect with our intuition better.
Third Eye Chakra Imbalance Symptoms
When your third eye is not in balance, you can doubt your inner voice, feel like you are going insane or in worse cases, want to harm yourself. When it’s blocked you can doubt your inner voice, but when if it becomes overactive, it can trigger a nervous breakdown due to you experiencing the universe all at once.
Physical imbalances include headaches, blurred vision, sinus issues, eye strain, seizures, hearing loss and problems with hormone function which can contribute to weight fluctuations or low libido.
Emotional imbalances include issues with moodiness, volatility, and self-reflection; An inability to look at ones own fears, and to learn from others. Individuals with an imbalance in their third eye tend to day-dream often and live in a world with exaggerated imagination. You may also suffer mood disorders such as anxiety, depression apparition or paranoia that somebody is out to get you.
Third Eye Awakening
Now there is something called a third eye awakening which is where you start to tap into your third eye and experience the universe on a more spiritual/unconscious level. During a third eye awakening, your body will be trying to acclimate to a higher vibration and the ascension process may feel uncomfortable. You may find yourself:
- Needing more sleep
- Feeling disconnected from the world
- Find things overwhelming at times
- Craving to spend more time in nature or adopting healthier nutrition/lifestyle habits
When a third eye awakening happens, you can experience ringing in the ears, headaches, distant humming inside your head, a pulsating sensation beneath the skin of your forehead, as well as dizziness, vertigo or thirst (due to your body trying to purge stuck energy).
When it comes to balancing your third eye, doing any type of exercise that takes your mind into a still space can help balance your third eye. This includes doing things such as jogging, surfing or meditation. Taking melatonin supplements, eating nuts, plums, fresh vegetables and fish are all ways to balance your third eye chakra as well.
Understanding Your Crown Chakra
The crown chakra is thought to be our gateway to the universe. When this chakra is balanced, we live in the present moment. We have an unshakeable trust in our inner guidance and radiate a deep sense of harmony. When you are around somebody with a balanced crown chakra, you can feel a sense of calm and peace about them and they can seem to hold the secret to life. Not only that, but having a balanced crown chakra will have strong faith in a greater power supporting us all.
The crown chakra and third eye chakra work together to help you interpret messages through psychic connection. Keep in mind that this doesn’t make you become Miss Cleo or anything because everyone has psychic abilities to a certain extent. Psychic ability refers to being in a harmonious flow with the universe. But this does allow some people to interpret universal messages with more clarity, however the universe communicates with you.
Underactive and Overactive Crown Chakra
When it’s not in balance, we feel disconnected from life, feel purposeless without value, have trouble relating to things, and can have a constant sense of apathy. People with a blocked chakra tend to:
- Work dead end jobs or be in dead end relationships
- Feel drained to the core of their souls
- Avoid confrontations
- Have a track record of disastrous life events
- And everything can seem like it requires too much effort
- Be apathetic or extremely skeptical
On the other hand, when it comes to having an overactive crown chakra, you may have:
- An incessant need to be right
- Been considered to be a know-it-all
- Little to no compassion for anyone else
- A strong sense of superiority/ God complex
- Feelings of depression, but in an angry way.
Symptoms of a Crown Chakra Imbalance
Physical imbalances include: inability to learn, sensitivity to light, sound, environment.
Emotional imbalances include issues with self-knowledge and greater power. Imbalances arise from rigid thoughts on religion and spirituality, constant confusion, carry prejudices, “analysis paralysis.” Fear of alienation.
The crown chakra is your spiritual chakra, so it does not get a boost with worldly elements such as food, sex, or money. The best way to open your crown chakra is through meditation, because it melts the boundaries between the physical and spiritual worlds. If you have a blocked crown chakra, it may benefit you to buy a plant so you can have something positive to focus on other than yourself.
Feeling imbalanced?
As you can see, when a chakra is out of balance, it can manifest in a variety of ways. For example, an underactive root chakra may manifest as feelings of insecurity or fear; an overactive sacral chakra may manifest as sexual promiscuity or co-dependence, an underactive throat chakra may manifest as communication problems or difficulty expressing oneself, etc.
Fortunately, there are also a variety of ways to balance chakras. Some common methods include yoga, meditation, massage, and energy work. It is important to find a method that works for you and to be patient with yourself as you heal.
If you are experiencing any of the symptoms of a chakra imbalance, it is important to seek professional help. A qualified therapist or healer can help you identify the root cause of your imbalance and develop a treatment plan.
One of the most common mistakes people make when working with their chakras is jumping right into the “healing” without doing any diagnostics. Your doctor wouldn’t give you a treatment protocol or prescription without first asking any questions or doing the proper testing and physical exams. Similarly, you shouldn’t dive into balancing your chakras without a proper assessment.
Even the most innocent attempts at healing before getting an accurate assessment can do more harm than good, regardless of whether we’re talking about physical or energetic healing.
Chakra imbalances are a common problem, but they are treatable. With the right help, you can heal your chakras and restore balance to your life.
If you are interested in working with a coach to overcome any chakra imbalances, then let me know. I offer 1:1 coaching wellness coaching services that will allow us to assess your chakras, pinpoint any particular imbalances and create a personalized wellness plan to help you become realigned and feel mentally, physically and spiritually well again. I hope this helps.
In Good Health,
Amber Stewart, BS
Holistic Nutritionist
Certified Master Life Coach
ACSM Exercise Physiologist
CTNC Mental Health Specialist
Hi! My name is Amber and I’m a Body Goals Builder, Master Life Coach, Certified Health Coach, CTNC Mental Health Specialist, Stress Alchemist & Fear Conqueror
I used to be a people pleasing, work-a-holic who stressed herself out to climb the wellness industry’s corporate ladder, while obsessing over her self image. I soon realized that none of it mattered if I wasn’t happy with myself, inside and out, and surrounded around people who loved and respected me.
I now help individuals who are stressed out, out of shape and struggling to find balance in their lives learn how to ease their worries, improve their health, create 10x more joy in their lives and manifest the life of their dreams. At the STEW Project, we are maximizing our living potential by Simply Taking an Emphasis on Wellness.
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I am so glad you enjoyed this blog post! I will be sure to post more chakra balancing related content in the future!