The act of integrating is defined as combining one thing with another so that they become whole.

In part one of magic week we talked about setting the intention. What do we do with these intentions that we set? Do they just fly off into the sky? Are we permanently changed?

To make real change and for all the spiritual practices and witchery to have lasting impact, we must integrate our intentions, lessons, or new way of being into ourselves.

Today I’m going to give you an overview of the seven energy centers as recorded in the ancient Indian text, the Vedas.

These energy centers have been westernized and added to by new age thought but the at the core of this information, is a system of knowing and being that makes up all of us.

Root Chakra
The Root Chakra is also known as the Base chakra and sits right at your tailbone. It is your tie to childhood memories. It is your ability to feel safe and secure. It is your attachment to material goods and money. It is very much rooted in this earthly plane and life and directly impacted by early experiences in your lifetime.

Sacral Chakra
The Sacral Chakra is under your belly button at your lower belly area. This is your passion and desire center. It’s where most of us get blocked up because our experiences from earlier in life tend to impact how we view our ability to express our passions and desires and our ability to even recognize them to begin with. This is the center for true joy.

Solar Plexus Chakra
The Solar Plexus Chakra is right under your rib cage. This is your own personal sun and is your confidence center. How confident are you in radiating your light? Speaking your truth? Being the truest expression of yourself? The Root, Sacral, and Solar Plexus Chakras make up the three lower chakras and are all impacted by matters of the ego and the happenings of our day-to-day life up until the current point in time.

Heart Chakra
The Heart Chakra is right at your heart’s center. This is the place of unconditional love. Where passionate love and lust can generate in your Sacral Chakra, the unconditional love that we feel (or don’t feel) for ourselves, family members, plants, the collective energy of the universe is housed in our Heart Chakra. This is the bridge between the physical and the spiritual.

Throat Chakra
The Throat Chakra is right at your throat and is both your ability to vocalize your truth and hear the truth of others. It is the energy of both hearing and being heard. Giving and receiving information and truth compassionately.

Third Eye Chakra
The Third Eye Chakra is right between your eyebrows and is your intuition center. This is where you must learn to trust that which can’t be seen and doesn’t always make sense. It’s your inner knowing and, more importantly, your ability to recognize that knowing and act on it.

Crown Chakra
The Crown Chakra is right at the top of your head. This is your connection to something greater than your physical being. This will vary based on your belief system but it boils down to the understanding that you don’t live in a vacuum. You are part of something greater than just you and you have it within you to connect to an energy greater than the one that radiates from your day-to-day life.

We can work with our energy systems each and every day when making decisions. Consider a decision that you are about to make through these questions:
1. Root Chakra: What experiences have I had that are impacting my decision?
2. Sacral Chakra: What would feel really joyful and exciting to do?
3. Solar Plexus Chakra: How confident am I in pursuing the choice that makes me excited?
4. Heart Chakra: How would pursing this decision demonstrate unconditional love for myself and what would choosing something else say for my unconditional self love?
5. Throat Chakra: How can I express my choice compassionately and stand in my truth?
6. Third Eye Chakra: What does my gut tell me I must do?
7. Crown Chakra: How do I see myself living in the future after making my choice?

I often see others giving the suggestion to work on one chakra at a time to remove blocks or old stories. In my experience, it’s best to work with your chakras as a system, just as I described above when used to make decisions.

Think of a car with a flat tire. That one flat tire can wreak havoc on the entire system. One wonky chakra story can wreak havoc on your entire system, too! Thinking of these seven energy centers holistically and considering how your intentions are being integrated into that system is the second key to living a life of more possibility, delight, and enchantment.

Sara Walka, Founder, The Sisters Enchanted