[youtube=http://youtu.be/piU4eGXR1Ug]

This week’s video focuses on one of the more frequently used Sanskrit words, Chakra. To understand how to pronounce it correctly, please refer to the video.

The word ‘Chakra’ in Sanskrit (or Sounskrut … if you remember last week’s How to say) means ‘wheel’. What makes the wheel unique and useful is its ability to spin or rotate. The Chakras (This is the English plural form; in Sanskrit it is Chakraaha … Chuck-rah-ha!) when mentioned with reference to the human body, refer to the the concept of energy centers that exist at various points in our body. The energy at these points is rotating like a wheel and hence the name, Chakra. This is currently a purely spiritual concept however, slowly the medical establishment is leaning towards considering it real.

According to the Hindu (or rather Sanaatan, its original name) philosophy, there are 3 energy channels running through our subtle body / energetic body. Idaa and Pingalaa flow on either side of the body and Sushumnaa flows in the center. Idaa and Pingalaa follow a sinusoidal pattern, their flow alternating between the two sides of the body. They intersect in the middle where the Sushumnaa flows and this happens 7 times between the base of our spine and the top of our head. These intersections give rise to the 7 Chakras or energy centers.

For more on Chakras, here is a very well-illustrated video made by Anodea Judith, who has spent her life studying the Chakras and has produced deeply researched, scholarly works like Eastern body, western mind.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRl47q09FUg]