Chakra is an old concept that has been developed by Indian traditional medicine practitioners and refers to imaginary vortices that have been believed to lie on the ether of an individual. The different vortices are named Chakras and were described as centers of spirals of energy that permeate from different physical points on an individual's body to the subtle bodies' layers of a heart shaped fan formation. The Chakra vortices are thought of as centers of reception and transmission of whorls of energy.
Most of the information available on Chakra is derived from the Upanishads which are difficult to document. Upanishads had been orally passed down, nearly more than thousand years, before written down initially between the years 1200 and 900 BCE.
The chakra vortices are 7 in number. These 7 Chakras are centers of energy that lie on the subtle body. Chakras are often typically described as wheel-like, or flower-like. The wheel-like module describes the vortex as divided into segments by a number of spokes; thus, the Chakra would resemble a wheeled structure. The flower-like module depicts the Chakra as a vortex whose perimeter is outlined by a number of petals. Accordingly, both modules depict Chakras as vortices that possess unique petals or segments.
Chakra resembles an electrical capacitor in the way it stores and outsources energy. The autonomic and central nervous system pathways are located along the spinal cord and show intersecting courses in many instances. The points of neuronal intersection are strong energy centers that are known as Chakras. Chakras are of 3 types.
The lower Chakras are sometimes named animal Chakras and refer to energy centers that lie in the regions between the toes and the pelvis. The lower Chakras are evidence of evolution originating from the animal kingdom. The middle or human Chakras are located throughout the length of the spinal cord. The divine or higher Chakras are located in the region between the top of the spinal cord and the vault of the head.
