I happened to 're-name' this because I feel it applies to all forms of childhood abuse:
Childhood Abuse and the Chakra System
Root
The first chakra at the base of the spine. This energy center controls survival instincts. Its normal condition is open ten percent. If shut down, we tend to be what some refer to as accident-prone: stubbing toes, breaking bones, involved in fender-benders or worse. If it is stuck wide open, we experience everything in life as an emergency. Physical symptoms of blockage include lower back pain.
Sacral
The second chakra, three fingers below the navel. This energy center controls the emotions, sexuality and creativity. Its normal position is open ten percent. If it is shut down, we tend to have a difficult time feeling our emotions, sexual impulses or creative inspiration. If stuck wide open, we tend to allow our emotions and sexual impulses to rule us and our creative drive might overshadow everything else in our life. Physical symptoms of blockage include digestive problems, sexual dysfunction and diseases of the sexual organs.
Solar Plexus
The third chakra in the diaphragm area of the body. This chakra is our power center. Its normal position is open ten percent. (Note that power in this context has to do with the amount of energetic lifeforce flowing through us. It does not have to do with society’s definition of power over another person.) If it is shutdown, we tend to overcompensate for feeling powerless by acting completely opposite. We are a fighter always looking for a cause or figure with which to do battle. We tend to hide from our feelings of powerlessness by focusing on our anger. If it is stuck wide open, we tend to feel like a victim, blaming others for the problems in our life, as opposed to seeing which parts are ours and which parts are other people’s responsibilities. Physical symptoms include ulcers and shortness of breathe.
Heart
The fourth chakra in the center of the chest. This energy center controls the loving energy that flows into and out of us. It also houses the Divine Spark, our connection to a higher power. Its normal position is as open as possible. If shut down, we have difficulty feeling love for ourselves or anyone else, we have difficulty receiving love or anything else from ourselves or others, and we feel cut off and all alone without feeling our connection to that Divine Spark within us. We also tend to feel hurt by others easily because when the heart center is functioning properly, it acts as radar, identifying other’s energies so that we know exactly where they are coming from. Physical symptoms include pain in the back between the shoulder blades and heart problems. (Note the number of heart attacks in this country.)
Throat
The fifth chakra at the Adam’s Apple. This energy center controls communication. Its normal position is as open as possible. When shut down, we have difficulty expressing ourselves. Sometimes we get a “lump” in our throat when we are not expressing what needs to be expressed. This chakra also contains telepathic channels in the sinuses and ear canals. When people constantly throw their opinions at us or think about us doing something for them, like phoning home, their energy gets dumped here. Physical symptoms of blockage include sore throats, sinus headaches, colds and earaches.
Third Eye
The sixth chakra in the center of the forehead. This energy center controls clairvoyance, clairaudience, etc. This is where we receive information from a higher source, where we know things that we have no explanation for knowing. Its normal position is as open as possible. If it is shut down, we might not be aware of receiving higher information and we might have a strong reaction to anyone suggesting that we can. Physical symptoms of blockage include migraines and pain at the base of the skull.
Crown
The seventh chakra at the center of the top of the head. This energy center controls our connection to Spirit, God, Goddess, Universal Source, etc. Its normal position is as open as possible. When shut down, we tend to feel lost, alone, abandoned and that no one can help us; we have to do it all by ourselves. Physical symptoms include pain at the top of the head.
Let’s explore the effects of Childhood Sexual Abuse on our spiritual self and Chakra System.
The Out Of Body Experience
Our spiritual self has the ability to come and go from our body at will. There have been many documented cases of people in life-threatening situations, in unconscious states, having memories of watching medical personnel working on their bodies from a bird’s eye view. Apparently, their spiritual self had left their body and was floating above, watching the scene below. Many survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse have memories of watching their bodies being abused from someplace on their ceiling.
The body contains the physical experience of the abuse. This physical experience is stored in the Chakra System. When there is repeated abuse over a period of time, the spirit may choose to simply not return to the body, or return only as far as the head, because it would then become aware of the pain stored in the Chakra System. This experience of living our life while our spiritual self is not totally in our body is known as not being grounded.
If we are partially or totally not in our body, or not grounded, we may have experiences of driving somewhere and not remembering the trip. We may have little sense of our physical body, how it feels, its weight, etc. We may tend to express ourselves intellectually more often than emotionally. This could be viewed as living in the head instead of the heart. People who live in their heads only have their heads to help them figure out the world. They are very attached to being able to analyze everything. They do not pay attention to feelings because they are not in touch with them. Feelings are stored below the head in the rest of the Chakra System.
Common Chakra Blockages
When too many unresolved emotions or memories are stored in a chakra, it becomes blocked. Some common reasons for blockages to chakras as a result of Childhood Sexual Abuse are as follows:
• Crown - There are two possible reasons: We are angry at God for not rescuing us, or we never want to return to our body to feel the memories of the physical experience.
• Third Eye - Our psychic abilities allowed us to pick up the feelings and thoughts of our abuser during the abuse.
• Throat - We were ordered to never tell about the abuse.
• Heart - It broke our heart to have someone we trusted and loved abuse us.
• Solar Plexus - The power-over nature of abuse results in our personal boundaries being forcibly knocked down, leaving us feeling powerless and victimized.
• Sacral - The sexual nature of the abuse, plus feeling you had to hide your feelings about the abuse, caused us to shut this down.
• Root - You lived in a constant state of survival, plotting how best to avoid further abuse, working out how to survive the actual abuse.
Often, the spiritual self will feel safe to return to the body only up until the point it reaches the first chakra containing memories of the physical experience of the abuse. For example, if we find we have a sense of our body from the top of our head to our chin only, chances are that the first blocked chakra is at the throat, like when we were ordered not to tell anyone.
Childhood Abuse and the Chakra System
Root
The first chakra at the base of the spine. This energy center controls survival instincts. Its normal condition is open ten percent. If shut down, we tend to be what some refer to as accident-prone: stubbing toes, breaking bones, involved in fender-benders or worse. If it is stuck wide open, we experience everything in life as an emergency. Physical symptoms of blockage include lower back pain.
Sacral
The second chakra, three fingers below the navel. This energy center controls the emotions, sexuality and creativity. Its normal position is open ten percent. If it is shut down, we tend to have a difficult time feeling our emotions, sexual impulses or creative inspiration. If stuck wide open, we tend to allow our emotions and sexual impulses to rule us and our creative drive might overshadow everything else in our life. Physical symptoms of blockage include digestive problems, sexual dysfunction and diseases of the sexual organs.
Solar Plexus
The third chakra in the diaphragm area of the body. This chakra is our power center. Its normal position is open ten percent. (Note that power in this context has to do with the amount of energetic lifeforce flowing through us. It does not have to do with society’s definition of power over another person.) If it is shutdown, we tend to overcompensate for feeling powerless by acting completely opposite. We are a fighter always looking for a cause or figure with which to do battle. We tend to hide from our feelings of powerlessness by focusing on our anger. If it is stuck wide open, we tend to feel like a victim, blaming others for the problems in our life, as opposed to seeing which parts are ours and which parts are other people’s responsibilities. Physical symptoms include ulcers and shortness of breathe.
Heart
The fourth chakra in the center of the chest. This energy center controls the loving energy that flows into and out of us. It also houses the Divine Spark, our connection to a higher power. Its normal position is as open as possible. If shut down, we have difficulty feeling love for ourselves or anyone else, we have difficulty receiving love or anything else from ourselves or others, and we feel cut off and all alone without feeling our connection to that Divine Spark within us. We also tend to feel hurt by others easily because when the heart center is functioning properly, it acts as radar, identifying other’s energies so that we know exactly where they are coming from. Physical symptoms include pain in the back between the shoulder blades and heart problems. (Note the number of heart attacks in this country.)
Throat
The fifth chakra at the Adam’s Apple. This energy center controls communication. Its normal position is as open as possible. When shut down, we have difficulty expressing ourselves. Sometimes we get a “lump” in our throat when we are not expressing what needs to be expressed. This chakra also contains telepathic channels in the sinuses and ear canals. When people constantly throw their opinions at us or think about us doing something for them, like phoning home, their energy gets dumped here. Physical symptoms of blockage include sore throats, sinus headaches, colds and earaches.
Third Eye
The sixth chakra in the center of the forehead. This energy center controls clairvoyance, clairaudience, etc. This is where we receive information from a higher source, where we know things that we have no explanation for knowing. Its normal position is as open as possible. If it is shut down, we might not be aware of receiving higher information and we might have a strong reaction to anyone suggesting that we can. Physical symptoms of blockage include migraines and pain at the base of the skull.
Crown
The seventh chakra at the center of the top of the head. This energy center controls our connection to Spirit, God, Goddess, Universal Source, etc. Its normal position is as open as possible. When shut down, we tend to feel lost, alone, abandoned and that no one can help us; we have to do it all by ourselves. Physical symptoms include pain at the top of the head.
Let’s explore the effects of Childhood Sexual Abuse on our spiritual self and Chakra System.
The Out Of Body Experience
Our spiritual self has the ability to come and go from our body at will. There have been many documented cases of people in life-threatening situations, in unconscious states, having memories of watching medical personnel working on their bodies from a bird’s eye view. Apparently, their spiritual self had left their body and was floating above, watching the scene below. Many survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse have memories of watching their bodies being abused from someplace on their ceiling.
The body contains the physical experience of the abuse. This physical experience is stored in the Chakra System. When there is repeated abuse over a period of time, the spirit may choose to simply not return to the body, or return only as far as the head, because it would then become aware of the pain stored in the Chakra System. This experience of living our life while our spiritual self is not totally in our body is known as not being grounded.
If we are partially or totally not in our body, or not grounded, we may have experiences of driving somewhere and not remembering the trip. We may have little sense of our physical body, how it feels, its weight, etc. We may tend to express ourselves intellectually more often than emotionally. This could be viewed as living in the head instead of the heart. People who live in their heads only have their heads to help them figure out the world. They are very attached to being able to analyze everything. They do not pay attention to feelings because they are not in touch with them. Feelings are stored below the head in the rest of the Chakra System.
Common Chakra Blockages
When too many unresolved emotions or memories are stored in a chakra, it becomes blocked. Some common reasons for blockages to chakras as a result of Childhood Sexual Abuse are as follows:
• Crown - There are two possible reasons: We are angry at God for not rescuing us, or we never want to return to our body to feel the memories of the physical experience.
• Third Eye - Our psychic abilities allowed us to pick up the feelings and thoughts of our abuser during the abuse.
• Throat - We were ordered to never tell about the abuse.
• Heart - It broke our heart to have someone we trusted and loved abuse us.
• Solar Plexus - The power-over nature of abuse results in our personal boundaries being forcibly knocked down, leaving us feeling powerless and victimized.
• Sacral - The sexual nature of the abuse, plus feeling you had to hide your feelings about the abuse, caused us to shut this down.
• Root - You lived in a constant state of survival, plotting how best to avoid further abuse, working out how to survive the actual abuse.
Often, the spiritual self will feel safe to return to the body only up until the point it reaches the first chakra containing memories of the physical experience of the abuse. For example, if we find we have a sense of our body from the top of our head to our chin only, chances are that the first blocked chakra is at the throat, like when we were ordered not to tell anyone.
