Yoga Teacher Training

Energy Systems

The Yoga tradition has several systems and explainations for what happens during a yoga session, leading to the bliss often experienced at the end.

Click on each figure to access the full sized version.

The Chakras

(pronounced choc-kras)

The Chakra system has 7 energy centers, sometimes refered to as phychic centers of conscienceness. Each is related to a specific idea or set of human characteristics and each has its own color. They orginate from ancient Indian texts, The Vedas (1700-1100 BC), Yoga Upanishads (600BC) and Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (circa 200 BC).

Chakra Locations

The Chakra system energy centers are thought to be located in body as this diagram shows. They are often shown only on the front of the body, but are actually thought to go through the body. This diagram also shows the Sanskrit name and the symbol used to represent each.

The Nadis

The Nadis are channels that energy flows through. There are said to be as many as 72,000 nadis in the human body, but these three are the important ones.

The Ida is feminine energy, associated with the moon and mental energy. The Pingala is male energy, associated with the sun and vital energy. These relate to the two hemisphers of the brain. Ideally, these two energies are in balance. As energy flows from the root chakra to the crown chakra, these two nadis intersect at each chakra along the way.

The Sushumna nadi is the central channel and goes directly from the root to the crown chakra.

In a yoga session, the poses practiced will cause energy to flow through the nadis, impacting the chakras in order, from the base to the crown. If the nadis are open and flowing well, the yoga practioner will experience bliss when the last chakra is accessed.

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