By Rachel Hupp Cline | April 28, 2026

There’s a feeling a lot of women carry that’s hard to name. It isn’t anxiety, exactly. It isn’t depression. It’s a quieter, more persistent sense that something is off. Your life looks fine on paper. The job is okay. The relationships are okay. So why does it feel like this?

If you’ve been carrying that feeling, this episode is for you. The chakras are one of the most practical frameworks I’ve ever worked with for understanding why life can feel “off” in ways that are hard to put into words. Not as a mystical concept, but as a way of locating where your energy is, where it’s flowing, and where it’s gotten stuck.

Today we walk through all seven energy centers. What each one governs. What it feels like when it’s balanced. What it feels like when it’s not. Whether you’ve practiced with chakras before, find the word a little woo, or are simply curious, this episode meets you where you are. You can watch on YouTube, listen on Spotify, or keep reading below.

Listen on Spotify: Where Does Your Energy Need Attention? An Introduction to the Chakras

That Something Off Feeling

There’s a feeling a lot of women carry that’s genuinely hard to put into words. It isn’t anxiety, exactly. It isn’t depression. But there’s this persistent sense that something is off. Something isn’t right.

Your life looks fine on paper. The job is okay. The relationships are okay. The to-do list gets done. And yet there’s this nagging feeling that you can’t quite find yourself in the middle of the life you’ve built.

My hope is that by the end of today, you have language for that feeling. Words to give it a name. A framework for figuring out what is actually out of balance in your life. You’ll know what questions to ask yourself instead of walking around with a vague sense that something is wrong.

What the Chakras Actually Are

There are seven main chakras. They’re energy centers, often described as wheels, discs, or vortices, running along the spine from the base all the way up to the crown of the head. The word chakra comes from Sanskrit and means wheel or disc.

Each one governs a different aspect of being human. And here’s what makes this so useful: every chakra has a balanced state and an out-of-balance state, with specific signs you can recognize in your real life. Out of balance can mean blocked or overactive, and the symptoms tell you which.

So instead of “something feels wrong, but I have no idea what,” you can locate it in the body. The chakras give you a map. A way of paying attention that’s actually specific.

For the skeptics

You don’t have to believe in any of this metaphysically for it to work. You can think of the chakras as energy centers if that resonates, or as a useful metaphor for the layers of being human. Either way, the framework still gives you the map. The teaching meets you where you are.

A Walk Through the Seven Chakras

I’m going to walk you through the seven primary chakras as a high-level overview. As you read, notice which ones make you nod. Which ones make you wince a little. Which ones you keep coming back to. We’ll come back to that.

Root Chakra (Muladhara)

Located at the base of the spine. The root of the whole system. Color: red. The root chakra governs safety, belonging, survival, and the felt sense of having ground under your feet.

When it’s balanced: you feel grounded and stable. Your basic needs are taken care of. There isn’t that low-level threat hum running underneath your nervous system, the kind of background stress and anxiety so many of us carry through our day without realizing.

When it’s out of balance: you might feel anxious for no obvious reason. Restless. Like you can’t quite land. Or the opposite, stuck and heavy, like you’re moving through molasses. This one shows up often in women who have been operating in survival mode for so long that they’ve forgotten what real safety feels like in the body.

Sacral Chakra (Svadhisthana)

Located just below the belly button. Color: orange. The sacral chakra governs feeling, pleasure, creativity, and the body-level “yes” and “no” that arrives before your mind catches up.

When it’s balanced: you feel in touch with what you actually want. You feel deeply, but you’re not flooded by your feelings. You give yourself permission to enjoy what you enjoy.

When it’s out of balance: you might feel numb. Disconnected from your own desires. You’re going through the motions and wondering why nothing really feels good. Or you’re emotionally overwhelmed, where every feeling is too much. This one shows up often in women who have spent years overriding their feelings to keep showing up for everyone else.

Solar Plexus Chakra (Manipura)

Located just above the belly button. Color: yellow. Element: fire. The solar plexus governs personal power, self-confidence, and the capacity to act on your own behalf.

When it’s balanced: you feel capable and quietly confident. You can make decisions without spinning. You can say no without an essay attached.

When it’s out of balance: it goes one of two directions. Either you’re in overdrive, burning yourself out trying to earn your worth, pushing and proving. Or you’re collapsed and powerless, unable to act on your own behalf at all. Many women bounce between the two depending on the day. I see this one a lot in high-achieving women.

Heart Chakra (Anahata)

The bridge between the three lower chakras and the three upper chakras. Located at the center of the chest. Most commonly associated with green, sometimes pink. The heart chakra governs love, compassion, relationships, your sense of worthiness, and the capacity to give and receive love without losing yourself.

When it’s balanced: you feel connected to yourself and to others. You can be tender without being naive. You can love without abandoning yourself.

When it’s out of balance: you might be closed off, defensive, hard to reach. Or you’re overgiving, pouring yourself out for everyone else and ending up empty. If we’re honest, most of us have done both, depending on the season.

Throat Chakra (Vishuddha)

Crossing the bridge into the upper chakras. Located at the center of the throat. Color: blue. The throat chakra governs voice, authentic expression, and the ability to speak what’s true without softening it.

I’m not talking about bluntness. I’m talking about speaking the truth with gentleness, with compassion, with the ability to communicate clearly.

When it’s balanced: you can name what you feel. Say what you mean. Speak up in rooms where it matters. And you also know when silence is the truer answer.

When it’s out of balance: you swallow what’s true. You say yes when you mean no, or vice versa. You soften your opinions until they’re unrecognizable. You feel invisible in conversations you’re actually a part of. If you’ve spent years keeping the peace, this one might be calling for some extra support.

Third Eye Chakra (Ajna)

Located at the center of the forehead, the space between the eyebrows. Color: indigo. The third eye governs intuition. The inner voice. The inner knowing. The sense of what’s true that arrives before your rational mind argues with it.

When it’s balanced: you trust what you sense. You can tell the difference between fear and real knowing. You stop second-guessing every gut feeling.

When it’s out of balance: you ask five people what you should do before you ask yourself. You need outside proof before you act. The answer was clear until you started thinking it through. If that one made you wince, you’re not alone. I have been there. Our culture doesn’t really teach women to trust their own inner knowing.

Crown Chakra (Sahasrara)

Located at the top of the head. Color: violet, sometimes white. The crown chakra governs connection to something larger than yourself. Wholeness. The recognition that beneath everything, you are already whole.

When it’s balanced: you feel held by something bigger than your individual life. You can think of this as connection to the divine, however you understand that. The certainty that you belong here. That nothing is fundamentally missing within you.

When it’s out of balance: you keep searching for an answer that never lands. No matter how successful you are, your achievements don’t feel like they belong to you. There’s a voice inside saying, this still isn’t it. This still isn’t it. No matter what you accomplish.

This one is sneaky. A lot of really accomplished women carry it and have never had a language for it.

Take a Breath

That was a lot. Seven chakras, seven energy centers, all of them likely in different states of balance and imbalance.

Which one or two felt the most alive for you? Were there any you felt really connected to or lit up by? Any where you saw the imbalance in yourself? Any that made you nod or wince a little? Any you’re still thinking about?

Drop a comment if you feel inspired. Or just sit with whatever came up. Either is right.

How the Chakras Work Together

Most of us don’t have all seven chakras in balance, or all seven out of balance, at the same time. Usually, there are one or two that are really calling for your energy and attention. The others are doing fine for now.

Worth knowing: the chakras don’t operate in a silo. They’re all interconnected.

It’s hard to connect to your inner voice and inner knowing if your root chakra is out of balance. If you feel a sense of instability, or a constant hum of low-level anxiety underneath everything, the third eye doesn’t have a clear channel to speak through.

If your heart chakra is out of balance, if you’re feeling disconnected or defended, it’s hard to speak your truth from the throat in any meaningful way.

Take the Free Chakra Balance Quiz

If you’re curious about which of your chakras is calling for your attention right now, I built a quiz for exactly this. It’s the Chakra Balance Quiz, and you can find it at rachelhupp.com/chakra-quiz.

Twenty-one questions. About five minutes. At the end, it tells you which two or three chakras are most out of balance for you right now, plus a snapshot of where you are across all seven. The really useful part: it gives you simple practices you can start using this week to tend the specific energy centers that are asking for your support.

It’s free. No upsell hidden inside. Take it, sit with what comes up, and let the framework do its work.

Radiantly Rooted Opens May 18

A little exciting news to share. Something I’ve been building for a long time is almost ready.

I’ve spent the last couple of years building a program called Radiantly Rooted. It’s the deeper version of what we just walked through. The culmination of nearly thirty years of practice, and of building a life that feels like mine from the inside out.

In the program, we go into every chakra in depth. Yoga. Breathwork. Philosophy. Journaling. Lifestyle shifts. The doors open May 18.

If what we talked about today resonates, this program is built for you. Join the waitlist here. The link is also on your quiz results page once you take the quiz.

And even if Radiantly Rooted isn’t for you, take the quiz. Use the framework. Tend what’s asking for your love and attention.

Final Encouragement

Thank you for being here. Truly. It means the world to me.

Take the chakra quiz. Sit with what comes up. Be honest, nobody’s going to see it but you. Be honest about which centers are asking for your attention, and then tend to them gently. That’s the work. That’s always the work.

If this resonated, share it with a friend who’s been feeling a little off herself. This framework helps. I’ll be back next week. Until then, take care of yourself, and tend what needs tending.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the chakras in simple terms?

The chakras are seven energy centers that run along the spine, from the base of the spine to the crown of the head. Each one governs a different aspect of human experience: safety, creativity, personal power, love, voice, intuition, and connection. The word chakra comes from Sanskrit and means wheel or disc. You can think of them as energy centers, or as a useful framework for understanding the different layers of being human. Either way, they give you a practical map for noticing where you feel grounded and where you feel off.

How do I know which chakra is out of balance?

Each chakra has specific signs of balance and imbalance you can recognize in everyday life. An out-of-balance root chakra might show up as low-level anxiety or feeling unsafe. An out-of-balance throat chakra might show up as swallowing what you really think. An out-of-balance third eye might show up as second-guessing every decision you make. Most of us only have one or two chakras really calling for attention at any given time. The fastest way to find yours is to take the free 21-question Chakra Balance Quiz at rachelhupp.com/chakra-quiz.

Do I have to believe in chakras for the framework to work?

No. You can think of the chakras as energy centers if that resonates, or as a useful metaphor for the different layers of being human. The framework works either way. It gives you a practical compass for paying attention to your own life. Whether you experience the chakras metaphysically or simply as a way of locating where you feel stuck, you still get the benefit of the map.

Can more than one chakra be out of balance at the same time?

Yes, and it’s actually really common. The chakras don’t operate in a silo. They’re interconnected. If your root chakra is out of balance and you don’t feel safe in your body, it’s hard to access the inner knowing of your third eye. If your heart chakra is closed off, it’s hard to speak your truth from the throat. The good news: you don’t need to fix all seven at once. The work is to notice the one or two that are most calling for your attention and start tending those. As you tend the loudest ones, the others often start to come back into balance on their own.

How long does it take to balance a chakra?

There isn’t a fixed timeline, because balance isn’t a state you achieve and keep forever. It’s a practice you return to. Some shifts can happen quickly with simple daily practices like grounding exercises, breathwork, or journaling. Deeper integration takes longer, often months or seasons of consistent attention. The goal isn’t to “fix” a chakra. It’s to learn to notice when one is asking for support, and to know how to tend it. That’s the work my program Radiantly Rooted walks you through in depth across all seven chakras. Join the waitlist here. Doors open May 18.

One breath, one moment at a time, we return to ourselves.