Wheel, lotus, vortex, all of these describe the word “chakra.” In this mysterious history of the chakra’s origin, what we have come to know through the Indian Vedic texts, Upanishads, or through the Tantric lens is the physical body has energy centers. The number of centers is as mysterious as the origin of the chakra. The Buddhist texts mention four or five, whereas the Hindus believe six or seven. The number of chakras goes up to 114. Twelve chakras is bandied about by some schools of chakra thought, but most agree upon the traditional seven chakras in the body.
Chakras are located in the physical body along the spine. Imagine spinning wheels or discs, like a vortex, or a whirling cone-shaped funnel extending outward from the body. The chakras are associated with areas and organs in the physical body, as well as unique themes. Each chakra, in either you or your animal, holds specific information based on individual history, and it also contains the potential for what each chakra represents, outlined below:
- Muladhara: “Root” — base of the spine
- Svadhishthana: “Where the self is established” — sacral/under the belly button
- Manipura: “Jewel City” — solar plexus
- Anahat: “Unstruck” — heart center
- Vishuddha: “Purest” — throat center
- Ajna: “Command” — brow/third eye
- Sahasrara: “Thousand-Petaled” — crown
Chakras categorize our experiences for us throughout the body. If we are facing a challenge, dynamic or shift in our mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, sexual, and financial world, it could be because of something inhibiting the corresponding chakra from being in its full power to groove and flow. There are behavioral, relationship, and health consequences if we are not maintaining a balance. I like to think of chakras as different, interrelated theme parks that are owned by the same company. Or even better, like distinct, beautiful national parks in one state.
Evolution Of Our Chakra Understanding
In 1994, Dr. Valerie Hunt released a series of music and sound tapes called “The Music of Light,” in which the frequency of each chakra is harmonically coordinated to the field of energy known as the aura. Now chakra music and attunement through sound and vibration is very common. Mantras introduced us to that notion. Chanting “Om” (Aum) can raise the frequency of the third eye and crown chakra, and the symbol of Om can balance all the chakras.
In many ways, the frequency of the chakra knows no words. When balanced, it reverberates in a fine-tuned world like the perfect note from a violin. Imagine the cello representing the root chakra and moving up to the crown to hear a harp with a chorus of angels singing. Literally sounds, thoughts of the sounds, and even the energy alone can realign the whole system in a matter of moments. Like anything else, when out of whack it is discordant.
Dr. Rupert Sheldrake released his book Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home (Crown, 1999) and introduced, in scientific terms, the idea that many ancient cultures subscribe to: morphic resonance. The term morphic resonance defines a field of energy that living organisms can tune into and develop according to the intelligence, emotions, and identity of that field. Every home, flock, herd, tribe, family, pride, culture, and pack has its own signature ecosystem — a morphic resonance in which individuals can be autonomous, yet also part of this field of energy.
Of course, that field is connected to a much bigger field of the all-encompassing field of God/Divine/Universe/Spirit/Source. As much as I loved just sticking to the seven traditional chakras in my classes, I started understanding more about the eighth chakra, the “Soul Star” we are all connected to, which is also our connection point to this larger field.
8th Chakra Is The Home Of Instinct
The eighth chakra for animals is their ecosystem, their morphic resonance, their own field of energy connected to the bigger field. In many ways, the eighth chakra represents the home of instinct that we humans have dulled. Everything that comes into the body comes through this field first, and informs our thoughts, emotions, and chemistry in responding or reacting.
International animal communicator and healer Margrit Coates from the UK is credited worldwide for her research on the animal chakra system, including discovery of animals’ eighth chakra. She shares her amazing findings in her books Healing for Horses: The Essential Guide to Using Hands-On Healing Energy with Horses, and Hands-on Healing for Pets: The Animal Lover’s Essential Guide to Using Healing Energy, published in 2001 and 2003 by Rider/Penguin Random House.
Once you start seeing chakras, you can never not see them. Creating an animal chakra log through the notes you keep on and for your animals becomes helpful in developing a better understanding of them. Understanding animal chakras brightens our ability to see animals as beings with souls, karma, wounding, healing, and a trajectory and purpose that may or may not have anything to do with us. By taking this bird’s-eye view, each chakra gives us a crystalline glimpse into what makes up each individual being and how we might restore balance with and for them.
Reprinted with permission from Animal Chakra Healing by Joan Ranquet. (Findhorn Press/Inner Traditions International, 2025).
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