?? The Chakras and Maslow’s Pyramid of Needs ??

Hello, my friends!

Today, I'm sharing with you a section from my Illustrated Guide to Energy Anatomy.

I hope you enjoy!

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"The Chakras and Maslow’s Pyramid of Needs

In a previous section, I briefly introduced the linkage between the chakras and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

Abraham Maslow was a pioneer in humanistic psychology, which focused on growth, development, and potential.

(Unlike previous approaches which primarily emphasized disorders.)

Maslow explored patterns of human growth and development.

He noticed that we must address certain needs before we have the attention or motivation to focus on others.

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Here’s an overview of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, delivered from most basic to most refined:

Maslow’s Need Scope of Need Chakra

Physiological needs (Basic needs) Root

Safety needs (Security needs) Root

Love and belonging (Social needs) Sacral

Self Esteem (Psychological needs) Solar Plexus

Self-Actualization (Individuation) Heart (and on)

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You may notice that this forms a progression from more immediate to the higher-level needs.

It essentially lays out a path of personal development, framed by our efforts in the outer world to gain fulfillment on one level of need at a time.

And it fits surprisingly well with the map of psychological functions as described by the chakras.

Lower chakras are more closely associated with physical needs, while the upper chakras are linked with spirituality and higher connection.

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Another thing to notice is that Maslow’s conception stops short.

Physiological needs and safety needs are both in the realm of the root chakra.

Love and belonging are, initially, a matter of the sacral chakra for the young human.

Esteem needs relate to our ego, our story of self and the role we take in relation to the world. This is the purview of the solar plexus chakra.

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And finally, at the tip of Maslow’s pyramid, we see “Self-actualization.”

Following the chakras, this is linked to the Heart. And the heart center is a very special point indeed.

It is the centerpoint between matter and spirit, between the lower and the upper realms.

Until now, we have been addressing deficits. Our needs have been things that we cannot go without.

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In the balancing point of the heart, we make peace with ourselves and our world.

And, from that point we begin operating based on what we do want, rather than attempting to avoid that which we do not want.

This is the center-point where it becomes possible to move beyond merely surviving and into a space of thriving.

In the process of making peace with ourselves, all of our interactions begin to deepen. They grow beyond the second-chakra dynamic and into more heart-based connections.

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From the throat upward, we explore the facets of self-realization.

The throat is associated with voice, personal power, and the power of the Word. Which are, after a fashion, three ways of saying the same thing.

As our development moves into this phase, we learn boundaries, will, and the healthy use of meaning, both with ourselves and in our communications with others.

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This is a phase of cleansing and aligning, as purification is the main function of the throat chakra:

Expressing the various inner vibrations in a form that we can see clearly…

…and then processing, with honesty and healthy communication, all that needs to be released and transformed.

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The 3rd eye brings us into the space of personal vision. This is a direct engagement with the quantum field of information, the world of forms.

This is subtle and goes deep, but I can say that this is a space beyond words.

Information from this channel often comes in the form of images or a sense of knowing, like an intuitive hit of linked meaning.

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Working consciously in these spaces is fascinating. Channeling, reading akashic records, and sharing our vision through storytelling.

It’s higher-level work, which means that it takes a while to filter down to the physical. But vision, over time, shapes the world.

All of our cultures, all of our inventions, the entire direction of progress and human development is a reflection of our collective relationship with this energy center.

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And finally, in the Crown, we begin to engage with the deepest aspect of our being, the I AM presence seated wordless upon the inner throne.

As we open this center and learn to identify with this aspect of our experience, it changes the entire game.

To live in this space is not to transcend the need for the outer challenges and hardships that accompany a life in the body.

However, we move very quickly into the space where these hardships have less hold on us, and our problems no longer create problems of their own.

We make our home in the I Am.

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So, to recap, the first three chakras – the root, sacral, and solar plexus – lay out for us, step-by-step, the prerequisites for inner growth.

And, from the heart upward, we are given a map for the sequential steps of self-actualization.

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We attend first to the physical, then the emotional and mental.

And, once we have a clear sense of ourselves, we can then begin to grow in authentic connection to ourselves and others.

We learn our power, find our voice and our vision, and begin living life on our own terms, in personal relationship with the highest and deepest aspects of our Being."

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I hope you have enjoyed this piece!

If you'd like to read the rest, drop a line in the comments and I'll send you the Only Human Guide to Energy Anatomy free of charge.

Thanks and blessings!