It used to be that chakras and other related topics were considered completely imaginary. But science is finally catching up with what many have known for centuries.

For example, countless studies have now demonstrated that meditation – a wholly "non-physical" act – has a very real impact on the brain and blood system. The act of meditation can create measureable improvements in the brain. It wasn't that long ago that meditation was considered a new-age touchy-feely activity that did nothing at all. Now science has proven that it has immense benefits.

It could be that chakras are the next area of subtle energy to benefit from more careful research.

We are barely beginning to understand the brain. The chakras are related to the pineal gland – a tiny, pine-nut-sized cluster of powerful nerves within the cranium. We're still working hard to understand the brain's larger signals such as alpha and beta waves. It could be a while before we have delicate enough equipment to work with the faint pineal gland signals.

Think of how lost we were before EEGs. And now EEGs and other related devices interpret the electrical signals of the brain. Signals that, a few hundred years ago, would be thought to be witchcraft.

One study done at UCLA by Dr. Valerie Hunt was able to detect electrical activity from the locations of the chakras. This was done wholly by accident as part of another study. The detector was an oscilloscope – a machine that detects energy levels.

It's worth it to note that there is a long-standing million dollar prize for anyone able to prove they have a supernatural ability. This is hosted by the Randi foundation. So far, no psychic has been able to prove their ability to claim it. A number have tried and failed. Discoveries such as the "happy water crystals" that reacted to emotion were shown to be fakeries. For this reason, some are skeptical that chakras exist as a "real" energy system. Surely, if they were, then a chakra practitioner would have stepped forward to claim the prize, if only to then donate it to charity.

However, it's worth noting that in this case it's not that chakras have failed. It's that chakras have never been put to the Randi test. There simply hasn't been a way to test them yet. Chakras are more about subtle energy fields and we are only now developing the devices to be able to test these.

I would think in the next five to ten years that we'll learn more about them, just as we are learning more about the brain's subtle energy fields via EEGs!

Chakras and the Pendulum Test

A few practitioners claim that you can judge the quality of a chakra simply by using a pendulum. For the sake of completeness I'll include this test here. I will caveat that I am currently skeptical that this works. The chakra is a subtle energy field. It should not – one would think – be detectable by a hunk of wood.

The idea is to get a wooden pendulum on a string. It is hung so the pendulum base is two inches above the chakra. For our sake of argument let's say the stomach chakra, since that's easy to get to.

If the stomach chakra is healthy, the pendulum supposedly swings clockwise. Reverse or no motion means the chakra is blocked and in trouble.

But surely a right-handed hand naturally swings things clockwise? And a left-handed person might swing them counter-clockwise? Is this test biased assuming that the person holding the pendulum is right handed?

If you look up "ideomotor phenomenon" you'll find that it is a well-known scientific situation that a person wanting an outcome will make tiny, undetectable-without-high-speed-camera motions with their hands to get the results. So if they feel their heart is having issues, they'll subconsciously make changes to how they hold or move the pendulum to indicate that.

The person doesn't realize they're doing it. But the high speed camera shows what they're doing. It's not the chakra causing the result. It's the hand holding the string.

An ideomotor and ideodynamic phenomenon can be found in many situations. A typical example given is that most people, when told to strongly imagine sucking a lemon, start to salivate. Their body simply does it without them wanting to salivate. Similarly, if someone is told to hold a pendulum over their sexual organs to show the health of them, and that person feels they are not having healthy sexual life, then their hand moves to indicate that. It's not that the person is lying or deceiving, any more than the person who salivated at the thought of a lemon is lying. It simply is the way the human brain is constructed, for the brain to want to communicate its thoughts.

So certainly if you want to get insight into what your subconscious brain feels about your chakras, use the pendulum test. It's a valuable tool to get to the heart of how you feel about things, if you tend to hide things from yourself.

But in terms of measuring actual energy flow, the pendulum method isn't ideal. If you want to see this for yourself, just set up a high speed camera, point it at your hand, and see that it's the hand causing the motion.

Chakras and Crystals

I adore crystals. I have quite a number of crystals in my home. But I also acknowledge that study after study proves that crystals do not have any measureable benefit to human health, beyond the placebo effect.

That's all right. I'm content with the placebo :).

Let's take amethyst, for example. They've done studies where they gave half the people actual amethyst crystal. The other half, they gave purple plastic that just happened to look like amethyst. The results were the same. As long as the person believed they had amethyst, and that the amethyst would bring certain results, they had those results. Their belief in the end result meant they would focus, relax, breathe more deeply, have lower blood pressure, and so on.

A study at Goldsmith College in London found the same result. Half of the test subjects received genuine crystals. The other half received plastic fakes. The ones with fakes, believing they were real, claimed the same benefits. Their belief is what helped.

It's all right with me if there is no mystical energy pouring through the crystal. It is enough for me to know that, if I love my rose-quartz heart-shaped necklace, and to me it symbolizes romance, that when I wear it I feel more romantic. I'm gentler with those I care for. I'm more open to their thoughts. Isn't that what matters? It brings about a mindset which then allows me to reach my goals.

And in the end that's what symbols are all about.

So, if you're working on a chakra, by all means get the gemstone associated with it. Focus on it. Carry it with you. Give it thought. And know that your mental focus will help bring about what you desire.

Think of it this way. If you meditate by focusing on a candle flame, it's not that the candle flame is mystic. It is simply a tool to help you better focus. This is the same as an animal symbol, or crystal, or any other aspect of your daily practice.

Chakras and Auras

A number of people state they can see a person's aura radiating around their body.

However, none have been able to pass a simple test.

Let's say our subject person is six feet tall. He stands before a fence which is exactly six feet tall. The aura-seer says that she sees an aura radiating all around the subject's body. So the aura radiates an inch or more over the top of the subject's head.

Now the subject goes and stands behind the six-foot-tall fence.

Since the aura radiates above the subject's head, the aura-seer should still be able to see that aura shining over the top of the fence. The aura-seer should be able to point to where the subject is behind the fence.

No aura-seer has been able to do this.

What many researchers feel is happening with seeing auras is similar to looking at a Magic Eye style stereogram. A stereogram is an image which has, if you unfocus your eyes, a shape within it. For example, this stereogram has a heart within it, if you look "deep into" the image and unfocus your eyes.

The heart is definitely there. It can be provably seen. By unfocusing the eyes, the shape appears.

In the same way, if one slightly unfocuses their eyes while looking at a person (or other object) there appears a shadow image around the person as an artifact of that person's shape. The viewer is seeing the person but slightly expanded and out of focus. They are not seeing anything separate from the person – they are seeing that person in an unfocused way.

So it would make sense, if the person stepped behind a fence, that the viewer would not be able to see anything at all any more – because they can no longer see the base person. There is nothing now for the viewer to "unfocus on" and to expand on.

Again, this is just my view. If there is a person out there who really can see auras of a person radiating above a fence even if that source person is hidden behind a fence, let me know! They – and I – could make a million dollars J. I would gladly donate that money to battered women's shelters!