I recently “read” (listened via audio book) the book Eastern Body Western Mind by Anodea Judith. I’ve always been drawn to spirituality, interested in yoga and eastern philosophies, as well as psychology and wellness, so this book was a must read on my list because it checks every box. Now I have a few goals to try out several of the exercises from the book, but I’m also contemplating how the chakra system relates to personality theory.
Judith mentions a couple times in the book about Jung’s types. It makes sense that the types, to some extent, might be the result of specific energy patterns in the chakras. For example, the sensorial types probably have a more bottom heavy energy profile, with more energy concentrated in the lower chakras, while intuitive types are probably top heavy (more energy in the upper chakras). Intuitives would likely benefit from grounding exercises, while sensors might benefit from moving the energy upward (toward imaginative, abstract, and transpersonal centres).
I recognize these patterns in myself. Using Judith’s chakra based framework to describe various strengths and issues, I can see that I have a tendency to embody the strengths and qualities of the upper chakras, and experience more issues and imbalances in the lower chakras. I think this accurately maps to the MBTI type of a thinking intuitive with dominant Ni and inferior Se. Based on a very brief exercise I completed in the book, and my own intuition, I suspect I also have an excess in the third chakra (solar plexus) which probably maps well to the auxiliary Te state. Interestingly, emotions and their expression are related to several of the chakras, but if I had to guess, I might think that Fi is most related to the interplay between Chakra 2 and 5, while those with Fe likely have excess in the heart chakra, making those with Fe blind spot more likely to be deficient (or balanced) there. I’m still in the midst of my analysis and integration of the material so I could be wrong, and of course, unique individuals might have similar profiles but present differently, or different profiles that present similarly depending on the circumstances and background that shaped them.
Aren’t humans interesting? I would love to continue this discussion further in the future.
