The 7 Chakras and Their Petals: A Complete Beginner's Map

The 7 chakras are seven symbolic centres described in the yogic tradition, pictured along the spine from its base to the crown of the head. Each one is drawn as a lotus with a set number of petals: 4, 6, 10, 12, 16, 2 and 1,000. Together they form a simple map for reflection and attention.

I teach this map to clients in person on Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, and online across Abu Dhabi, the GCC and Singapore, and it is always the first thing we draw together.

When I first teach this map, I ask people to put the long Sanskrit words aside for a moment and simply look at the picture. Seven flowers, stacked like a ladder, each with a different number of petals. Once you can see that, everything else has a place to sit.

What the 7 chakras are, in plain words

The word chakra means wheel. In the older texts, chakras are described as points of focus used in meditation, each with a colour, a sound, an element and a lotus shape. They are a contemplative tradition, a way of organising attention, and I teach them in that spirit. Nobody needs to believe anything in particular to use the map. You only need curiosity and a few quiet minutes.

Think of the seven centres as seven questions you can ask yourself, arranged from the most practical to the most spacious. The lower centres are concerned with ground, comfort and action. The middle one is about connection. The upper ones are about voice, perspective and meaning.

Why each chakra has petals

The petals are the part most beginners skip, and they are my favourite part. In traditional drawings, every chakra is a lotus, and the number of petals is fixed for each one. Each petal carries a Sanskrit letter, and many teachers also associate each petal with a quality or a tendency of the mind.

That is why I find petals so useful for beginners. A chakra on its own can feel abstract. A petal is small and specific. Instead of asking a vague question such as "how is my heart centre?", you can sit with one petal and one quality at a time. The map moves from seven large ideas to fifty smaller ones on the first six lotuses, which matches the fifty letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, and then opens into the thousand-petalled lotus at the crown.

The map: seven centres, from base to crown

Here is the complete beginner's map. Read it slowly, from the ground upwards.

1. Muladhara, the root: 4 petals. Pictured at the base of the spine, coloured red, linked with the element earth. Its themes are ground, belonging and the basics of daily life: home, food, sleep, routine.
2. Svadhisthana, the sacral centre: 6 petals. Pictured just below the navel, coloured orange, linked with water. Its themes are enjoyment, feeling, creativity and the ability to move with change.
3. Manipura, the solar plexus: 10 petals. Pictured above the navel, coloured yellow, linked with fire. Its themes are will, confidence, decisions and follow-through.
4. Anahata, the heart: 12 petals. Pictured at the centre of the chest, coloured green, linked with air. Its themes are care, connection, generosity and forgiveness.
5. Vishuddha, the throat: 16 petals. Pictured at the throat, coloured blue, linked with space. Its themes are expression, honesty and listening.
6. Ajna, the brow: 2 petals. Pictured between the eyebrows, coloured indigo. Its themes are insight, perspective and the meeting of two views into one.
7. Sahasrara, the crown: 1,000 petals. Pictured at the top of the head, shown in violet or white. Its themes are meaning, stillness and a sense of the whole.

Notice the rhythm of the numbers. They climb steadily from four to sixteen, drop suddenly to two, and then open into a thousand. I read that as a small teaching in itself: attention widens, gathers to a single point, and then expands.

How to read the map as a beginner

There are two common mistakes I see with new students. The first is trying to memorise everything in one evening. The second is assuming the upper centres are more important than the lower ones. Neither helps.

A ladder is only as useful as its lowest rung. I always start people at the root, with the four petals, because the questions there are so practical. Where do I feel settled? What does my day rest on? Is my space supporting me? These are not mystical questions. They are the questions of an ordinary Tuesday in Dubai, and they are a good place to begin.

A few principles that keep the study honest and enjoyable:

• One centre at a time. Spend a week with each rather than an hour with all seven.
• Symbol, not measurement. The map describes themes for reflection. It does not measure anything in the body.
• Balance over height. No centre is better than another. A steady root supports a clear voice.
• Your own words. Translate each theme into language you would actually use with a friend.

A simple seven-day practice with the 7 chakras

If you would like to try the map rather than only read about it, here is the routine I suggest to beginners. It takes about ten minutes a day and needs nothing but a notebook.

1. Sit comfortably and take a few slow breaths. Bring your attention to the place in the body where that day's chakra is pictured.
2. Picture the lotus in its colour, with its number of petals. Count them slowly in your mind. The counting is the practice; it gives the attention something gentle to hold.
3. Ask the day's question and write whatever comes, without editing.
4. Choose one small action for the day that fits the theme.

The seven questions I use:

• Day 1, root: What helps me feel grounded today?
• Day 2, sacral: What did I genuinely enjoy this week?
• Day 3, solar plexus: What one decision am I postponing?
• Day 4, heart: Who would I like to appreciate out loud?
• Day 5, throat: What am I not saying, and to whom?
• Day 6, brow: What would this situation look like from further away?
• Day 7, crown: What gives this week its meaning?

At the end of the week you will have seven short pages. Read them together. Most people notice that one or two centres produced a lot of writing and one or two produced almost none. That pattern is the useful part. It tells you where your attention already lives and where it rarely visits.

Going deeper: petal by petal

Once the seven-day round feels familiar, the petals become the next layer. This is where the map turns from a poster on a wall into a practice you can keep for years.

Take the heart lotus as an example. Twelve petals means twelve separate sittings, each with one quality to observe in your own day. You are no longer asking a large question about love or connection. You are watching one small tendency, such as hope, worry or effort, and noticing when it appears. It is slow work, and it is meant to be. The slowness is what makes it personal.

I would add one caution here. Different lineages name the petal qualities differently, and the lists you find online often disagree. That is normal for a tradition that has been passed from teacher to student over a very long time. Choose one clear source, stay with it, and let your own notebook be the second source. This study is a reflective practice and is not a substitute for advice from your doctor.

Your next step with the map

A blog post can give you the outline: seven lotuses, their places, their colours and their petal counts. What it cannot give you is the unhurried, petal-by-petal reading that makes the outline come alive.

Dr S Pujah works with clients in person on Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, and online across Abu Dhabi, the GCC and Singapore.

That is the reason I wrote about the chakras and their petals at length. If this beginner's map has made you curious, the natural next step is to explore my books on the chakras and their petals and choose the one that matches where you are starting. Keep your seven pages of notes beside you as you read, begin at the root, and take one petal at a time.