Do Chakras Spin in the “Wrong” Direction?

Chakras: More Than Just Spinning Wheels

If you’ve ever taken a yoga class or visited a healing space, you’ve probably heard someone say, “Your chakras should spin clockwise — if they spin the other way, something’s wrong.”
It’s a catchy image, but is it true?

Classical yoga texts paint a very different picture. Chakras were never described as ceiling fans stuck on the wrong setting. They were seen as radiant lotuses, glowing suns, and luminous jewels — centers of energy that shine brighter or dimmer depending on the flow of prāṇa (life force).

In this blog, we’ll trace where the “spinning the wrong way” idea came from, why it stuck, and what the original yogic teachings actually say about these subtle centers of light.

1. Classical Sources

• In the Yoga Upaniṣads, Tantras, and Haṭha texts, chakras are:

  • Radiant centers (jyoti, light),

  • Lotuses that open and close (padma),

  • Junctions where nāḍīs meet.

• They are never described as fan blades spinning clockwise or counter-clockwise.

• Instead, energy flow (prāṇa) is described as moving upward (udāna), downward (apāna), inward (prāṇa), outward (vyāna), and central (samāna).

• Movement is multi-directional and purposeful, not “wrong.”

2. Where the “wrong direction” idea comes from

• The word cakra = “wheel.”

• When Western translators in the 19th–20th century (esp. Theosophy, later New Age writers) described chakras, they leaned on mechanical imagery: like spinning fans in the aura.

• From there, came the teaching:

  • Clockwise = healthy, open, giving/receiving energy.

  • Counter-clockwise = blocked, draining, needs healing.

• This does not appear in Sanskrit texts — it’s a modern metaphor.

3. Is it totally wrong?

Not entirely — it’s just simplified:

• In subtle body practice, energy can spiral in different directions. For example, kuṇḍalinī is said to coil and uncoil like a serpent, which implies reversal of movement.

• Some tantric visualizations deliberately reverse flows (apāna rising upward instead of downward).

• So movement can “reverse,” but it’s not “wrong.” It’s part of the practice.

4. Why clockwise got privileged

• In Indian ritual (e.g., circumambulation around a temple), clockwise (dakṣiṇāvrtta) is auspicious — it follows the Sun’s path.

• Counter-clockwise (apradakṣiṇa) is inauspicious.

• That cultural symbolism got mapped onto chakras when “wheel” was imagined as “fan.”

• But again: this is ritual metaphor, not yogic anatomy.

5. A More Accurate Teaching

• Chakras are orbs of light that radiate, pulse, brighten or dim.

• They may show flows or spirals in multiple directions.

• At birth, these radiances are balanced; with age/trauma they dim or distort.

• Healing = restoring luminosity, not forcing all chakras to spin clockwise.

🌱 Takeaway:
The idea that chakras “must spin clockwise” is a modern over-simplification, based on ritual symbolism and Western esoteric models.
In authentic yoga, chakras are not judged by spin direction, but by their clarity, radiance, and balanced flow of prāṇa.