yeah, Chakras are really weird. I don't know what the heck they are in western scientific terms, but I've had too many experiences of them to deny that they have some sort of reality. My advice, for whatever it's worth, is that there are two extremes in meditation instruction that need to be avoided 1) the cafeteria yogis, who take a little bit of everything from each tradition and don't understand any of them deeply. And 2) the teachers who are so deeply embedded in one tradition that they have no idea how to adapt them to Western students. Tenzin Wangdyal has the best balance between these extremes of any teacher I know, and I think you need to work with a Tibetan because they have the best understanding of how to work with Chakras. He lives in Northern California, so you might be able to get a face to face consultation with him. But at the very least you could send him an edited version of this article by email, and ask for advice. If his response seems helpful, you might want to keep working with him. He might not be right for you, of course, and even the most conservative Tibetan teachers emphasize that no one teacher is perfect for everyone. But I think he would be a good place to start.