Digging Into the Roots... Balancing Your Root Chakra and Incorporating Self-Care

What is a chakra? It's Sanskrit for the word "wheel" and refers to the energy points in your body. The chakra system originated in India between 1500 and 500 B.C. and was later absorbed into Chinese culture. Each chakra point represents a different chunk of time in your life, and a different aspect of your personality that it may have affected. The belief is to promote general health and well-being by ensuring the free flow of life energy (also known as prana or qi) throughout the body. When a chakra is imbalanced, you either have an excess or a deficiency to work on.

Being of southeastern descent, the true names of each chakra may seem foreign and difficult to pronounce. Starting at the base of the spine is the first chakra- Muladhara. This translates to "root" giving it the common name of root chakra. It symbolizes the roots that ground you into the earth, your purpose and foundation.

Correspondences:

Element: Earth

Purpose & foundation

Sense: smell

Location: base of spine

Physical energy & Vitality

Color: red

Developmental stages: 2nd trimester to 12 months

Crystals: agate, bloodstone, tigers eye, hematite, carnelian, rhodochrosite

A balanced root chakra consists of good health and vitality. Ones ability to ground oneself and trust in the world. It promotes a feeling of safety & security, an ability to relax and be still. Strong roots establish stability, trust in the earth and body connection. A trust in the earth and material world follows with prosperity and a general livelihood.

If your root chakra is deficient, you may feel a disconnection from your body. Usually notably underweight and always fearful, anxious and restless. You may also have poor focus and self-discipline which can lead to a lack of healthy boundaries and sometimes lack of ability to respect others healthy boundaries. Sometimes this is followed by financial difficulty, chronic disorganization, and lack of respect or oneself. You may feel an overall lack of motivation and an abundance of nervous energy with no healthy direction.

An excess of energy in this chakra is symbolized by overeating, sluggish and laziness and an addiction to security. You may have a hard time letting material things go, an unhealthy material fixation can be a sign of greed. These symptoms derive from fear- the fear of change. You probably have rigid boundaries set in place to assure your security and monotony.

While either of these things may seem scary, or rings true to you, there is no fear! There are many healing practices that you can do yourself at home for free. Are they easy? Well, relatively speaking! Putting the work towards yourself every day may seem like a challenge, but in the long run will save you a lot of grief and unhappiness. Here is a list of healthy healing practices to help align your roots.

Yoga poses for the root chakra

Uttanasana- standing forward fold // Malasana- Garland pose // Forward Fold // Easy Pose- Cross Leg seated 

-Reconnect with the Body-

This includes stretching, dancing, moving, and even love making. Spend time outside with children or pets. The key is to do something of pleasure, not pain. But keep in mind that unhealthy addictions are not "pleasures''. Some healthy pleasures include things like going on a walk, painting, music, reading a book or spending time in your garden.

-physical activity-

Physical activity releases endorphins as many of us know. Endorphins trigger a positive feeling in the brain and help relieve pain. If working out isn't your thing, look into yoga, kickboxing, aerobics, weights... the list is endless! Just find what suits you.

-Bioenergetic Grounding-

Many studies have been done on the effect between humans and their energy fields connection to the earth. Grounding consists of standing on the ground. Yep, that's it. Put your bare feet straight on that ground for as long as you can/like. For more information on grounding, I highly recommend this free movie on youtube here .

-Hatha yoga-

This is the general idea most people get when you say "yoga". It focuses on the breath, body & mind connection, and is usually considered a gentle form of yoga more suitable for beginners. This is also a great thing to do while grounding, and can also be considered reconnecting with your body.

Conclusion

During this quarantine, many of us have been stuck at home and many of us have been facing a lot of introspection- myself included. It's no doubt we all have been dealing with change, loss, and anxiety amongst other things. Even practicing just ONE of these self-care methods could lighten the load of your day. Congrats on taking the initiative to begin learning about your overall wellbeing! This is just a very brief skim of the root chakra and ways to balance it, and if it sparks your interest I highly suggest reading the book Eastern Body, Western Mind by Anodea Judith. It goes into great detail about every chakra, a lot of which I left out here. Happy healing!