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hen we open the first door in the Chakra System, we meet the Root Chakra, described as the foundational seat of our entire being where all other chakras rest upon. Balancing this chakra is the gateway for all else to be possible. Let us explore how embracing the teachings of this chakra is essential for our well-being.
In Sanskrit, the Root chakra is called Muladhara which means “root support.” When exploring this chakra, we are invited to return to the essence of life, to all solid and earthly things. According to Anodea Judith, this would include our physical bodies, our health, our survival, our material & monetary existence, and our ability to focus and manifest our needs. This represents the material and physical plane, where any form of manifestation begins.
This chakra invites us to come home to ourselves, treating our bodies and the sacredness of Mother Earth with a sense of priority and kindness. If we disrespect the Earth, ecological disasters arise. If we come to ignore our bodies, illness prevails. By reading just these first few lines, do you already feel how primordial this chakra is?
Relationship to our Body
In our culture, much is still pointed towards notions of striving for a perfect modeled body. These constant images and pressures to conform to a certain form, has brought much suffering to many. Much energy has been put on camouflaging, hiding, disregarding, hating, judging, abusing, and comparing our body to the point of having lost touch of its beautiful essence. Being alienated from our body, disregarding it, being uncaring, ignoring its needs and judging its “imperfections” is a first chakra ordeal.
Without a body we die, and to deny our body is to die prematurely. – Anodea Judith
In truth, our body is the physical expression of our form. It is a brilliant vessel where trillion of cells are stored, allowing us to walk this world. It is the only vehicle we are given for this lifetime. This chakra invites us to come to understand and heal our relationship with our body. To make peace with our body is the only way to live peacefully in it.
So let us nurture, care for, give the body pleasure and basic needs it requires such as restful sleep, hydration, exercise, and natural wholesome foods. Accept, care, love, nourish, listen to your body. This physical part of your being has so much to tell you. May you come to tune in and cherish your physicality for what it truly is.
Accepting the body is accepting the central integrating structure that unites our many divergent parts. It is the container of our soul. – Anodea Judith
Sense of Safety and Security
The psychological function of the first chakra is based on survival. As human beings, our primary concern is meeting our physical survival by having shelter for rest and protection, clothes for warmth and food for nourishment. If these aren’t met, we end up in survival response of fight or flight, stimulating our adrenal glands for a surge of extra energy. In this state, we must seek to respond and act quickly for fresh solutions. However, if this becomes a constant way of life, dominated by a threat to survival, we remain caught on the first chakra level. For example, if health is deteriorating, or if there is a constant lack of financial means, or if food cannot be served on the table, a sense of fear arises. Addressing this confrontation becomes our sole priority. When these kinds of situations remain unresolved, it becomes quite tedious to raise our consciousness to other levels as we remain stuck responding to basic needs.
These stuck loops might lead us to unfitting levels of fear, a result of a weak or damaged foundation. Fear is said to be the root chakra challenge. When our security or safety is compromised, fear shows up. Overcoming our fears can support our quest for waking up. Depending on the situation, reframing the feeling of fear for a feeling of aliveness can be quite supportive.
Feelings of Belonging
At this root level, we return to the notion of the right to be here and to have. As Anodea Judith powerfully says: “In order to be fully here, we must be able to assert ourselves, to claim our own place in the world, and to secure our survival. We have to raise our ability to have high enough to fit our needs.” How does this resonate with you?
These all refer to important concepts of self-worth, abundance over scarcity mindset and inviting prosperity. The more we allow ourselves to BE, to take up our own space, to offer and attract what is necessary to our well-being, the more we cultivate the idea of belongingness.
Additionally, reclaiming our roots is an act of reconnecting with our biological source. According to Anodea Judith, this would explain why so many struggle to find their path. They forget to look down where the feet meet the ground. She adds that retrieving our roots, “strengthens who we are, and draw on the vast wisdom of this instinctual realm.”
Grounding
This ability to bring ourselves back into our body, our feet and in the moment is the ultimate way to connect with life. To be grounded means to be “in touch” with what arises in our bodies and the vitality that comes from the Earth. This also echoes the sense of security we can invite. As we rest and lay our whole body on the ground, we cannot fall but rather be contained in a familiar, safe and secure space. When was the last time you rested on the Earth?
Grounding is a simplifying force that forms our foundation. According to Anodea Judith, grounding is dynamic and vibrant and helps to: connect with life, create natural limitations, protect the body from overwhelm, cope with stress, bring clarity and stillness, focus and repeat actions to achieve “expertise”. Nevertheless, like in anything in life, grounding is not a one in a lifetime activity. Grounding is a practice and only if seen as a cumulative skill can it truly offer its benefits.
By losing touch with our ground we have lost the sense of our intricate connection with all life. We become ruled by a part instead of the whole – and furthermore, a part that is isolated, fragmented, and out of touch. Ignoring our ground, it is no wonder that we face a health crisis and ecological destruction. — Anodea Judith
Relationship to Earth
Without Mother Nature, who would we be? She is the ultimate foundation for our survival, offering us the greatest of gifts: a home, food, sunlight, water, and inner peace. Yet, society has sadly neglected her and now she is down in survival mode, consequently bringing ourselves into it too. As crises arise, a wake-up calls often follows. As she offers the greatest support for our well-being, the more we connect with her, I believe, the more we will wake up to her beauty and sacredness and bring changes in our own ways.
Let us never forget that she holds and contains us safely. She reminds us of our place here on Earth as we are all one of her children. She offers so much insight and wisdom if we allow ourselves to listen. We come from her, the five elements are within us (earth, water, fire, air, ether) and our body returns to her to rest the day we leave this physical Earthly journey.
To ignore this chakra or its earthy element is to threaten our very survival, both personally and collectively. If we do not balance this chakra before we progress to others, our growth will be without roots, ungrounded, and will lack the stability necessary for true growth. – Anodea Judith
Questions to ponder:
- Relationship to your Body / Affirmation: I love my body and treasure its wisdom
- How do you relate to your body? Does it serve you in any way?
- How do you care for and nourish your body?
- What other way do you intuitively feel you could bring more nurturance?
- What are some practices you could invite to honour your physical body?
- Sense of Security and Safety / Affirmation: It is safe for me to be here
- How are you meeting your basic needs?
- What do you most fear and how is it serving you? Where does it come from?
- What is one step you could take to diminish this fear?
- Sense of Belonging / Affirmation: I matter. I have the right to be here and have my needs met
- How could you feel more at home in your body?
- What could you do to start asking for what you need?
- How could you attract more abundance and prosperity in your life?
- Grounding / Affirmation: I stay grounded no matter what comes my way
- What are some ways you already feel grounded?
- What are some other ways you could invite more “goundedness”?
- What helps you stay present?
- Relationship to Earth / Affirmation: Mother Earth supports me
- What is you connection with Mother Earth?
- What are ways you enter in relation with her?
- How would you feel if you were more in sync with her?
Key words:
Earth, Mother Earth, Soil, Roots, Ground, Anchor, Belong, Body, Embodiment, Ancestors,
Security, Safety, Survival, Density, Stability, Support, Prosperity
Location:
Base of spine, perineum and include legs and feet
Suggestions to Reconnect with your Root Chakra:
Walk in nature & home (try barefoot!)
Eat natural foods mindfully
Slowdown
Offer yourself a massage
Take a hot bath
Hug a tree or meditate at its base
Play and dance to tribal/ancestral music
Plant seeds to sprout, take care of a garden
Surround your home with plants
Go camping and reconnect with your wild nature
Connect with an animal
Lay your whole body to the Earth
Five slow deep breaths, inhaling through the nose and out the nose
Try a yoga class, specifically inviting movements catered to this chakra
…simple moments to connect certainly go a long way!
References:
Garcia, T. (2021). Chakras. The Guide to Principles, Practices and more
Judith, A. (2004). Eastern Body Western Mind
Judith, A. (2014). Wheels of Life