The first of the seven chakras is called the Root or Base Chakra, and in Sanskrit “Muladhara”. It’s located at the tailbone, the very base of your spine. This chakra is mostly responsible for grounding, self esteem and confidence and your sense of security. It’s also responsible for your sense of loyalty, family beliefs, and instinct.
When you’re feeling out of sorts, scared, anxious, depressed or low, it’s probably due to your root chakra being imbalanced. Because this chakra is the centre of physical energy, manifestation and success, it plays an important role in your day to day life. Some days you just don’t feel it. You wake up, your body hurts, you don’t want to go to work, or get out of bed, you just can’t be bothered with getting showered and dressed for anything. From there, you might have feelings of uncertainty over the people around you or the situation you’re in (the world is against you and judging you kind of feeling). Your instincts seem dull, or nonexistent. If someone challenges you, you just don’t have it in you to stand up and fight back. And to top it off, everything hurts, even body parts that don’t exist hurt. While this may sound like the atypical definition for depression, it’s actually also the symptoms of an imbalanced root chakra.
Think of a tree, a great oak with sprawling branches and a mighty trunk. You are that tree, and life is like a constant cycle of stormy and dry weather. Your root chakra literally anchors you to the ground, so in stormy weather, you’re standing still, and in dry weather, you’re constantly rehydrated from the earth deep below. If your root chakra isn’t anchoring you, then what do you think will happen when the storm comes? Or the drought? How will you cope with life’s constant adversities?
Balancing this chakra isn’t difficult. Simply spending some time in nature, away from the buzz of the city, with your hands in earth helps a great deal. Take a walk through the woods or a field. Plant some flowers or herbs. Wearing red clothing and working with bloodstone, red jasper or black obsidian will help to raise the right vibrations for your root chakra. Eating more carrots, parsnips, potatoes, peanut butter, beans, chillies and cayenne pepper also raises the vibrational level of this chakra.
A balanced root chakra manifests as someone who is grounded, focused, healthy, has unlimited physical energy and can manifest abundance. You will also see manifestations of peace within oneself, contentment and inner happiness.
Long term imbalance of this chakra could possibly lead to drug addictions, anaemia, heart disease, gynaecological problems, sexually transmitted infections, and cancer. Too low of a vibration in this chakra would manifest as a lack of confidence, suicidal behaviours, masochism, little interest in sex, inability to achieve goals, and as a feeling of being unloveable. Too high of a vibration would manifest as greedy, sadistic, domineering and purely genital sexual energy. Organs affected by this chakra are kidneys, adrenals, colon, spinal column, legs and skeleton.
Get out of your concrete prison. Go outside. Close your eyes. Breathe deeply. Listen to the sounds around you. Visualise your root chakra glowing brighter and brighter. Feel the roots extending from your root chakra and anchoring your being deep into the ground. You’re grounded, anchored, and can take on the storm. Do this as often as you need to.
