Also known as: Security Center, Muladhara
Base or Root Chakra
the grounding force that allows us to connect to the earth energies and empower our beings.
Focusing one's attention on the color of a cherry popsicle or a juicy red apple can help bring our energetic body "down to earth" and in alignment with our physical body when we find ourselves energetically fleeting or in other words....."spacing off."
Associations
* Color - red/Black
* Element - Earth
* Physical Location - base of the spine/, the perineum, the point between the anus and the sex organs
* Tone: E
* Note: C
* Sense: Smell
*Verb: I have
*Attributes: Survival, grounding, solidity, the body
* Purposes - kinesthetic feelings, movement
* Spiritual Lesson - material world lessons
* Physical Dysfunctions- lower back pain, sciatica, varicose veins, rectal tumors, depression, immune related disorders
* Mental and Emotional Issues - survival, self esteem, social order, security, family
* Information Stored Inside Root Chakra - familial beliefs, superstitions, loyalty, instincts, physical pleasure or pain, touch
* Area of Body Governed- spinal column, kidneys, legs, feet, rectum, immune system
The center of physical energy and vitality, the energy to succeed in business or material possessions. Center of manifestations.
Throughout the ancient world in historical and mythological stories, the root chakra has been associated with dragons and snakes. Dragons is a symbol for the kundalini fire energy .
Most physical Chakra - activity that makes one more aware of the body, will strengthen this chakra. This particularly goes for physical activity. One can do sports, martial arts, walking, yoga, Tai Chi, it all helps. But also house-cleaning, manual dishwashing and car-cleaning. It is important not to do things that make one insensitive to pain and not to overdo it. Exhaustion is just not good.
Zen meditation is an activity that seems to be the contrary of physical, but actually is. This can make one very aware of the body.
helps the flow of our life-force energy into the body
strengthen your survival and self preservation instinct.
Balanced energy: Centered, grounded, healthy, fully alive, unlimited physical energy, can manifest abundance.
Excessive energy: Egoistic, domineering, greedy, sadistic, sexual energy entirely genital.
Deficient energy: Lack of confidence weak, can't achieve goals, suicidal, sexual energy, feel unlovable, little interest in sex, masochistic.
Glands/organs: Adrenals, kidneys, spinal column, colon, legs, bones. Lymph system, skeleton system (teeth and bones), the prostate gland in men, the sacral plexus, the bladder and elimination system, and the lower extremities (legs - feet, ankles , etc.). Also the nose, since it is the organ of the sense of smell, and associated with survival
Gems/Minerals: Ruby, garnet, bloodstone, red jasper, black tourmaline, obsidian, smoky quartz.
Consciousness: Security, survival, trust, the relationship with money, home, job. Ability to be grounded, to be present in the here and now. Ability to allow one's self to be nourished, in the sense of allowing one's Inner Being to be satisfied. This chakra also reflects a person's connection with their mother, and with Mother Earth. How the person feels about being on the earth. Connection with the physical body.
Symptoms or tensions in the parts of the body controlled by this chakra indicate tensions in the parts of the person's consciousness related to this chakra. Tension here is experienced as insecurity as a general perceptual filter. More tension is experienced as fear. More than that is experienced as terror, or a threat to survival.
Gemstones and Flower Essences that stimulate, cleanse and energize the root chakra
How can you balance this chakra? Dancing is very good for grounding. In the summer, go barefoot. House cleaning and cooking is also grounding. Hug a tree , take care of your plants.
When the energies or vibrations from two people's chakras are mixed, the following takes place: the light from the one chakra affects the light from the other chakra, these lightwaves are mixed in a way, so they create different figures. The figures created by the lightwaves from the chakras become more beautiful, the more love there is between the parties. Grounding
The Root chakra is particularly about connecting to the ground. Expressions like "Be on firm ground" and "Getting on your feet again" convey a good connection and an open Root chakra. "To lose ground" and "Getting swept off your feet" convey a closed (or almost closed) Root chakra. When your Root chakra is closed too far, you may actually feel that your feet don't seem to really touch the ground.
Contracting bottom muscles
By contracting the muscles that are between the anus and the genitals, the Root Chakra is stimulated. At each inhalation, contract these muscles inward, at each exhalation, relax. Do this for a few minutes.
This can be done while sitting, standing or walking.
The first chakra is found at the base of the spine, the point you are sitting on right now. Its name, Muladhara, means "root," and the paths of energy in this chakra extend downward like a root through the legs and feet to contact the solid Earth below.
Its color is a deep red, and its symbol is a lotus of four petals within which is a downward-pointing triangle, symbolizing the root energy.
A simple way to energize this chakra is to sit up straight in your chair with your feet flat against the floor and push slightly into your feet. Your legs will tighten a bit and there will be an increased flow into your base chakra. As you relax your legs and feet, you will feel that flow recede, and as you tighten them, you can feel your body become more solid. It is not necessary to push into our legs at all times for the first chakra to function, but this is a simple way we can increase the flow of energy into our lower body while doing such mental tasks as working at a desk, talking on the phone, watching TV, or sitting in a job interview.
The Muladhara chakra is the foundation for the whole chakra system. Its function is to respond to any issues concerning survival: eating, sleeping, exercising, recovering from illness, making a living, or simply feeling safe and secure. If our survival needs are properly taken care of, then we can safely focus on other levels, such as learning, creativity, or relationships. If there is some damage to the chakra, then we find ourselves repeatedly coping with threats to our survival, which keeps us from accomplishing other things. These threats might be changing jobs, having to move, recurrent health problems, weight problems, and/or a general feeling of fear for one’s safety.
These are all issues that occur occasionally in the normal course of one’s life. Anytime they occur, they trigger our first chakra programming. Having to move may make us feel insecure, bring on a cold, or make us eat more. It is only when such issues become a frequent pattern that a first chakra problem is indicated.
Survival consciousness is the primary state of the infant, and if this phase of life is properly taken care of, it should not be a recurrent issue later in life. Children who are abandoned, separated from their mothers at birth (such as incubator babies), physically abused, or suffering from severe childhood illnesses will be more likely to have first chakra problems throughout their lives.
The result can be the situational problems mentioned above, as well as psychological problems having to do with lack of focus or discipline, dependency on others, (unable to stand on one’s own two feet), possible eating disorders, feeling vague and "spacy," and a general inability to "let down and relax." These are all signs that the first chakra is blocked in some way, generally indicating that the chakra does not open properly and allow the energy to flow through freely.
If, on the other hand, the chakra is too open, then we become overly attached at this level. We may be obsessed with money and possessions or our health, unable to allow change or to let go, and as a result we get stuck in the same routines, same old job, same old patterns.
When the chakra is closed, we lack stability. When it is too open, we are frozen solid. The ideal state would be to have stability and flexibility in balance.
The element associated with the first chakra is earth. Earth is solid, earth is heavy, earth is below us, and earth supplies us with our survival needs: food, clothing and shelter.
The universal force that flows downward, like roots, toward the Earth is gravity. Gravity is created by mass—the more mass something has, the stronger its gravity.
The force of gravity allows us to stay connected with the Earth. We need not do anything but relax, and gravity is there. When we allow ourselves to flow gracefully with gravity, we are in harmony with the downward flow of the first chakra.
The common term for this flow as it occurs in the human body is grounding. Grounding is a process of dynamic contact with the Earth that occurs through our legs and feet. When grounding is done appropriately, our whole body is nourished and energized.
Grounding is the building of a foundation. We ground ourselves in biology and chemistry before practicing medicine. We build a foundation before we build the walls of a house. Without a good foundation, nothing that follows will be as durable.
Grounding puts us in touch with our bodies. Uncovering the truths buried within our bodies brings us to a solid connection with our ground, manifesting in greater health, prosperity, and well-being.
Eating is a basic first chakra survival activity. Without food, we do not survive very long. Eating disorders (too much or too little) often indicate first chakra imbalance. Eating is a grounding activity—it helps to bring us down, helps us to feel settled, calm, secure. Excess weight can be an attempt to ground out high stress, to protect the body, or to replace proper grounding techniques. Eating too little or being chronically underweight can be an attempt to avoid grounding and physicality because it seems too frightening or confining.
The color for the root Chakra is red or black and it is grounded with your power. When this Chakra is open, you feel in good health and connected with your physical body. It is used to ground your essence into your physical body. This Chakra gives you determination, grounds you and helps in survival in the physical realms.
Sources:
Muladhara - The Root Chakra by: Anodea Judith
