In this article the focus is on the root or base chakra or Muladhara in Sanskrit. (Mula means root in Sanskrit and adhara is support or base).
Located at the base of the spine, the pelvic floor, and the first three vertebrae, the root chakra is responsible for your sense of safety and security on this earthly journey.
This is the first of the chakras of matter. Balancing the root chakra creates the solid foundation for opening the chakras above. Imagine that you’re laying the foundation for a house in which you’re going to live for a long time. A solid foundation embedded in firm soil will provide the stability you need to create a home filled with joy for years to come. The root chakra is comprised of whatever grounds you to stability in your life. This includes your basic needs such as food, water, shelter, and safety, as well as your more emotional needs such as letting go of fear. When these needs are met, you feel grounded and safe, and you tend to worry less day to day. Whether or not you feel secure now often has less to do with what you have at your disposal and more to do with how safe you felt as a small child. When you consider psychologist Erik Erickson’s stages of development, the first stage—trust versus mistrust—is closely related to your root chakra development. As infants, if your caregivers readily gave you what you needed to survive with consistency, you felt secure in the world. You felt that the world was a place that could be trusted to provide your basic needs. Yet, if your caregivers withheld or delayed in giving you what you needed, or if that giving was inconsistent, you may find yourself with first chakra blockages.
The effects of the Muladhara chakra
Element:
Earth – the root chakra governs the earth element inside of you – all that is solid. It relates to your familial roots, your parents, your background, how you grew up. How you deal with the physical world is also governed by the Muladhara chakra.
Physical body:
The Muladhara chakra relates to your lower back, legs, your feet and your process of elimination.
Emotional body:
The Mulhadara chakra affects whether you are feeling secure and stable – secure in having your place in this world, secure in your own skin, feeling safe and confident.
Mental body:
Stability in the root chakra influences whether you can take care of yourself, whether you feel you belong, appreciate that you are not less than other human beings and feel at ease in your own skin. A balanced root chakra enables you to be practical and present.
Imbalances
Due to stress in any layer of the body, energy can slow down, stagnate completely or go into overdrive. For example, let’s say your parents got a divorce when you were very young. This can cause emotional and mental stress, not knowing where you stand, feeling unsafe, maybe even feeling unloved. Your reality as it was, is shaken. A small child can experience this as a complete threat to its survival and an outright disaster.
Later on, when you grow up and have relationships yourself you may be able to put things in perspective. But the strong emotions can cause such stagnation in the root chakra that it could affect you for years and even for the rest of your life.
Getting to know your body and its different layers, and learning about the chakras can give you valuable insight into where you may have imbalances and stagnation.
Checklist for the Muladhara chakra
Ask yourself if you feel safe. If not, why not?
When you stand, can you feel the 4 corners of your feet and does it feel relaxed like there is energy flowing easily in your feet?
Can you be practical?
Can you eliminate on a daily basis and with ease?
Do you feel comfortable in your own skin?
If you answer ‘no’ to any of these questions you may have some imbalance or even stagnation depending on how severe the symptom of imbalance.
Coming into balance
Here are a few ways you can balance this energy centre, both on and off the mat:
Off the mat:
Red is the colour for this chakra, so visualizing this color in your root chakra during your meditations or adding this colour to your wardrobe (especially red shoes or socks) is great!
Singing mantras or sound vibrations. LAM is the vedic bija (bija means seed) mantra for the root chakra. By chanting LAM like you would OM, but more continuously, this works on the same vibrational frequency. The same goes for MUL MANTRA (root mantra) from the Kundalini tradition. Listen to, chant or recite this mantra. Get grounded, walk on the earth with bare feet. Visualize yourself connecting to the earth, as if your legs and feet are roots growing into the earth.
Most importantly, during the day while you are at the office, or doing your grocery shopping, connect to your perineum! Feel that space, relax it, come down and relax into the present moment and repeat silently: I AM SAFE (or something that reflects the concept that you feel comfortable with).
On the mat:
I find that the most effective way to balance this energy centre is to do targeted yoga poses such as:
Malasana, either moving or static
Spinal flex
Pavanamuktasana ( with or without pranayama)
Janu Sirsansana
Practice Mula Bhanda (root lock)
