If you are familiar with chakras, then you can tell from my logo that I love chakras. The rainbow-colored spheres within my logo are representative of the chakra system within the body.
If you are unfamiliar, here’s a quick lesson: There are seven energy centers called chakras (literally “wheels”) that store energy/life force/prana. They are along the spinal column and correlate to major nerve ganglia branching forth from the spinal column. Each has a different relationship to a gland in the body’s endocrine system. Each stimulates different organs and systems in the body. Hatha Yoga activates these energy centers releasing the energy that flows through the spine. Yoga helps these energy centers/nerve bundles to function correctly clearing blocks that may be there. Each chakra also is associated with a mental/emotional focus. In each newsletter I’ll highlight how you can work with a particular chakra to correspond with the season.
My opening quote talked about being on a “hero’s journey” in life and, in particular, during my most recent eight month training. So what “hero’s journey” are you on? As mentioned in the quote from above, “Sometimes, the hero’s journey involves learning to believe in ourselves and our ability to play our part. We may even need to grow into and accept our ability to lead others, overcoming guilt or confusion.” Any journey begins with a single step. You can always handle the one step, can’t you? It’s when we try to make the whole journey in our mind that we start to panic. That first step requires firm contact with the earth element—feet firmly planted on the ground. Earth is the element of the root chakra.
I often refer to your feet as the foundation of the particular yoga pose you’re in. When you address your foot issues—supination, pronation, bunions, ankle stability, etc., you address issues further up in your body. Suddenly your hip and back pains are gone all because you worked on your foot pronation, or on creating space between the toes. Keeping your foundation healthy keeps the whole body healthy. Such is the story of the root chakra. If you keep this chakra balanced and strong, it will serve as the foundation of stability for the rest of the chakras up the ladder. The Sanskrit word for the root chakra is Muladhara which means root support—how appropriate.
Remember my comparison of the chakra system to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs? You need food and shelter before you can consider being enlightened. First things first, right? So start with maintaining the body vehicle you are in. Eat nutritiously, get plenty of rest, get the right doctor check-ups, etc. Enough said. I talked about Ayurveda in last month’s newsletter. Eating for your Ayurvedic body type will help you feel better.
I immediately consider the “root chakra” when I’m feeling insecure, afraid, or anxious—as I did many times throughout the past eight months of training. The root chakra is our base chakra and is located at the base of the spine.
While researching the chakra sections for this article, I realize that the characteristics many of us might think come with a strong root/base chakra are also attributes of other chakras. In The Complete Guide to Chakra Healing—Energy medicine for Mind, Body, and Spirit, by Philip Permutt, I found the following for unbalanced chakras describing chakras two through seven: lack of confidence, unbalanced emotions, lack of concentration, emotional confusion, feelings of unease, nervousness, and anxiety, feelings of negativity, and nervous system disorders.
I believe if we had a strong root/base chakra, many of the imbalances in the subsequent chakras up the ladder wouldn’t make themselves known. As already mentioned, the root chakra forms the foundation for the other chakras up the ladder.
So it’s this chakra I’ve chosen to highlight this month. Full disclosure here: I’ve been told by more than one chakra reader that my root chakra needs some tender loving care. Jody Tschida, a Certified Healing Touch Practitioner and a Reiki Master Teacher, told me during a chakra reading that I need to spend as much if not more time on building the energy in my root chakra as I do the higher centers. (http://www.lighttouchspiritualhealing.com/).
How many of us feel like the childhood “Weeble™” toy? Yes, “Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down™”….but they wobble by definition. That’s lack of root chakra energy. That’s lack of grounding. I’m really done with being a Weeble. How about you? (See the “Healthy News” section for studies showing how improved balance decreases anxiety. Something we already figured out with a strong root chakra.)
So what can you do to work with strengthening your foundation? I already alluded to your feet. Just giving yourself a basic foot massage as you slather lotion or essential oils on your feet after your daily shower will go a long way toward strengthening your grounding points—your plantar chakra’s on the sole of each foot. These are your primary grounding points and the connection between your energy and the earth’s energy. Google™ “foot massage” and you’ll find several videos if you’re looking for instruction. Most of us can “wing” a good food massage, though, can’t we?
The feet contain nerve endings for the entire body. If the basic foot massage interests you, try looking into reflexology—a form of bodywork focusing primarily on the feet:
- the tips of the toes reflect the head
- the heart and chest are around the ball of the foot
- the liver, pancreas and kidney are in the arch of the foot
- low back and intestines are towards the heel
http://altmedicine.about.com/od/therapiesfromrtoz/a/Reflexology.htm
When you engage “Pada Bandha” (“Pada” means “foot” in Sanskrit, “Bandha” means lock”) in mountain pose, you are pulling the energy from the earth up into your body. One of my favorite cues in class is to “spread the toes, lift them wide, and plop them down”. Then feel the arches cup the mat and pull the energy from foot lock up into your body, connecting that energy to “root lock” (Mula Bandha) and “belly lock” (Uddiyana Bandha), and sending it all the way up and out through the crown of the head. Feel how this lights up the whole body along the way—and I literally mean both the physical body and the energy body. You can engage Pada Bandha any time you’re barefoot—so do it often and feel the extra earth connection strengthening your foundation and strengthening your root chakra.
It goes without saying, but I’ll say it any way, that Root Lock is another staple for strengthening your Root chakra. For that matter, all the “locks” or “Bandhas” are helpful. I’ve often used the analogy of a Kegel Move—where the pelvic floor comes up and in—as the description of root lock. Others say it’s like stopping the flow of urine mid-stream. Since guys aren’t used to Kegel moves, I’ve added the sensation of going into a cold pool or bath.
Hard core yogis know this isn’t the full story—root lock involves the front part of the perineum and the pelvic diaphragm. It does not include the muscles of the anus or rectum. Do you see why I don’t always go into the full description? I was once told by another wonderful YogaFit® instructor, Stephanie Adams, that if you considered the base of the pelvic floor like a diamond, it’s the front half of the diamond (front part of your pelvic floor) that you are pulling in and up. You want to keep the back half of the diamond (back part of your pelvic floor) out of it.
I’ve described the “belly lock” or Uddiyana Bandha as a “zipping up” of the abdominal area. We are aiming for the transverse abdominals—the ones your hands would lay over if your hands were in your front pockets—just slightly below the navel. Holding root and belly lock at a low level of about two on a scale of ten is not only a good yoga practice, it’s a safe way to approach movement in life, in my opinion. Think about lifting something heavy, or leaning from your chair to pick something off the floor. Now think of how much safer it would be to do that with the two locks I just described.
Here’s a fun exercise for those that have been doing root lock long enough to play with this experiment: Grab a partner (don’t panic!) and one of you stand in mountain pose (feet hip distance apart) while you connect one hand’s index finger to the thumb tip of the same hand. Hold this mountain pose without root lock (I often call it root lift). Your partner will try to pull the index finger away from the thumb. Your job is to not let your partner do it. Now, engage what you know to be root lock and have your partner try to pull your fingers away from each other. Big difference, isn’t it? This highlights just how much strength root lock gives your whole body! Now can you see why holding root lock increases the safety of all the poses, and why I suggest making it a habit to engage root lock throughout your day? A strong root lock builds a strong root chakra.
Working with the earth element will also strengthen your connection to Mother Earth and strengthens your root chakra. This is a great time of year to reconnect. Plant flowers in your yard, start a window box garden out your apartment window, or create an herb garden in clay pots on your deck.
I’ve highlighted container gardens in past newsletters, but I have a confession: Up until recently, I had yet to get actively involved myself. For awhile I shied away from yard work because my parents were over the top into it, and I think I considered it “their realm”. Then, after I was married, I used the excuse that my husband loves to do yard work so I didn’t want to take that away from him. Then we took a chakra workshop with TeriLeigh and she also reminded me that my root chakra needed strengthening while Ed’s (my husband) was pretty darn stable—which is probably part of the attraction. She suggested getting my hands into the Earth. So when it came time to plant the flowers around our house, Ed suggested I help. He was profusely grateful for the help, which led me to believe I should have been helping all along. He actually enjoyed having assistance–duh. “Thump on the head” to myself for waiting so long. Here’s some Web-sites for creating your own personal container garden:
http://www.veggiegardener.com/create-a-container-herb-garden/
https://flowerpotheaven.com/container-gardening/
While we’re at it, hiking in nature is a great way to connect with the Earth Element. Go to the National Park Service website for the free entry days.
Food for the journey, feet securely on the ground, a deep connection to Mother Earth’s bounty, inner strength—that’s a strong root chakra. Both physically and energetically, working with your root chakra grounds you and builds inner strength—strength for YOUR hero’s journey. Here’s to the journey, begin it now.
Breathwork and Visualization:
My November 2010 newsletter highlighted one of my favorite grounding meditations repeated here for ease of reference. An Earth Element meditation follows:
Grounding breath
Take a deep inhale with eyes closed visualizing all your scattered energies coming back to you at center, like you’re a magnet attracting back to you what was yours to begin with, and as you exhale, send your breath down your feet into the ground down into the earth like roots of a tree.
Even picture the dirt pushing away from those roots as your breath energy goes down into the Earth. Do this with a few breaths going as deep into the earth as you can, and stay there as long as you need to. If you’re new to visualizing, just know it gets easier with practice. Sometimes I like to hold a natural river stone in the palms of my cupped hands. Natural river stones are especially grounding.
Earth Meditation
As mentioned, the element associated with the root chakra is the earth element. “In the yogic tradition, vibhuti, holy ash, is placed on the forehead to remind wearers that the body will return to this element”—similar to the ashes placed on your forehead on Ash Wednesday in the Catholic faith—and the Priest says the prayer: You are dust and to dust you will return. Meditating on the Earth element will increase your groundedness and stability.
1. Kneel in front of your altar (see the highlighted card “Creating Sacred Space” below for suggestions, or the link from the opening section on creating sacred space: with your knees and feet together, buttocks resting on your heels, and palms on your thighs. If you prefer, you can sit cross-legged, or on a chair with your bare feet flat on the ground.
2. Now place the backs of your hands on your knees or thighs and make Earth Mudra by joining your ring fingers with their respective thumbs.
3. Close your eyes and become aware of the effects of gravity on your body. Begin to experience a pleasant heaviness that becomes a feeling of stability and stillness. Then think about the qualities of the element earth. Feel as if you are rooting yourself firmly, while drawing up stability and strength from the ground beneath you.
4. Mentally repeat an affirmation, such as:
- My life is firm and grounded.
- My patience is infinite.
- I stand up for what I believe in.
- I have my feet planted firmly on the ground.
- My path in life reveals itself to me.
- I am exactly where I need to be.
- I am nurtured by the energy of the earth.
5. Spend at least 30 minutes on the practice, then stretch your legs.
Affirmations:
- My life is firm and grounded.
- My patience is infinite.
- I stand up for what I believe in.
- I have my feet planted firmly on the ground.
- My path in life reveals itself to me.
- I am exactly where I need to be.
- I am nurtured by the energy of the earth.
- I am safe and secure at all times
- I love my feet. They show me the way.
- I love my legs. They give me support.
- I know that I belong. I know that I am safe.
- I trust life supports me in fulfilling my purpose.
- I have a right to be me just exactly as I am.
- I trust in the process of my life to unfold for my highest good and greatest joy.
- I am creating a healthy foundation on which creativity can flourish.
Sources: Chakra Meditation—Discover Energy, Creativity, Focus, Love, Communication, Wisdom, and Spirit by Swami Saradananda.
Diet and the Root Chakra: I already mentioned eating for your body type (Ayurveda) in the Chakrascope article above to increase health and well-being. Eating root vegetables like beets, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips, yams, etc., is also very grounding. Beans, legumes, nuts, tofu and soy products are also grounding “comfort foods”, as are seeds like pine nuts, pumpkin and sunflower seeds.
Aromatherapy and the Root Chakra: The sense of smell is associated with the Root Chakra. Scents can be very grounding. I’m sure you all have your favorite scent from childhood. So that may be a good place to start. Some possible grounding scents to try: Sandalwood, patchouli, pine, cedar, balsam fir or frankincense. Not surprisingly, these are all tree scents. I love to visualize roots coming out of your feet into the ground, like at tree, grounding you to Mother Earth.
If aromatherapy interests you, I use Young Living Essential Oils™ which are therapeutic, food-grade oils. Please inquire if you are interested in purchasing a favorite scent and I can add your request to my personal monthly order. Essential oils raise the vibrational frequency of the body. When the vibrational frequency of the body drops, we become more receptive to ill health: http://justalist.blogspot.com/2008/03/vibrational-frequency-list.html. Therapeutic-grade essential oils are great to have in your arsenal of health promoting natural products.
Gem therapy and the Root Chakra: Gemstones amplify the energy when placed in contact with your chakras. For those of you unsure on this subject, consider that it’s scientifically proven that everything is energy. Nothing is really solid. Why wouldn’t the energy of a stone work effectively with the energy in our bodies just as some research speculates that the energy of computers, cell phones, and microwaves may affect our bodies? At the very least, I find that holding a favorite stone is like a talisman for me, or a “worry stone”. As my favorite author, Wayne Dyer, likes to say, “If it’s a placebo effect, I’ll take two”.
Root Chakra Gems: Red Jasper, Hematite, Black Obsidian, Smokey Quartz, Snowflake Obsidian, Red Calcite, Falcon’s Eye (also known as Red Tiger’s Eye), Zircon, Mookaite (this one is just too fun to say!), Black Banded Agate, Jet, Black Opal, Petrified Wood, among others.
If gem therapy interests you, you can find a great selection at www.crystallinelight.com. I’ve known Jennifer, the owner, for many years and love her products!
Yoga poses for stimulating the Root Chakra:
All yoga poses are essentially grounding and activate the chakras. In particular, the following are noted as good for activating the root chakra: Mountain pose, chair pose, forward bends, knees to chest pose, easy-seated pose or lotus pose, seated cat/cow pose, child’s pose, and final relaxation pose, among others.
