Lets start from the bottom! Located at the base of the spine and associated with earthy colours like Reds, Browns and Black. The Root Chakra is associated with our primal, animalistic energy.
It’s the nearest Chakra to the earth so connecting with it helps us to feel grounded and secure. It’s a really important one to get to grips with (in my opinion anyway…“RE-ROOT YOGA”)
This chakra’s role is to give you everything you need to survive. In our modern age, financial and emotional security play a large part in this. An overactive root chakra will cause anxiety and jitteriness, as a result of fear of not being able to “survive” even though no physical threat is there.
With that in mind, an underactive root chakra can happen when we feel all our survival needs are met and we are overly content-daydreaming, lacking passion, and drive.
IN A NUTSHELL:
Physical signs of an issue here: digestive problems, lower back issues, hip pain, and ovarian cysts in women or prostate issues in men
Emotionally… balanced: feeling secure, like we belong. Accomplishment. Steadiness, a connection to the earth. Unbalanced: Greediness and a desire to hoard. Anxiety, insecurity. Lacking drive.
My favourite Yoga Pose to connect and balance the Root Chakra:
Malasana-Garland pose, sometimes called a yogi Squat-this is the one where we look a bit frog like and squat the hips below the knees. I feel like our ancestors would have spent a long time in squatting positions like this, just like monkey’s do-so I think this pose definitely helps me to feel primally connected!
Everyday stuff we can do to keep it balanced: focus on your connection to your spirit-meditation is a great way in which we can do this. Volunteering or acts of kindness and compassion can also guide overactive energy away from your root chakra into other energy centres in your body too.
For revving up an under active Root Chakra think about doing things that help make you feel human and connected to the earth-gardening, walking barefoot, swimming in the sea…
Other info on The Root Chakra:
Meridians: Kidney, urinary bladder, small intestine, liver
Scents to stimulate: Musk, lavender, Hyacinth
Scents to calm: Cedarwood, Patchouli
Pranayama (breathing exercise) we can do to stimulate the Root Chakra:
- Find a quiet space away from distractions
- Go for a sitting or standing position.
- Relax. Turn inward to your inner stillness, and set your attention on your breath. You can use Ujjayi breath for a more in-depth focus and generation of heat
- Follow your breath for a few moments, inhaling through the nose and allowing the breath to expand the belly, lungs, and ribcage.
- Exhale through the nose
Continue with the breathing pattern above before using the following visualisation:
- Imagine that roots are spreading down from the soles of your feet or base of your spine to the Earth’s center, anchoring you to the ground.
- During the inhale, imagine you’re inhaling red life-sustaining energy from the Earth, up to the roots and into your body.
- Continue breathing in this energy upward through the legs and into the pelvic floor and the Root Chakra’s revolving, rich red cortex. Receiving the power into the body.
- If it feels ok, hold the breath for a short natural pause at the end of your exhale
- From the Root Chakra, exhale down the legs, through the feet, and down your roots back to the Earth’s center
- Repeat this exercise several times, focusing on how grounded your hips and legs feel with the flow of energy