The First Chakra
Beginning with the foundation...
The first of the major chakras, Muladhara (moo-lawd-HAHR-ah), “root support” in Sanskrit, is located at the base of the spine, and its associated physicality includes our perineum, coccyx, sacrum, lumbar vertebrae, lower torso, colon, legs, feet, skeleton, teeth, and adrenals. It’s the first chakra to develop, beginning in the womb and continuing through our first year of life, its color is deep red, its element is earth, its primary theme is base survival, and its shadow side is fear.
With an open and balanced root chakra, we feel grounded, stable, healthy, nourished, calm, prosperous, safe, trusting, self-confident, and worthy of receiving. An overactive root can lead to feelings of sluggishness, materialism, resistance to change, greed, or over-identification with the body, and an underactive to fear and anxiety, feelings of unworthiness, financial worries, or disconnection from the body.
The lower chakras seem to get a bad rap for being concerned with earthly rather than spiritual pursuits, but for the duration of our time here in these meat suits, doesn’t everything we do require embodiment? Doesn’t our every prayer, meditation, creation, and expression of love require our physical presence? As Allen Ginsberg famously reminded us in his “Footnote to Howl,” everything is spiritual. and from Anodea Judith: “A plant needs deep roots to grow tall.” Incidentally, when I mention “grounding” (which I see often in the group sessions, in particular), I’m referring to root chakra work.
In addition to reconnecting energetically, practices to activate Muladhara on a physical level include connecting with Mother Earth via gardening, hiking, barefoot grounding, or visualizing drawing nourishment up from the earth, or by engaging the body and the five senses through activities such as dancing, yoga, deep belly breaths, mindful showering or swimming, and savoring your food. Please also note the one that can be practiced all day, every day: simply bringing your attention to the soles of your feet or your sitting butt and feeling (and appreciating) the planet’s support. Muladhara’s Bija mantra is Lam.
May we know our fundamental security and support, our importance, our right to exist, our abundant nature, and our solid footing.
Beginning with the foundation...
The first of the major chakras, Muladhara (moo-lawd-HAHR-ah), “root support” in Sanskrit, is located at the base of the spine, and its associated physicality includes our perineum, coccyx, sacrum, lumbar vertebrae, lower torso, colon, legs, feet, skeleton, teeth, and adrenals. It’s the first chakra to develop, beginning in the womb and continuing through our first year of life, its color is deep red, its element is earth, its primary theme is base survival, and its shadow side is fear.
With an open and balanced root chakra, we feel grounded, stable, healthy, nourished, calm, prosperous, safe, trusting, self-confident, and worthy of receiving. An overactive root can lead to feelings of sluggishness, materialism, resistance to change, greed, or over-identification with the body, and an underactive to fear and anxiety, feelings of unworthiness, financial worries, or disconnection from the body.
The lower chakras seem to get a bad rap for being concerned with earthly rather than spiritual pursuits, but for the duration of our time here in these meat suits, doesn’t everything we do require embodiment? Doesn’t our every prayer, meditation, creation, and expression of love require our physical presence? As Allen Ginsberg famously reminded us in his “Footnote to Howl,” everything is spiritual. and from Anodea Judith: “A plant needs deep roots to grow tall.” Incidentally, when I mention “grounding” (which I see often in the group sessions, in particular), I’m referring to root chakra work.
In addition to reconnecting energetically, practices to activate Muladhara on a physical level include connecting with Mother Earth via gardening, hiking, barefoot grounding, or visualizing drawing nourishment up from the earth, or by engaging the body and the five senses through activities such as dancing, yoga, deep belly breaths, mindful showering or swimming, and savoring your food. Please also note the one that can be practiced all day, every day: simply bringing your attention to the soles of your feet or your sitting butt and feeling (and appreciating) the planet’s support. Muladhara’s Bija mantra is Lam.
May we know our fundamental security and support, our importance, our right to exist, our abundant nature, and our solid footing.