Basics of the Root Chakra ❤

[Susurrus]

Root Chakra

Sanskrit Name: Muladhara

• Mula: Root, Essence, Origin
• Adhara: Foundation, Basis

Physical Location: Coccyx, the first 3 vertebrae located at the base of the spine, perineum, pelvic floor, tailbone

Endocrine Gland: Adrenal Glands/Adrenal Cortex

Organs/Regions: bladder, skeleton, colon/large intestine, feet , hips, teeth, legs , and the flow of arterial blood to the left chamber of the heart .

Element: Earth

Deities: Parvati, Shakti, Bhumi, & Brahma

• Hindu Gods & Goddesses that are representing universal messages of foundational alignment on your path.

Planet(s): Earth

Root Chakra on Earth Location: Mount Shasta, Northern California

Mantra: LAM – the Seed Mantra of the Muladhara Chakra. Pronounced LAHHHM. Using this Mantra engages the energy of this chakra to clear tensions and removed any obstructions or blockages.

Color: Red – Red has the lowest density on the Chakra color spectrum. It also grabs the attention and causes the retina to push forward which directs all of your attention or energy to that place outwardly. It represents the color of blood & the first color you see when you are born. Red is connected to life energy.

• Metal: Lead

• Crystals: Red Jasper, Garnet, Smokey Quartz, Red Tiger’s Eye, Bloodstone, Hematite, Black Obsidian

• Essential Oils/Incense: Rosewood, Patchouli, Frankincense, Sandalwood, Vetiver, Cedarwood (Earthy Smells)

Meditation for the Root Chakra is a good way to connect with this Chakra

Image Representation: a four-petal lotus along with a yellow square present in the center

Senses: Smell

Yoga:

• Standing Poses – Warrior I, Warrior II, Tree Pose, and Chair Pose are good for regulating the Root Chakra.
• Restorative Poses – Reclining Bound Angle Pose, Supported Corpse Pose, and Supported Child’s Pose help to surrender to the gravity & grounding aspect of this Chakra.

Food: Root Vegetables, Red Meat

Trust/Mistrust development, survival instincts, & fundamental needs are met between ages 1 through around 7 years old. How secure & protected you felt as a young child has a lot to do with how secure you feel today & what you may need to work on to feel more stable and secure with yourself and your life.

The Root Chakra is about being grounded & feeling that your fundamental needs are being met & your feelings of safety & security where you are & within your family/caregiver. It incites joyful times & pleasant memories, but it also has painful memories and feelings that have been buried hurts, disappointments, including unresolved emotional trauma. This Chakra encourages you to approach these hurts and painful energies or emotions with wisdom to see them as learning experiences and accept the past to move forward to more pleasant experiences and growth. Otherwise, you will be faced with difficulties throughout your life facing the same unpleasant lessons.

Imbalanced or Blocked Root Chakra

Imbalance or blockages can be from the daily stresses and things life throws at you each day. However, it can also be from unpredictable events or adversity, relationship problems, worry about fundamental necessities, feelings of not being fulfilled, detachment, helplessness, feeling lost, stagnant, drained, or flighty. Physical illnesses such as arthritis, bladder & intestinal issues, along with problems with the parasympathetic nervous system.

They can cause a variety of symptoms including panic attacks, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, general sadness, and poor self-esteem.

Overactive

• Greediness – there’s never enough, no matter how much is acquired the person is still in a state of anxiety and dread
• Motivated by ego – always on the lookout and defensive when found out
• Sole goal is to outdo others

Underactive

• Anger and Impatience
• Restlessness and Irritation
• Insecurity

Sources:

• Cantrell, Leigh. Chakras for Beginners: A Complete Guide to the Seven Chakras, Their Importance and Their Impact on Your Life . Amazon.com Services LLC, 2021.

• Pfender, April, and Enya Todd. The Complete Guide to Chakras: Activating the 12-Chakra Energy System for Balance and Healing . Rockridge Press, 2020.

• Alcantara, Margarita, and Tom Bingham. Chakra Healing: A Beginner’s Guide to Self-Healing Techniques That Balance the Chakras . Fall River Press, 2019.

• Ashish. “What Is Root Chakra? Symbol, Location, and Its Signs of Balanced & Imbalanced.” Fitsri , 28 May 2022, What is Root chakra? Symbol, Location, and Its Signs of Balanced & Imbalanced - Fitsri Yoga.

See Also:

• Root Chakra Grid
• How do I balance and ground my root chakra?
• Root Chakra Playlist YouTube - contributed by @crystal5 with meditations, yoga, & sound bath

[Francisco]

This is a wonderful explanation of the root chakra @Susurrus

Thanks for giving us some ground of understanding in regards to the chakras system, very helpful and insightful!

[BryWisteria]

Hooray!

I know you worked hard to bring this post to life- and what a wonderful exploration of the Root Chakra it is! Don’t mind me jotting down a lot of the points here, I think I’m well due for some Root Chakra work myself

I don’t do much yoga, but for some reason I feel really drawn to trying some of the poses you mentioned. I’ll have to look them up and give them a try

Thank you so much for this, @Susurrus!

[crystal5]

I created a Root Chakra YouTube playlist. It includes a few of my favorite Yogis. The playlist. includes some meditations and a sound bath (I feel the sound bath were the root chakra is located).

Here is the link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjLZyUeM7XgXxKNRFF63BFqRWzF45c6lh

(If I reply to you, will others who may want the playlist see it, too?)

[Susurrus]

It took me longer than I had originally anticipated, but I have them started!

I have never been into yoga, then I couldn’t do any yoga, but now, I think I can do some more basic poses. So I’m going to go through them & see which ones I can do & maybe do a meditation of some kind or the mantra during the poses. I haven’t decided.

I find that even though I have made great progress with at least my Root Chakra & have a pretty good beginner’s practice, there are times that life pushes back & I have to reset & still backtrack to give it some extra love & work on what the issues are coming up that are causing the imbalance or blockage.

Every day I do a complete Chakra cleanse meditation along with crystals. Using selenite wands & specific chakra crystals for the ones that I am concentrating on & using quartz points to align the cleansing energy. Much easier to do laying down

Later in the day, I will do a specific Chakra meditation to give some extra work for the day. I try to get outside & walk in my yard or my neighbor’s barefoot (honestly throughout the neighborhood, lovingly referred to as summer feet) every day too to help with my Earth Star chakra… but that’s a different Chakra for a different post (It’s below your feet into the Earth… Black Tourmaline works well with it.) But I do have a Selenite wand that is put a few inches below my feet, then 2 larger wands on my torso & a smaller wand an inch or 2 above my head with single or double point quartz crystals at each end of the Selenite wand(s) that are along my torso.

Even if I can’t do the second, I try to make sure I do a cleanse of the 7 Main Chakras. There is a Chakra cleanse meditation that you can do in the shower which is very relaxing when my joints are giving me trouble.

@crystal5 I actually added your playlist to the post, so everyone will see it. Thank you so much!

[crystal5]

Wow! You did an amazing job! Thank you for sharing this information. I love that you went beyond just saying the red color to explain how red affects the body.

Thank you for sharing the resources. I will add them to my read later bucket list.

I am a teacher and have taken a few courses on human psychology. I see an intriguing correlation between Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Chakras (even the colors often match). https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html

[Susurrus]

Oh I am definitely going to look into that! Thank you for sharing this!

I had noticed a psychological correlation even with some mental health challenges that I am working on & working on my Root Chakra was really helpful. I moved to my Sacral Chakra, but then had to backtrack to my Root for a few days, now I work on the Root & Sacral. I have found meditations that are specifically for the Root & Sacral Chakras on the Insight Timer app. They have some great meditations for Chakras.

[crystal5]

Is this your project for the Mountain Magick challenge? (If it isn’t, maybe it should be.) Root Chakra is very much connected to the earth.

[Susurrus]

Actually no, it is not. I am making up a post regarding Chakra information within the forum:

Chakra Information

I will list the posts currently in the forum & do a specific post for each of the 7 main ones. So next week I will have a post for the Sacral Chakra & add it to the information post

[crystal5]

That is a wonderful idea! I am starting a weekly investigation of each chakra and your posts are perfectly timed. I will share my next yoga playlist when you post.

[Jeannie1]

I have a poster I connect too that helps me!
Jeannie