Root Chakra: Your Shift from the Physical To The Spiritual

The first chakra is called your root chakra. It relates to your foundation; your sense of safety and security. It is the first chakra so it also relates to the beginning of your life, childhood, or infancy. It also is connected to your fundamental physical and emotional needs, such as hunger, thirst, and shelter. It is connected to your self-esteem and your feelings of protection and courage.

Depending on the relationship you had with your parents, this chakra could be open or closed. If you had a loving and nurturing relationship with your parents, you could feel pretty grounded and secure in yourself and how you relate to others. If your parents were detached or abusive, you could feel unloved, lonely, or even full of rage. You could get anxious easily or develop unhealthy attachments and need constant validation from others. 

Characteristics of the root chakra

Your root chakra is often associated with the color red and is located around your perineum or at the base of your spine. It is an energy center that is called the Jade Gate, which means that it is the energy center defined by birth and death. It is associated with where conception starts and the birth of the body. 

Healing the root chakra

If your root chakra is blocked, you could experience a lot of disharmony in your ability to give and receive love. A closed root chakra means that your inner child has a hard time healing from the wounds that likely your caregivers or parents created which means that as an adult, you could be quite distrusting of your relationships and prone to blocking love. You could also revert to a childlike version of yourself and relate to your new relationships through how you related with your parents. 

If that is the case, you can do a meditative mindfulness exercise to realign this chakra. Sit cross-legged in a full or half lotus position. First, squeeze your sphincter muscle. Then, lift your buttocks slightly off the ground, while your hands remain in prayer, and re-sit your buttocks back on the floor. Bounce your buttocks up and down off the ground as you continue to sit in order to stimulate new energy in the area. Imagine new energy going there as you recite affirmations to reignite the trust you have for yourself. Summon the feelings of love, support, and security to yourself, and notice how your body, mind, and spirit are shifting. 

An example of the affirmation you can say is: 

“All my needs are now met. The sadness, loneliness, anger, and rage that I have felt in the past are now healed and I am open to receiving the love I needed as a child. Now, I feel secure inside, cared for, and loved for and by myself.”

Imagine as you do this exercise that you are gaining a warm, loving feeling. Feel yourself building up your self-love and self-compassion. 

Generally, this chakra takes a bit longer to clear as your connection to it stems from infancy. Have compassion and kindness for yourself as you heal this chakra.  It takes time to build your self-awareness of how you may have been hurting yourself, whether that be closing yourself off from receiving love or letting your fears get the best of you. With compassion over time, your body, mind, and spirit can give your inner child lots of love. 

Join Sedona Wellness Retreat to learn more about the chakras and how to circulate energy through them to balance your emotions and improve your overall health and well-being. Learn how to develop an energy practice that can allow you to tap into higher levels of consciousness, detox from old behaviors that no longer serve you, and be a better human to your loved ones and to the world.