The Root Chakra
Rooted, grounded, earthy. I am sure that you have heard someone described this way before. Have you ever wondered what exactly those terms meant when describing a person? Have you yourself ever felt emotionally or physically ungrounded? We all have these feelings from time to time, but what does it mean?
Well it can mean that your root chakra is unbalanced. When your root chakra is out of balance, it can mean that you are working through some deep-seated issues that have to do with safety and security.
Does any of this resonate with you?
It certainly did for me! I was going through a job transition. I had just left a job that I had done for 18 years. 18 years, I know right, who works a job for that long? Well, I did and was ready for a change. I had another great job lined up, but could not shake the feelings of fear that were coming up. You see a blocked root chakra can show up as emotionally being in survival mode and that was certainly showing up for me. I was obsessing over my career and how I would identify myself. My sense of financial security was challenged. “what if I sucked at my new job and they let me go and I couldn’t pay my bills?”
While these fears ended up being unfounded, I realized that this was something more than just normal new job, changing careers jitters. There was an energetic issue going on, my root chakra was blocked.
Let me back up for a minute and explain a little bit about the root chakra. The Muladhara, or root chakra, in Sanskrit, literally means the base, foundation, and root. It is located at the base of your spine is associated with the color red. It is symbolized as a 4 pedaled lotus in a circle as shown in the picture at the top of this page.
The root chakra is associated and oversees the following functions and behavioristics…
Security/safety
Survival
Basic needs (food, shelter, etc.)
Grounding
Support for living our lives (monetary or otherwise)
As with my story above, the root chakra can become blocked or out of balance. When this happens, it can be very difficult for us to live our lives to our fullest because our survival fears are always there nagging at us. Our fears can emotionally manifest in any of the following ways…
Excessive negativity, cynicism
Eating disorders
Greed
Illusion
Excessive feeling of insecurity, a constant living in survival mode
This sounds awful right? Many of us suffer in these states without knowing there is help out there. There are many ways that you can bring balance back to the root chakra. Some of the examples are…
Eating root foods (such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc.)
Connecting to nature (going for walks, gardening, hiking)
Wearing the color red
Working with an energy healer to bring balance to the chakras
If you are truly wanting to change your state of being from that of scarcity thinking to that of abundance thinking, I encourage you to do the work to heal your root chakra. You will enjoy the peace that comes when you realize your physical and emotional needs are met.