How To Balance Your Root Chakra: Muladhara

How to move into the first chakra, find your grounding, and build stability for the remaining chakra centers.

If you checked out my post last week then you know I’ve got a little theme going. Last week I talked about the first chakra and how it correlates to your energetic wellbeing. This week, instead of diving into the second chakra, I wanted to share how you can balance out the energy of your root chakra or, muladhara.

Root Chakra Review

The root chakra is crucial to finding balance overall in the chakra system. So it’s important to understand how to tap into its energy. No, you don’t have to be a yoga guru to do this, you don’t even have to practice yoga…but it definitely helps.

The root chakra is all about connecting back to your instinctual self and the physical world around you. On the most basic level, you can draw out the energy of the root chakra by simply being outside in nature – Have you ever taken your shoes off and spread your toes in the grass? It’s great way to feel grounded and secure, both attributes of a balanced first chakra.

Of course, there’s more to balancing the first chakra than walking around barefoot. If you are not willing to be flexible with your thoughts, then reversing old habits that block the first chakra’s energy is nearly impossible. The first chakra deals with your right to be here and is blocked by feelings of self-doubt. Being insecure about your place in the world can alter the stability of your root chakra. Don’t get me wrong, It’s natural to have moments of doubt and fear, but when these thoughts start to dominate your mind, the light of the first chakra will diminish along with its balanced qualities.

Fear

In fact, fear is the enemy of the first chakra. Fear can be rational or irrational and as a conscious being, you have to distinguish between the two. Having lasting fears that turn into self-deprecating thoughts, or crippling anxiety can lead to an imbalance between the upper and lower chakras. Typically the upper chakras will be overactive and the lower chakras under-active. In this scenario, your imagination will take over with little to no grounding underneath it. If you let your fears get the best of you, you will start to believe those thoughts are your reality. In turn, you will lose your connection to the physical world.

Consequently, if you test your fear you start to build the energy of the first chakra. When you face your fears you enter into a state of hyper-awareness. You will sink into your body, fully in-tune with your instrument that maneuvers you through life. Building this awareness in your body as well as an awareness of your body’s relationship to the world around you, helps further your connection with yourself and the earth.  Of course getting the courage to tackle your fear is, in and of itself, a fearful situation. Still, there are some tips and tricks for tackling fear and building confidence.

Mantra

An easy way to cultivate a sense of grounding and peace, even in difficult situations, is through the use of mantra. Mantras help control the thoughts in your mind, and build awareness of your spiritual self. A mantra can be spoken silently to oneself, written down, or chanted out loud. The first chakra has a root word of lam, it is believed that the sound waves created when lam is spoken, correlate to the energetic waves of the first chakra. When spoken out loud, lam can be used as a way to awaken the first chakra energy.

Lam is not the only mantra you can repeat in order to find balance in the first chakra. One of my favorite mantras is from the book You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay and is intended to curb anxiety. Repeating out loud, in your mind or through writing, “I love and approve of myself, I trust in the process of life, I am safe”. It is a great mantra and can help you calm your mind and cultivate presence.

Meditation

One of the best things about mantra is that it coincides with meditation beautifully. Meditation is one of the most effective ways to build awareness of the energy centers in your body, and draw out the qualities of the first chakra. The practice of meditating in and of itself, builds the energy of the first chakra due to its calming nature, and call to the present moment. When you couple meditation with mantra it’s an even stronger way to move into the energy of the root chakra.

One of my favorite meditations for the root chakra is a mixture of visualization and mantra. I start by lying on my back with my knees bent, and my feet pressing into the ground. Once I have established a gentle, steady rhythm with my breath, I draw my awareness to the base of my spine. With every inhale, I visualize a red luminescent light growing bright, right at the base of my spine. On every exhale, I silently repeat the root word lam to myself. You do not have to stay here very long in order to feel at ease. Still, I recommend at least five minutes here to tap into the first chakra space.

Yoga

As always, yoga is a great way to get in tune with your body. This means it’s also a great way to balance your root chakra. Certain postures are better than others when it comes to moving into the root chakra space. Standing poses such as tadasana (mountain pose) and vriksasana (tree pose), build a steady foundation for the first chakra to grow. Pressing down into all three corners of your feet in standing poses, helps you feel rooted in your surroundings. Balancing poses like vrikshasana, build awareness in your body by focusing on your body’s relationship to space. If you lose concentration while balancing you lose the pose altogether, forcing you to stay present in order to stay balanced.

Much like balancing poses, forward folds quiet your mind and draw your attention toward your body. This makes forward folding postures great for easing anxiety, and calming your central nervous system. Building awareness in your hips and hamstrings, forward folds work into the space where your sciatic nerve resides. The sciatic nerve is believed to be connected to the energy center of the root chakra. The longer you hold forward folds the greater the benefits, and the easier it is to find peace both physically and mentally.

There are other postures in yoga that help draw out the energies of the first chakra. Postures like malasana (garland pose) and, shalabhasana (locust pose), and dahnurasana (bow pose) draw your attention to the base of your spine where the first chakra’s main point lies. Additionally, malasana opens up your hips, and keeps you close to the earth, using the base of your spine as a reference point for alignment and balance. shalabhasana and dahnurasana are both backbending postures that involve pressing down through the pubic bone, connecting the first chakra point to physical earth.

Journey through the chakra system

Adding these poses into your yoga routine can aid you in your journey through the chakra system. Combining poses with mantras and visualizations will enhance your experience, and take you deeper into the energetic body. Working with the energies of the chakra system will provide a unique perspective on the human experience. Continue researching and studying the self as you move through life and always keep an open mind!

If you would like to know more about the Chakra system, check out Anodea Judith’s books Wheels of Life and Eastern Body, Western Mind.

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