Root chakra

Root Chakra. Catherine Bastedo.

The root chakra is the chakra where you sense the strength of your connection to your family, your tribe, your networks, and the earth itself.  Your roots may be deep and far reaching, entwined around family and friends, or they may be shallow, just lying on the surface.  You may even feel completely unrooted and not part of this earth.
Sometimes holidays like Thanksgiving or Christmas or Chinese New Year, confirm a wonderful sense of belonging and rootedness.  We may be very grateful for present and past relatives.  Or again these gatherings may point out how disconnected we are; we may wish to be elsewhere and want to run away from it all.

All this and more resides in your root chakra.  To get a sense of the vitality of your own root, take a few relaxing breaths and ask yourself these questions:

• Do you take pleasure in your family and your groups of friends?
• Do you enjoy the companionship of your colleagues?   
• Do you feel a close connection to the earth?
• Do you have a sense of belonging?
• What about practical day-to-day living – is it easy or would you rather live in the realm of ideas, dreams, and myths?
• Do you feel safe?
• Are your basic needs (food, shelter, clothing) met?  Or, on the contrary, are you overwhelmed by having too many possessions?

If you feel that your root chakra could use a tune up, here are 10 suggestions to help.  Try a few:

Take a walk outside, truly paying attention –to the temperature, the wind, the sky, and particularly the ground.  You may see snow or grass, hill or plain, city street or pine forest, but wherever you are, observe your surroundings.  Notice the smell; listen to the sounds under your feet— the squelch of wet earth, or the tinkle of sea shells as the waves recede from the shore; feel the air on your face.  And look for something in your natural environment that you have not really seen before.
   

Touch the floor of the room where you are with your hands.  Imagine you are touching the type of ground you like best—sand, new grass, moss, or sun-warmed rock.  Picture the warmth that comes to you from that touch and let that sensation work its way up from your hands and feet through your arms and legs into your lower body.  Welcome this grounding heat.
   

Look after a plant one you have now.  Loosen the earth; give it water; admire the leaves in all their beauty.  Let this plant represent all growing things, all of nature’s bounty.  Be grateful for this plant.
   

Find a rock or crystal that you enjoy holding.  How does it feel?  Describe it, draw it, and include it in your journal.  Is it rough or smooth, dull or shiny?   Note its colour.  Does it have a smell?  Do you notice a vibration?  Let this rock or crystal represent Mother Earth and her beauty.

Make sounds that come from your root chakra—deep full-bodied noises – ooh…ooh…
   

Jump up and down lightly, if you are able to do so, and notice the soles of your feet connecting to the earth.  Feel that connection reverberate through your feet, ankles, legs, knees, and spinal column.
   

Dance, moving your body to your own rhythm, noticing how your root chakra anchors your movements and allows the flow to move throughout your body.
   

Eat something fabulous and healthy.
   

Imagine that you are lying outside in your favourite place, feeling Mother Earth beneath you, holding you close, loving you, protecting you from harm.
   

Visit with someone older than you – a relative, a neighbour, a friend.  Chose that person because she or he gives you a sense of your roots and where you belong.  Think about what makes the two of you different, and what you have in common.

Notice the changes in your root chakra after one or more of these exercises.  Continue to practice, and as you do, you will strengthen your root and increase its energy.