Let’s start at the very beginning – a very good place to start 😊
where is it?
The Root Chakra is located at the base of the spine, or the end of the tailbone. It’s the foundation of our whole energy system – if the Root Chakra is out of whack, everything else will be following suit. A strong and open Root Chakra forms a good, solid base. Like a concrete house slab. A sub-par slab will have the rest of your house falling in, no matter how well the walls have been constructed.
Other Names
Also known as ‘Muldarhara’, from the 2 Sanskrit words ‘Mula’ meaning ‘root’, and ‘Adhara’ meaning ‘support’ or ‘base’.
Meaning: Physical identity, stability, grounding
Colour: Red
Essential Oils: Anything that grows from the earth, like Cedarwood, Sandalwood, Ginger, Frankinsense, Black Pepper, Patchouli, Vetiver and Eucalyptus.
Crystals: Jasper, Garnet, Bloodstone or Black Tourmaline
Signs of a Blocked or Imbalanced Root Chakra
Emotionally, you may feel anxious or stuck, or feel an inability to take action. You may be experiencing fear or nightmares, exhaustion or lethargy. Physcially there could be colon or bladder issues, constipation or incontinence (sorry), pelvic, lower back or foot pain, or weight gain or loss.
How to Un-block or Re-balance Your Root Chakra
The word ‘Root’ refers to the foundations of trees – it’s what keeps them alive, stable and grounded. Therefore, any kind of grounding practice will help clear and re-align your Root Chakra.
- Have a professional energy healing session, either Reiki or Prana.
- Guided mediations or visualisations are always good, and they are easy to find on YouTube. Just set your intention to heal and be brave enough to deal with any old emotions or memories that may bubble up.
- According to Jissel Ravelo (Reiki Master and founder of www.vibrawellness.com), rubbing a metal spoon on the base of your foot can do the trick. I quote “the metal has a grounding property that gets your energy flowing again. “Take a metal spoon, and you rub it at the bottoms of your feet from soles all the way to your heel,” she says. “You can activate new energy to come into your root chakra.”
- Massaging essential oils into your feet or tailbone
- Meditate while placing an associated crystal on the Chakra
- Spend time in nature. This is a big one. Connecting to the earth is the best way to get your Root Chakra open, clear and spinning again the way it should. Skin to earth contact is the best – bare feet in the back yard will do. No one is suggesting you frolic bear-bummed through the park directly connecting your base chakra with nature. Having said that, there are several yoga practices specifically to open the Root Chakra and they do tend to involve deep squats and seated poses designed to connect you to the earth and cultivate a sense of grounding in your feet, legs and pelvic floor.
- Burning or diffusing oils or candles. Again, anything that comes from trees – woodsy scents like Cedarwood or Sandalwood. Perfect Potion (https://www.perfectpotion.com.au/) is an Australian Essential Oil company. Their Balance Chakra blend contains black pepper, vetiver, sweet orange, Patchouli and Atlas cedarwood. I prefer these guys to the ‘D’ brand simply because they’re local.
- Using sound healing. The Solfeggio Frequency for the Root Chakra is 396Hz. (Google ‘Solfeggio Frequency’ or you can search for it on Spotify. Also listen to music with deep beats, like drumming.