Here we are in the first week of a month’s exploration into the lower “body” chakras, which are most impacted by endometriosis. (Read more about chakras, energy & endometriosis here.)
In conjunction with this, I’m hosting a month of free live guided group meditation sessions with focus on each week’s chakra point. (Find out more and sign-up to join us here.)
This week let’s take a look at the first root chakra, which is located at the base of your spine. It’s the root of you.
The color of the root chakra is red. Its earthly element is just that: the earth, the ground.
Root Chakra Physical Connections
The root chakra governs your legs, feet, lower back, tailbone and reproductive system.
Issues with your root chakra can materialize as fatigue, poor sleep, lower back and sciatica pain, constipation, depression and immune related disorders.
On a mental level the root chakra deals with physical identity, stability, ambition and self-sufficiency.
It’s based on innate energy around survival. So, it relates to issues with money, safety and your physical experience in your body.
Psychological and emotional issues that show up because of blockages in the root chakra are anger, fear, low self-esteem and feelings of alienation.
Root History
Your root chakra is what grounds you to this earth.
This root energy connects to deeper ancestral energy and what psychologist Carl Jung referred to as the collective unconsciousness.
This root part of your body was the first to develop in your mother’s womb. Energetically this part of your body was influenced by your upbringing, family and/or tribe.
The root chakra is the base of your energy system and impacts all the other chakras. If your primary support and base is off, then everything’s off.
Root Issues
I’ve struggled with my own imbalances in my root chakra which has shown up for me as chronic lower back pain.
I was diagnosed with two herniated discs in my lower back early in my twenties with herniation happening on both sides of my spine.
The pain I felt from my spine was like no other. The spasms and shocks of pain in my nervous system made moving even an inch torturous.
But, ultimately that horrible pain in my lower back became my first stepping stone into a world of awareness, healing and spiritual evolution.
I started practicing yoga because of that pain in my root chakra. Yoga first connected me to my breath and body awareness. It slowed me down and grounded my energy.
Getting Grounded
Do you often feel “flighty”? Like you bounce between tasks, forgetting what you were doing? Do you feel anxious, nervous, and/or unable to focus?
These are all signs that your energy is off. You need to get grounded and come down from your mental “head space”, back into your body.
For those of us that live with pain, it’s a natural reaction for your energy to become blocked in these lower chakras. It’s easy to live up in the head, rather than down in the body.
But, it’s within your body that your soul energy is able to experience the pleasures and joys in this life. There are benefits to living in your body!
The following are ways to help ground your energy & support your root chakra…
#1. Get Outside.
The root chakra is all about the energy of the earth. Getting out into nature is a great way to get grounded.
#2. Get Skin & Earth Contact.
Even better if you can get outside and touch your bare skin to the earth. Sit down on the ground, walk barefoot in the grass or the sand. The Earth has electromagnetic energy that helps balance things out.
#3. Eat Foods That Grow Under Ground.
Foods that grow under ground pick up more of the Earth’s energy and can help to ground down your energy. Some examples of grounding foods include potatoes, carrots, beets and peanuts.
#4. Meditate.
As a more spiritually minded, creative person, who lives with chronic pain, my energy tends to be top heavy. I live in my head space. It takes focus and effort to come back down into my body.
Every morning I do a short visualization meditation exercise with verbal intention of grounding my energy.
I’ll share how to do this with further exploration of the root chakra in this week’s guided meditation. Join us here!
#5. Color!
Coloring is a great way to ground your energy. It pulls your attention towards something and serves as an active meditation.
If you feel ungrounded: anxious, flighty, nervous, etc., then focus on adding shades of red to your adult coloring book. It really helps!
#6. Exercise
Exercise is a great way to come back into your body. I prefer lower impact exercise that support my nervous system like walking, yoga or hiking.
On the Positive Side?
Getting grounded helps so much! I can attest to the benefits since making this a focus over the past year.
When your root chakra is balanced you feel grounded, centered, independent, energetic and strong.
I do find that the pain in my lower back serves as a guide for when my energy is off. When I’m not consciously taking steps to ground my energy, I feel the effects of that as a steady ache in my lower back.
I invite you to put even greater focus on the root chakra with this week’s live group meditation session. Sign-up to join us here.
