The chakras act as conductors, drawing vital energy up from the earth, circulating it through the physical body, and releasing it as higher awareness.
In other words, vitality is transmuted into awareness, spirituality, and a deeper conception of the universe.
Likewise, cosmic energy moves down through the crown chakra and manifests as right action, creativity, and health.
As we develop our consciousness and refine our sensitivities, we release old, stagnant emotional energy in the form of dreams, memories, and feelings that weigh down our spirit. The more freedom, love, and beauty the spirit experiences, the wider the energy fields become. As we evolve, we actually become healthier, with more energy available to us for healing, creativity, and joy.
The state of our chakras is very important. They are the vital key to what we think and feel, as well as the accumulated dross of our past. They are, in a manner of speaking, the ladder of love that takes us from survival to the highest realm of consciousness, healing, and bliss.
Our chakras are the repositories of our thoughts, feelings, and attitudes about life and are extremely responsive to what we think and feel. Unexpressed anger or frustration can accumulate as tension in the muscles. Imploded emotional energy can also overcharge the chakra system, causing imbalance and preventing us from using our energy in a beneficial way.
The root chakra is affected by aggression, which, if allowed to remain unexpressed, turns into anger and violence. If your life is threatened or your beliefs are attacked, these feelings will surface and stimulate the adrenaline flow into your blood, causing you to become defensive and frightened.
Conversely, you can tap into this emotional charge to access reserves of energy that can be used for creativity and a healthy lifestyle. When we harness our vital energy to our willpower we develop the capacity to move with grace, precision, and intent.
Below is a practical exercise to let you review some of the harmful attitudes associated with the root chakra. This exercise illustrates a way of reframing negative attitudes into more positive and life-affirming ones.
Negative attitudes: The harmful attitudes associated with the root chakra have to do with despair and victimhood. These attitudes can generate violent and hateful feelings, and emerge when our life is threatened and we feel overwhelmed. We may experience such thoughts as “It’s not worth it”; “I want to die”; “Life is unbearable this way.” They all attest to a disassociation from life and a lack of trust in its innate goodness.
Positive attitudes: All positive attitudes involving the root chakra attest to a spiritual belief in the goodness of life. They imply trust and a sense of belonging, and tell us that there is love, support, and care to get us through difficult and challenging times. It may not come in the form we think we need, but if we are quiet and still we can sense it in nature, in the kindness of strangers, and in many gentle and tender ways. Be still, do nothing. Let the goodness come.
Affirmations for the Root Chakra
I trust in the goodness of life to carry me through.
I belong wherever I am.
I choose life.
I affirm my right to the life I know I want.
I cultivate constancy, stability, and a wholesome structure to support me throughout life’s changes.
I accept myself as I am.
I am grateful for the experiences of my life.
Walk and Wonder in the Woods Meditation
For the root chakra, opening our minds to the beauty and timelessness of nature can help bring peace and a sense of unity with the world. This is a deep guided walk in the woods and is intended to be used as a way to start the day or as a break in the day to relax, refocus, and reenergize.
Mother Earth Meditation
A meditation to ground and anchor your energy into the here and now. Come home to the womb of Mother Earth where you can surrender and receive exactly what nourishment you need. I suggest you do this in twilight or full darkness, as an evening or bedtime meditation.
Working Through Challenges Root Chakra Journal Prompt
I invite you to ponder the following suggestions to help you work through root chakra challenges, and write in your journal what you feel called to explore further…
- Cultivate patience so that when things do not go as planned you do not lose energy by being angry or frustrated
- Allow time for things to come around in an affirming way for you. If you do not succeed in the beginning of a project, rethink it and let things develop in the light of positive affirmation. They will do so eventually, if you can persevere.
- Do what is necessary to remain stable through change. Develop meditation skills and ways to slow down the mind. Learn to be philosophical when things become uncertain.
- Learn to live with change. Be flexible and adaptable.
- Be secure in yourself and know that everything will be all right eventually.
- Trust in life to see you through the difficult moments.
- Do not despair when things do not go well for you. Breathe, give yourself time to reflect on what is essential and important.
- Make a plan to see your dreams unfold.
- Be grateful for the life you have and work to bring as much order into your life as possible so that when things do go astray you have some reserves to fall back on.
- Enjoy life and cultivate a sense of humor. We all have setbacks and challenges. We are all learning to be resourceful and to cultivate a positive outlook.
As my yoga teacher says, “Let your wounds become your wisdom, and your stumbling blocks your stepping stones.”