Many things tether a person to this earth – and they extend beyond the immediate family and into the grounding practices of the root chakra. Discover how to reconnect with this chakra to feel balanced and connected.
The seven chakras are believed to be the energy centres of the body. With their origins in ancient Indian texts, their symbolism has developed over the centuries. They’re often seen as wheels, which, when your energy is flowing, turn steadily. When things aren’t going so well, the likelihood is that one or more of them might be sluggish or stuck.
The root chakra is the foundation of the seven chakras.
It’s depicted as a lotus flower and is located at the base of the spine (the other six rise higher up the body, from the lower abdomen to the crown). It’s said that a balanced root chakra keeps you grounded. When all works well, you’ll feel steady on your feet, with a sense that what you have is enough.
Unlike the higher, more esoteric chakras, the root is about the everyday stuff of survival: finances, food, shelter. They’re the basic things that we all need to get by.
How to reconnect with your root chakra
Choose your focus
It doesn’t matter if you make a false start. Choose something you can use to ground you. It’s best if you pick an area about which you’re passionate. It could be writing, political justice, or home design. Maybe you love the ocean, or you have an affinity with crafting. Anything is good.
Think of your immediate “family”
This family isn’t blood related. Consider instead the people whose work or activities have informed your passion. If it’s writing, what books fired you up when you were younger and set you on your path? If it’s the ocean, was there a person that brought you to that love? If you want to, make a list, or doodle pictures. Or you can simply conjure them up in your mind.
Start tracing your ancestors
Go back a step. Who or what informed the authors of the books you love? What shaped the person who introduced you to your favourite architect? Then go back another step to the influence beyond that, and so on.
You won’t have this information to hand. But this is where research and imagination come in. You can discover facts, such as the origins of the craftwork you love. Or you can make a leap of the mind, where you speculate on the generations of people who’ve shared the same passions as you. Or there may be a combination of both, where you’ll discover a story and use that to inform your own ideas.
Go deep into your roots
When you have an idea of an “ancestor”, imagine them as best you can. Create one unique person, living centuries ago. Use research to inform your pictures – what would their lifestyle have been like, what would they have done? Give that person a name, and flesh them out. Understand what made them tick. Recognise that no matter what era they lived in, the same impulse drove them as drives you. That impulse might be to connect with others, be fully present, or to be in total focus.
Create that deep connection with your roots.
Stay grounded
If you want to remain grounded in your root chakra, regular practice is effective. You can explore whichever avenue you want related to this passion or you can return to the same deep root work. Feel grounded in the lineage that brought you here today. Flesh and blood birthed you, but other ancestors have given you life of a different sort.
Give thanks to them and make your root-chakra grounding a regular practice. You may soon realise that going back to your roots – in any sense – is the answer you need.
Try these methods to ground yourself
Connect to the colour red
Red is the colour of the root chakra, so start bringing it into your life. Go for the shade that you enjoy the most, from deep ruby to powder pink. Connecting to nature is key for the root, so let the colour do double duty here.
For each season, search out natural reds: eat plump cherries in summer and admire pink dahlias brightening early autumn days. In winter, grate raw beetroot into salads and enjoy the vermilion of a crimson rosella on a frosty fence.
Move your body to feel grounded
This is common sense for anyone, but especially if you have a stuck root chakra. Listen to your body and go for the physical activity that’s right for you at this moment.
A daily 10-minute walk is an easy way to feel more in harmony with your body and literally connect to the ground.
Go barefoot on the grass for an extra root boost.
Try a tree meditation
Georgia suggests a breathing visualisation using the image of a tree, with your feet as its roots. She writes: ‘Imagine that the energy of each out breath is flowing down from the soles of your feet through the floor, deep into the earth… With each out breath, more and more roots are created, spreading deep, spreading wide.’
To fully absorb yourself in the meditation, add an essential oil, such as sandalwood or cedarwood, to your practice. Place a few drops in a diffuser or mix with a carrier oil and massage into the soles of your feet.
Write daily root chakra affirmations
Write in a red-bound notebook, using sweeping red ink, and note down root-chakra affirmations that appeal to you. Examples include: “I am grounded”, “I am safe”, “I am financially secure”, and “I am connected to my body”.
Write them every day, until they begin to feel real.
ILLUSTRATIONS: Kathrin Lang
