Muladhara

The Muladhara chakra is located at the base of your spine and in the area of your pelvic floor.  This chakra is also called your root chakra, as it ties to your deep earthly connection, your legs being your roots.  This energetic area is key to your well-being.  It is key for you to feel grounded, safe and secure so that you can move forward in your life.  Maslow’s hierarchy of needs captures this by noting that unless needs of security, safety and survival are being met, we cannot progress towards truly expanding ourselves, utilizing our talents and pursuing our dharma, or life’s purpose.

You’ve likely heard the expression that someone was”uprooted”.   It means someone is going through a time of great change, possibly due to an actual physical move or due to a loss of some kind.  When this happens, you feel adrift, like a kite loose in the wind.  In these moments, it is particularly important to take time to ground yourself, connecting back with your roots.  Using the energy tools below can help.  Restorative or Yin styles of yoga are very grounding.  Warm, protein-rich foods like root vegetables can be beneficial.  Just being in nature connects you back to the earth.  While our society often leans towards the need to be doing something and ‘man up’, true strength comes from knowing when its time to root down and just be.  Become the large, wise tree in the forest, so deeply rooted that no storm can sway you, so tall that you can see beyond the edges of the forest.  With a strong foundation in our root chakra, we can reach out to experience the beauty the universe has in store for us.

You can start this month by setting an intention to do the following:

Take 3-5 minutes each morning to sit, breathe and move before you start the day.  

• Sit on the floor or your mat with your eyes closed.
• First, simply notice your breath.  Let yourself settle into your breath, becoming absorbed in the sound and movement.
• Visualize your Muladhara chakra as warm red energy at your pelvic floor.  Explore and consider the energy you are feeling.
• With each inhale, breathe into your Muladhara chakra, letting the energy there become grounded, safe and relaxed.
• With each exhale, let go of rigidity and fear, feeling yourself more nurtured by the earth.

Listen to one of your yoga nidra recordings as often as you can

You will likely be doing other wonderful yoga related work  – going to studio classes, doing the home asana practices, reading the blog posts – but let the list above be your minimum baseline.

Start Meditation

Reminder: Any poses or breath techniques I cue in an asana practice are merely suggestions.  Your body and your doctor know more than I do, so only do what makes sense and is recommended for you.

The asana practices warm up your body and ready it for meditation.   For this chakra, I recommend restorative, grounding practices.

Asana Practices

Your Muladhara, or root chakra, is associated with things like safety, survival, security, grounding, physicality, sexuality, movement.  Tied to the element of earth, the lower half of our body can be thought of as our roots (legs) and base from which we are nourished and grow.

Activating your Muladhara chakra can help balance its energy, ensuring you have a safe, grounded place from which to extend and reach outward.  You can activate it a few ways, but here are two:

1. A Mantra.  Each chakra has a sound, or mantra.  For the root chakra, it is LAM.  Chanting, or even making this sound mentally, helps clear your Muladhara chakra.
2. Crystals.  This chakra is associated with an  earthy red, so many of the crystals used to cleanse this area are red or earthy in color.  Try carrying or wearing Hematite, Red Jasper, Obsidian, Ruby, Onyx, Garnet.

Here is a nice article on the Muladhara chakra: https://chopra.com/articles/the-root-chakra-muladhara