Curious about the chakras? Many people who do not practice yoga are curious about these "abstract" energy centers. Those new to yoga philosophy might be a bit cynical about their very existence.
The seven chakras—“wheels” in Sanskrit—were defined and located by the Yoga Upanishads and Yoga Sutras of Patanjali in the first millennium. It is interesting to note that these yogic writers had an intuitive knowledge of the human body. Therefore these are not just "esoteric" entities but actual physiological clusters. Today, modern science has validated that each of the seven chakras correspond exactly to the seven main nerve ganglia which emanate from the spinal column.
The seven chakras are interdependent on each other: when one is out of balance, the whole system gets thrown off. It is important to keep all the chakras balanced so our vital Kundalini energy: representing our human potential- flows through our being in mind, body and soul.
Let's begin with understanding the first chakra:
Muladhara, the Root Chakra
Located under the sacrum bone at the base of our spine, muladhara is the “protector” of our kundalini energy and important to keep balanced in order for the kundalini to be released. Associated with the earth element, the root chakra is the seat of innocence, wisdom and pure joy.
An overactive ego and a negative environment can cloud the muladhara, creating sensations of fear, lethargy and insecurity. You can recognize these blockages through this chakra’s physical counterparts, resulting in problems with digestion, excretion and overactive adrenal activity. The root chakra is where the soul enters and so it is very important to allow our soul to dominate the fear and primal instincts of this chakra. This is a very important chakra to master since it houses out kundalini energy- our true soul call- we must allow it to be released.
Balancing Basics
The solution to rebalance is simple. The root chakra is based on the universal element earth so reconnecting with the earth is fundamental. This can be done by sitting out in nature and meditating on the root chakra bija mantra "Aum". Earthing a new discovery in health recovery- is also great for rebalancing and getting rid of both psychological and physical toxic energy: lie out directly on the ground in your bathing suit (or better, naked!) or simply dig your bare feet into the soil or grass.
Wear Red, Eat Roots
Red is the color of the root chakra. It makes sense right? It is the color of the earth and has the longest waves in the electromagnetic spectrum of color. Remember we need light to see color: basically the color we see is the light that bounces back to your eyes. Color obviously has an energy since it has a wavelength and a speed. The Red energy expressed these very physical attributes of color.
As the chakras rise up our spinal column from the first to the sixth (I'll talk about this in another post), so do their colors according to the color spectrum- from red to violet, just like the colors of a rainbow. There is actually an energy with every color that works on our mental and physical state: Red is a state of grounding that we feel when we wear the color so consequently balances our root chakra: we feel a belonging to our true selves and act from the soul rather than from the ego.
Check out Mia Luna's Hummingbird root chakra print here at Red Bubble
Food chakra Fuel
Add some root energy into your body! This is another obvious connection to the root chakra. Eating foods that are grown in the earthy ground: beets, carrots, radishes, ginger, contain the pranic energy that correlates with activating this chakra in a positive way.