Most Yoga students have heard about the chakras. You might know that they have strange names, they are wheels of some sort, have to do with energy, and have lovely colours.

Let’s have a look.

Chakras

The Sanskrit word Chakra means wheel or a turning circle, but as of their turning.

The word Chakra was first found in the Vedas about 1500 – 500 BCE.

The concept of Chakras is mentioned in later Upanishads, about 500 BCE.

 It is still being determined when to place them precisely how we are introduced to them now.

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What are the Chakras?

Chakras are centres of energy in our subtle pranic, energy, body. As energy is not standing still, they are seen as spinning wheels.

 Yoga and Ayurveda look at our body more like an onion that layers from superficial to deep. Superficially, you have your physical body, which you can touch and see. The next down is your pranic body, the layer that deals with Prana, the life force, the breath and your emotions. In this layer, you find the chakras and the subtle energy channels through which Prana travels, the nadis.

In Yoga, we look at 7 chakras, which run along the spine from the base, the tailbone, to the top of the skull.

The chakras are connected through the nadis mentioned above, subtle energy channels. The idea is that Kundalini, the dormant serpent power, lies in the root chakra and, as it awakens, makes its way upwards through shushumna nadi (the central nadi flowing through the spinal column) to the crown chakra. When this happens, we experience the state of Yoga, connecting our instinctual side with our evolved one.

The journey through the chakras is our journey of becoming more conscious and aware, away from instincts and fear.

The 7 chakras have different purposes relating to other aspects of our being. Each Chakra is associated with a different colour and sound and is surrounded by different numbers of petals, relating to the number of sounds of the Chakra.

In this blog, I would like to bring the Mooladhara chakra, our root chakra, a little closer as our journey starts here, at the base, the root.

Mooladhara Chakra

 Moola = root, adhara = support.

• The Mooladhara chakra sits at the root of shushumna nadi, the middle energy channel through which Kundalini needs to travel. It supports our upright posture and upward thriving.

•  The shape of the Chakra is a square with red petals; it has a golden-yellow colour, representing the earth element. 

• The root chakra has four petals; their sounds are vaṁ, śaṁ, ṣaṁ, saṁ

• The bija, or seed mantra, is LAM.

• Each Chakra has its own deity, representing the energy of the individual energy centre; the root chakra’s deity is Ganesha, the elephant-headed remover of all obstacles.

Mooladhara chakra governs the sense of smell and is connected to the nose. Not to confuse you, although the chakras are located in the subtle body, the root chakra is associated with annamaya kosha, our body of food, with our physical life here on this planet, our material needs and their fulfilment, our need for peace, security, calmness, sleep, and our sex.

The root chakra is connected to the unconscious mind, the realm of all your instincts and fears. It is seen as the gateway to both heaven and hell (if you master them, you are in heaven because life will be so much more pleasant; if you don’t get hold of your fears and instinctive behaviour, they are going to rule your life which is seen as hell as you are at their mercy). 

Balance and Imbalance of the Root Chakra

As with everything else in our body and mind, the chakras can be balanced or imbalanced. 

 When the Mooladhara chakra is balanced, you experience:

• a sense of security, 

• safety,

• stability, 

• a feeling of grounding, 

• focus,

• you feel connected to yourself and others, 

• can care for yourself and 

• enjoy life. 

If the Chakra is imbalanced, you experience the opposite: anxiety, poor focus, lethargy, anger, and depression.

Ways to keep the Mooladhara Chakra balanced

Working with the chakras seriously should only be done under the supervision of an experienced teacher.

Working with the Chakra means working with energy. Energy is difficult to control. Would you repair and rewire your house or leave it to an electrician instead? When we generate more energy and our nervous system is not prepared, it can aggravate it, leaving you restless and agitated. The energy doesn’t mind where it goes; it serves both elevating your good traits, here inducing that sense of grounding, security and safety and the ones which don’t serve us, which are the fear and instincts.

Here are some safe ways to work with the Mooladhara chakra:

• Bija mantra: Regular chanting of the Om Lam, for this sit tall, chair or the floor doesn’t matter, take a few breaths to settle the mind. Take a deep breath in, exhale chant Om Lam, and visualise a golden square. Breathe in again deeply down to your navel, exhaling and keep chanting Om Lam; as you breathe out and chant, draw your navel back. Keep chanting for as long as comfortable.

• Chanting the Om brings you back to your own true nature.

• Walk in nature. This connects us to the earth element.

• Yoga practice: all standing asanas are excellent, particularly the tree pose, sending imaginary roots down into the earth, or the warrior poses. Focus on your foundation and grounding through your legs and feet.

•   But you can use all other asanas to connect to the earth underneath by breathing into the foundation, whichever part of the body touches the floor and feeling the connection to the ground and the sense of being held and stability.  

• The daily practice of Surya Namaskar, the salute to the sun, helps balance all the chakras.

• Practise deep abdominal breathing and send each breath down to the earth. I like letting the breath travel down the back of the spine to the base; remember that’s where the Root chakra is located and into the sit bones, and the outbreath travels up the front of the spine, helping you to lift, lengthen and reach upward.

• If affirmations resonate with you, you can use for example:

  • I am safe and secure right now.

  • I am grounded.

  • The earth holds me.

  • All my needs are met.

  • I am enough.

  • I have enough already.

• Journaling each day, where you write down what you already have in your life: a roof over your head, a job that pays the bills, food to eat…. We often take these basic needs as a given, which they aren’t because they can be taken away quickly. So, reminding yourself that the basics are met or which are met helps you shift the focus back into perspective.

Final Thoughts

We are multi-layered beings, complex yet simple at the same time.

The chakras are centres of particular energy situated along our spine from its base to its top. They all connect to different energies and different stages of consciousness.

The root chakra is at the very base, deep in your pelvis, where it governs your sense of security, safety, and being rooted in yourself.

Chakra, like everything else, too, can be balanced or imbalanced. A daily practice of Surya Namaskar can offer you an easy and accessible way to work on keeping them spinning nicely.

Have you learned something new? Let me know; you can leave a message on Instagram, Facebook or even good old email.

I love hearing from you! 

Katja x