I consider myself lucky that I had an anatomy background before deciding to embark on the YTT journey. In December, we spent an entire weekend learning anatomy, and honestly, we barely scratched the surface. The human body is such an amazing piece of machinery. Something we briefly touched on in our anatomy lessons was the chakra system. If you’re unfamiliar, it’s a system of energy centers in your body that are associated with your beliefs, emotions, and physical health. The chakras are very closely linked with your endocrine system (the glands that secrete every hormone in your body).
Today, I want to talk about the first of the seven major chakras; what physical and emotions channels that it governs, how to tell if there is an imbalance, and what you can do to get it back into balance. The first chakra is the Muladhara Chakra (mula = root, adhara = support) and it resides at the base of your spine. It is your root chakra, associated with the earth element and and your adrenal gland and your bones and blood. This chakra governs your sense of stability and connection and the foundation of your emotional and mention function. An imbalance in this chakra might manifest when things that have to do with your home, money or job or feeling that you are unsafe or insecure in the world, basic survival needs, groundedness, etc. This will causes lots of stress which comes about because of increased levels of the cortisol secreted by the adrenal gland – cortisol is your stress hormone and the adrenal gland governs your fight or flight response.
- back pain
- sciatica
- loss of balance
- loss of memory
- anxiety/stress, even depression
- arthritis
- skin problems
- In a comfortable seated position, let the thumb and the index finger come to touch. Close your eyes and concentrate on your root chakra, the place at the very tip of your tailbone. Repeat the mantra, LAM (lah-mm) silently to yourself, until you are ready to open your eyes.
- List five things you would like to do, things that you enjoy. Try including an activity that involves contact with the earth. After you’ve listed them, one at a time, visualize yourself doing those activities and how it feels to do them.
- Imagine your Root Chakra. The color of this chakra should be a beautiful, clear red. If you see any other color, remove it and imagine the chakra being filled with red energy. Once you are able to imagine the proper color filling this chakra, imagine it spinning in a clockwise direction. Spin it faster and faster as you fill it with red energy.
