The root chakra is located at the base of your spine and is considered to be the foundation on which all the other chakras are built. For this reason alone, it is vital that we keep a balanced root chakra but there are many other reasons why it is important to maintain a good flow of root chakra energy.
In this post, we will be looking at how you can unblock your root chakra and what causes problems in this part of the chakra system.
What Is The Root Chakra?
The chakras are energy centers that run along the length of the spine, there are seven chakras in all: the root chakra, the sacral chakra, the solar plexus chakra, the heart chakra, the throat chakra, the third eye chakra and the crown chakra.
The root chakra is the first chakra, and it sits at the base of the spine. All of the chakras are associated with a color and in the case of the first chakra, this is the color red. The root chakra begins developing from birth up to one year old.
The chakra system is linked through a line of energy but each of the chakras have their own function and their own life force energy. In the case of the root chakra, this is to do with several areas of the body including the legs, the lower back and internal organs that are located in the lower part of the body.
However, this chakra also governs over much more than just the physical body and is very closely related to your personal identity and sense of self.
What Happens When Your Root Chakra Is Blocked?
One of the most common problems to happen when the root chakra is blocked is that it causes us to feel restless and out of control. This chakra is associated with our fight or flight response and our very basis of survival. It is the first chakra to form and between the ages of birth and seven years old, we rely heavily on it to provide us with everything we need.
Therefore, when this energy center does not have a healthy flow of energy, many problems can ensue. A lot of people begin to feel as though they are on a constant quest for something but are not entirely sure what that is. In many cases, people live in constant fear of not having enough food, money or security and this can leave you feeling very drained.
A lot of the time, this can cause you to feel lacking a self confidence when all you really want is to feel safe and secure.
But the symptoms do not end there; a root chakra imbalance can cause physical problems and some of them are quite severe. Eating disorders are a common complaint of a blocked root chakra but you may also experience things like back pain, kidney stones, prostate issues and bladder problems to name a few things.
Of course, the effects are both physical and emotional and when the energy stops flowing into the root chakra, you may begin to feel the emotional effects of this imbalance. These might include intense feelings of anger, greed, impatience and insecurity.
A lot of people become obsessed with material things when they have a root chakra imbalance and this is likely due to that fight or flight response we mentioned earlier on.
This symptom is typically associated with an overactive root chakra, which, rather than having an energy blockage, is where the energy flow is heightened. In cases like this, you will become obsessed with having everything you need and this can cause an intense fear that you won’t end up with anything, resulting in your demise. This is because, your need to survive will feel threatened.
What Causes Chakras To Be Blocked?
There are many things that may cause the chakras to become blocked and require some sort of energy healing. This happens to all of us throughout life and in order to maintain healthy chakras, a person must dedicate time to cleansing that chakras.
The way in which we live our life can cause us to experience things like anxiety, depression and stress. These are all contributors to blocked chakras.
This is because when we feel this way, it is not just our well being that is effected but our entire energy system. Our minds are focused on these intense negative emotions every day of our lives and this prevents us from being able to concentrate on maintaining a clean energy flow through the chakras through the various energy healing modalities that we will discuss later in this article.
How Do I Know If My Root Chakra Is Open?
If you have been working to open your root chakra, you may be wondering how you will know when the blocked root chakra has been resolved. One of the first ways to tell that the first of the seven energy centers has begun to open is that you will feel secure and safe.
You will also likely feel grounded, more so than you have ever done before. However, while there are many subtle emotional symptoms when you open your root chakra, the physical body will react too.
A lot of people will notice an improvement in any negative medical conditions that they have been experiencing such as eating disorders or lower back pain. Furthermore, you may feel a tingly sensation or heat in certain parts of the body that are linked to the root chakra.
How Do I Open My Root Chakra?
Having fully functioning chakras is essential to your well being and root chakra healing can be done in many ways. There are many energy healers all over the world who will help to guide you through the root chakra healing or perform rituals for you to cleanse all of the 7 chakras.
An energy healer will typically use things like reiki and this can work with all of the chakras from the root all the way up to the crown chakra and everything in between.
However, some practitioners may also work with stones and crystals and this is a very effective way to encourage a root chakra opening. There are many stones that we can use to open our root chakras and most often the will be in the same color as the chakra; red.
You could use red jasper, garnet or bloodstone but it is also possible to use crystals that have earthy tones such as onyx or mahogany obsidian. According to science, these stones have a subtle vibration that can help to realign our chakra systems and provide intense root chakra healing.
Positive Affirmations
One of the best ways to encourage root chakra healing is to use positive affirmations to make you feel secure in yourself and your life. You may use these during meditation which can be particularly fruitful when it comes to chakra healing or you can simply repeat them throughout the day as you go about your life.
There are a lot of affirmations that you can use and doing this helps you to break old habits and set intentions to create more positive, beneficial habits.
I am thankful for my body
I am secure in my life
I have everything I need
I am secure in my finances
The universe will always provide
Yoga Poses
Yoga is an extremely powerful tool and there are many yoga poses that can promote a healthy flow of life force energy to the root chakra. If you have never practised yoga before, it can be helpful to find a yoga instructor who will be able to show you how to do the poses correctly.
There are many poses for each of the energy centers and some will work well for more than one. For example, reclined bound angle pose will work for both the root chakra and the sacral chakra. So, if you have problems with more than one chakra, it is entirely possible to tackle them with similar poses.
Our root chakras may benefit from any of the following asanas:
Easy pose
Child’s pose
Malasana
Forward fold
Mountain pose
Sun salutations
Bridge pose
Connecting With The Earth
The root chakra is associated with a sense of been grounded and secure and therefore, a great way to promote healing for this chakra is to connect with the earth. The good news is that this can be done in many ways. Best of all, it’s free; Mother Nature has given us plenty of opportunities to become grounded without having to pay a penny and quite often you can do this from the comfort and safety of your own home.
For example, making a connection between your body and the earth can help you to feel more grounded. Sitting on the grass in your back yard while meditation can work wonders.
During a meditation like this, you might close the eyes and imagine a bright red light emanating from your root chakras, this light represents the energy flowing here.
However, the best way to connect with the earth, according to Anodea Judith, author of many chakra-related books, is simply to do a walking meditation. Once again, it will cost you nothing and is easy to fit into your life.
You can take a walk through nature for as a little as five minutes or for a few hours; anything goes.
How Long Does It Take To Open The Root Chakra?
There is no way to tell how quickly or slowly the root chakra will open because this will vary in each and every one of us. Much of it is to do with your commitment to healing the root chakra and how much time you put into it.
For example, if I were to spend just five minutes a week on root chakra healing techniques, and you were to spend and hour a day on them; it would stand to reason that your root chakra would become unblocked much more quickly.
However, there is also the consideration of what is going on in your life. As we discussed earlier, negative emotions can wreak havoc on your chakra system so it is important to try and not only perform the techniques we have talked about, but also improve your overall emotional well being.
Navigation through life is never simple but there are things that we can do to make it easier on ourselves such as giving ourselves a break from work, not engaging with people who drain our energy and devoting time to mindfulness practices.
Conclusion
The root chakra is located at the base of your spine and is connected to the very foundation of your being. When this becomes blocked, there are a lot of emotional and physical issues that can arise and while we would always advocate seeing a doctor who can provide medical advice, we would also suggest looking at root chakra healing.
These simple techniques can be done either with a professional practitioner or by yourself at home. There are many resources you can use including apps, websites and even books. Author, Anodea Judith has written several books on the chakras and these can provide a good base of knowledge on these energy centres.
Once you unblock your root chakra, you will notice a dramatic shift in your life and will find that any health problems are alleviated and that you feel a lot more secure and confident in your existence.
