Muladhara - The Root Chakra

Our journey through the chakras starts at the base of our spine, home of our first chakra: Muladhara that in Sanskrit means root support or foundation. This chakra is the basis of our whole chakra system, the building block on which all chakras must rest, and where the Kundalini energy resides.

The root chakra relates to the earth and earthly things, such as our bodies, strength, survival, our material and monetary existence, and our capacity to concentrate and express our needs. It is the manifestation of our conscience solidly and concretely. It is our need to stay alive and be healthy, and the recognition that restraint and discipline are essential to the manifestation.

The Muladhara brings us a sense of safety and grounding. Through our roots, we obtain nourishment, energy, stability, and growth. Without grounding, we are unstable, we lose our focus, we live in a daydream. We lose our capacity to hold, to possess, or to endure. It is in the first chakra that ideas become a reality, that our consciousness completes the manifesting current. That is why, when it is imbalanced, it is more challenging to act and accomplish things.

The survival function also related to this chakra demands that we awaken our consciousness. When we are in a fight or flight situation, survival energies overflow our system, and our body reacts: adrenaline rushes through us, our heartbeat accelerates and our senses are sharpened. This is the beginning of the ascent of the Kundalini energy. When we ignore or suppress it, we threaten our survival, generating fear, other sign of imbalance.

When we do not balance this chakra before moving on to the next, we grow without roots and ground, without the necessary stability for the true growth.

The task of mastering this chakra is, ultimately, to understand and heal the body. Through our bodies, we receive information from each of our chakras. We need to learn to be our bodies and feel all emotions, pains or pleasures in order to become whole. We need to learn to accept, feel, validate, love.

You can begin your journey through the chakras, with this practice focused on the Muladhara Chakra: