How To Work On Your Root Chakra - 8 Tips!
Feeling anxious, unfocused, or lost in your mind space? If you’re feeling this way or if you just want to learn how to keep your chakras in balance, keep reading to learn different ways you can work on your root chakra!
Working on our chakras allows us to understand ourselves on a deeper level. The chakras provides us with a better understanding of how to work on our body, mind, and energy cohesively. In this series, you’ll learn more details about each individual chakra along with tips on how you can work to balance each energy center.
If you are new to the chakras and want to learn more about the basics, I suggest reading this post here: What Are The Chakras?
What is the root chakra?
The root chakra is the first energy center of the chakra system. This energy center encompasses our coccyx (base of our spine) all the way down to our feet. The root chakra’s name in Sanskrit (which is the language the chakras originated from) is ‘muladhara’. Muladhara in English means ‘root place’.
The root chakra is particularly important because it’s the foundation for all of the other six chakras. While working on the foundation might not sound as exciting as working on the upper levels, it’s very important! You can’t just skip over the foundation and expect everything else to run smoothly.
When the root chakra’s energy is balanced, we’re able to ground ourselves and we feel stable and secure. The root chakra’s main focus is about grounding. This is why when you feel anxious or lost in your thoughts, it can be beneficial to work on this area. Anxiety keeps us stuck in our head space and the root chakra grounds us back to the Earth. Each chakra is associated with an element and the element here happens to be Earth. This makes sense as the Earth provides us with what we need to survive and thrive.
Taking care of our basic needs
While working to ground ourselves and our energy is part of keeping the root chakra balanced, even more important is having our basic needs taken care of. This energy center is concerned with our survival, so ensuring we have food, water, and shelter is what this energy center wants. In modern day, this energy center may relate more to money as many of us are not out there growing our own food, searching for water, or building our homes. Money allows for our safety and security.
I think this may be why many of us have imbalances in our root chakra, because we are so disconnected from the Earth in these modern times. Even though we may have food, water, and shelter, we’re disconnected to how we got it and this can disrupt the energy flow here. This is my interpretation and I’m sure this isn’t the case for everyone but I think this disconnect can contribute to things like anxiety etc.
It’s not that we need to grow our own food or build our own homes to correct this, but even if you are financially stable, you may still need to work on your root chakra. The tips below will help you with ideas on how you can do this.
When the root chakra’s energy is healthy, we are connected with our physical body. Disconnect from the body disrupts the flow of energy here. This connection can be disrupted by things like anxiety, or just not taking care of your body in general in terms of eating healthy and exercising.
This area may also be related to your family, (think of a family tree and how you are all connected). How you interact with your family can also play a role here.
How do I know if I need to work on my root chakra?
I think it’s healthy for all of us to take the time to make sure we’re keeping all of our chakras balanced, but there are some indications that you may need to place some extra focus on the root chakra.
Remember, this is looking deeper into our energetic connection to the mind and body. While working with your energy can most definitely create profound effects, it’s not intended to replace medical treatment. If you are experiencing physical, mental, or emotional symptoms, consult with your medical doctor.
Like we discussed, anxiety may be a sign you need to work on balancing your root chakra. Some other indications could be fatigue, feeling unfocused, or feeling disconnected from your body. Or on the opposite end, if you’re too focused on material things you may need to work on balancing here. It’s ok to have and to want material things as they are part of our human existence, but they shouldn’t be our only focus.
Some physical issues that relate to the root chakra include difficulty sleeping, bowel issues, or issues related to the tailbone, hips, knees, or feet.
Lastly, if you’re someone who has difficulty bringing your goals into reality, you may need work here. If you’re stuck in the ‘dreaming’ phase, working on the root chakra can help to bring your dreams into the material world.
Manifestation
The root chakra is key in manifestation because it’s so connected with the material world. This energy center allows us to bring our dreams into the physical world.
The root chakra combined with the energy of the higher chakras is good for our planet. The root chakra is where we connect with the Earth and it allows us to do things to create positive changes! If we want to help others or the planet but the root chakra’s energy is low, we probably won’t bring very much to them.
We need to be grounded to bring our gifts into the world.
Think of the root chakra as an anchor keeping you grounded to the Earth.
Now that you have a basic understanding of what the root chakra is all about, let’s look at the different ways to work on your root chakra so you can put this into action!
8 Ways To Work On Your Root Chakra
1. Get Outside
Remember that the element associated with the root chakra is Earth, so what better way to work on this area than by getting outside and connecting with nature! This is going to help ground your energy into the present moment and bring you out of your headspace.
What you want to do is really be present with what you see and feel while you’re outside. Notice how the ground feels beneath your feet, listen to the sounds of the birds, take in the view of the plants. If you place your focus on what is around you while you’re outside, it will make this activity way more effective at balancing the root chakra.
2. Cook Your Own Food
This comes back to the root chakra being concerned with our basic needs like eating. When we constantly order take-out or make something prepackaged, we are disconnecting further from our ‘survival’. If we cook our own food, we are connecting back with providing for ourselves. Try to stay present while you’re cooking and eating and this will make this even more effective. (Being present will make all of these tips more effective really!)
To make this tip even more powerful, you can cook foods that are grounding. Protein rich foods are very grounding. Another grounding food is root vegetables; literally this is food that grows in the ground, what could ground you more!
3. Feel Into Gravity
Gravity is always at work here on planet Earth but how often do you actually put your awareness on it? This tip is a super simple and fast way that you can balance and connect with your root chakra because you can do this anywhere.
Whether you’re sitting, standing, walking, or lying down, place your attention on how gravity is keeping you rooted to the Earth. Actually feel it’s effect at keeping you rooted and anchored.
It’s really cool to feel into this and to be present with this feeling. It’s also interesting how something so simple can be so effective. This is a wonderful reminder that we don’t always need to do something extravagant to do something impactful.
4. Standing Yoga Poses
Standing yoga poses are particularly helpful for the root chakra because you’re grounding through your feet, the lowest part of this energy center.
You can do any standing poses that you find feel grounding. A recommendation for you to try is mountain pose (tadasana). While this is a simple pose, it’s extremely effective for balancing the root chakra. If you can close your eyes and really focus on your feet, this is even more effective. While doing this pose, keep the spine straight and don’t lock out your knees. It’s that simple, there’s a photo below for reference.
For those looking for more details on grounding yoga poses, check out this post: Yoga Poses & Techniques For Grounding
5. Meditation Focused On Grounding
Meditation is often associated with the upper chakras, but it can be just as useful for the lower chakras if we switch up the focus.
When mediating to balance the root chakra, sit on the ground if possible and focus on the sensation of sitting on the earth. If you need to sit in a chair, you can do the same thing by keeping your feet on the ground and focusing there. Keep your palms facing down on your legs to indicate to your energy that you are working on grounding. As you sit in meditation, work to keep your focus on the parts of your body that are in contact with a surface.
For those who enjoy a guided meditation, check out this one here: 10 Minute Meditation For Grounding
6. Take Care Of Your Body
This comes back to the root of what the root chakra is about.. taking care of ourselves. Yes, this could be financially but this also could be the overall health of your physical body.
- Are you getting enough sleep?
- Are you eating healthy?
- Are you moving your body and exercising?
- Are you taking time for rest?
These are questions you can ask yourself and that you can work on to keep the root chakra balanced.
7. Chant "Lam"
“Lam” is the seed sound or bija mantra of the root chakra. Each chakra has a word/sound associated with it that is said to embody the essence of that energy center.
This can be an easy way to balance the energy of a chakra.
For the root chakra, chanting ‘Lam” can help bring it into balance. It’s best to say it aloud; you may repeat the word as many times as you feel you need.
8. Wear Red
Each chakra has a color associated with it. The color of the root chakra is red.
The root chakra has the lowest vibration of the chakras as it is associated with the material world. Red has the lowest frequency of the colors. I know ‘low vibrations’ doesn’t sound great but remember, if we are high vibes all the time we won’t get anything done that we need to do to survive and thrive. It’s about balance.
Since red and the root chakra are both lower in frequency, wearing red can help you to balance this energetic area.
There you have 8 different ways you can use to work on your root chakra!
It’s an extremely valuable tool to be able to connect with your root chakra. Connecting with the root chakra and learning to ground is the first step in working with your energy. You first need to be able to ground yourself before working with energy in other ways such as centering or connecting with your intuition.
Remember, you are part of nature and part of this earth and you have the ability to connect with this energy! I hope you found this post helpful in learning about your root chakra and in learning about how to deepen your connection with this energy center.
Namaste
Read This Next: How To Work On Your Sacral Chakra
Sources:
Judith, Anodea. Wheels Of Life: The Classic Guide To The Chakra System . Llewellyn Publications, 2019.
Kaivalya, Alanna. Chakra Yoga: A Beginner’s Guide to Chakra Healing. Alanna Kaivalya, 2016.
Minich, Deanna. Chakra Foods for Optimum Health: A Guide to the Foods That Can Improve Your Energy, Inspire Creative Changes, Open Your Heart, and Heal Body, Mind, and Spirit. Mango Publishing Group, 2020.
Discloser: Links included in this description may be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links provided I may receive a small commission.