Why balancing the Root Chakra is the Foundation of all Spiritual Development
THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE ROOT CHAKRA AND THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
The Yogis of the East were talking about the importance of the nervous system, long before ‘nervous system regulation’ became a conversation in the West. In the yogic traditions, we can see that balancing the Root Chakra (Muladhara-from the Sanskrit ‘Mula’ [root] and ‘Adhara’ [support or base]) is key to all other spiritual work. It quite literally provides the foundation for all of the other chakras and nadis within the whole energy system of the body.
Traditionally, the Root Chakra is connected to our basic survival needs and the glands associated with it are the adrenal glands. The adrenal glands are responsible for the production of hormones in the biological stress response and are directly connected to the nervous system (specifically the sympathetic nervous system).
By working on the balancing of the Root Chakra, you are working on the balancing and regulation of the nervous system.
Note: it is always important to remember that whilst I am today talking about the Root Chakra in isolation, the chakras are all connected and part of a system that works together.
WHY YOU HAVE TO REVISIT BALANCING THE ROOT CHAKRA MULTIPLE TIMES ON YOUR SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
There is a common misconception within the spiritual community that once you have your Root Chakra balanced, you never have to think about It again. This is not true. For most people on the spiritual journey, you will be revisiting and working with the Root Chakra over and over again on.
As the spiritual journey is ultimately one of expansion, you have to revisit the foundation repeatedly to ensure that it can support the expansion that you are experiencing. Healing and expansion is not a linear process-think of them more as a spiral. You are going to meet deeper and deeper levels of wounding to transmute the more your Light Grid expands.
You can only ever expand in your consciousness in proportion to how well grounded, how well rooted and how deeply connected to the Earth that you are.
WHAT ISSUES ARE CONNECTED TO THE ROOT CHAKRA IN THE AKASHIC RECORDS?
From the perspective of the Akashic Records, the Root Chakra is one of the ‘storage’ chakras. It can hold wounding from the current lifetime, past lifetimes and ancestral wounding. Any issue that has ever affected your (or your ancestors) sense of safety and security can be connected to a destabilised Root Chakra.
From a ‘chakra pair’ perspective, the Root Chakra is paired with the Crown Chakra. If you are feeling disconnected from Source Consciousness, have problems accessing the wisdom of the higher dimensions and/or problems meditating, it might be time to take a look at the stability of the Root Chakra.
WHAT IS THE ENERGY THAT DESTABILISES THE ROOT CHAKRA?
Fear is the energy that destabilise the Root Chakra. You cannot be connected to the energy of fear and the energy of unconditional love at the same time.
Fear is extremely dense and contractive. Love is a much higher vibration and extremely expansive. (For additional understanding of the differences in these energies and why they are incompatible, work by consciousness researchers and maps or levels of consciousness can be very helpful).
CHOOSING TO DISCONNECT FROM THE ENERGY OF FEAR
Human life is hard. The first Noble Truth of Buddhism is Dukka-the truth of suffering within life. There will always be suffering whilst you are in a human incarnation.
However, your soul chose to come into a dense, physical reality to experience a wide range of emotions and situations. There will have been times in your life when you have been in fear. But on your spiritual journey, which is a journey towards spiritual sovereignty, it is essential that we start making conscious choices about the energetic frequencies that we connect to,
This is NOT about bypassing. It is not about avoiding or negating emotions when they arise. But it is about learning how to transmute fear as and when it arises. That conscious choice is “Am I going to stay connected to this energetic vibration of fear? Or am I going to work to move past this energy of fear and move into the more expansive energies that are available to me?”
WHAT DOES A BALANCED ROOT CHAKRA FEEL LIKE?
When the Root Chakra is balanced you feel grounded, connected to Earth and safe. You are not in a state of fight, flight, freeze, or fawn; you are not in that energy of nervous system dysregulation. There is a feeling of spaciousness and support.
When the Root Chakra is balanced there is a real clarity of understanding between the physical everyday reality that you are experiencing and the fact that there are also these higher spiritual realms (and Beings) that you have access to and that you are able to connect in with.
The self-reflection is around how can I have the best, most grounded, most embodied experience here in the physical reality whilst allowing myself to be guided by my Higher Self and my Guides. It is an experience of balance between the physical and the spiritual in a way that is supportive of you and everybody around you.
There is a deep feeling that no matter what life throws at you, you can handle it. You know that the universe has your back and that life is always conspiring in your favour, even when It is bringing you some challenges. You know deeply within that it is all for the evolution and expansion of your Soul.
WHAT DOES AN IMBALANCED ROOT CHAKRA FEEL LIKE?
Now let us take a look at how you are going to know that you are not in balance. An important point to note here is that chakras can be imbalanced through being overactive or underactive. Essentially there can be too much or too little prana (life force energy) moving through them.
When the Root Chakra is underactive (i.e. there is not enough energy moving through it) there is a feeling of disconnection from the body. Remember that the physical form that you currently inhabit is the vehicle that your soul has chosen to operate through in this lifetime. The body is intimately connected to your internal guidance system, your intuition. If you ignore or dismiss the information that the body is providing you with throughout the day this is a sign you are experiencing Root Chakra imbalance through deficiency.
Another sign that many people experience with an underactive Root Chakra is an inability to focus. This ability to focus is a real problem in today’s society because all of the external distractions that we have but it is an ability that we need to reclaim.
Through the lens of your relationship to money, if you find that you are unable to hold on to money as it is received in AND also to make it grow, this is a sign that that Root Chakra is out of balance.
If you struggle with setting aligned boundaries or are very disorganized, these are additional signs that there is not enough energy flowing through the Root Chakra.
When there is too much prana moving through the Root Chakra, the individual tends to experience a complete lethargy about life. There can be an obsession about hoarding and needing to prepare ‘for something.’ There is no larger trust in life itself and an addiction to control, security and staying firmly in the comfort zone.
HOW TO BALANCE THE ROOT CHAKRA
If you have identified with the description of an imbalanced Root Chakra, the work begins to identify WHY the Root Chakra is imbalanced. You can of course use your Akashic Records to ask why if you are struggling to understand.
For some people it may require inner child work. For others, it may require ancestral healing or working through birth trauma. For others, they may need to look into past life and ancestral issues. There are many potential reasons the Root Chakra has been destabilised by the energy of fear.
Practices to help you start connecting into and healing the imbalance of the Root Chakra:
Grounding. Connecting to the Earth through the soles of your bare feet or through the palms of your hands.
Massage. This can be self-massage or from someone else and it can be helpful to focus on the legs and feet due to the connection to between the Root Chakra and the lower extremities.
Yoga Nidra
Yin yoga
Restorative yoga
Slow breathwork practices
Tai chi
Qi Gong
Any practice that helps you connect into the physical body is going to help balance the Root Chakra.
THE IMPORTANCE OF PATIENCE WHEN WORKING WITH THE ROOT CHAKRA
The last thing I want to mention here is to be patient with this work. If you are someone who has been focussed on working with the higher three primary chakras or you are just naturally very connected to the ‘up and out’ spiritualization energies within, you will find that the Root Chakra feels slow in comparison. The body may feel heavy or dense compared to connecting into higher dimensions. True spiritual development takes time, and it takes patience.
IN CONCLUSION
Remember, the Soul is never in a hurry. The ego is the one who rushes. By taking the time to work on balancing the Root Chakra anytime it feels destabilised, you will find you can continue your evolution and expansion in a way that is grounded and embodied.
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