The root chakra is located between your legs and it’s all about feeling grounded and safe. The color associated with the root chakra is red and it’s also known as the first chakra (out of the seven body chakras).
Topics that come up around the root chakra include embodiment, family, and belonging.
When I feel balanced in my root chakra I’m able to acknowledge that I’m incarnated in a human body and I am willing to accept the self-care-taking that goes along with that truth.
What I’ve noticed in my exploration of the chakras is that I’m instinctively more comfortable hanging out in my higher chakras — the heart, throat, third eye, and crown. A lot of healers, artists, and other intuitive people feel that way, including folks who wrestle with addiction and compulsive behaviors. Developing an awareness of and a healthy relationship with the root chakra can be enormously beneficial to all people, and especially to anyone who identifies with that last descriptive sentence.
Getting into alignment with the root chakra gives us a strong foundation for the upper, more ephemeral chakras to operate without making us feel heady, anxious, and disconnected from life. Get to know your root chakra in order to feel more grounded on planet Earth, more able to stay present in this current time continuum, and increasingly able to become embodied in your physical form.
Getting grounded with your root chakra can make tripping your face off via ritual, ceremony, adrenaline expeditions, matter of fact day to day endeavors, and a vast array of fun spiritual practices way more possible and satisfying when the time comes to get high as can be with the other chakras on your journey.
Here are 10 specific ways to work with your root chakra:
MAKE AN ANNOUNCEMENT – The very first thing you can do to get down with your root chakra is to acknowledge that you want to go on that journey. Text your best friend, make a declaration on a poster sized paper in your bedroom, or whisper your intentions while gazing into your own eyes looking in the mirror.
GET GROUNDED, LITERALLY – For me, feeling in touch with my root chakra has a lot to do with a willingness to be present in my body on planet Earth in this time space dimension. One of the most free and quick ways I know how to do this is to go outside, take off my shoes, and feel the world under my bare feet. Walking or standing on any of these surfaces can feel grounding: grass, mud, moss, dirt, sand, and even sidewalk cement in a pinch, since, after all, that’s made from earth elements too.
SET UP A ROOT CHAKRA DIORAMA / STILL LIFE / ALTER – This is an easy, free, and playful way to tune into your root chakra. Choose a surface to arrange some objects where they won’t be disturbed. Go around your house collecting things that speak to your root chakra. Red fabric, plants (cuz of their roots), family heirlooms, heavy stones, candles, elephant figurines, and anything else that feels right to you, belong in this arrangement. Play! This is not a Serious Assignment. There’s no wrong way to make a root chakra alter.
TAKE A DREAMY BATH – Fill your tub with hot water and a cup or two of grounding, detoxifying epsom salts. Buy red roses (ideally not sprayed with pesticides) and have a mindful time separating the petals from the stems into a hot bath. Admire the luxury of this choice. Feel your worthiness. Feel any unworthiness that comes up and send extra love to that misconception of your self. If you want to take this trip one step further, keep the rose petals after your bath and let them dry in a bowl on your alter. Wanna ratchet things up a little more? Burn the dried red rose petals in a small fire, cast them into a moving body of water, or spread them in your garden on the next full moon.
USE YOUR VOICE TO CONNECT WITH YOUR ROOT CHAKRA – Make big, deep, loud guttural sounds. If this feels soooo weird, here are some ways to hold your own hand through the experience: play loud music to give yourself some privacy, do this exercise alone in your car, go on a roller coaster where everyone is yelling anyhow and no one is paying attention to your sounds.
PUT YOUR HANDS THERE – Yup! Put your hands between your legs. And on your pelvic bone. And on your butt if you want. The upper thigh area works too. You can wear clothes or you can be naked. This isn’t a sexual or sexy endeavor (unless you want it to be). This is about getting truly present with yourself and whatever comes up when your full focus is on your root chakra.
Notice how you feel. Notice if you disassociate from your body and lose some time. Notice if you don’t want to do this. Send yourself some love and compassion. You’re doing amazing work. Stick with it. Take a break. Breathe. Notice if you get any gentle, repetitive thoughts while your hands are placed in the vicinity of your root chakra. Listen to your intuition.
VISUALIZATION MEDITATION – Close your eyes and imagine a chord (or woven rope or thick vine) shooting down into the center of the earth from your root chakra. Follow this vision in detail as that chord goes down from your body through each later of dirt, water, sediment, crystals, rock, and lava.
Another first chakra imaging exercise is to imagine roots growing out of your feet into the earth, spreading out, seeking nourishment and grounding. In this meditation I like to remind myself that when I have strong, healthy, deep roots, I’m more able to grow strong, healthy, prosperous branches above ground.
ROOT CHAKRA AFFIRMATIONS – As you may know, I love working with affirmations. If you’re new to this practice or my work, check out my free affirmations download here. Following are my favorite root chakra nuggets to jam on in my journal, to focus on during meditation, and to tell my reflection in the mirror.
+ I am safe.
+ I want to be here. (And by “here” I mean in my body, on this planet, and in this present moment.)
+ I trust life.
GET THE RIGHT SOUNDTRACK GOING – I like having a list of songs that I can put on whenever I want to plug in to my root chakra. These are songs that help me to feel safe, secure, and grounded. You’re welcome to sample my root chakra playlist on Spotify as you find the right tunes for yourself.
MAKE A ROOT CHAKRA VISION BOARD – As a visual learner, this exercise really hooks me into the vibe of each chakra. You can do this project with magazines and a glue stick or you can use the magical digital tool of Pinterest. For my Root Chakra Pinterest Board I looked for things that felt grounded, rooted, earthy, safe, and solid to me. I also pinned images of red outfits, feet, trees, tiger eye and jasper stones, books, seeds, red foods, grounding yoga poses, first chakra hand mudras, canyon landscapes, abstract red art, and red doorways.
NOW IT’S YOUR TURN – I’m excited to hear what piques your interest in working with your Root Chakra. Are you going to make a playlist, Pinterest Board, or an alter in your bedroom? Are you working with a specific grounding affirmation? Shoot me an email at leah@withleahmoon.com or connect with me on IG @imleahmoon.
Leah Moon
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