A chakra is the subtle, invisible and energetic part of a nervous plexus of the physical body. The Sanskrit word Chakra literally translates to wheel or disk. These swirling wheels of energy where physicality and consciousness meet correspond to massive nerve centers in the body. Each of the seven main chakras contains bundles of nerves and major organs as well as our psychological, emotional, and spiritual states of being. The chakras are placed in our etherical body and shine outside our physical body. We have 7 major chakras that correspond to the 7 main glands of our endocrine system. The chakras are aligned to the spine.

The Root Chakra

The word Muladhara breaks down into two Sanskrit words: Mula meaning “root” and Adhara, which means “support” or “base.” Located at the base of the spine, the pelvic floor, and the first three vertebrae. The root chakra links the individual with the physical world. It defines the concept of “Being” and “Accepting Being”. Associated to the red color, the root chakra is responsible for our sense of safety and security on this earthly journey and serves as the foundation to evolve and build the personality.

This is the first of the chakras of matter. Balancing the root chakra creates the solid foundation for opening the chakras above. Imagine that you’re laying the foundation for a house in which you’re going to live for a long time. A solid foundation embedded in firm soil will provide the stability you need to create a home filled with joy for years to come.

The root chakra is comprised of whatever grounds you to stability in your life. This includes your basic needs such as food, water, shelter, and safety, as well as your more emotional needs such as feeling safe and secure and being able to let go of fear. When these needs are met, you feel grounded and safe, and you tend to worry less day to day.

Whether or not you feel secure now often has less to do with what you have at your disposal and more to do with how safe you felt as a small child. When you consider psychologist Erik Erickson’s stages of development, the first stage—trust versus mistrust—is closely related to your root chakra development. As infants, if your caregivers readily gave you what you needed to survive with consistency, you felt secure in the world. But if you felt unsafe as a child both emotionally and physically (delayed in giving you what you needed) you may find yourself with first chakra blockages.

Imbalances in the Root Chakra

The symptoms of Imbalance in the root chakra can manifest in a lot of different ways.  Emotionally you may experience anxiety disorders, fears, nightmares, feeling of being abandoned, scared, isolated, restlessness, ungrounded, anger, greediness and feeling disconnected from your body and/or the world around you.

The difficulties of letting go, depending on the security of others, a job, materialistic things, or specific habits, and low self esteem are all symptoms of an imbalanced root chakra.

Physically the imbalances may manifest as problems in the colon, with the bladder, with elimination, or with lower back, leg, or feet issues. In men, prostate problems may occur. Eating disorders can may also be related to a root chakra imbalance.

How to Balance Muladhara?

You can use a lot of different techniques to bring harmony to your root chakra. Grounding meditation is amazingly useful to help balance this center. Your sense of connection to Nature is one of the most important to take care of in order to connect with the Root Chakra. Here is a very powerful exercise:

Cedarwood, Clove, Cypress, Marjoram, Myrrh, Patchouli, Vetiver.

Related Gemstone: 

Agate, Bloodstone, Garnet, Ruby, Smoky Quartz