Root down to rise up.
I know it’s been a while, I was knocked out of alignment to work on some deep-rooted issues and traumas. These traumas were given attention to in the past but as soon as I was out of the danger zone I stepped away from the work, the practice, and they came to pay me a visit this summer.
While most of us know that what we don’t heal comes back in our lives until we finally look at it with love and patience to deal with it and heal it. I was faced with solidifying my Root Chakra. I talked about the Root Chakra in my newsletter briefly but I will take it one step further here and incorporate more strategies to rebuild it and understand what it is.
Do you remember learning about Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs? It helps me understand how the 7 main Chakras are structured. Abraham Maslow talks about the different levels of human needs in order to thrive in this life.
The first level of Maslow’s needs talks about having our physiological needs met like finances (food, water, shelter), the second talks about feeling safe in the world, the third talks about having love and belonging in our environment, the fourth talks about having the support for developing healthy esteem, and the fifth one talks about reaching the point of self-actualization. By attaining each level, according to Maslow, we can achieve self-actualization in our life. Similarly, the Chakras also align with those needs, however, they are formatted in a different way.
The first two of Maslow’s needs (physiological needs & safety) are both Root Chakra related. The third need (love & belonging) is related to the Sacral Chakra and the fourth (emotional support) is the Solar Plexus & heart Chakra. Lastly, the fifth of Maslow’s needs (self-actualization) combines the Throat, Third Eye, and Crown Chakras into one. BUT what happens when those basic needs (levels 1-4) are not present in the early stages of your life? When safety, security, and emotional support are lacking we will see a person who is anxious, exhausts easier, dysregulates quicker, lacks healthy coping mechanisms when experiencing challenges, and seeks external validation (people pleasing). These are all examples of not having a healthy foundation growing up.
Even though this happened in the past it does not go away until you can accept it and learn how to re-parent yourself. Learning healthy coping skills in order to implement them when needed is important for autonomous adults. Because these skills were not learned or molded in childhood, you have to learn and teach these skills to yourself and your inner child. These new skills are in addition to having community and connection, as they’re both very important, think of the relief you get after talking to a friend who can relate with you from past experiences. However, not everybody will know how to handle your situation, which is why developing healthy coping skills are important. You never want to rely on someone who will say something to further trigger you or give you a false belief about something important.
Another component of developing your Root Chakra is to practice connecting back to your body, practices such as yoga, tai chi, qigong, grounding meditation, and breathwork. Doing them on a daily basis so your body can incorporate them into your baseline and when you need them the body can easily remember them. Only using these modalities when we are in a fight or flight state will only get us to the “this isn’t working for me” phase. Find a time that works for you either in the morning after you wake up, mid-day, or sometime in the evening to become quiet and still with yourself.
Ok, so I think you understand what I mean by an underdeveloped Root Chakra. Now let’s talk about ways to build this important Chakra/skill in your life.
How to nourish your Root Chakra:
The first step is to become aware of the particular trigger that’s based on physical/environmental safety + security, finances (food, water, shelter) & how it affects you emotionally. Can you downgrade & regulate yourself?
Talking to your inner child in the moment, I recommend physically consoling yourself by crossing your forearms and rubbing your hands up and down your arms, you can say something like this, “I know you are scared because (BLANK) is happening but we are safe in this moment/ I will protect you/ I have your back/ I am here for you/ everything will be ok/ I hear you... if you do not feel safe, take action to feel safe. Then when you are in a safe space repeat the action and statement above.
If you can write down the thoughts that came from the emotional trigger do so, this is so you can separate yourself from those thoughts. Remember that the thoughts aren’t you. They are based on conditioning and maybe past traumas that stayed in your body.
Come up with statements you want to replace the negative feedback loop thoughts. Your personal statements or affirmations are similar to the above phrases in step 2. “I am safe, secure, & grounded/ I listen to my gut instinct/ I am worthy/ I am in control of my emotions…
Repeat steps 1-4 each day, write the affirmations on a sticky note on the mirror, write them in your journal and continue writing if the thoughts keep coming. Choose a time to ground and meditate, and breathe deeply and slowly. Remember you are a Soul experiencing life in a human body, you are beyond wise and capable of rebuilding your foundation.
Grounding Meditation
Sit on a chair with your feet on the floor and have your spine elongated.
Close your eyes and place your focus on the base of your spine, your tailbone.
Breathe deeply into the tailbone, inhale imagine your tailbone lengthens, and on your exhale imagine it curls in, do this 4x
Now imagine on the next exhale your tailbone is red & stretches deep into the core of the earth where it anchors.
Next take your awareness to your crown on your inhale and on your exhale take your awareness to your tailbone. Do this 4x
With your next inhale extend your breath to connect to your Higher Self w/e that means to you. That can be God, Mother Earth, the heavens, Source, Spirit…
Now you’re connected with your intuition/guides and grounded.
This is my favorite qigong channel on YouTube that you might like.
I’m here if you need further support. I’m offering 10% off your first session with me by using GMB10 at checkout.
