The word chakra comes from the Sanskrit word, meaning 'wheel'. It is translated from Hindi and it means 'wheel of spinning energy'. They are thought to be spinning disks of energy that should stay 'open', balanced, and aligned, as they correspond to nerves, major organs, and areas of our energy body that affect our emotional and physical well-being.
The root chakra, or mūlādhāra chakra in Sanskrit, is the first of seven chakras. It is located at the base of your spine and is associated with the color red. At its most basic level, the root chakra is concerned with needs and the sense of security. It governs your senses of stability, safety, strength, and commitment. It is responsible for self-preservation and feeling grounded. When our root chakra is balanced and open, we manifest our desires quickly and effectively.
When our root chakra is blocked or unbalanced due to everyday stressors of life, unexpected hardships, or any other number of factors, you may feel powerless, disconnected, ungrounded, or stagnant causing your ability to manifest to be unstable. It's like building a house. You can't build a house without a stable foundation, just like you can't effectively manifest your desires without feeling grounded stable, and secure.
One of the most important part of manifesting is grounding. Grounding yourself is important because it is like planting the roots of a tree deep into earth, so it isn’t swaying different directions or about to fall over because of the wind. In our case, we want to ground ourselves so we are centered, aligned, and aren’t emotionally thrown around by the different energies or situations we may encounter.
There are many ways to unblock and balance the root chakra, such as physical activity. Yoga poses such as mountain pose and sun salutations are grounding poses that can help you feel present in your body and breath.
Crystals are another way that can aid in balancing and healing your root chakra. Try keeping them in your purse or pocket to benefit from their energetic properties or you can even meditate with them. Check out these four crystals, which are included in our Root Chakra Crystal Set.
