“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” ~ Carl Jung
Imagine your spine is a tree trunk with seven ascending flowers (chakras) growing out of it. These flowers are either opened or closed depending upon your health, mental disposition, and ability to communicate with the cosmos.
Muladhara chakra is the seat of Kundalini energy
These flowers emit a distinct energy unique to your personal frequency, but they are profoundly interconnected, both with each other and with the greater cosmos. This article will discuss the significance of the first of these chakras:
Muladhara, the root chakra.
If the crown chakra is the Übermensch (overman) of the Kundalini process, then the root chakra is the Untermensch (underman). But don’t allow this lowly connotation to fool you into thinking that the root chakra is any less important, or even less powerful. After all, there cannot be an over without an under.
There cannot be a flower without its roots. Opening the root chakra is reconnecting with the often neglected, often suppressed, savage, prima materia heart of man. It’s a tapping into the latent energy of the unconscious realms hidden beneath the soil of the human condition, dark and muddy, but alive in a way that subsumes all levels of individuation.
The root chakra is symbolized by a red lotus with four petals. It is located at the base of the spine in the coccygeal region (tailbone area), while its central activation point is located within the perineum. It is the lowest vibration of the body and has the slowest wavelength.
The four petals directly denote stability and foundational survival, and are indirectly related to the four sides of the square, the four directions, and the four elements: earth, air, fire, & water. The chakra extends downward, connecting us to the earth while ‘grounding’ us.
It is related to instinct and to the basic ‘fight or flight’ mechanism of the human condition. Known also as the seat of Kundalini, dormant kundalini rests here, wrapped around the four-petaled lotus, just waiting to be awakened.
The deity associated with this region is Indra who is often depicted riding a white seven-tusked elephant. The tusks symbolize the seven elements vital to physical functioning. He personifies the underworld, the unconscious abyss and the interconnectedness of all things rooted.
His lesson is that Humankind only seems to be an un-rooted being, but his un-rootedness is an illusion. We’re like walking trees, but all trees have roots. Like Allan Watts said, “Nature is always differentiated unity, not unified differences.”
The root chakra is the energy center of the entire Kundalini process, but it is also the toxin-release center. It connects us to the earth because that is where we receive all of the vital nutrients essential to our survival, and it is also where body toxins are released. The root chakra doesn’t just ground us physically, it also grounds us temporally by keeping us in the present moment.
Those whose root chakra is open tend to be healthier, more balanced, and grounded. They tend to be less fearful and more centered. Those whose root chakra is closed or underactive are often fearful, lack focus, are nervous, imbalanced, and disconnected, and tend to suffer from depression and autoimmune deficiencies, especially those dealing with the blood.
A beautiful video on Root chakra meditation with Tibetan singing bowls
Root Chakra Meditation/ How to Open the Root chakra
While meditating, focus your energy (or Qi) on the base of the spine. Notice how you feel about your connection to the earth. Literally relax and ‘drop’ your kegel muscles. Imagine your spine branching down into the earth like the roots of a tree.
Another video awakening video on balancing and tuning the Root chakra –
Visualize yourself receiving the full bounty of the earth’s ‘nutrients.’ Other ways of opening the root chakra are through aromatherapy, massage, yoga and exercise. Exhale the toxins and inhale the energy. Uncoil the Kundalini ‘snake’ wrapped around your sacred roots and guide it to the next level; to the second chakra: The Swadhisthana.
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