Do you often feel anxious and afraid? Are you overweight or do you have difficulty keeping weight on? Do your knees and legs ache? Do you have digestive difficulties, either frequently constipated or with diarrhea? Do you hoard things or feel naked leaving the house with fewer than 3 bags… in case you forget something? Are you never prepared? Do you have issues with your bones or your teeth? Are your finances a mess and do you have trouble gaining or keeping wealth? Is your home a mess? Are you constantly apologizing for things that aren’t even your fault? Is it difficult for you to sit still or difficult to motivate yourself?
“Yes” to any of the above questions can indicate an imbalance in your first chakra, your root chakra.
When the root chakra is in balance we feel safe and secure in our lives. Our basic needs are met. We have financial stability and 
are comfortable in our own homes. We feel worthy and deserving and do not apologize for being ourselves. We feel at home in our bodies. We know that we will be provided for and supported in this life. Our digestion is regular and our health is vibrant.
The root chakra can become imbalanced for many reasons. While you were in utero was your mother’s life stressful and chaotic? Did you feel unsafe as a child? Was there violence in your childhood? Did you move a lot during childhood? Did you bond with your mother in the first year of life? Did any of these circumstances listed above happen to your parents? (Energetic patterns can be passed on from previous generations.)
Does any of this speak to you? Do you know someone who may be imbalanced in their first chakra? Are you imbalanced?
So, what do you do to bring your root chakra into balance?
First, you need to look at the traits of first chakra imbalance that you are experiencing.
Root chakra is about feeling grounded and connected, about being in your physical body and taking up space here on this Earth.
Here are some ideas to consider as you are working with your root chakra:
Get outdoors in nature, dig in the dirt, play in your garden.
Movement is helpful for people whose first chakra energy is excessive- walking, hiking, being outdoors, being barefoot.
Eating root vegetables is supportive of the root chakra as is eating protein.
Sitting and visualizing a red ball of energy at the base of the spine and concentrating your energy there will help to bring energy to the root chakra as will picturing your “roots” which symbolize your connections to family, friends, your tribe.
One of the best ways to balance the root chakra is to look at what has caused it to become imbalanced and analyze what you are doing now to perpetuate that pattern.
Chakra imbalances are really just patterns that have become hardwired into our energetic system and that manifest in our daily lives, our relationships and our health.
Physical conditions are the last ditch effort of your energetic system to get you to pay attention to what needs to be healed. Exploring what your first chakra patterns are- meaning those patterns that relate to your finances, home, health, family, fear, anxiety- is the way to begin to bring them into balance.
Then we start to heal the unhealthy patterns through a multi-pronged approach:
-What caused the imbalance? What needs to be healed with your family from the past?
-Begin to notice what your first chakra looks like when it gets imbalanced.
Do you get constipated?
Does your house turn into a dumping ground?
Do your eating habits change drastically?
Do your movement habits change drastically?
-Once you have noticed how the imbalance plays out in your life, without judgment, and as an act of self-care and loving kindness for yourself, counter those habits. Set up a support system of friends or family that can help keep you in check. Or create an accountability system for yourself.
-As a long term maintenance plan, spend some time figuring out your triggers and what brings your first chakra out of balance. Is it traveling? What can you do while traveling to offset the imbalances? Go for a daily run, connect with your family that you are missing, create a morning or bedtime ritual for yourself that can be implemented and carried out no matter where you are- home, hotel or at your in-laws. Is it loud noises that cause you intense fear? Use your breathing to release the stress hormones and do some sort of exercise that gets you out of your head and into your body- jumping jacks, squats, push-ups. Have a plan in place that you know will help you through the triggering episode. Being mindful and thoughtful about your triggers and prepared with how you will deal with them is the key.
-As a long term chakra health plan, meditate on the root at the base of your spine and down into your legs and feet, visualize the color red. Some people may choose to focus their meditation each day on a different chakra, thereby touching on all 7 chakras each week. Use affirmations about your own safety, your own worth, your roots that are so strong and healthy, thriving.
The next post will be a 28 minute asana practice focused on the root chakra to get you moving and get you grounded!
The post Is A Root Chakra Imbalance Affecting Your Life? appeared first on Everyday Chakras.
