Root Chakra: “I Belong.”
By Jennifer Kelleher
Each month at Ocean Bliss Yoga, we have a studio theme to help guide our ever-evolving awareness and practice. This October, we are focusing on the root chakra. The Sanskrit name for the root chakra is muladhara, and it translates to mean, “root of existence.” Also known as chakra 1, the root chakra is a concentration of consciousness that sits at the base of the spine. It is our foundation, linking the physical realm to our internal energetic system. When balanced, we feel safe, grounded, stable, confident, and strong in the world. Contrarily, an imbalanced root chakra can lead to feelings of insecurity, anxiety, stress, and loss of control.
It is important to clarify that the root chakra is not something you have – it is what you are. Muladhara is about anchoring and grounding the Soulful Self in the body. It is about merging and being one with That. What if I told you that you are not the body or the mind, but the Soulful Self, in a body, creating a life, with the help of the tool that is the mind? Can you shift your perspective, even if just for a moment, and be the Soul seated in a body, instead of the body or mind trying to find the Soul?
This month, I encourage you to play with learning to walk, talk, and breathe as the Soulful One. Train your mind to surrender to the beautiful truth that you are. Come back again and again. Practice showing up as the Soulful Self in your body, relationships, job, conversations, actions, thoughts, and throughout all aspects of your life.
One thing you can do to balance muladhara is practice being present. The more present you are, the more Soul exists in the equation. Contrarily, a lack of presence puts you in the sympathetic nervous system, bringing out more protective personality, survivorship, and feelings of “fight or flight.” When the protective personality is up, you will feel tension, stress, worry, fear, and anxiety in your body and mind. Be aware of and notice when you start to project out into the personality so that you can stop yourself and come back to being the Soul. How can you tell if you are being the Soul? The Soulful Self in the body creates calm, joy, delight, adventure, and curiosity in the mind, openness in the heart, and stability and ease in the physical body, allowing for breaths that are smooth and deep. The Soulful Self knows that there is nothing to win or lose, and it leans into what brings joy. It takes one step at a time and trusts that by being fully here, loving fully into this current body and life, everything will work out exactly as it needs to.
Something else to work on this month is feeling the feeling of belongingness, which is different from fitting in. The Soul always belongs exactly where you are. Take a breath. What does undeniable belongingness feel like in your body? Can you drop in and feel the feeling of deep belonging, even when it is uncomfortable? Trust that you are always exactly where you need to be. If you are not fitting in, perhaps it is to show whoever you are with another perspective, or to expand your own bandwidth of what is comfortable.
I invite you to Ocean Bliss Yoga Studio for heart-centered community and practice. This month, we add new weekly yoga and Pilates classes, along with yoga for children, toddlers, and baby & me! Check out our full weekly schedule, along with a variety of specialty workshops and free offerings going on this October at oceanblissyoga.net.
