Muladhara Chakra

My Mom loves popcorn...and so do I, and sometimes when she's over for a visit we pop up a fresh batch and enjoy it together. At the moment, my husband and I are staying with a friend as our newly purchased condo undergoes renovations. Being a guest in his house, I used his pot which has a glass lid for making the popcorn. As I stood over the stove, I could see the kernels burst and seemingly jump around the pan and I could relate...at times, we are like popcorn, ungrounded and flying all over the place. Without a lid on the pot, complete and utter chaos would ensue.

It got me to asking myself what it is that I was needing at the moment. Being in the midst of a major life transition, leaving a home of 18-years and downsizing into another abode I am feeling the need for stability so, over the next few weeks, we'll be exploring the seven chakras. The word Chakra means wheel and they run from the base of our spine to the crown of our head.  And it's certainly a good time to get grounded as I not only move into a new life chapter but also as we launch into the holiday season.

Located at the base of the spine, the Muladhara chakra connects us through our physical bodies to the energy of Mother Earth. We feel this energy through our bones, muscles, and tissues. Just as we might say that a building has "good bones" that create the foundation of the structure, we too can feel our physical nature through our bones and the muscles that move them. This physical body of ours is how we connect into the physical world around us, not only through movement but by standing barefoot on the soil or sand, getting our hands into the dirt through gardening, hugging a tree or touching a huge granite rock during a hike. We can feel the pulse of the earth, her energy, and rawness.

To connect to this field of experience we can also visualize the base chakra as a spinning vortex of deep, vibrant red. If we close our eyes and imagine an outward spinning of red at the base of our spine we can magnify the experience through repeating the seed or bija mantra for this chakra which is LAM (sounds like LOM). We can repeat this over and over to create not only a humming at the energy center but a vibration at the lips with the sound of "mmmmm". Try lam lam lam lam lam lam lam...repeatedly for a few minutes and feel its effects.

The base chakra is about security, safety, community, and connection and when it's in balance, we feel as though we are able to move freely about our life. When out of balance it can lead to a sense of insecurity and greed. We need this balance in order for our energy to continue to rise up through the higher chakras, so spending time being on the earth is a vital foundation for further growth. We can also use affirming statements or mantras to enhance our connection:

I am safe.

I trust more. Fear Less.

I am centered and grounded.

A powerful visualization is to sense a radiant orb of red light, centered in front of the sacrum, at the base of the spine within the pelvis. From this light, we send a powerful tap root down our body and embedding it into the earth's energy. Since this chakra is also associated with our tribe and ancestry, we might find it useful to honor the qualities of our ancestors, who forged a path for us to exist and, at the same time, perhaps imprinted within us some qualities that no longer serve us. We can let go of what we don't need sending it to Mother Earth who can transmute any form of energy. The image can be like an esoteric umbilical cord connecting us to a safe energy from which we originated and from which we get nourished.

I also made a connection this week from a powerful vision I had as my husband and I were leaving Australia and returning to live in the States in 1997. The image was of me standing ankle-deep in the iron-rich Australian sandy soil of the Outback, often called "The Red Center". I felt that before I could literally uproot my Australian life, I needed to connect into the powerful roots of where I had been. I needed to have a sense of security and familiarity as I was about to undergo a massive life shift.

So notice if you're feeling unsettled and either literally or metaphorically place your feet in the soil in a favorite place of yours on the earth. Allow yourself to get grounded and supported by the earth's "mother" energy and know that when you do, no matter where you are physically in the world, you will always be home.