The Mind/Body Connection: Feeling secure in Chakra One
By Nancy B. Loughlin
Published in News Press on June 4, 2013. Posted with permission.
Dancer Pose to open the first chakra.
There’s the physical body, and then there’s the energetic body.
The body’s seven major chakras, literally “wheels,” are invisible energy vortices along the spine. They are programmed by your life experiences and filter and guide your life energy. Ideally that energy flows.
But sometimes it’s blocked. It’s time to release the baggage.
The first of the chakras (the muladhara), located at the base of the spine, is associated with your senses of survival and security.
A well-functioning first chakra manifests itself in your emotions, behaviors, and body. You have a grounded sense of your right to have and your right to be here. You have healthy connections to your environment and community, food and your body. You deeply believe that all your needs will be met, and you can connect with others in meaningful, mutual and honest ways without fear of abandonment or rejection.
A first chakra imbalance impacts your sense of connectedness, making it either excessive or deficient. Do you have muladhara issues?
Take inventory. If you carry a purse, how loaded is it?
Look at your living space. Are you a collector or functioning on the scarcity principle? How do you feel about cutting down your number of possessions to 250? Are you cheap?
Is fear your default emotion?
Have you established and respected your boundaries with people? What is your relationship to trust?
Do you often fantasize about a specific dollar amount that would make you happy? Do you have a harmonious relationship with money? Do you stay in miserable jobs?
If you make a list of your sources of security, can they be taken away or end like jobs, cash, romantic relationships and friendships?
Do you find solace in addictive behaviors?
Okay, so there is first chakra dis-ease. What now? Yoga is one way to align and cleanse the chakra system and you can target the muladhara.
Tree pose( one-legged balances), standing Warrior poses (to develop lower-body strength), and Dancer are practice essentials. But mindfulness practices are helpful like walking barefoot in the grass and meditating on your connection to what is solid and real. Perhaps sink to yogic squat in the earth, and, explore your trust by tipping into Crow.
As you meditate after yoga and mindfulness practice, visualize or wear red. Chant the sound of LAM. Massage your feet. As always, breathe deep.
It’s during our meditative moments when we sense that we are not just bodies walking along the surface of the planet, but part of an energetic whole.
Be mature. This is the energy portion of the work. Emphasize the word work, and know it is just the beginning of self-awareness. It will invigorate your strength and resolve to address the issues of your past and empower you to transform to live here and now.
Your first chakra affirmation: The universe is abundant. All my needs are met.
Next week: Pleasure and feeling in the second chakra
