The Root of Your Power

The solar plexus chakra — the final of the lower chakras that relate to the physical realm.  As the name implies, it is our sun.  Our light. The light that lives within us that extends and emanates outside of us. It the source of our personal power. Our confidence, purpose, authenticity, willpower and identity live here.  It’s who we are at our core. Our magnetism, and energetic essence that is felt by those around us. 

The solar plexus is our drive. It is the fire within us that gives us fuel to follow our purpose, and forge a new path. It relates to our personal freedom. And leads us to our own transformation. It is all about the self (self-worth, self-trust, self-confidence, and self-authority). It is the light within us that illuminates our path. 

It is our gut instinct providing us with clarity and direction. Leading and guiding us. When we’re connected to this power center, it supports us in carrying out our unique purpose in the world. It’s the energy that gives us the power to bring our desires and ideas, that live in our sacral, to life. This energy simultaneously has the power to give life to our dreams, and brings our dreams to life. It fuels our momentum and feeds our direction. Forever burning and transforming. A self-sustaining energy that we have the power to kindle and ignite. And as we feed it, it feeds us in return. Giving us the power to propel us forward and ignite our personal power within, our purpose. Our direction. Our beautifully transformative force.  

Today’s Practice: In what ways are you dimming your light/not honoring your personal power? Is there something you’ve been thinking about doing that you haven’t taken action on because it looks different than what everyone else is doing/how everyone else is doing things? Remember we all have our own unique process, path and purpose. And your way of doings things will reflect your inner light and power. What’s one action step you can take today to get back into alignment with your personal power?

Sanskrit Name: Manipura 

Location: in between upper abdomen and breastbone/stomach area 

Element: Fire

Color: Yellow 

• Wear the color yellow, eat yellow foods, work with yellow crystals to strengthen this energy center

Affirmation: I am confident & authentic

Mantra: RAM

• Practice chanting this. The vibration of this sound is said to activate and cleanse this energy center
  
  

Sound: ‘oh’ as in go  

• Practice chanting this sound and focus on the vibration of the sound in your body
  
  

Frequency: 528 hz 

• Facilitates self healing and positive transformation. Also know as the “love frequency” and is said to bring transformation and an increased amount of love energy, clarity of mind, awareness, and inner peace. Meditate or listen to this frequency (can be found on Spotify or YouTube)

Aromatherapy: Rosemary, Lemongrass, Peppermint, Grapefruit, Chamomile.

The Root of Creation

The sacral chakra is where our creative ideas are born. Joy, passion, pleasure, and creativity live here. It is the center of our creative life force. A manifestation portal where our ideas are planted and come to life. As seeds grow in the darkness of the soil, so do our creations. For them to come alive, we must feed them with our creative energy, and tend to them in all of their stages.

Getting in touch with this energy requires us to open ourselves up to the creative essence flowing within us — our desires, passion, pleasure, and joy. It requires us to be both the vessel and the guide for these energies to be expressed through us in whichever way they desire to be expressed. This can look like movement, dance, connection, play, or any other form of artistic expression. The element associated with this chakra is water. And like water, our creative energy wants to move freely. It does not want to be restricted or blocked. And neither do our emotions, which are also housed in this center.

Our emotions can serve as a doorway for our creative self-expression. They are interwoven. Being in touch with our emotions and our body’s inner landscape allows us to not only connect more deeply with our creativity, wants and desires, but also with the external world and others. A quote that comes to mind is ‘people can only meet you as deeply as they’ve met themselves.’ The same holds true with life. Can you hold the depth of the moment in your body without closing off to it? Can you breathe in the fullness of the moment?

Connecting deeply with ourselves gives us the capacity to connect with and experience life in all of its fullness and depth. To fully experience and hold all of life’s pleasures. To meet life with an open heart and body, and allow life to move through us. Unrestricted. Free-flowing. And the same goes for connecting with others. When we’ve connected with ourselves on an intimate/deep level, the deeper we can connect with others, and experience intimacy in all of its forms — emotional, mental, and physical. This is why it’s so important to give attention to and nourish our root chakra because when we feel safe and secure in our body and the world, we can experience life more richly, deeply, and with pleasure.

Today’s practice: Give yourself permission to relax into life’s simple pleasures. The next time you’re enjoying a cup of coffee, a meal, a walk, or a connection with a loved one, can you drop into that moment a little deeper? Can you slow it down in your mind and breathe in the fullness of the moment (the warmth, the taste, the joy, or sensations of the environment) into your body? Soften into the moment and allow the emotion to expand into your body.

Sanskrit Name: Svadhisthana 

Location: Below navel 

Element: Water

Color: Orange

• Wear the color orange, eat orange foods, work with orange crystals to strengthen this energy center
  
  

Affirmation: I am creative

Mantra: VAM

• Practice chanting this. The vibration of this sound is said to activate and cleanse this energy center
  
  

Sound: ‘oo’ as in you  

• Practice chanting this sound and focus on the vibration of the sound in your body
  
  

Frequency: 417 hz 

• Facilitates positive change/transformation and creativity. Meditate or listen to this frequency (can be found on Spotify or YouTube)
  
  

Aromatherapy: Clary sage, rose, neroli or sweet orange, cinnamon. 

The Root of Your Foundation

image source: Unsplash

The root chakra is our foundation. Where it all begins, and the foundation we build upon. It is the first of our lower/physical chakras (our sacral and solar plexus belong to this group) — those concerned with earthly matters. Our sense of safety and security begins here. Think of your root chakra as soil. When soil is well nourished, seeds have the capacity and ability to grow, to break past the soil and rise to meet the sun’s warmth. When the soil’s conditions are not optimal, the seed’s growth becomes stagnant, and they may not grow to their full potential.

The root chakra develops from ages 0-7. Our most tender and impactful years that have the most influence on how we view ourselves, the world, and who we will become. Because the root chakra is our base, if this chakra is not balanced, the rest of the chakras may likely have some imbalances too. The beautiful thing about the chakras is that they can always be tended to and balanced.

In tending to our root chakra, we can begin the process of cultivating (or strengthening) our inner security and well-being while fostering self-trust and safety within ourselves. Inner child healing which consists of acknowledging the things we didn’t receive as children (our most tender wounds), and giving ourselves the love, nurturance, and security we needed and still need alongside the freedom to explore the world is a good place to start. Connecting with nature and grounding into her healing energy is a beautiful way to bring calmness into our life, body, and mind.

These practices allow us to become more present in the way we interact with life. They allow us to feel more at home in our body, and slowly open us up to experiencing life at a greater capacity. To hold whatever we experience whether it's joy, anticipation, love, etc. in all of its fullness. These practices can fill us with peace and the knowing that when life gets hectic, we can always find home and stability within ourselves and among the beauty, softness, and stillness of nature.

Sanskrit Name: Muladhara 

Location: Base of Spine

Element: Earth

Color: Red

• Wear the color red, eat red foods, work with red crystals to strengthen this energy center

Affirmation: I am safe

Mantra: LAM

• Practice chanting this. The vibration of this sound is said to activate and cleanse this energy center

Sound: ‘uh' as in cup 

• Practice chanting this sound and focus on the vibration of the sound in your body

Frequency: 396 hz

• Releases fear & guilt. Meditate or listen to this frequency (can be found on Spotify or YouTube)

Aromatherapy: Try earthy essential oils to ground and calm like Frankincense, Cedarwood and Sandalwood

Today’s Practice: Take a deep breath and tune into your body/root chakra. What can you give yourself today to feel more supported, secure or grounded? This can look like: taking a pause to reconnect with yourself, giving yourself a moment to rest and recharge, connecting with a loved one, crossing something off your to-do list that’s been on your mind, taking a break from your work day to go outside and feel the gentle cooling breeze or warm sun on your skin. Give yourself whatever you need today.