Following on from last week’s introduction to Chakras our first chakra to look at is Muladhara chakra. This is known as the root chakra and is aligned to the moola bandha, the yogic name for our pelvic floor muscles where it is also located. Each chakra has various colours, elements and glands related to it. This chakras colour is red, the element earth and the associated gland the gonads, in relation to where it is located. Additional associated body areas are the base of the spine, legs, feet and large intestine.
As well as having associated elements each chakra has a symbol or yantra, a variation of which is seen in the header of this blog. Each element of this yantra is symbolic and represents something to do with that chakra. I’ve listed some of these symbols relating to Muladhara’s yantra below.
– A square – represents the four functions of the psyche and the earth
– Airavata the elephant – reminds us of a instinctive animal nature
– An inverted triangle – upward expansion and consciousness
– A phallus – male energy
– A crescent moon – the divine source of all energy
This yantra and the others of the other chakras can be used both in a symbolic representation but also as a meditation tool. The symbol can be used as a visual to concentrate on prior to meditation, bringing a focus and clarity to the mind. The chakras are a great focus for mediation anyway, whether it be colour visualisation, yantras or physical location. Maybe try focusing on the colour red and your Muladhara chakra next time you meditate.
The yantra also gives us a clue to Muladhara chakra’s main qualities and functions. Muladhara chakra is aligned to feelings of safety, grounding, stability and prosperity due to its function of channelling energy from the earth, through the feet and up into the body. When this chakra is unbalanced the you can feel needy and have low self esteem whereas if the root chakra is balanced then there is lots of energy and a strong will to live. Muladhara chakra is easily unbalanced by large changes in life, for instance moving house or changing job, anything which leaves someone feeling ungrounded. Muladhara chakra is also the chakra at the beginning of the seven year cycles and is the foundation for the development of our personalities.
Yoga poses can be used in order to try and correct imbalances within the chakras. These can either be active or passive asanas. Active postures clear excess or negative energies from the body by moving the energy from base to crown whereas passive asanas harmonise energy by moving it down through the body. Some that can be used for Muladhara chakra are grounding ones which bring the practitioner back to the earth and the body. They should be focusing on the feet and opening the hamstrings, flowing the energy up through the legs.
For instance tree pose is a good grounding posture as it moves the prana or energy up the spine and demonstrates balance and a state of inner stillness rather than the flighty nature of the unbalanced chakra. Trikonasana or triangle is also a good active asana as it creates a sense of earthiness in the feet, legs and pelvic floor. The shape of the legs also reminds of the triangle in the yantra and is symbolic of the movement of earth energy moving upwards. Hamstring stretches such as Ardha Hanumanasana or half splits are also good as tight hamstrings create a sense of being prepared to run away, the opposite to the grounding feeling we are looking for in this chakra. Other good poses are skandasana (deep side lunge), warrior 1 and malasana or hindi squat which returns us to an innate close to earth stance.
All of these are great postures to build into a sequence in order to instil some grounding. In the modern western world we so rarely stop to ground ourselves so give these a go, maybe meditate on the colour red focusing on your root chakra and see how you feel afterwards.
Namaste