ROOT CHAKRA
Chakra One:

Earth, Physical identity, oriented to self-preservation
Located at the base of the spine, this chakra forms our foundation. It represents the element earth, and is therefore related to our survival instincts, and to our sense of grounding and connection to our bodies and the physical plane. Ideally this chakra brings us health, prosperity, security, and dynamic presence.
The 1st chakra: Muladhara, or root chakra
The seat of the immense power of the kundalini...

(a) The energy content of this chakra is tribal power. Archetypally, the word tribe co notates group identity, group force, group will power, and group belief patterns. The first chakra is the family we are born into; ancestral patterns; DNA. It is our connection to traditional family beliefs that support the formation of identity and a sense of belonging to a group of people in a geological location. It is all about how we handle being in a group identity - we experience the power of sharing a belief and a moral code with other people. We learn how to live honorably with one another, and how to bond. We learn the truth that "All is One" through experiences connected to group dynamics . We are connected to all of life and we learn through the energy of this chakra that every choice we make and every belief we hold exerts influence on the whole of life. The first chakra deals with lessons related to the physical world - to be part of a tribe is a primal need - to be completely dependent for one's basic needs.

(b) The first chakra grounds us - it is our root system. The root chakra takes in energy from the earth and also allows us to ground spiritual energy much as a lightning rod grounds electricity. It gives us stability. Orients us in time and space and to our 5 senses. Being sense oriented, it gives us literal, not symbolic interpretations of the world.

(c) It gives us The stability to let go sexually and to experience pleasure with complete abandon - to soar in ecstasy and know we can return safely.

(d) Physical energy and the will to live - joy in life - basic survival instincts - eating, sleeping, self preservation - keeps us going until we complete what we came here to do.

(e) Outer authority/mass consciousness - having an external center of gravity.

(f) The foundation of mental and emotional health.

(g) A need for logic, order, and structure (tribe/ childhood).

Love manifests as learning loyalty, a code of honor, justice, and tribal support - loving our own kind. Accepting and acting accordingly to the spiritual truth that All is One. Your bond to your physical family is symbolic of your connection to everyone and all that is life. Your bond to your physical family is symbolic of your connection to everyone and all that is life. Violating this energy bond such as considering those who are different from us as being less than us, creates conflict in our spirit and therefore within our spiritual body.

The ultimate lesson of the first chakra is that we must shift our faith in order to see that the only real justice is Divinely ordered, to see God's reasoning and what happens as Divine plan, not as human punishment or tribal law - seeing our tribal circumstances as "arranged by God" to promote spiritual advancement, In order to move from human to Divine authority we must evolve beyond misperceptions that contradict the truth "All Is One".

Primary fears: fear of physical survival, abandonment by the group, loss of physical order.
Root Chakra Qualities & Attributes
Root Chakra: Root of Support (Muladhara)
Location: In the perineum at the base of the spine
Color: Red
Musical Note: C
Type of music: Drumming
Element: Earth
Aspect of intelligence: Administrative
Sensory experience: Smell
Crystals: Ruby, bloodstone and hematite
Aspects of the solar system: Earth and Saturn
Astrological association: Capricorn
Metal: Lead
Earthly location: The Indian preserves and their sacred lands. The sacred lands of all indigenous people
Mythological animal: White elephant with seven trunks
Plant: Sage
Qualities: Patience, structure, stability, security, the ability to manifest your dreams
Life issues: To value the material as sacred, to find trust in place of despair, to persevere
Physical activities: Yoga, movement of any kind that activates the legs and the feet. Any form of activity that is grounding, physical and demands presence
Spiritual Activities: Noticing the beauty and perfection of the natural world
Positive Archetype: Mother (the Mother is a person, either male or female, who is nurturing, positive and hopeful. Mothers encourage, acknowledge and affirm our being through love, kindness and absolute faith in the goodness of all. They make the dark moments bearable because they bring us hope of a positive outcome)
Negative Archetype: Victim
Angelic Presence: Archangel Michael, leader of the heavenly armies against the forces of evil

Associated Base or Root Chakra Illnesses
There are various illnesses and emotional problems said to relate specifically to blockages in each individual chakra center.  In addition, we will discuss which color will clear blockages or stimulate the centers.  You can use these colors as visualization tools when carrying out spiritual healing, or conversely use appropriately colored crystals, or actively suggest that the person wears a particular color.

Kidney or bladder problems, or problems with the process of elimination, obesity and with  the lower back.  Affected by fear, anger and sexual urge.  Those with ME may have blockages here.  Clear blockages using white light.  Stimulate the chakra using red or orange.  Practitioners of natural remedies often suggest this chakra can be balanced merely by standing on earth.

The Essential Oil – The essence of Muladhara
The Essence of Muladhara is a blend of Cedar Wood, Patchouli, Rose Geranium and Clove pure essential oils. Single oils such as cinnamon and Sandalwood may also be used... which provide you with a sense of grounding to mother earth, awareness of our physical body, connection to the concept of being and belonging, self acceptance and an overall feeling of safety.

Cooking for the Root Chakra
The root chakra correlates to Mother Earth, the quintessential representation of humankind's foundation and source of all nourishment, the ground on which we walk and from which we flourish and ascend. Within the root chakra is contained the Ming-Men fire, the kundalini energy, the vital force activating and sustaining our beings, particularly the true essence of our soul beings... In light of this, the root chakra is nourished and activated by warming and grounding foods such as cooked grains and beans and "root" vegetables, particularly the sweet ones of orange-red color - carrots, beets, squash - and also the earthy-brown burdock root, especially powerful as a blood tonic. The sweet taste of pressure-cooked brown rice or millet and the sweet taste of these vegetables are received by the body as "comfort foods". They nourish the spleen which is the major player in the production of our blood and in the regulation of our blood-sugars. Whereas the blood-red beet and the rich burgundy-colored adzuki bean greatly tonify and stimulate our blood... When our body's earth element, the spleen and stomach, are balanced, stable and happy, we, in turn can experience our inner strength and integrity and our essential life purpose.

Affirmations for the Root Chakra:
I trust in the goodness of life to carry me through.
I belong wherever I am.
I choose life.
I affirm my right to the life I know I want.
I cultivate consistency, stability and a wholesome structure to support me through life's changes.
I accept myself as I am.
I am grateful for the experiences of my life.
I am safe, I trust in the natural flow of life.
I take my natural place in the world content in the knowledge that all I need will come to me in the right time and space.
I am secure and grounded in the physical form and give thanks to Mother Earth for the nourishment, shelter, and stability She gives me.

Root Chakra Colors
Red is the color of the life force. It represents courage, passion, anger and even violence. It is the color that represents earth energy, anchoring us to the planet that sustains us. It is the most visible color in the entire spectrum and has been used traditionally to signify danger, poison or even a threat. The color pulls the retina forward so that our energy is engaged outside of ourselves. It warms, heats and tones our blood. Too much red can raise blood pressure and create irritation.

Root Chakra Meditation
Open the Root Chakra
Let the tips of your thumb and index finger touch.
Concentrate on the Root chakra at the spot in between the genitals and the anus.
Chant the sound LAM.
 
Take a deep breath and pull it down through your body to the very base of your spine, the seat of the first chakra. As you release the air, relax all the muscles in your toes, feet and legs. Take in more air and focus on your connecting point to the earth. Now release the air, .. relax down through your body, and continue to send your attention deep into the center of the earth. Picture magnetic lines of force coming from the earth's core, connecting with your own root center. Allow that force to arise within you, from below.
Imagine a feeling of power surging into this "root" center from the deep center of the earth. As it increases, keep your attention on this powerful magnetic energy at the bottom of your spine.
Focusing at the base of the spine, imagine that with each breath, energy collects and builds up there. Continue to relax, and sense the feelings in the coccyx, perineum, anus, and deep inside your pelvic cavity, the foundation of your body. Sensing your root center, breathe as if the earth's energy is coming directly into you from below. Allow the energy to build, like a growing, magnetic force.
Feel the weight of your attachment to the earth: its gravitational pull on your body, through the mass of rock.. dirt.. clay.. and minerals. Sense the huge mass of the planet under you, pulling you down towards dense earth. You are born of this earth, and when you die, your body will return to it.
Earth animal that you are, you eat of the earth and eliminate earth fertilizer. Your awareness is purely biological, immersed in life's ecological cycles. In the womb of creation, you are pulsating flesh, bound by living sinews and fibers. The dominant color is blood red. Smell your own odors. Feel the cool dirt.
Be aware of your pelvic area, legs, and feet. Feel the density of your bones, the core and support structure of your body, minerals taken up from the earth and deposited inside you, compacted by gravity, formed against the pull of the earth.
You are at the most primitive stage of evolution. Your behavior is animal-instinctual and reactive. You are motivated by survival drives, such as hunger and fear. You are isolated and fiercely individual. All you know of reality is physical and self--referent. Like an infant, you identify solely with the body, and exist in a sensory, material realm of stimulus and response. You experience yourself at the center of everything that happens. You love to eat and sleep. You fear pain, and death.
Your sole purpose is self-preservation. Persistent and self-sufficient, you can be greedy or aggressive. Allow yourself to acknowledge your "dark" side, and your potential for "small- mindedness," for it is the necessary lesson of this level of existence. Know yourself as an inheritor of animal instincts, and primitive tendencies. Fully accept that you are a creature of habits and needs, rooted in the earth.
Continuing to breathe in and out through your lowest nerve plexus, allow your body to begin to feel that you are in a safe place. Perhaps you feel secure and comfortable enough to let go of your protection.. to relax, and sigh. You could use the affirmation. "I belong on this earth." (repeat..) or "Here and now, I feel safe." (repeat..)
As your breath pulls up the Earth's energies, picture at your root center, a red square box, filled with dark, rich soil which is moist and cool. Inside, a coiled serpent is sleeping... Your task is to warm the environment, and so wake up the snake.

Root Chakra Energy Exercises
These exercises are meant to increase energy flow throughout the body. They are meant to especially open and ease the flow of energy into the Root Chakra

They are mostly stretches for the acupuncture meridians and the spine.
As this set of exercises is easy and doesn't take much time to do, it's ideal to start the day with. If you're not used to doing exercise in the morning, you might find it wakes you up better than a cup of coffee. It makes you feel clearer and calmer and better able to face challenges.
For all exercises: keep your body as relaxed as possible and breath from your belly. Do them for the left and the right side of the body.

FLEXIBILITY PROCEDURE FOR THE FEET
This exercise makes your muscles relaxed and supple, as several acupuncture points that have this effect are stimulated. As the rest of the exercises go more smoothly when the muscles are in better condition, this is the perfect one to start with.

Do this while sitting on something low, a bed e.g.
1. Put the lower part of your left leg on top of the other knee. Hold it with your left hand by putting the hand over the ankle with the thumb over the achilles tendon. (Do not press the thumb in the space between the tendon and the ankle.)
Hold the sole of the foot with your right hand by putting the hand over the ball of it.
Now rotate the foot with your right hand for say 20 times total. Turn both directions and keep the foot relaxed.
2. Hold the left foot with your left hand on top. Hold all toes with the right hand, by putting the fingers on top, thumb around the big toe and top part of the palm under the toes. Rotate the toes, both directions, about 20 times. Again keep the foot relaxed.
Repeat with the right foot.

CROSS-LEGGED EXERCISES
As these exercises are pretty light to do, they are good for doing in the beginning of the set.
Sit cross legged on a mat on the floor or on a bed.
- Hold your ankles with your hands, and slowly bend your back forwards and backwards.
Do 4 - 10 times.
- Sit with your lower legs tucked under you, with your buttocks on your heels. Slowly bend your back forwards and backwards, while keeping your hands on your knees.
Do 4 - 10 times.
- Cross your fingers and put them in your neck. Alternate moving your upper back sideways, to the left and right. Let your elbow almost touch the ground at each side.
Do 4 - 10 times.
- Turn your head and look back over your shoulder.
Do this twice on both sides.
- Gently pull at your ears at all sides.
As the ears contain acupunture points that access the whole body, it is a good idea to enhance their connectivity by this exercise.

SITTING EXERCISES
To open the meridians in the legs.
- Sit on a bed or a mat with your legs straight. Alternate turning both of your feet to the right and to the left. Turn far enough for the sides of your feet to touch the surface.
Do about 1 minute.

STANDING EXERCISES
To wake up some more.
Get up on your feet and stand with your feet parallel, and shoulder width appart. The knees should not be locked, but a bit bended and relaxed, so energy can flow uninterrupted.
- Walk in place, by alternately stand on the toes of each foot. Move the opposite hand forwards, as if walking.
Do 10 - 20 times.
- Move just your shoulders around, up, to the back, to below, to the front.
Do 4 - 10 times.
- Turn your arms, in windmill fashion, in front of you.
Do 4 - 10 times.
- Turn your arm at the side, holding the muscle right under the armpit with the other hand.
Do with both arms, 4 - 10 times.
- Gently stretch one arm up and one downward.
The upper hand with palm facing upward, fingers pointing to opposite side,
the lower hand with palm facing downward, fingers pointing to the front.
Keep for a one or two seconds, then slowly and relaxed change positions with palms facing each other.
Do 4 - 10 times.
- Put your hands on your hips and turn your bottom around, by moving it to the front, then to the right, to the back, to the left, the front, and so on. Also move counterclockwise.
Do 4 - 10 times.
- Let your arms dangle at the sides and turn your upper back around to the left, to the right, and so on. Keep your arms and upper body relaxed, move from your hips.
Do 10 - 20 times.
- Put your heel on a table or chair to stretch the back of your leg. Lay your hands near the knee to gently stretch a bit further.

FOOT MASSAGER ROLLER
Reflex zones on the sole of your foot can influence you entire body. How to massage your foot soles using a roller and some experiments.
 In natural health stores, one can buy a roller that's intended to massage the soles of the feet. There are several ways such a roller may be built. The one I have is for one foot at a time and has three separate rollers, but there are also rollers that are for both feet together, or that have only one roller.
On the feet, and particularly on the soles, there are areas that are connected to every part of the body. By massaging a particular area on the sole of the foot, one more or less massages a part (like an organ) somewhere else in the body at a distance. One can feel that part actually become warm while massaging.
This can have a healing effect or can be used to just become a bit more awake. A roller is a simple way to massage the whole foot sole at once, and thereby reaching the bigger part of the body.
There are more body parts that are similarly connected to the rest of the body. The hands, the ears and the face also are.
 One can become aware of this innerconnectedness by some simple experiment. Roll the sole of your foot on a broom stick (without broom) or a tube or something. While the stick is pressing on different parts of the footsole, you can actually feel it move through your body as well. Actually you can simultaneously feel it moving through your face.
You can do a similar experiment with the palm of your hand.
On the feet, it's not just the sole that has reflex zones. The sides and upper part of the feet are sensitive as well. Keep in mind that these parts aren't massaged by using a foot massage roller.

GYAN MUDRA
Hand position
The tips of the thumb and index finger touch, other fingers are straight but relaxed.
 
Emotional / spiritual use
Stimulates the Root chakra, and grounds.
Calms and improves concentration.

OPENING ROOT CHAKRA
Using the body and becoming aware of it
The Root chakra, being the first chakra, is the most physical one. This means that any activity that makes one more aware of the body, will strengthen this chakra.
This particularly goes for physical activity. One can do sports, martial arts, walking, yoga, Tai Chi, it all helps. But also house-cleaning, manual dishwashing and car-cleaning. It is important not to do things that make one insensitive to pain and not to overdo it. Exhaustion is just not good.
Zen meditation is an activity that seems to be the contrary of physical, but actually is. This can make one very aware of the body.

GROUNDING
The Root chakra is particularly about connecting to the ground. Expressions like "Be on firm ground" and "Getting on your feet again" convey a good connection and an open Root chakra. "To lose ground" and "Getting swept off your feet" convey a closed (or almost closed) Root chakra. When your Root chakra is closed too far, you may actually feel that your feet don't seem to really touch the ground.
This is an exercise to strengthen this connection to the ground.
Stand up straight and relaxed.
Put your feet shoulder width apart.
Slightly bend your knees.
Put your pelvis somewhat forward.
Keep your body balanced, so that your weight is evenly distributed over the soles of your feet.
Sink your weight downward.
Keep in this position for several minutes.

Contracting bottom muscles
By contracting the muscles that are between the anus and the genitals, the Root Chakra is stimulated. At each inhalation, contract these muscles inward, at each exhalation, relax. Do this for a few minutes.
This can be done while sitting, standing or walking.