Stand Your Ground with Muladhara (Root) Chakra

by BethIn part 1 of my series on the chakras, The Chakras: Guides on the Path, I offered an overview of how to view the chakras as guides on the path through life. This post will cover Muladhara, the root chakra, and offer accessible practices for body, breath/energy, and mind.The word muladhara is loosely translated as “base of support.” Its location in the body is described in various ways: 

• Between the perineum and the pelvic bone
• Between the genitals and the anus
• Coccygeal plexus beneath the sacrum
• Base of the coccyx (tailbone)

This suggests that the location is where our base of support can be sensed or felt. The energy of this chakra is related to the qualities of safety, security, survival, and the earth element. It is generally associated with the eliminatory system, bones, legs, feet, coccyx, and the adrenal glands. An example of language that sharpens this association is the phrase ‘stand your ground.’ Finding ways to stand your ground in safety, security, and survival in these troubled times is a challenge, whether due to race, religion, ability, gender identification, ethnicity, religion, political affiliation, body image, etc. Feeling disconnected, stressed, and fearful can be an indication of the need to restore a sense of safety and security necessary for standing your ground. This points to a connection with the adrenal glands, which mediate our stress response (see About Stress: Acute Versus Chronic). When we work with the energy of this chakra, our goal is to remain strong within our own process while interacting appropriately with others and our environment.Feeling comfortable and at home in our own skin can be an indication that this energy is balanced. However, the additional stress many of us deal with these days often manifests as physical and psychological issues that challenge our ability to keep this energy in balance, including: 

• Chronic lower back pain
• Anxiety
• Sciatica
• Lethargy
• Hemorrhoids
• Constipation

I’ve had personal experience with both constipation (see Yoga for Occasional Constipation) and hemorrhoids. I’ve used my growing self-awareness to notice that these conditions occur most often when I’m dealing with financial insecurity, difficult relationships, and money or car problems. My yoga practice is always there to help me through. Here are three of my favorite practices for Muladhara chakra. See if they help you feel more safe, secure and connected to your internal strength and wholeness. Although the focus is on Muladhara chakra, all the others are affected because everything is connected (I like rhyming words).1. Physical Practice: Virabhadrasana (Warrior) In Yoga Teachers’ Toolbox, Joseph LePage recommends standing poses, such as Mountain Pose (Tadasana), Goddess Pose (Utkata Konasana), and Warrior 1 and 2. 'Warrior 1 is my asana of choice because I am able to keep my pelvis, spine, and head in a more comfortable alignment. You’ll find instructions, modifications and illustrations in Featured Pose: Warrior 1 and in the book Yoga for Healthy Aging. I practice with my hands on my hips to impart a deeper sense of resilience, strength, and grounding, as in the Wonder Woman Power Pose. Start with a 30 second hold and work up to 2 - 3 minutes per side. 2. Energy Practice: Adhi MudraThe Sanskrit word adhi means “primordial” and refers to our natural state of being. The mudra is said to bring the breath and energy to the base of the body, help with anxiety, and instill a deep sense of grounding and stillness. Instructions:

1. Sit with your spine comfortably aligned. 
2. Soften your chest and shoulders.
3. Close your eyes or keep them slightly open and gaze down at the floor. 
4. With both hands, form soft fists by placing your thumbs across your palms and folding your fingers around your thumbs.
5. Rest your hands, knuckles down, on your knees or thighs.
6. Hold the mudra and sit quietly for 2 - 5 minutes as long as you are comfortable.
7. Focus on your natural breathing process. 
8. When you are ready to come out, release the mudra and stretch your body in any way that your body needs to stretch.

In Mudras for Healing and Transformation, LePage, states that Adhi mudra should be practiced with caution if you have low blood pressure. I have low blood pressure but am able to practice Adhi mudra regularly with no problems. 3. Mental Practice: Roots Visualization
I learned this years ago from a yoga buddy. I use it to stand my ground in stressful situations. I also practice it when I’m feeling spacey and ungrounded.Instructions:

1. If appropriate, take off your shoes, connect your bare feet to the ground, and close your eyes. 
2. If you find yourself in a place or time where you cannot take off your shoes or close your eyes, direct your attention to your legs and feet to sense a deeper to the earth underneath you. 
3. Begin to visualize roots growing from your body, starting from the base of the spine. Feel roots reaching down through your legs through the bottoms of your feet to pierce through the earth’s crust. 
4. Visualize your roots branching and spreading, growing stronger and reaching deeper into the earth. Sense the strength, support, and the stability that your branching roots send back to fill your entire body.
5. With each inhalation, begin to draw in strength, support, and stability and allow that feeling to deepen your connection to the physical world and your place in it. 
6. Draw these qualities through the bones of your feet and legs to the base of your spine and all the way up to the crown of your head. Feel your entire body safe, secure, stable, and connected to the physical world, allowing you to stand your ground and speak your truth.
7. As you do this you may feel some tingling or pulsing in your feet and legs. That’s a good thing because energy flows where intention goes. You can shorten or lengthen the visualization as needed. When you attune yourself physically, energetically, and mentally to your need in the moment, you can stand your ground assertively, appropriately and confidently.

You can also do these three practices together. I find myself smiling when I do. Beth's self-awareness newsletter is published six times a year. It features informative, inspiring and entertaining tips for finding clarity, contentment, and resilience in a complicated world. For more information and to sign up for the newsletter go to www.bethgibbs.com.Subscribe to Yoga for Healthy Aging by Email ° Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook ° To order Yoga for Healthy Aging: A Guide to Lifelong Well-Being, go to Amazon, Shambhala, Indie Boundor your local bookstore.