Chakra Series: Root Chakra and Dynamic Balance
We will be starting a new chakra series with the intention of exploring and balancing our 7 chakra centers. The word chakra translates to wheel, and each of our chakra centers located along our spinal column can be envisioned as spinning wheels of energy. They are the muladhara (root) chakra, located at our sit bone, our svadhisthana (sacral) chakra located just around the belly button region, the manipura (solar plexus) chakra located in our abdominal region, our anahata (heart) chakra located in our chest region, our vishuddha (throat) chakra located in our neck region, our ajna (third eye) chakra located between our eyebrows on our forehead, and our sahasrara (crown) chakra located at the top of our skulls.
Each of the chakra centers can periodically alternate between states of balance and imbalance. It is possible even for multiple chakras to be out of balance simultaneously and it is possible to bring multiple ones back in balance simultaneously as well.
The root chakra is an energy center that houses our foundation. These are things that we need for survival and oftentimes when this is out of balance, it becomes harder to manage our other chakras. It would be similar to a sick person trying to focus on typing out their thesis when they can barely muster the strength to sit up.
Moving upward, you will encounter the sacral chakra, which houses our creative energy. It represents physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual birthing. It also houses our emotions. Queen Afua coined this term as “wombtuition” because it acts as a seat of intuition and flow. If you are familiar with the phrase, “gut instinct” then you will realize that it is referring to your sacral chakra center.
Traveling up again, we come to the solar plexus chakra. This chakra is the seat of our will power and ego or self-identity. As it is located in our core, it also represents our core values, concepts such as “who I am” and “what do I stand for” are intrinsically housed in this energy center. It fuels us with the energy and motivation to act.
Above the solar plexus, we come to the heart chakra. It is the fourth chakra and located smack dab in the middle of our spinal column. It is our center. It represents love for others and for self. It is sometimes regarded as the gate keeper chakra as it stands in the middle between our three lower, more physical chakras and our three higher, more spiritual or transcendental chakras.
The next chakra up is the throat chakra, which houses our communication and self-expression. Although it is most associated with speaking our truth, we may also consider active listening as part of this chakra as well. That is, listening to others speak their truth without interruption, with compassion, and with an open heart and mind.
Moving up, we reach our third eye chakra. This is our seat of intuition. It is regarded as our sixth sense. Our first five senses (sight, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching) help us to perceive and understand the physical world around us. But our sixth sense, our third eye, helps us to discern things that the others cannot. We often tap into this power when we come into contact with others and sense that their energy is off without them saying anything. Our third eye perceives what our physical senses cannot.
And finally, we come to our 7th chakra center, our crown chakra which is located just above the crown of our heads. Technically, it somewhat hovers over our crowns. It represents the state of blissful or ecstatic union with God.
In this article, I will be focusing on the first chakra, our muladhara root chakra. This chakra is located at the base of our spine, or what we might refer to as its root. And just like the roots of a tree, our muladhara chakra represents the foundation of our lives. All of our survival needs such as food, water, shelter, coverings, community all stem from our basic need for safety, security, and stability. All of which is housed in this chakra.
When this chakra is in balance, we feel stable, confident, secure, and calm. Physically we may feel strong or capable and this may show as sitting or standing up tall and broad or taking up extra space using our body. When it is out of balance, we feel scared, vulnerable, anxious, and scattered. Physically we may feel weak or our posture may shrink in like we are armoring ourselves.
I think it is of supreme importance that in talking about the first chakra that we consider the concept of balance. So take a moment and picture what balance looks like to you.
Most often when we picture balance, we envision being rooted down so securely that we are not easily moved out of our spot. When I think of balance, I envision myself holding tree pose, standing on one leg with the other foot resting against the inside of my extended leg. I picture myself trying not to wobble from side to side, to keep my weight evenly distributed with the intention of being erect and stable.
Isn’t it funny how we often equate balance with the state of being solid or static? Immovable. Strongly anchored. But did you know that the word "balance" comes from the Latin word balare, which means "to dance"? And dancing can take many forms, but it usually involves an element of movement and flow. So how can a state of balance be regarded as dance? I believe that answer relies on us first shifting our perspective and redefining balance.
The balance that we spoke of above, the one I envisioned in tree pose, is really a static balance. But balance, as a dance, requires dynamism. So we come to understand that in yoga, we are not seeking static balance but dynamic balance.
Cyndi Lee, in her book Yoga Body, Buddha Mind, so eloquently coined it as “dynamic equanimity”, or the practice of finding balance in yoga, and stated: “Rather than looking to establish a solid state of bliss that never shifts (like a sunny day that lasts forever), we are looking for a means of dancing with our world as it moves, a way of feeling the richness of both joy and sadness, of watching with curiosity as the weather changes…An anchored sailboat is a perfect example of dynamic equanimity. There is simply no such thing as stationary balance. If a thing was completely unmoving it would be unnatural, out of balance…Our practice is an opportunity to stay open to every new situation, and stay on point, sailing the middle path, by relating appropriately to how the wind is blowing that very minute.”
Going back to tree pose, I am seeking to keep my weight evenly distributed and to keep my mind focused on the present moment and what my body is doing. This involves directing mental energy and breath so that my consciousness can flow to where it needs to be. This is why we incorporate drishti or focal points for your eyes, so that your physical senses are not wandering and you are practicing dhyana or concentration. Holding this pose also requires a lot of dynamic physical energy, as one of the keys to not toppling over involves applying opposing force from my extended leg’s thigh and my bent leg’s foot. By pressing my foot against the inner side of the thigh while pressing the inner thigh back against my foot, I create equal but opposite force that facilitates balance.
Yin Yoga is a specific type of yoga class that I offer which asks us to hold fewer poses for much longer periods of time, often 3-5 minutes. And while we work on getting into a pose and then remaining there, you will find that holding still in an asana for an extended period of time is quite the dynamic activity. Particularly in yin, we seek to find our edge, where we feel radiant but not painful sensation, and we remain there until our body opens up further into the pose. But as we hold, we are still inhaling and exhaling, receiving and giving. We are holding, and then if accessible, going deeper into the pose. We are applying equal yet opposite force. When we come out of the pose, we have transitioned from stressing the tissues to then releasing in the rebound. When we repeate a symmetrical pose on the other side, we are balancing out the yin (left) and yang (right) hemispheres of our body. And all throughout our practice, we are observing and participating.
As I said before, there really is no such thing as static balance. Everything in life, everything inside our bodies, whether in motion or at rest, is going through a dynamic process that. The key to finding balance is not in looking to hold on to things, people, ideals, or situations, nor is it in seeking out things that do not change. Rather, the key is in accepting that change is a part of balance. That even an anchored boat sways to and fro with the waves of the water. Let yourself reimagine balance as dynamic, as a process of equal yet opposite action, and you will be on your way to regaining stability and security and balancing your root chakra.