Tune Your Root Chakra

The root chakra is all about having a safe, stable environment. This article has suggestions on connecting with nature, then getting your home running well and your finances in shape.

CONNECT WITH NATURE

The base chakra connects us to the earth - the incredible giant planet on which we live - and to the living plants and animals upon it. To feed your base chakra, get as much nature into your life as you can.
    Walk, often.
    Eat your lunch in the park.
    Photograph flowers for Instagram, and bring them home to put in a vase.
    Grow plants; getting your hands into the earth is particularly good for the root chakra. Even if you haven’t got a garden, you can grow herbs and tomatoes on your windowsill.
    Sit with your back against a big tree and feel the soothing, grounding energy against your spine. Imagine connecting with the sap flowing from the roots into the trunk. (You could also hug the tree, if you are feeling keen.)
    Lie flat on a lawn or in a field and feel the earth beneath your back.
    Go camping or on a hiking trip - this is a very base-chakra holiday, walking and sleeping in nature; it also brings you up close and personal with all sorts of basic bodily needs that we take for granted.
    Hang out with small children. Perhaps because they are so much closer to the ground, they find beetles, earwigs, ducks and dandelions infinitely fascinating. Let them remind you how to play in a sandpit, jump in a muddy puddle or collect stones and shells on the beach.
    Bury your nose in the petals of flowers, because the base chakra is also linked to the sense of smell. Before you eat beautiful fruit and vegetables, smell the zest and the juice. And of course appreciate the lovely smell of fresh, clean earth.
    Pick wild blackberries or visit a pick-your-own farm.
    Buy a pet, or borrow someone's dog for weekend walks.

GET ORGANIZED

Making your home more comfortable can affect your root chakra, although this is all about the basics rather than fancy decor. If your home is fundamentally organized and under control (so that you don’t unexpectedly run out of clean underwear or spend ages every morning looking for your car keys), life runs more smoothly. Because of our primeval survival instinct, you are also more likely to get a good night’s sleep in a calm, safe place.

HOW TO TACKLE IT

If your home feels out of control (perhaps because you’ve got small children, spend a lot of time at work or aren’t particularly interested in being a domestic god or goddess) and this is starting to bother you, you may not know where to start. If you are feeling ungrounded, then an untidy house or a long “to do” list can seem overwhelming. Either of these two methods can kick-start your lethargy into action:
    Begin with the very smallest job.
    Begin with the bugbear (the job that is annoying you the most).
Starting small could mean narrowing your focus, to something you know you can do. Can’t face that giant pile of admin? Start by cleaning out your wallet or handbag. Kitchen looks like a bombsite after the weekend? Wash one saucepan, or take out one bag of rubbish. Once you’ve got going, you may find that it’s not so hard to carry on.

Starting with the bugbear means focusing on that annoying problem and making it your priority to solve it. Does your family run around like headless chickens every morning looking for coats and school bags? Make a ( concerted effort to put up some coat hooks. Each time you solve a bugbear, small or large, the rest of your life will feel more stable.

FACE UP TO CLUTTER

If you have a lot of clutter and find it hard to tackle, this could definitely be a root chakra issue. It can date back to that old fear that the earth is not abundant and you had better hold on to what you’ve got - just in case. This may hark back to a difficult childhood or a traumatic event in your life that you don’t want to look at. Or you may have absorbed ancestral fears from parents or grandparents who lived through a war or other displacement.

You can start to tackle clutter by beginning small: one item at a time; but if the process brings up lots of fear, you may need to do some deeper healing work on yourself.

TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR FINANCES

Money is also a root chakra issue, and it helps to have a good relationship with it. If you are scared to open your bank statement, have only a hazy idea what you spend, splurge or hoard money, deny yourself or your family basic items that you can afford or worry excessively about never having enough, this is the time to take stock. Almost everyone in the world would like to have more money.

But when the root chakra is working well and you feel grounded, it's easier to manage what you have, easier to ask for a raise, easier to prioritize what you spend and easier to budget for your future.

Get useful advice from books, articles and savvy friends on managing your money and budgeting. Your matter-of- fact, practical base chakra would also tell you it is never too early to start putting money aside for your pension.

If the thought of opening the Pandora’s box of your finances brings up strong emotions - particularly fear - then you may need to do some deeper healing around this issue.