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 NOTE: This article is adapted from Connie's email correspondence course on chakras and the essences. For more information, see here. Humans are animals who walk upright. This puts great strain on our backs and legs and is responsible for many of the physical imbalances in these areas. It also makes us vulnerable. All other animals protect their vital organs. Ours are exposed. This vulnerability symbolizes our feeling of being unprotected in the physical world.
One of these imbalances is fear. Fear produces physical and emotional stress and tension. Muscles tighten, the heartbeat quickens, and the body fuels itself with anxiety-producing adrenaline. Unlike the animals, who rarely experience fear without a sound basis for it, we humans imagine reasons to be fearful. We visualize scenarios that usually never come to pass, but the stress and anxiety produced through our imagining is part of our reality. Because we distance ourselves from nature's energy, we experience it as unreliable, threatening, and hostile. We may be angry that we can't control it for our convenience. We may feel that our physical bodies are equally unreliable, betraying us with illness and pain. For all our love and understanding of electrical machinery, we don't realize that, just as an electrical appliance that isn't plugged in won't work,so we feel that life doesn't work when we're not connected to the source of energy that embodies us in physical presence. The more we feel separated from nature and from that natural connection to it that the Root Chakra provides, the less we can trust our own intuitive sense of what's right for us. Thus we find ourselves feeling isolated from other humans and fearful about their intentions towards us. Because we haven't learned to experience and incorporate the receptive power of nature, we use force and manipulation in our relationships with others. Here's a simple test to see whether your First (Root) Chakra is balanced and working well. Please read the following statements and note the ones that are more
than a little true of you. The First Chakra governs our relationship with our physical bodies and physical existence,
2. I have habits and addictions that run my life. (When habits and addictions run our lives, we are often resisting the experience of physical sensation.) 3. I have many good ideas, but I have difficulty materializing them. (Problems with manifesting ideas can indicate a strong fear of failure, a preference for the world of imagination, and difficulties with the rules of physical existence.) 4. Routine things like balancing checkbooks and running machines confuse or bore me. (Confusion and/or boredom regarding the practical aspects of existence can symbolize a basic distaste for the fundamentals of physical life.) 5. I spend a lot of my time and energy in worrying about survival. 6. My life is full of stress. 7. Security is the most important thing to me. (5, 6, 7. Worries about survival and feeling desperate reflect feelings about the general insecurity surrounding physical existence, as does the feeling that life is stressful.) 8. I feel hopeless about the world's political and economic situation. 9. This planet is in too much of a mess to ever get cleaned up. (8. 9. Concerns about the future of the world, whether based on politics or ecology, also reflect this basic insecurity.) 10. Physical existence is just something we have to suffer in order to reach a higher plane. (Finally, the feeling that physical existence is merely something we have to endure until we get to the good stuff, speaks for itself.) If you checked off two or more of the above statements, you probably have some degree of blockage around the First Chakra. Clematis (Bach) is the remedy for the seriously ungrounded. Extreme examples are
people who spend most of their time in a world of imagination, only
Corn (FES) is especially valuable for those who find it difficult to remain grounded in urban environments. It also helps us to balance heaven and earth in our spiritual development. Aspen and Mimulus (Bach) relate to fears. Aspen fears manifest as a kind of formless anxiety whose source is not the physical, but the emotional or astral planes. The remedy helps restore a sense of guidance and protection. Mimulus is for known fears: illness, poverty, death, and various phobias. It teaches confidence and compassion for others who are fearful. For those whose discomfort in their physical bodies is escalated to feelings of uncleanliness and self-disgust, I suggest Crab Apple (Bach). It helps one feel more at home is this big, sloppy, untidy world. California Pitcher Plant (FES) is for those who feel alienated from the animal aspects of their beings. It helps to foster a reconnection with instinctual drives and desires and transforms them into human expression.
A balanced and healthy root chakra is one key to returning to Oneness. To the degree that we reject physical existence -- by feeling that it's unreliable, that our bodies betray us with illness and pain, by believing physical existence is inferior to mind or spirit -- we are ungrounded. The more ungrounded we are, the more difficult physical life becomes. If we would only remember we are also animals, if we experienced ourselves as part of the earth, we would more easily adapt ourselves to its rhythms and seasons. Many of our physical ailments would disappear if we learned to allow earth's healing energy to flow through us. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Connie Barrett does flower essence counseling for people and pets, including by email. She also teaches by email a course on the chakras, on prosperity, and on love, including the use of crystals and essences for realizing your dreams. She writes and publishes two free monthly email newsletters. To see more of her articles from Vibration's Archives, click here.
DESIGN CREDITS: The pendant this border is based on was created by Vibration's co-editor, Deborah Bier. You can see more at Spiralbeading.com. Other art from Clipart.com. This page is a creation of Donna Cunningham's Word of Mouth Web Design, a service that specializes in creating beautiful and unique sites to showcase the gifts of lightworkers, artists, astrologers, and practitioners of the healing arts. Graphic images from Photos.com.
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The Root Chakra represents our natural connectedness to the earth, and we have become the animals who have lost or unknowingly rejected that connection. Entranced by the wonders of our minds, we've allowed our connection to the rhythms of the earth to atrophy. Disconnecting ourselves from the energy that creates life is also an act
of resistance. Resistance creates tension and can make us feel
emotionally and physically unbalanced.
and each of the statements below represents some
degree of unease with that relationship.
occasionally checking in on the physical plane. They are often highly
creative, but they lack the focus to manifest their visions. The
Clematis remedy, without robbing them of their imagination, enables them
to ground their mental creations on Planet Earth. People who experience
milder versions of this condition can also benefit from Clematis.
Wild Earth Animal Essences. One powerful way to become reconnected with the earth is to incorporate the energy of animals. Some possibilities include Eagle, for aligning
the energies of spirit and matter, Buffalo, for connecting to the rhythms of the earth, and Otter, for not taking life too seriously.