Your body is your home; when you realize you are home, you realize you have all you need to survive.

I am home.

A few months ago, I was listening to one of my favorite yoga teachers explain a specific yogic concept and its effect on the physical body. She described our bodies as our ‘house’, for it is where we live. This analogy of the body as a house resonated largely with me.

Sit anywhere—in your car, on the sidewalk or in the middle of your kitchen floor. Sit under a tree in a park or in front of your computer, exactly where you are now.

Close your eyes; breathe; you are home.

The muladhara is the first chakra in the energetic body.

It known as the root chakra and it is physically located at the base of the spine. This first chakra encompasses the largest area of the physical body as it is linked by the region from the bottom of the spine to the bottom of the feet.

The first chakra is the building block—the energetic foundation or the base—in the beautiful ‘home’ that is your body. It sets the ground for security and growth for all chakras to follow.

Having a strong base chakra is equivalent to a tree having strong roots. Without strong roots firmly planted into the earth, taking up all the nutrients and basic survival elements (soil, food, wind, air, sunshine) as provided through mother nature, this tree could not flourish or stand up right. Without a strong base structure in  a physical house, once the environment experienced any sort of issue, the house would topple over.

Now, rub your feet on the ground below you; maybe you feel carpet, the inside of the soles of your shoes or maybe you feel actual dirt or the earth of mother nature.

Close your eyes; breathe; feel your base; feel your roots. Remind yourself, you are home.

To strengthen this chakra is  to strengthen all of your basic needs for survival.

Do you have food, shelter, water? Do you feel part of a family or clan? Are your basic monetary needs met? Even if your answer is “no” to any of these questions, you can still find a strong root chakra within you; your body is your home.

When you realize you are home, you realize you have all you need to survive.

Chakras can be imbalanced.

An over-balanced chakra is excessive. An individual with an excessive root chakra indulges in “things.” The notion behind this is that this person is trying to feel grounded or rooted here on earth so they need “things” to help them stay connected. Maybe they are hoarders and their home is full of many “things they can’t live without” or maybe they are overweight, eating way too much to feel present or here. Maybe they live in a huge house trying to compensate for mis-rooted feelings.

A person with an under-balanced chakra is one who is not present; they are not connected or rooted to the earth and they are “spacey” or “loopy.” This “flightiness” can come from a number of areas—a person physically separated from their body because of the use drugs or alcohol is deficient in this chakra. A person who is in their “head”—always thinking and worrying—is not living in the present and is not connecting with their body and earth. This, too, leads to an insufficient root chakra. Clumsiness is also a sign of a deficient root chakra; when there is no body awareness, how can you feel that you are home and safe?

Take care of your home; it is your roots—your foundation in this life.

This chakra is associated with the earth element so simply being outside, holding a rock, putting your feet in dirt or touching a tree can bring you back and connect you to this place—your home.

Eating root vegetables from the earth—deeply rooted within the soil—like carrots, beets, ginger, potatoes and yams are powerful as they invite root energy into your body. Seeds like pumpkin, pine nuts and  sunflower and sesame seeds work in the same way.

Burning incense of patchouli or sandalwood or dried sage or thyme leaves will invite groundedness as it is stemmed from an actual tree.

Red is the color created by the vibration of the root chakra. Wearing this color or visualizing it well help balance your first chakra.

Standing yoga poses like the warriors and chair pose will help you feel connected to your earth and your body. Balancing postures like tree and eagle will help you practice groundedness in a more challenging way.

Remembering that you are here, in this life, right now and that your body is your house and it gives you all you need to survive will create this strong base needed for this chakra energy to thrive.

Welcome home.

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