“If you’re an alive body, no one can tell you how to experience the world. And no one can tell you what truth is, because you experience it yourself. The body does not lie.” Stanley Keleman

A Chakra is the center of activity that receives, assimilates, and expresses life force energy. This subtle energy system is located at seven levels from the base of the spine to the crown of the head.

Understanding how our bodies are affected by the beliefs we carry is my message here today. This basic outline of the first chakra shows us where we may be holding beliefs in our bodies that we are not fully aware of.

Chakra 1 - Root

Location: Base of spine. 

Influence: Base of spine, legs, bones, skeletal structures, feet, rectum, immune system.

Associative Color: Red

Central focus:  Primal fears, survival, abandonment, physical needs and safety, nourishment, self-preservation, tribal power, lessons related to material and physical identity, loss of money, the need for logic, order and structure, the inability to ground and form boundaries.

  The first chakra relates to our emotional and mental health. It is our primal instinctual connection to being alive and to our physical well-being; as well, it provides  for our most basic necessities and our feeling a sense of belonging in the world.  The root chakra reflects our belief in our right to be alive:  “I have the right to be here and to have.”  It is where our boundaries – or lack thereof – are created, as well as our capacity to be grounded and present in our physical bodies. 

  Our roots represent where we come from: the earth, the womb, our ancestors and family. Without a strongly rooted foundation, little else can be accomplished. The underlying element of this foundation is the instinct to survive; a child with a strong foundation has solidity, whereas an unwanted child doubts his or her right to be here. To build a solid foundation we must sort out the roots of our childhood - "we cannot simultaneously deny our past and maintain our roots."

Ways in which to connect to the first chakra:

Massage/body work - helps to break down contracted body armor both physically and energetically while nurturing, providing touch and pleasure.

Exercise- pumps energy through the body and develops strength, promoting a sense of connection to the body and the earth.

Yoga - a mental, physical and spiritual discipline that is practiced to create union among these three aspects of oneself.

Meditation/breath work - brings us into our bodies and into present time /helps ground our bodies to the earth plane.

  Everything we experience has a physical sensation ; if we do not "feel" that we are in our bodies we are disconnected emotionally,  physically and spiritually.