18. The Root
The Physical is Spiritual Expression
Root (+Heart)
The whole system is working as a whole, so I find it helpful to think of the chakras in pairs. It reminds me not to focus on one chakra alone but to hold my healing in wholeness.
The lower chakras and upper chakras are reflections of one another. We dig into each of the lower three chakras on their own, but keep in mind that they are the reflection of a higher vibration energy.
There is no "better" or "worse" in vibration.
There is only frequency and manifestation. "Ascension" or rising sounds superior and descending sounds negative, but both are happening at the same time.
Western society holds a deep misunderstanding about physical reality and it's role and place in our collective existence. Past religions and philosophies have cast physical reality as something of a punishment, something from which we need to escape.
Joshua David Stone was a psychologist and chakra/energy practitioner who wrote a whole book called "The Ascension Manual". The premise was to release blocks in our energy fields in order to vibrate at a high enough frequency that we cease to exist on the physical plane.
Eastern religions teach about releasing ourselves from the karmic cycle of birth and rebirth. The suggestion is that somehow we are "not getting it" if we are incarnate. The preference seems to be towards not being physically incarnate. There is a deep misunderstanding about physicality.
Samsara in the yogic tradition is not just simply being incarnate in the world, but it is the specifically aimless, purposeless wandering incarnation. Entering into the physical plane and never seeing beyond the surface separation of beings here is samsara. Reincarnating again and again and never glimpsing the wholiness that unites us is samsara. Never being motivated or urged beyond survival, accumulation and power over others while here in a physical body is the suffering that is suggested.
The physical world is not the problem.
The physical world is not a punishment or a test or a lesson. The physical world is also wholiness. The physical world is just as spiritual as the love and oneness we imagine is awaiting us beyond the veil.
The physical world is spiritual presence. There is no difference and no separation.
All "lower" levels of physical reality are beautiful, spiritual levels of existence when seen through the lens of unity and wholeness. That is what is needed to change the world - not the actual physical world, but our perception of Them.
The predominate perception of the physical world as separate and "dead" and existing only as a commodity to be exploited and to extract resources for profit is samsara. Samsara is coming into the world and not recognizing ourselves as Beloved Presence and not recognizing Beloved Presence in every being that exists.
Viewing the land as dead and our bodies as inanimate clay is a gross misunderstanding of life on the physical plane of existence. It is a missed opportunity to engage with the wisdom that is direct knowing and goes beyond the logic of the rational mind. The great failure of Western society is to not allow for the enriching possibility of the unseen. Western rationality does not permit room for the wisdom of direct knowing. Logic, rationality and proof are the Western pinnacle of knowledge, which can only take us so far.
The body is alive with direct available wisdom, if we learn to listen.
The root is concerned with self preservation and safety. The root keeps the body whole and fed.
The challenge of the Root is fear.
The truth of the Root is "The right to be here."
There is only love and fear.
I used to think that anger was it's own distinct emotion, but it is really just a flag for fear. Anger is an excellent marker to recognize boundary invasions, unwanted manipulations and power abuses to name a few, but underneath the anger is fear. If we can learn to give ourselves the briefest moment of reflection before we act in anger we can allow the fear to speak.
All fear has it's source in the root.
All fear is traced back to fear of pain and death and the wrong belief that we don't have a right to be here. Every fear in every other higher chakra will have it’s original thread in the root.
The right to exist as a physical body and to take up space and breath air and be fed and clothed and housed and exist is the foundation to any path of self-actualization and realization of the greatest vision for our lives. Nothing, absolutely nothing can be built to last on a foundation that does not stand firm in the root right to be here and exist, as we are.
Be here and exist, as we are.
Acceptance of the root truth to be here can change our lives. We not only have the right to be here and take up space, but we are wanted and needed, exactly as we are.
“The Universe is incomplete without you.”
Your existence alone is proof of your value and your right to stand firm in your body and be here now. At heart is the truth that you are not here by accident - your existence is wanted and needed. The wounds to the root impact the whole system. We can't express our gifts and live in joy and create a life we love when we question our right to be here.
There is no safety or permanence in the physical world (sorry).
One struggle with the root is accepting the fundamental truth that there is no permanent physical safety possible here. There is however, permanent spiritual safety which changes how we experience our time in the physical realm. (We'll get more into that when we get to the heart.)
The physical realm is not permanent. It is rooted in change and flux and the breathing in and out of physical existence. The scale here is disruptively short and brutal. From the perspective scale of the Universe, the physical realm is stable and permanent and unchanging over eons. Scale and perspective are common and repeated themes in healing. As we access the experience of different perspectives of existence and integrate those perspectives into our own reality, we go beyond the limitations of understanding we held before we lived from a greater perspective.
Nothing here in the physical realm will stay as it is. Solar systems and galaxies and our whole Universe will slowly shift and change and eventually be destroyed. Religions, ACIM, and spiritual philosophies often refer to the physical world as an illusion - they say the physical world is not real and doesn't actually exist.
Welp, that's not very helpful.
However true it may be at the level of Universal consciousness, it doesn't help anyone right here, right now in a physical body. It doesn't help us heal our trauma or feel safe in a body. More likely we're going to feel unheard, unseen and feel like our experiences in physicality are being minimized. We feel like our pain is being dismissed because of our own supposed spiritual ignorance. Minimizing the grief and pain inherent in being alive just further traumatizes our root right to be here.
The grief and pain inherent in physical life is the work of the heart.
The natural evolution and growth of the heart center is to descend and take it's place in the root on the physical plane. This happens when there is enough clarity and healing of the lower 3 physical experience chakras. We heal our trauma blocks to being in the physical world and the heart is able to descend without resistance to root in the base. If you have been living any kind of life that involves recognizing the oneness of Creation and feeling love for all beings - then you have been clearing the way for the Heart to root.
Indigenous peoples on Turtle Island have known and lived for thousands of years with the reality and truth that the physical world is not only alive, but conscious and sentient and filled with love and wisdom. When the root and the heart are one it transforms our experience of the physical world into a paradise.
Literally paradise. LITERALLY.
Heaven on Earth folks. Literal heaven on Earth - and nothing here changes. What changes is our perspective of who we are and what this all means.
For the last two thousand years, Western Christianity has tried to wrestle Spirit away from flesh and place it beyond our reach in the hands of an unknowable God and a singular Divine Human Jesus. There has been a fundamental distortion in understanding the Spirit of the physical world. This distortion assists in keeping Christian followers powerless, insecure and cut off from their physical spirituality. Because it IS spiritual here. There is no separation between physical and Spirit. They are the same.
Historically, European descendants have been comfortable in a binary. On/off, yes/no, man/woman, life/death, spirit/flesh, good/bad - the binary is simplistic and easy to form an authoritarian dogma. This isn't helpful or true.
Of course the world is real.
Of course the physical realm exists. The illusion is that anything in the physical world is separate from anything else. The illusion is separation. The cut off is the illusion.
Thou art that.
There is no less value, no less worth in the physical world. There is no less Spirit in the physical world than beyond in the Unseen.
We have cut off and distanced ourselves and not loved the physical world in the same way that They love us.
“In believing you are separate and alone and disconnected, you make the physical world a cruel place to be.”
We believe we are all one in Spirit, but somehow the physical world is an aberration or a punishment, less valuable and suspect and we behave cruelly to a world that wants only to love us. We behave cruelly to the physical world when we don't recognize our love for Them.
We are asked to hold both the singular value of every body and being in physical expression of Spirit in the world of flesh, AND understanding the underlying foundation reality of the oneness of all Creation.
Both sides of the coin are happening at the same time.
Physical reality is a pain in the ass. Literally and figuratively.
The physical world is heavy, dense, slow and confusing. The way we perceive time and how our thoughts interact with the physical realm is unclear and haphazard. We're not taught how to be in harmony with the physical resonance of the world. We've been taught to fight against Them and view the physical world with suspicion and violence.
It's a shit show here. That's on us.
It's painful and slow and heavy and not at all what we're used to in spirit where manifestation is instant and obvious. This world is filled with beauty and presence in a way that is like no other experience in existence - which is why we come here, keep coming here.
Not for punishment, but for love and the experience of revealing Spirit as flesh to one another.
We come again and again to experience the Presence of love in the physical world.
We don't have to come here.
“‘I didn’t ask to be born.’ LIAR. Yes you did. We ALL did.”
Everyone. Everything. Everywhere - asked to be as They are. No one is here that didn't ask to come here. NO one. You are not here by accident.
It's a struggle and it's heavy and challenging and requires an enormous amount of attention and persistence and flexibility and love and forgiveness. We come here knowing who we are and knowing what everything here is and we get scared and hurt and we forget... and it's okay.
It's okay because the truth isn't gone when we forget, it's just waiting to be re-membered.
Root Needs
The Root has simple but powerful body needs; food, shelter and safety from harm. Significant wounds to this area early on can be devastating to the system's ability to grow strong and healthy. It's foundational damage.
(I don't want anyone to get sad or feel hopeless - because there is no trauma that is beyond healing. Our natural state is wholeness and flow and our bodies and spirit work together in wonderful harmony towards unity.)
Consider the damage when a safety wound is delivered by caregivers (who are dealing with their own unacknowledged and unhealed traumas). The damage is doubled because it is a trauma to both the root and the heart. It is a betrayal of both the physical body and the expectation that "god" will not harm us.
Oh yeah…
…we experience our parents as "gods" until we're around 9 or 10. The process of humanizing our parents begins around the same time we're losing our baby teeth and solidifies around 9 or 10 years of age. This is also characterized as "the fall" for children because this is the same period where they consciously understand death for the first time. Parents aren't god and we're all going to die. There's a lot going on between 6-9. lol.
At worst, root trauma can result in physical ailments and mental disorders like DID. At best we can experience a disconnection from the body and a habitual movement of focus and attention away from the physical and emotional sensations upwards into mental and spiritual levels.
Fear in the root translates to fear &/or disconnection in all subsequent levels. Fear disrupts flow and focus. Root energy is blocked from moving down into the Earth to provide stability and safety and it is blocked from moving up through the column to access love and vision and enlightenment. Energy blocked and suppressed prevents a person from engaging with the world on any level.
Wounds to the root result in trust issues because unprocessed fear destroys trust. (We’ll come back to trust next week.)
A blocked root may result in a lack of commitment or follow through. This is associated with a lethargic solar plexus will and action which can't activate if there energy isn't moving; health is characterized by flow and movement of energy. Conversely, energy pushed outward in compensation can show up as controlling behaviour, micromanaging and ADHD, to name a few.
How root trauma shows up in us is as varied as there are people in the world.
How does your body feel? What is tight &/or painful? Tightness is an indication of "holding" - literally holding the body in from expressing feelings.
What needs stretching? What needs attention? Attention is literal nurturing. Literally.
Fascia is the first line of physcial response to energetic holding and the phyiscal body result of energy block and lack of flow. Fascia scar tissue is when we have held our body in an unnatural state to prevent feeling pain - emotional, mental and spiritual pain, that now is showing up as physical pain. Surprise!
Disease in our body is the final externalization of an imbalance on other levels of our being - spiritual, mental and emotional. Our "dis-ease" starts on the other levels first and shows up in our physical body when we have ignored and denied it's attempts to communicate with us on all other levels. Hands of Light is a "new age" book about energy healing in the body. "The Body Keeps the Score" by Dr. Gabor Mate is a scientific approach to the same perspective.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Apparently Maslow's famous theory is based upon the Siksika Nation's ancient philosophy, world view and social systems. Colour me not surprised.
Maslow previously believed that societies were structured based on the dominance of a few over the many. The Siksika Nation's cooperation, minimal inequity, restorative justice, full bellies and high levels of personal satisfaction put his European assumptions to shame.
80-90% of the Siksika people experienced their lives and themselves with quality self-esteem and self-actualization was the norm. Self-actualization was considered a guiding pillar of the Siksika people. To Maslow this meant "becoming more and more what one is, becoming everything one is capable of becoming."
“To the Siksika Nation the word is ‘niita’pitapi’ which means someone who is completely developed, or ‘one who has arrived to be here’.”
How can we allow ourselves to fully be here? This is the purpose to life.
The Practice
Grounding is the answer to most root issues.
"Be here now" is the safety for feeling fear from past traumas.
Be gentle with yourself. Go slow. Practice self-care and self-awareness and self-appreciation.
There is nothing natural or acceptable about little people being traumatized by fear. This is an aberration to our natural state of peace and flow.
Please do not try to force healing or force "getting over" anything. There is nothing to "get over". We simply need to process the painful feelings of what happened in a safe and compassionate space.
Most healing is simply allowing what is, to be; without judgement or resistance. Trauma comes from the resistance to and distortion of the painful or fearful event. Our bodies are tools of ancient wisdom and are our partners in processing painful emotions.
Return to grounding when it feels like too much, too scary, too big.
Breathe deeply and slowly and feel the air filling your lungs and flowing out into the world. In through the nose, big and slow. Out through the mouth, slow and steady. A slow, steady, lung-full of air will calm the body’s fear triggers.
Our bodies and the Earth are partners in processing energy. The Earth assists in grounding you into a physical support far bigger than your own small body. The Earth assists in dispersing intense energies and helping you ground into Themselves and reconnect to your right to be here.
You have the right to be here.
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There are many ways to ground. I will give you several suggestions and you can choose what works for you. You will know you've connected to ground because you will feel less fear, more here, less scattered, less chaotic spiked energy, more calm, more flow, more peace. Grounded is enough time, enough space, enough breath to focus. Most of the Western world is often un-grounded. We fly up into our heads and escape into the mental and spiritual bodies because our institutions don't teach us how, and don't value being connected to the Earth.
The West hides in concepts, ideas and hopes. We hide in polly-anna spiritual perfection and peace “later”, oneness “later”, instead of being connected and in flow with what is right here, right now. The west likes to spend time thinking about how it "should" be, instead of what it is.
Byron Katie's work is poignant in that regard. Her book "Loving What Is", constantly reminds us to be here now and look at what is. Not what we hope for or want or wish, but what is - and look at what is in the way of loving and accepting that right now.
It's powerful, and grounding helps a lot. -
I wrote about the “Break the Ground” process here.
It’s quick, easy and a very powerful grounding technique.
Give it a try - but have a bucket handy! Lol! -
In the “Break the Ground” post - there is a Qi-gong standing exercise included in the post. Honestly, the qi-gong practice feels very advanced to me, so I’ve been trying an alternative.
Stand and be aware of your body. That’s it. But that’s A LOT.
Be aware of where you are tight and holding tension and loosen that part - breath into that tense, holding area of your body.
Be aware of your butt wanting to clench or your knees to lock. Keep everything loose and soft and relaxed.
Watch the sweat drip from your brow as you wonder how the hell standing got so exhausting.
It’s a workout when we are aware of our tension and gripping patterns so we can endure. I still suck at this. I last maybe 5 minutes. Lame. Lol.
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It’s all right there in the title.
I know it’s got hippy all over it, but I can’t encourage you enough to hug a tree barefoot.
Like, just nonchalantly lay your hand on the bark and casually kick off your slides… no one’s watching.
Feel the grounding energy. Trees are my favourite.
Whisper sweet words of love. Dance in the moonlight and feel the dirt on your souls.
It’s science! -
You can see a pattern forming here.
Touch the Earth.put your hands in the dirt
put your feet in the creek
stand in the rain/wind/weather
smell a flower
Connect your body to the Earth and be present. Grounded.
Be present. Be here now.