Welcome to this practice where we get to heal and open your root chakra.
A couple things that is quite unique to Tibetan Buddhism is,
Number one,
That the color associated with the root chakra is golden yellow.
And number two,
The embodied way in which we work within the chakra and allow it to open and heal.
One way to understand chakras is that they are energy centers within your central channel,
Which runs from the root of your body,
The root chakra,
Right up to the crown of your head.
But because of the way that we respond to the world around us,
The energy in the chakras can get tight,
Constricted,
And kind of stuck.
For the energy to flow openly and freely,
It is essential that we allow the chakra to release,
Soften,
And open out,
Become more spacious in an embodied way.
We can do this with a combination of active visualization with the color golden yellow.
And the important part is to allow it to be more embodied.
So really feel this opening in the area of the root chakra,
Rather than just visualizing it in the head,
As much as you can anyway.
As we do this,
You might notice feelings associated with the root chakra,
Which is safety,
Groundedness,
Security,
Nourishment,
And enrichment.
So in this practice,
I'll guide you through that process.
Take a little moment to get yourself really comfortable.
This practice is best done sitting up,
But please feel free to sit in a way that's comfortable for you and supported enough for your body.
As you begin to settle,
Start to become aware of your breath in your body,
Noticing the feelings and sensations of your belly,
Lungs,
And ribs expanding and contracting as you breathe in and out,
Gradually allowing your whole system to settle and relax,
Staying curious of the feelings and sensations of the breath in the body.
Shift your awareness slightly to notice the quality of the out-breath,
Becoming aware maybe of how each time you breathe out,
There's a sense of releasing and relaxing in the body.
As you breathe out at the bottom of the out-breath,
You could allow your awareness to almost stick very gently to the ground for a moment before it lifts up again into the in-breath.
And now at the bottom of the next out-breath,
You could take your awareness right down to the sense of ground.
There might be the earth below your feet or the chair or bed supporting your body.
And start to notice how the ground feels against your body.
All the places that it supports your body.
And as you breathe out each time,
Seeing if you can really allow your whole body to deeply relax and let go into that sense of ground.
Now gently start to take your awareness to your root chakra.
Your root chakra is down at the root of your torso,
Just in front of the base of your coccyx.
Don't worry about it being too exact.
Just take your awareness down to that area and begin to notice the energy there.
The sensations there.
The vitality.
Just letting it be as it is.
Without any judgements or wanting to change anything.
You begin to notice that this area of your root chakra is made of a golden yellow light.
Radiant and warm like the sun.
And it's almost like the core of the root chakra is more dense with golden yellow light.
And as you move out from the core,
The golden yellow light becomes more diffused,
More spacious.
As you rest with this awareness,
Keep allowing your body to deeply relax and rest into the ground.
Now take a deep full breath in and release a really long slow breath out.
Allowing your body to deeply relax.
Soften around the root chakra area and allow the energy in your root chakra to release.
Soften and open out.
Becoming more spacious.
Allow this radiant golden yellow light to radiate out as much as it wants to.
If it feels right,
Allowing it to fill your whole body with warm radiant golden yellow light.
You can keep doing that in your own time.
Breathing a nice full breath in and releasing a long slow breath out.
Letting your body relax and allowing your root chakra to release and open out.
You might notice the particles of the warm golden yellow light moving out.
Becoming more diffused and dissolving away.
Allowing the root chakra to become more spacious,
Open and free.
Now allowing that energy in your root chakra to gently come to rest.
And gently take your awareness down to your sense of ground again.
To the ground supporting your body.
Allowing your whole body to deeply relax into that ground.
Enjoying the richness of resting and relaxing.
As we bring this practice towards an end,
Notice how you feel.
Do you feel safe?
Enriched by the golden yellow light?
Or maybe nourished by the support of your body and the ground?
The energy of the earth element,
Safety,
Steadiness,
Enrichment,
Is associated with the root chakra.
So the more we can allow the energy in the root chakra to be soft,
Open and spacious,
The more it allows these feelings to unfold naturally and freely.
This practice is drawn from my mini-course,
Tibetan Buddhist Earth Element and Root Chakra.
If you're interested in looking a little more deeply into the psychological and somatic aspects of earth element,
Please feel free to have a look at the course.
Thank you.
