* * * FIRST CHAKRA * * *

[Guest guest]

Day One - First Chakra

 

" 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 for yourself. The

body does not lie. " Stanley Keleman

 

Element:::Earth

 

Name:::Muladhara/Root

 

The Muladhara chakra corresponds to the element

earth, which is the ground for our roots. Human life

is dependent upon a supply of energy. Our roots can

be seen as the way our system plugs in to the larger

system of the planet, which is our source, the origin

of the liberating current, from which all things grow up.

The elements needed for physical survival come from

the earth in various forms--the food we eat, the things

we touch and see, the water we drink, the air we

breathe, and the sounds we hear. We push against

the earth in order to stand or move and we rest upon

the earth (nurtured by gravity) when we choose to be

still...

 

Going down to our roots brings us into a singularity,

a simplicity, and brings us into the commonality

of the collective unconscious. It brings us home to

the earth.

 

Purpose:::Foundation

 

Issues:::

 

The Body, Foundation, Survival, Roots, Grounding,

Nourishment, Trust, Health, Home, Family, Prosperity,

Appropriate Boundaries

 

Goals:::

 

Stability, grounding, physical health, trust,

prosperity

 

Color:::Red

 

Location:::Base of Spine, Coccygeal Plexus

 

Orientation:::Self Preservation

 

Archetype:::Earth Mother

 

Basic Rights:::

 

Each one of the chakras reflects a basic inalien-

able right. Loss of these rights blocks the chakra.

Reclaiming these rights is a necessary part of

healing the chakra.

 

Basic Right of First Chakra:::

To Be Here and Have

 

To find solidity in the first chakra, we must have an

instinctual sense of our right to be here. Without the

right to be here, few other rights can be reclaimed.

Do we have the right to take up space? Do we have

the right to establish individuality? Do we have the

right to take care of ourselves?

 

The right to be here is our right to exist--the right that

is the foundation of our survival and security.

 

Affirmations:::

 

" It is safe for me to be here. "

" The earth supports me and meets my needs. "

" I love my body and trust its wisdom. "

" I am immersed in abundance. "

" I'm here and I'm real. "

 

Identity:::

 

If our rights remain intact, or if we have managed to re-

claim them, then we have a good chance at embracing

our seven basic chakra identities, each of which builds

upon the one below in an ever expanding pattern of

larger systems.

 

The identities can be seen as metaphoric layers of

clothing, as ways to cover the essential soul underneath.

It is not a problem to have clothing--we need different

outfits for different occasions. It is a problem if we

think the clothing is who we actually are, and never

remove it.

 

When we are so immersed in these identities that we

confuse them with the underlying Self, then we have

gotten stuck at a particular level. We have confused

the clothing for the body itself--unwilling to remove it,

scared to expose the nakedness underneath. If, on the

other hand, we cannot identify at all with a level, then

we know we have some work to do there.

 

The chakra identities can be positive or negative,

liberating or imprisoning. They are simultaneously real

and false. They are real in that they are real parts, yet

they are false because they are not the whole.

 

Identity of Chakra One:::

 

Our first identity level is known as the physical identity,

and its job is self-preservation. Here we learn to identify

with the body--when my body is hungry, I am hungry,

when it hurts, I hurt. The body cloaks the invisible soul,

and reveals its shape and expression. When we identify

with the body, we identify with the soul's expression in

physical form, as well as its physical qualities of male,

female, young, old, fat, thin, healthy, or sick.

 

Physical identification is necessary for dealing with the

physical world. If I do not realize that I cannot lift one

hundred pounds of paper in a carton, I can seriously

hurt my back. If I do not recognize when I am hungry or

need to rest, I can seriously compromise my health

over time. To go without this identity is to be disso-

ciated from the body and disconnected from the

physical world.

 

 

Reclaiming the Temple of the Body

 

The Foundation of the Temple

 

All foundations rest upon the earth--the universal ground

for all that we do. Our bodies are the earth of our spirit,

the foundation, the home. To connect with the body is

to connect with the earth, to be grounded in the biolog-

ical reality of existence.

 

Situated at the base of the spine, the first chakra is the

foundation for the entire chakra system. It is here we

build the foundation for the entire chakra system. It is

here we build the foundation for the temple of the body--

the anchor for the Rainbow Bridge. Without a strong,

rooted foundation, little else can be accomplished.

We must have soil firm enough to provide stability, yet

yielding enough to be penetrated by roots. The anchor-

ing of this temple digs deep into the earth, for its

Sanskrit name, muladhara, means root.

 

The foundation contains the temple's energy by defining

its scope, edges, and boundaries. It defines a place,

as a basic context of all that happens to us. It gives us

a ground, a home, an anchor point for our experience.

The foundation largely determines the shape of the

structure above, determining what it can hold, how high

it can build, what kind of stresses it can withstand.

Thus damage to this chakra is reflected in each and

every chakra above.

 

To build a strong foundation is to gain solidity. Solidity

allows us to be firm and make boundaries. Solidity has

consistency, repetition, accountability. Our bodies are

the solid form of our existence; they have definable

boundaries. To be solid is to face what is in front of us

without flinching, to remain anchored in truth in the face

of opposition, and to remain calm and secure.

 

Survival

 

The underlying element of consciousness that forms

this foundation is the instinct to survive. This instinct

is archaic, fundamental, and unavoidable and runs

the base-line maintenance program of our physical

existence. When satisfied, it retreats to a drone-like

subroutine, allowing our consciousness to engage in

other activities. When threatened, it dominates all

other functions of consciousness. Where are your

thoughts when you are suddenly chased by a mugger,

spinning into a car accident, or facing a life-threatening

illness? At these times, all available psychic energy

is routed to survival and little is available for anything

else.

 

The survival instincts lie at the base of the collective

unconscious, as inherited tendencies and preferences

that have developed in the human psyche over the course

of evolution. These instincts form the natural impulses

of the body to defend itself and to connect with the

environment. When these natural instincts are denied,

we have a rupture between our waking consciousness

and the very core of our being. We become disembodied

and disconnected from our environment. By reclaiming

the first chakra, we can live harmoniously with our basic

survival instincts without being unconsciously ruled by

them.

 

Demons of the Chakras

 

Each of the Chakras has what I have come to call a

specific demon that interferes with its health and

undermines its identity. I use the word demon not to

denote some kind of evil creature, but as a way of

naming the counterforce that seemingly opposes the

natural activity of the chakra. The reason I say seem-

ingly is that the demons arise to teach us something.

A counterforce usually results in strengthening what-

ever it opposes. The presence of the demon keeps the

chakra from doing its job, but that challenge also

forces us to bring more awareness to that job, so

eventually we can do it better.

 

When unacknowledged, the demons keep us from

moving forward. They fixate our energy at a particular

chakra level, short circuiting our activities and expres-

sion, blocking resolution. If we acknowledge the demon

and explore its reason for being there, we gain a deeper

understanding of ourselves. To acknowledge that we

have fear, for example, enables us to face that fear

and understand its origins, eventually making us more

confident. To acknowledge grief enables healing, and

allows the heart to lighten.

 

Demon of Chakra One:::

Fear

 

Fear arises when something threatens our survival. It

prevents us from feeling secure, focused, and calm.

It creates hyper vigilance, which forces energy into the

upper chakras.

 

When survival is threatened, we feel afraid. Fear height-

ens our awareness and floods the body with natural

chemicals (such as adrenalin) to energize it for action.

Fear brings our attention into the here and now to

address the threat, but focuses the attention outward

and upward to the chakras of perception and mental

activity. We become hyper vigilant, restless, anxious.

We cannot settle, relax, or let down. It is as if we are

jumping right out of our skins.

 

Although fear is the demon of the first chakra, it is also

a sacred adversary, a presence that has much to teach

us. Fear exists as an ally of self-preservation, teaching

us of our own importance and the need to take care of

ourselves. Only when we acknowledge this demon as

an ally can it be truly mastered.

 

Ernest Holmes, who founded the Science of Mind philo-

sophy, describes both qualities of fear and faith as

having similar qualities. Fear is a belief that something

awful might happen, while faith is a belief that something

good will happen. Although the results are different,

the causes are the same--both are beliefs that govern

our behavior and influence the way we feel. If we can

replace unreasonable fear with reasonable faith, then

we have a natural antidote to our first chakra demon.

 

From Eastern Body Western Mind by Anodea Judith

 

* * * *

 

Here is her video of The Illuminated Chakras

 

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual & videoid=17031201