SDEpisode12 - Root Chakra & Guided Meditation

In this episode, we journey into the foundation of our energy system. The root chakra. This is where it all begins. Our sense of safety, stability, and belonging lives here, shaping how we move through the world and how deeply we trust life to hold us.

We explore what it means to feel rooted versus ungrounded, how survival patterns and past experiences can live in the body, and simple ways to reconnect back to your foundation. Through awareness, intention, and gentle grounding practices, you’ll be guided back home to yourself.

If you’ve been feeling anxious, disconnected, or unsure, this episode is your invitation to slow down, plant your roots, and remember you are supported.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:04

Welcome back, fellow yogis. We are so excited to have you here. I am your host, Kimmy, and next to me I have my co-host, Brittany. And we are very excited to talk about our week and the lesson that we have planned today. So from this week and going forward for the next seven weeks, we're gonna be talking about the chakra system. And today our starting from the very beginning, we'll be talking about the root chakra, also known as Mulathara. But before we get into that, let's talk about our week. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:39

Sorry. No, go for it. We've been busy since Friday. Yes. Since last Friday. Since last yeah, we've had a busy talk. It's been good. Yeah, we went from one vend, hosted another on a Monday night.

SPEAKER_03 0:51

Yep, so we hosted our sound bath this last Monday over on the west side with Camille's group of ladies. Yes. I love going over there. Real fitness killer. That's her Instagram. Yes, follow her. She's fun. Um, she's the best, honestly. And she pulls people for those events. We had a group of 20 plus ladies that showed up for the sound bath. And so, oh, it was so fun.

SPEAKER_02 1:13

It was so fun. We love doing work with uh Camille and Camille, if you are listening to this, thank you. Thank you for thinking of us. We really appreciate it. Um, because we actually give referrals out to you guys all the time. So yeah, thanks.

SPEAKER_03 1:26

We appreciate you, love ya, and thanks for always bringing us over there. It's always an honor. And it's so good. I always see people when we go over there that I haven't seen in like forever, like for years. I'm like, oh my gosh, yeah, yes, how are you? How's life? It's so good to catch up with everybody too.

SPEAKER_02 1:43

So and at the end, we had some ladies come up and they're like, So, where do you do this?

SPEAKER_03 1:47

So, what is this? What is this instrument specifically?

SPEAKER_02 1:50

Yeah, oh yeah, I love when people have questions. Yes, I love that too. And like, I love it when they actually want to play the instrument because like, and like so we that I think that was the first group that we've ever had come up as much as that and like was like, Can I like touch it? Can I because there was a lot of people actually?

SPEAKER_03 2:07

Yeah, usually there's like one or two stragglers that stay behind and they're like, Hey, afterwards, yeah, but no, there's like group of like eight of them to like sew. Of course tell me everything.

SPEAKER_02 2:17

Yes, um, that was fun, that was a really cool experience, and it gives us the exposure to practice talking about those things that way, yeah. Repetition, right? Yeah, because that's how I that's how things stick with me.

SPEAKER_03 2:30

So that was our Monday night, and then Tuesday. Well, while I was setting up for the sound bath, Britney was teaching a class, so we were both working. She was teaching, I was setting up. Britney got done teaching, hustled over. We did the sound bath. Tuesday night I taught, Wednesday night. You taught, I taught, Thursday morning I taught Friday morning.

SPEAKER_02 2:51

We taught all week. Taught two classes Saturday morning, yeah, which were fire. And then Sunday, and now we're here. Now we're here. Starting a new week. A new great rooted, grounded week.

SPEAKER_03 3:07

Yes, because with the theme of the spring equinox that we're just coming out into, like this is our time to grow and do stuff, right? We can't grow without our roots, so that's why we're talking about the root chakra today. And you know, we've had some incredible weather the last few days. Um, yes, we have. Well, that was about to be my magic moment, actually, because the weather has been so good here and we're about to get a cold front, which I'm like sad. Um, but the weather's been so wonderful. This is my magic moment. Um, Saturday I got to go use my new golf clubs, and we went and golfed 18 holes, and it was the best I've ever golfed in my life. And um, I I also got a gnarly sunburn on my legs. I've been my legs are so warm right now. They've just been warm all day.

SPEAKER_02 3:53

Um I've seen you move stiffly today. I have bad for you.

SPEAKER_03 3:57

Yes, but it's also good, it's the first sunburn of the year. Like it was and I got it in March. That's crazy. I usually don't get my first sunburn till May.

SPEAKER_02 4:08

Yep. I know I've seen some flowers blooming. Um, I started my starts this week as well. Yeah. Um, I ended up taking off the whole weekend because I was like, I just need a weekend, get this stuff done because I know I'm gonna be busy over the next several weeks.

SPEAKER_03 4:22

Well, yeah, that's what else that is also what else we did this week. Also, shout out to Farmer John. We got a bunch of transplant uh plants to put in our yard. So we've also been repotting and putting some things around, getting some seeds started, which in fact my husband's at home.

SPEAKER_02 4:38

Like, he brought pallets um back from his work, and he's building like a little fence around our garden to keep the dogs out. Oh, nice, and we've got some like because we've seen the trend all over with the pallets, and so I think we're gonna take some of the pallets off the back to put like other things in, and man, our backyard is starting to come along, so it's been hard work.

SPEAKER_03 5:01

Gardening is hard, it is a lot is hard, it takes a lot of wisdom too, because like I've learned so much in the last three years of having a garden. Me have, me too.

SPEAKER_02 5:12

Me have, we have, we have that's great. Um, yeah, so your magic moment, you went. I went golfing. You went golfing, dude. It was fun.

SPEAKER_03 5:23

I love spending time outside, and yeah. There's so if you've ever been to the Preston Idaho golf course, there's two ponds on the front, on the front nine and on the back nine, there's there's two ponds, and I hit the ball over the ponds. I've never in my life been able to do that. They're big pawns, yeah, not little. Like I shocked myself. I was like, you should oh, everyone was probably out there just seeing this little girl just jump up and down whenever I got a good hit. I was like, oh yeah. Oh, it was so fun. That's great. Um, what about you? You have a magic helmet? Not really. I've been really busy this week. That's valid. That's okay. But what about love hate? Do you have any love hates that you would like to share?

SPEAKER_02 6:11

Yes. So I love when I can ride my bike to the yoga studio, to the gym, and home and wherever. And I will also like um like walk Oliver to his therapies because it's just a couple doors down, and so I just I love it. He loves it. I love it. Love being outside, love it. But when I was telling you earlier, there's just something so freeing about getting on my bike, feeling that wind in my hair, and I'm just like, should have been an 80s kid. I love this. This is so freeing. I just I don't know, I was on my beach cruiser, I just was like in a I don't know. I just get like this weird little natural high. So riding your bike, yeah, and now I hate when I can't do those things. Yep, when it's too cold. When when your bike broke, I will double, I'll wear my winter coat. I don't care actually. When my chain fell off. I was really bummed out. I had to drive my car, and gas is expensive right now, and I was I'm like, and I just I don't know. I like to I like to ride my bike. Just let me ride it. That's a video.

SPEAKER_03 7:26

Um, my love hates for the week. I love when we have full yoga classes, which has been happening very often lately. Um, I hate when people no-show though. If you're a yoga instructor, you know, like we set out mats beforehand, like because our space is limited, you know, and so like we have to like space people out. And so I hate when people know show because it's like I could have spaced differently so that more people had more room.

SPEAKER_02 7:50

You know what I mean? Yes, but also like not only that, but it's the time and the effort that you're putting behind the class. You and I I don't know if if anybody other yoga instructor does this, please reach out because dude, I will show up two hours before a class.

SPEAKER_03 8:07

I like to do it. Because I love planning for my class. I like getting here, I like feeling the space, I like sitting in it and like thinking about it. I like to do my own little yoga practice before people come because it's I gotta make sure.

SPEAKER_02 8:21

It's flowing and I like to practice and I like to, yes, I like to get into the mindset. Like I like, like I can't um when I clean in the mornings, I'll listen to like an audiobook. But when I start sitting down planning my class, planning the lesson, I cannot listen to, I can't do that. I have to turn my yoga music on. Yeah, I have to get in the vibe. Yeah, I like listening to my playlist beforehand too. So I can let yeah, get the vibes of what I but like we do, we put a lot of um time, we put a lot of effort into planning these classes and energy. Agreed. And so yeah, just just know that when you know show.

SPEAKER_03 8:59

We're sad a little bit. We are, we're a little sad, but that's okay. At the same time, like life happens, like I totally get it. Sometimes I forget things, sometimes I sleep in, sometimes stuff pops up and you know, priorities, yeah. You know, so like it's it's also okay, but it's also like oh dang it.

unknown 9:17

I know right.

SPEAKER_02 9:20

All right, FMK. Okay, this is yoga themed. You're gonna giggle. Okay. Okay. Would you FMK? The guy who breathes way too loud in every pose. The super flexible girl casually doing splits. These are type of yogis. This is so funny. Here's the third one. The teacher's favorite who always gets shout outs.

SPEAKER_03 10:08

Well, I'm killing the guy that breathes too hard. I'm sorry. Immediately gone. Um I'm gonna marry the this the teacher's pet, the favorite, and I'm gonna have the super flexible girl. Same. Yep. The super flexible doing handstands. I know, right? Popping up, they're like downward dog, they go into a full head, headstand, handstand, and then they stuff to cry.

SPEAKER_02 10:36

Yeah. Do all the push-ups in between, so extra. Yeah, we love flow girl yoga.

SPEAKER_03 10:43

I mean, honestly, I love flow girl. She's the best. Honestly, I love her stuff. Like it's it really is inspiring, but also not realistic for for an everyday class. No, not for what we have here, but that's okay.

SPEAKER_02 10:59

That's funny. It kind of makes me think of the video I showed you earlier. So we had some students travel over to the Middle East, and um, so they um she was showing me a video yesterday in class, and wow, this dude on his mat was super flexible, had his foot behind his head. Oh, foot, full foot behind the head doing rolled onto his back, rolled forward into a downward dog, still with his leg.

SPEAKER_03 11:29

Still with the leg behind his head the whole time. Sit down to the dog forward, float through, crock die, lizard elephant, all the things. Lizard elephant. Just throwing stuff at the end. I know because it's it was literally insane. It was definitely like he was an Ashtanga practitioner for sure, because that was that's not beginner yoga. That's like, oh my god, I've been practicing a long time to be able to do this stuff. I told her, I was like, you gotta send me one.

SPEAKER_02 11:57

I have to show Kimmy this. This is so glad I got this.

SPEAKER_03 12:00

Well, like if me, if if I was there, like I would be loving.

SPEAKER_02 12:04

I know, I'd be like staring like whole.

SPEAKER_03 12:05

I'd be like, absolutely teach me everything because I'm also that type of extra where it's like, I want to learn to do that.

SPEAKER_02 12:11

Well, you're flexible.

SPEAKER_03 12:12

And I'm like, I feel like I can do that. Yeah, that's the thing. So I'm like, ooh, I'd be like so into that. I'm like, yeah, show me all this weird stuff. What's going on? I've heard wonderful things about Ashtonga. It's great. Um, it's definitely I in my personal opinion, it's it's the hardest type of yoga practice out there. Physically wise, anyway. It's the most I think it's the most physically demanding practice out there. That's funny. But it's great. Yeah, all right. Should we go into our poll? Poll of the day. Of the day from our comfy cozy witch. Um can we pulled mint? Yep, prosperity looking. It's got a cute little picture of mint, obviously. Um, but there's a nice little pink uh butterfly flying around it as well, and there's little flowers that are growing off of it as well.

SPEAKER_02 13:08

Minty Minty Brad. Like a mintos commercial. Alright. Okay, mint, your mantra. I attract prosperity and good fortune into my life. Message. The scent of mint breezes in with the energy of fresh starts and good fortune. This card signals a time of prosperity and unexpected luck in your life. The mint card is here to tell you blessings are coming your way and your life is filled with luck. Stay open-minded and optimistic about any struggles you currently have, as the mint card's energy reminds you that the success often comes when you least expect it. Remember that right now luck is on your side. On the flip side, this card could also be a warning of moving too quickly with a new endeavor. Mint will, when untamed, spreads wildly. Be sure to temper yourself before a situation gets out of control. Your prompt. What factors and or mindsets contribute to prosperity and luck coming into your life?

SPEAKER_03 14:10

Ooh, good luck coming, good fortune. Yeah, that's a good pull.

SPEAKER_02 14:15

That's a good poll for everyone, and especially for the studio. All right, yeah, let's bring in that prosperity and love. Um, I I did have some things to share from students today. So I had a student visit me. Um, so on Saturdays, I work across the street over at Crust Club and a student came in and he was telling me that when he goes to bed at night that um like he sets his podcasts on and then he he's like listening to a sportcast or whatever, but he'll he told me that at 2 a.m. once a week he hears ding, welcome back, fellow yogis. I thought that was the greatest thing. What a way to word it too.

SPEAKER_03 15:09

Once a week I hear the ding, and we immediately know we're like, oh gosh, I love it. That's way funny.

SPEAKER_02 15:15

And also, um a little bit more seriously, I also had a student tell us that um she so this student she used to take kundalini down in Logan. And um because the teacher was experiencing some like sicknesses and stuff, she couldn't teach anymore. So she decided to that she was gonna take a break. And then she told us she was like, and then I found you guys. And I was like, uh and she was like, I'm at this point in my life where like not only do I need like the inner connection, but I need that that outer connection. And she said that she loves the connection that we have brought here to the studio, and that it feels like she's finally just like found a place. Oh she's found her community, she's yeah, she's found her community. So um that's that's one thing that I love. So you you know me, I'm a community type of person. I'm like everybody needs to be included. Like I just um, but I also have a lot of like you know, I've got all areas of in my life, you know. I've got someone with this disabilities in my life and normal, and just I just know, and like even growing up for myself, I know what it feels like not to feel like you're a part of something, and that's what I wanted for us to build here. So I am so glad that we have been able to build a community here. So I agree. Thank you for making my dream come true. Dude, right back. I couldn't have done it without you, honestly. So being my business partner, the feeling is mutual.

SPEAKER_03 16:58

Cool. Well, on that note, let's go ahead and get started. Um, all about the chakras. So um we're gonna start like very basic. So if you guys already know a lot about the chakra system, apologies. You can skip forward if you'd like to. But we're gonna talk about the basics about what the chakras even are, for those of you out there who don't know. So we have seven chakras within our body. Today we're talking about the root chakra, which is located at the base of our spine. From the base of our spine, we have six additional chakras that move up the body. We have, starting from the root, we have our root chakra, we have our sacral chakra, solar plexus, which is by the belly button, we have our heart, throat, third eye, and our crown chakra. Um, just like our physical body has um different systems that help maintain our body. So we have our respiratory system, we have our digestive system, lymphatic system, all these additional systems. This is our energy system that we're talking about here. This is how we transmit and assimilate energy, life force energy throughout our body. Um, so starting with the root chakra, also known in Sanskrit as Muladhara, um, it is our first and most important chakra in our system. Um, this chakra is associated with safety, stability, grounding, and having your basic needs met. So, with the chakras, we also um we develop these as we grow through life. So I believe it's zero to two is when we develop our root chakra, which makes sense because that is our stability, that's our grounding, that's when babies are learning how to walk and hold themselves up. That's what our root chakra does for us. It holds us up, it keeps us, it keeps us stable. Um, so there are a bunch of different characteristics that go along with each chakra, and so I'm just gonna throw some of my favorites out there. Um, when I talk about the chakras, I do like to talk about it in a way of where it's we have we have our our ideal balanced chakra, and this is exactly how it's supposed to be functioning and running, but that's not always ideal because every as we go throughout life, like things change. So we'll either be excessive or deficient in one chakra or the other, or you can be both at the same time. So all this information that I'm going to throw out at you is just information that you can use, and maybe some of it or rut will resonate. And this is just information for you guys to use to figure out are you excessive, are you balanced, are you deficient, so that you can move forward with intention. Alright, so starting with these characteristics, each chakra has a color associated with it, and the root chakra is associated with a color red. Um, so bringing in this red energy, there's red crystals that you can use to help bring balance to the red, uh to the root chakra. Um, also just surrounding yourself with red things in general tends to help balance this out, whether that's like eating red foods like apples, bell peppers, beets. Um, it can also be something as simple. Yeah, it can also be something as simple as like wearing red clothes, putting on red lights in your house. Yeah, colors have uh a very profound way um of affecting our physical, mental, and emotional body. So red grounding, yes, stability.

SPEAKER_02 20:34

Can I add something to the color thing? Absolutely, yeah. Um, actually, I practice color therapy a lot on Oliver. Um, and I will dress him how I want him to feel for that day. Why do I love that? Um, so and I will also dress him like in his mood. I don't know, it's interesting. So, like, he's very, and you've kind of seen some of the clothes that he wears. It's very mellow, it's very grounding colors. We do dark reds, we do um brown, browns we do a lot of black, we do um, because I do know that with kids on the spectrum struggle with grounding, they struggle in that root chakra sense.

SPEAKER_03 21:16

Well, I love that, and I feel like even we can use inspiration for that too, right? Like, it's like, oh gosh, I'm not feeling grounded today. Dress yourself in some grounding colors. That's a great idea. That's like literally, yeah, so simple, but a good way to just bring in some awareness, and also intention is so important here. I'm like, regardless of what you do, just the intention behind it is going to help um balance these chakras as well. Um, moving on to the next characteristic, we have the element associated with root chakra, which is earth, um, which makes sense, the ground. You know, you often will hear people tell you to go ground yourself, and often people just imagine people going outside, putting their toes in the dirt or in the grass or whatever, and I'm like, yeah, that's. Works that is great.

SPEAKER_02 22:01

We did that all Friday. Yeah. It was wonderful.

SPEAKER_03 22:04

It's so nice. Um, and yeah, highly recommend that. But grounding yourself doesn't always have to be like a nature aspect, like grounding yourself is just being in the here now, being in this moment, like bringing awareness to your breath. That alone is grounding. Um, it's just being in your physical body, um, in the physical self, in your own identity. It's being here, it's not being anywhere else, not in the future, past, and the worries or anxieties, it's being here. So you can use nature um to help you bring you back home. You can use crystals, like we said, any red crystals um will help bring that um earth element back in as well. Um, principles associated with the root chakra is going to be solidity and gravity. So when I think of gravity here, I mean we're we're constantly feeling gravity, but to to really root um to rise, we're feeling, we're fighting against that gravity. So we're always finding that balance between push and pull. Because if we just give into gravity, we could just fall to the floor, right? But through our root chakra, through that groundedness, we're fighting gravity. We're finding uh finding that balance there. Um, the purposes of the root chakra is again to provide a stable foundation, is to provide support and a sense of being safe and comfortable and in the here and now. Um, the body parts associated with the root chakra, it's going to be the base of the spine, it's going to be the legs, feet, your bones, your large intestine, and your immune system. Um, in your physical yoga practice, um, some of the things that you can think about to activate the root chakra is going to be obviously grounding, um, but thinking about widening the base. So when you give your feet or your hands a wider base to work with, you're giving yourself more stability because if you're bringing things closer together, you're working on that balance, right? So widening the base, giving yourself some stability to work with. Um, within your practice as well, is also opening up the leg channels. So strengthening through the legs, um, whether that's like penetrating down through the earth through your feet or drawing that energy up through the bottoms of your feet. Um with this as well, you um throughout our physical practice, we want to practice stillness and cultivating that stillness and this the stability within the stillness is the hard part. Um, but you can use any of those practices to help you um deepen your your yoga practice as well. Um, for specifically for yoga poses, um, the root chakra is associated with the base of every pose, but especially relevant to standing poses. So any of the standing warriors, chair, um, mountain pose, any balancing poses as well also has to do with literally stability, you know, like having that groundedness. So any balancing poses as well. Um, in our episode last week, we had talked about the masculine and the feminine. So the masculine energy associated with the root chakra, this is like the roots penetrating the earth. You're pushing energy into matter. So that's like the pressing down through your feet, pressing through your hands, the penetrating of the ground. That is our masculine energy. The feminine energy is going to be drawing in the nutrients up from those roots, so drawing energy from matter. So taking that matter and making it into something. Um, all right. So from here, I want to talk about someone who is balanced. So, someone who has a balanced root chakra, they are going to be stable, they're going to feel grounded, they are going to be very present in the moment and in the function that they're at. Um, they often feel very safe, confident, and comfortable regardless of the scenario that they're that they're in. Um so the whole point of the root chakra is so that you do feel at home within yourself. You feel strong, you feel stable, you feel confident enough to take on the world. Whereas someone who is underactive in this chakra um is probably going to feel a sense of disconnectedness from the world. Um, they might feel very foggy or airheaded or just clouded in general. They're not going to feel stable financially. This is a really big one. Um, you we don't really like talk about finances, but like you can't feel stable if you do not feel financially stable. And I'm just gonna throw that out there because I've been in that point where like I wasn't financially stable and like the anxiety from it and the fear from it, which is what we're also about to talk about. I'm like, you if you're underactive, you may be struggling financially, and this is not coming from a judgment point, it's just in order for you to actually feel stable and safe, you do have to have financial security, you've got to have that financial security behind you because that just alleviates the worries and the and the anxieties of it all. And unfortunately, we have to have money to live, right? Yep, and so as sad as it is. Um, but yeah, so if you are feeling like your financial or safety needs are not being consistently met, you might be having a an underactive root chakra. Um, it also will have some adverse effects on your self-esteem and may mislead you from self-realization. Um, people who have an underactive root chakra are going to feel anxious, they're often very negative. Um, they feel unsafe and physically they're going to have difficulty with sleeping. Um, they will have a weakened immune system, they will feel fatigue often. It's also associated with leg pains and any like chronic leg pain in general. Um, and also if you're underactive here, you might have issues with gaining weight. You might be a little bit underweight as well. Um, whereas on the other side of this, someone who is overactive in their root chakra um is going to feel anxious about financial security or physical safety, which can have adverse effects on the health, um, including the digestive lower back problems, um, also reproductive issues for women um and men. And people who have a overactive root chakra are often going to be classified as like lazy or um not hardworking or um things like that. They will also typically they feel heavy, um, they feel lethargic, stubborn. If you're depressed, you might be a little bit of an overactive root chakra. Um, you'll also tend to be more nervous than most people. And again, you might on this side of the spectrum, you might have an excessive amount of weight gain, or just specifically in your lower body, your legs might feel very heavy. Um, and the reason why I'm going over the underactive and overactive is not to like call anybody out, but these are just things that you can use to help identify yourself. There's no judgment here. All of this is just about getting to know yourself better so that you can bring balance to these areas of life and then thrive from there. Um, so there's there's no judgment here. Um, if any of these resonated with you, that's okay. Just take notice. Um, and again, we're just trying to bring it back to that to that balance, the stability, the grounded, the present moment, being safe, confident, and comfortable within who we are in this moment. Um another thing that I wanted to talk about was um each each chakra has like an identity associated with it, and then the demon associated with it. So the identity for this one is the physical self. This is who we are, it's our grounded, it's our stability. And the demon associated with it is fear, which makes so much sense. Absolutely. Because if we live in fear, we're not going to feel stable or calm or strong. Um, if you let fear, fear of the future, fear of past mistakes, fear of messing up, you'll never be stable. You'll never have an active root chakra. So you need to let that fear go. Let it go because you never know. You never know what could happen for you. If we focus in on the on the negative, on the fear, then that's what we're gonna attract.

SPEAKER_02 30:44

So um adding on to the root chakra, something that I've learned like just through my own research and personal experiences. Um so, like, yes, like financial suitability is very important, but a lot of people who have um root chakra, you know, deficiencies or whatever, um, maybe it wasn't home life. Um, maybe it was trauma, or maybe there was some type of abuse.

SPEAKER_03 31:12

Um and so uh yeah, so just like keep that in mind that like there's all sorts of things that affect this. Yeah, it's not just home life, it's not just work life, it's it could be mixed. It's yes, it's it's memories, it's from the past, it's from the future. Because when since we're energetic beings, we tend to hold on to these energies, and when we don't clear out these energies, that's when we be start to become in the underactive or the overactive stage, and those energetic deficiencies start to manifest physically when they're not taken care of into like that chronic pain or like the inflammation or like the weight gain or the weight loss or whatever it starts to physically manifest throughout your body, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:59

And then um, something personally but I've experienced um learning about the chakras and stuff like that is um so growing up, um, I wasn't really allowed to have like emotions, and so I couldn't really like identify what I was feeling, and the only thing that I felt like I was feeling was anger, and so every feeling I felt was just anger. And when we when I started learning about the chakras and stuff like that, um I I was able to start identifying my my emotions, and I feel like that's very important because that I mean that's like the start of it all from the from our roots, like um, and so yeah, this is this is great.

SPEAKER_03 32:48

All right, um, we also have some essential oils that are used typically to help bring balance to this chakra. Um, we have cinnamon, rosemary, ginger, cedar wood. Um, those are typically all just very grounding smells. Really anything earthy will help bring that groundedness sensation in. Um frequency sounds. We love frequency sounds around here. And um the frequency sound associated with um this root chakra is 396 hertz. So you guys can look that up if you want to listen to some root chakra music. Um, on YouTube and even on Spotify, I know they have like sleeping playlists that are like eight hours long that are specific Hertz. So again, for the root chakra, it's 396 Hertz. Um, and this Hertz is believed to help rid trauma, fear, and guilt, which is the demons of the root chakra. So they're they're riding all that out. So um, if you want to listen to some frequency music, I highly recommend to sleep with it on because you're getting the same benefit whether you're actively listening or if you're just sleeping, anyway. Um, and then lastly, the thing that I would also like to share with the vibration. So the frequencies is 396 hertz, but each chakra also has a seed sound associated with it. And so these are like things that typically people will chant. Um, and this our seed sound for the root chakra is LOM, so it's spelled L-A-M. Um, and this is something that you can chant to yourself, and you'll feel the vibrations move through your body as you do. But just using this seed sound will help um release any stagnant or stuck energy for that root chakra as well. So I'm just gonna go ahead and do one long thing together. Yeah, I'm like so everyone can actually like hear what it sounds like, but you'll take a full breath in. And you just let it go as long as you can. Take a full breath in, and you'll do it again. Do it as many times as you want. Seven is the magic number. Um, we did three in class today.

SPEAKER_02 35:07

We did do three. All the students did it, and I could just feel it.

SPEAKER_03 35:12

It's amazing when you do it in the group too, because it's like I can feel it move all the way down my bottle.

SPEAKER_02 35:16

Wait, okay. I'm glad that you just said that because that was my complete experience. Because we don't we don't do that very often. And I thought that we did it today, you suggested, and I was like, do it. Yes, because yes.

SPEAKER_03 35:28

Well, it feels good, so give it a try. Notice how it feels within your own body, and you might even be able to visualize that energy moving down your body. Um, I didn't, we don't have the opportunity to post a handout, but look up the chakra system, and specifically if you look up the chakra system with the Ida and Pengala on there, because you'll see from the base of your spine, it's almost like a helix shape where it like crisscrosses up and up and up. It's like DNA almost. It's like a DNA helix, yeah. Um but once once you see that visualization and you start practicing this stuff and you work with your breath, you can almost feel you can feel that energy moving in and out like that. It's actually, it's really cool. So I highly recommend looking it up if you don't know what that looks like. Um, and then the last thing that I would like to talk about with our root chakra is we have bandas associated with the chakras as well. So there's three main bandas. Mula or mulabanda is what we're going to be talking about today, which is associated with our root chakra. So, what is a banda? A banda is an energetic lock. Uh, specifically, it's a gentle muscle engagement that we use within the body to help us control and direct our own energy. Um, it also provides stability, it helps protect the body, and it creates lightness and control in movement, which like that control, that lightness, that grounded stability is what we're trying to gain for our root chakra. So, what is mulabanda? I love explaining this one because I always think it's so funny, but whatever. Um, so it mulabanda is the banda connected to the root chakra. It is a gentle lift of the pelvic floor. It's the same muscles that you would use if you're gonna stop peeing midstream. Kegel. Also like a Kegel. But unlike a Kegel, it's not a gripping or cleansing sensation. It's not like as tight as you can hold it. It's it's very subtle. It should feel supportive, it should feel not tense, and it should just provide a slight lift and stability from within, like from deep within the core. You can practice it right now, whether you're sitting, standing, driving, no one will know. Pretend you're cutting off a P midstream, pull it in and up, find that gentle lift. You can feel that engagement just through the energy. So, whenever you're in your physical practice, um, if you need to get some extra energy into wherever you're at in your practice, you can practice um this root lock, this mulabanda. Um, the whole reason why we use mulabanda is because it does support the spine and the core and it helps move that energy upward through the body. So we're starting from the base and we're moving that energy up. Um and this is also just it's really good practice at any point in your life, but this will help bring balance specifically to the root chakra. But also if you ever have any like urinary issues and like as you get older with like incontinence and stuff like this is something that you can practice practice to help prevent that in the future as well. All right, the very last thing I would like to talk about in relation to the characteristics for the root chakra. In our physical practice, we have our hastabanda and we have our pathabanda, which is our hand and feet locks in yoga. So hastabanda for the hands. Um, if you look at your palm, it's almost shaped in a square, and you can visualize the four corners of your palm. So maybe like beneath your pointer finger, beneath your pinky, and then right at the base of your thumb and on the outside of your hand. When you lift your fingers off of the ground, you press your palms into the floor. You want to balance your weight between those four corners and then grip down through your feet. And you should feel a nice groundedness through there or through your fingers. And it's the same exact thing with your feet: the four corners of your feet, balancing the weight between those four corners, and then gripping down. And these are just things that you can use within your actual physical yoga practice to help provide that stability, that strength, that groundedness, um, and can help take your practice to a little bit of a deeper level. Um, that's kind of a lot of information, but also just a really general overview to be honest. Um, there's a lot more information out here, but I thought that this would just be a good general overview. Um if you guys want um to bring balance back into this chakra, you have a whole list of things that you can do.

SPEAKER_02 39:57

And as we move forward and you're realizing things um and you're curious of what you're out of alignment, go get a Reiki session. Yes, they will be able to tell you which chakra you're in.

SPEAKER_03 40:12

Which is out of alignment. And also another tip and trick that you can use. So if you were like to rub your hands together right now and generate some energy, you can place your hands out in front of you, like palms facing each other, right above, like if you're working with your root chakra, so like right at the base of your spine, and your hands will naturally start to float towards each other, and you can almost feel a little ball of energy in between there. Holding that ball, closing your eyes. If your fingertips start to touch, you might be a little bit underactive in your chakra. If your hands feel like they're getting pushed apart, you might be a little overactive in your chakra. If you just have a nice little ball, maybe like a little bit bigger than a baseball, you're probably sitting pretty good in that chakra. Um, do this mindfully, do this with intention. If you're doing it right now, listening to me, you're probably not in the space to where you're actually going to get an answer. But take some time, slow it down, bring some awareness, some bring some energy to those hands. Maybe even place them on that chakra and then place them out in front of you. Ask your body am I balanced, am I deficient, am I excessive? And your body has the answers for you. You just need to be quiet enough to listen. So, but also great shout-out for your local Reiki practitioners because me and me, they also have uh really good insight. Um, if you've never done a Reiki session before, we we recommend. But yeah. But yeah, okay. You want to take us into our note card activity, Britt?

SPEAKER_02 41:41

I will. Okay, so grabbing that note card or a piece of paper, maybe your journal. You're gonna ask yourself three questions here. The first question is what in my life makes me feel safe or supported? Again, what in my life makes me feel safe or supported? Is it a person? Is it places? Is it your routine? You can list anything big or small. The second question you're gonna ask yourself is, where do I feel unstable or uncertain right now? Again, that question is, where do I feel unstable or uncertain right now? What has been making you feel anxious, rushed, or disconnected? And the third question is, what helps me feel grounded? What helps you feel grounded? Is there something you need more of? Do you need to step outside? Is it boundaries? Is it slowing down? Staying present. And you can always pause and answer these questions. And then the last thing I'm gonna have you do is you're gonna write I am dot dot dot. And I want you to fill that in with your own personal mantra. Um, I am is um associated with the root chakra, so you can write something simple. I am safe, I am supported, I belong here, I trust the ground beneath me. And you can reflect back on those questions to get inspiration as well.

SPEAKER_03 43:36

Yeah, I am loved. Ooh, how about this one? I am financially secure. There you go. Bringing in both aspects to that. Manifestation as well, right there. Yes, which I mean, I feel like that is what grounding is. It's like almost a little bit of manifestation, too. Um, yeah, whatever it is that you want to be, write it out as instead of like, I want to be peaceful, I want to be financially secure. Am financially secure. I'm putting it out there. You're putting it out there, and you are. And you're claiming in that power. And you are aligning that energy. Love it. All right. Go ahead and get nice and comfy and cozy, everybody. We're gonna go ahead and get started in our meditation. So if you're driving, keep your eyes open. If you're at home, go ahead and lie down, close your eyes, soften your gaze, and we'll go ahead and get started. Begin to soften your eyes. Maybe fully closing them here. Begin to notice your natural breathing pattern as you settle into stillness. Settling into your space. Breathe naturally through the nose and notice any sensations arising within your own body. Sense your breath as energy moving throughout your inner channels of your body. Notice any subtle movements or sensations within your body as you take each breath in and out. Perhaps you feel your chest and back rise and fall in relation to your breath. Sense that there is a connection between the pattern of your breath and that of your heartbeat. Maybe you can experience the length and depth of your breath as if you are witnessing your experience from the inside out. This is about feeling the sensations of your body from within as they arise naturally rather than trying to control or change your experience. Now I invite you to call to mind something or someone, a pet or whatever it is that brings the energy of love to you. Anything that comes to mind is great. Experience love in your heart and feel it within your body. And stay within this energy of love. The air and energy fill you up with positive energy. With each breath out, you are able to let go of any physical or emotional tension that your body may be holding on to, making room to fill up more fully with love. Breathe in this love and breathe out negativity. Breathe in peace and breathe out the gripping energy. And as you continue this process, breathing in and out, invite your mind and body to experience complete relaxation, complete surrender, just letting go. Start to imagine that this glowing red light that you're breathing in builds together with a light that is already inside of you, and it becomes a powerful yet relaxing energy within you. This building energy completes you and has the ability to move throughout your entire body, building and growing stronger and fuller. Imagine this light is moving through the center channel of your body, through the base of your spine to the very top of your head. This red light energy expands outside of your body as well, connecting your energy to all that is around you. The energy of the earth, all other beings, connecting you to the collective energy of the universe. The power from this light energy centers and grounds you. Now begin to focus your attention on the base of your spine. Keep your attention here and visualize the red light moving to the root chakra. This chakra is the expression of safety and security. Visualize this chakra spinning with energy. See it turning freely and glowing. Noticing the sensations in this area of the root chakra as you breathe. Feel all the tension melting away and releasing. And focus on this chakra with the intention to free any congestion here so that your body's energy flows easily and effortlessly. Begin to breathe deeply into the center, letting it all go. Send your breath and warmth to where it's needed within your body. Use your focus to clear out your root center, detoxifying and nourishing it with your breath so that it can be in balance. Start to bring your attention back to your physical body, noticing where you're making contact with the ground beneath you. Maybe through your feet, perhaps the back of the head or shoulders, maybe hips. Go ahead and take a deep breath in. Start to bring your awareness to the palms of your hands and sense your energy moving there. Perhaps you sense the energetic sensations here as heat, maybe buzzling or a tingling sensation. Move this energy through your body and begin to reactivate each part once more from the soles of your feet, moving all the way up to the crown of your head. Feel this energy rush back into your body like a warm wave coming over you, cleansing you, stabilizing you, holding you, clearing any fear. Repeat silently in your head after me. I am strong, I am safe, and I am at peace. I am strong, I am safe, I am at peace. If you're lying down, go ahead and start to add some gentle movement back into the body. Maybe wiggle out the toes or fingers or take a final stretch that feels alright. Go ahead and make your way up to a seat. Eyes closed. You can rest your hands in your lap, and we will be ending with our seed sound, chanting it three times. So again, what this sounds like, we're pronouncing lom, and we're going to hold it out as long as we can. So when you're ready, take a deep breath in. Thank you all for listening today.