Root Chakra Real Talk: Getting Grounded in a Wobbly World
Feeling scattered or anxious? This guide to the root chakra blends yoga, Ayurveda, and journal prompts to help you feel grounded and supported from within.
Haveyou’ve ever felt like screaming “everything is chaos!” and hiding under your bed? Even as an adult? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. That wobbly, anxious, can’t-quite-land feeling is a root chakra situation.
The root chakra, called Muladhara in Sanskrit, is the foundation of the chakra system. It sits at the base of your spine and represents safety, security, and belonging. It’s the energy that helps you stay grounded in your body and connected to the present moment. When your root is balanced, you feel supported and stable (physically, emotionally, and energetically). When it’s not balanced, anxiety, fear, and uncertainty start running the show.
What’s the Root Chakra All About?
Muladhara governs your most primal needs: food, shelter, safety, and community. It’s your energetic foundation and the soil your entire being grows from.
It asks:
Am I safe?
Do I belong?
Can I trust life?
When this chakra is balanced, you feel secure and capable of handling whatever comes your way. When it’s out of balance, you might feel untethered, fearful, or disconnected from your body, like a houseplant that hasn’t been watered in days.
The Root Chakra in Yoga + Ayurveda
Through yoga asana, you can physically feel grounding in your body. Think Mountain Pose (Tadasana), Child’s Pose (Balasana), or slow, intentional squats that connect you to the floor. These poses and movememnts help you stabilize energy and embody presence.
Ayurveda teaches that imbalance in the root chakra may correlates with excess Vata, or too much air and ether and not enough earth. This can manifest as poor digestion, restlessness, insomnia, or forgetfulness. Ayurveda brings grounding through warm, cooked foods, steady routines, self-massage with oil (abhyanga), and cozy, predictable rhythms. It’s kind of like wrapping your nervous system in a soft, weighted blanket.
Root Chakra Rituals: How to Reconnect and Realign
If you’ve been feeling anxious, spacey, or unsettled, try some of these grounding rituals can bring you back home to your body and your breath:
1. Move Slowly and Steadily
Try standing poses that connect you to the earth. Some of myt favorites are Mountain, Warrior I and II, Goddess, or Malasana. Focus on pressing your feet into the ground with intention. Feel that energetic exchange: Earth holding you up.
2. Nourish Yourself with Earthy Foods
Favor warm, cooked meals with root vegetables like carrots, beets, and sweet potatoes. Use grounding spices like cinnamon, cumin, and turmeric. Sip warm herbal teas like ginger to soothe and anchor Vata energy.
3. Practice Abhyanga (Self-Oil Massage)
Warm some sesame or almond oil and gently massage it into your body before a shower or bath. This ritual not only calms your nervous system but also reminds you: you are here, in this body, right now.
4. Work with Root Chakra Crystals
Crystals carry stable, grounding frequencies that can help you balance Muladhara energy.
I personally love:
Red Jasper for courage and stability
Smoky Quartz for grounding and releasing fear
Black Tourmaline for energetic protection
Hematite to anchor and connect to the physical plane
Keep one in your pocket, wear it as jewelry, or place it on your yoga mat before practice.
5. Essential Oils for Stability
Essential oils can quickly shift your energetic state since scent has an immediate way of supporting. Diffuse, anoint, or simply inhale these grounding aromas:
Vetiver: deeply earthy and stabilizing
Cedarwood: promotes calm and safety
Patchouli: connects the mind and body
Frankincense: invites trust and spiritual grounding
Try applying a drop to the soles of your feet before meditation or yoga.
6. Color Work for the Root Chakra
The color of Muladhara is deep red, which is the color of life, blood, and vitality. Bring this hue into your environment and wardrobe to activate grounding energy.
Wear red clothing or jewelry.
Decorate your altar or sacred space with red candles or flowers.
Visualize a glowing red light at the base of your spine as you breathe deeply.
Journal Prompts to Ground and Reconnect
Use these prompts to explore your relationship with stability, safety, and trust:
Where in my life do I feel most secure and supported?
What does “home” mean to me right now?
When was the last time I felt truly grounded in my body?
What makes me feel unsafe or unsettled, and why?
What can I do today to create a greater sense of stability?
Who or what helps me feel rooted and present?
What routines help me feel most at peace?
Even sitting down with your journal, a warm mug of tea, and your bare feet on the floor is an act of root chakra balancing.
Rooted in Practice: The Yoga + Ayurveda Connection
Balancing the root chakra isn’t just about feeling safe, it’s about reclaiming your rhythm with nature. Yoga gives you the movement and breath to feel grounded in our bodies. Ayurveda gives you the rituals, nourishment, and routines to sustain that grounding. Together, they build a foundation of trust and steadiness that no storm can shake.
If you’ve been craving deeper understanding of these teachings, how they work together, how to bring them to your students, or how to truly live them, then it’s time to step into the next layer of your journey.
Join the Ayurvedic Yoga Teacher Training
Our Ayurvedic Yoga Teacher Training blends the ancient wisdom of yoga and Ayurveda to help you teach, live, and lead from a place of balance and purpose. You’ll learn how to design practices that align with the doshas, seasons, and chakras, while cultivating your own steady, grounded presence as a teacher.
Root down, rise up, and remember you are already supported by the Earth beneath you.
