The Lazy Yogi

My root chakra has never really been open or in harmony with my being since childhood. I feel like the death of my father instilled a lot of insecurities in me. This created a kind of blockage in my muladhara chakra that has been there for years. 

After a few weeks of simple qigong practice, yesterday it opened. Since then, it has been vibrating on and off erratically. It feels like it is flushing itself clean and sinking its roots back into the earth. 

So what is the root chakra, you ask? The root chakra is your body’s connection to existence. The root chakra, when opened and balanced, makes you feel at home, secure, and provided for. While I have always been a natural when it came to higher chakras like throat, third eye, and crown, I have generally found the lower chakras to be more difficult to work with. I had trouble connecting with them. 

Qigong changed this. I am a pretty balanced and graceful person, physically speaking. But I slouch and have poor posture. My breathing used to be very shallow. 

The basics of qigong changed this. The trick with qigong is learning the proper way of breathing. Once you do that, your body is forced to assume naturally correct posture. This is because it is impossible to take a full breath if you are hunching or slouching. 

So I got a book, practiced natural deep breaths and adopted the right posture. Yoga does a lot of this too. After a week, I went from taking 10-15 breaths per minute to taking 3-5. My center of gravity dropped and my posture naturally improved to accommodate my breathing. 

My balance went from being good to being preternatural. :P I became hyper-aware of my relation to the ground and gravity. After integrating a couple old martial arts forms into my workout routine, I started feeling a strengthened connection to the earth, the ground. My stance just felt solid, wherever I was. 

This was what preceded my root chakra opening. None of this was something I was trying to do. I simply felt ungrounded and decided to change that. But now I have come to a new understanding and relationship with the root chakra. 

Ultimately, to me, the root chakra isn’t security. It is balance, it is support. When you are balanced, you don’t need security because you’re ready for anything. Unmovable like stone. 

Namaste, friends.