Root Chakra: Meaning, Signs of Imbalance, and Yoga Practices to Reconnect

What Is the Root Chakra (Muladhara)?

The Root Chakra, known in Sanskrit as Muladhara, is the foundation of your entire energetic system. Located at the base of your spine, it’s associated with your sense of stability, safety, and survival. This chakra is your energetic anchor. It governs your most basic needs like shelter, food, security, and belonging.

When your Root Chakra is balanced, you feel grounded, present, and supported by life. You’re able to handle challenges with steadiness and build a strong foundation for personal growth. But when this energy center is blocked or imbalanced, it can lead to feelings of fear, anxiety, disconnection from the body, and instability in daily life.

In yoga, working with the Root Chakra often involves grounding practices: postures that connect you with the earth, intentional breathwork, and rituals that cultivate safety from within. This is the chakra we must return to again and again when we feel overwhelmed, scattered, or stuck in survival mode.

How to work with the Root Chakra

Pranayama

• Long, slow belly breaths. Focus on your exhale.
• Box Breathing: Long inhale, hold, exhale, hold. Keep it slow and rooted.

Meditation

Work with the Earth element, rooting into Earth and nature.

Mantra

Work with the LAM Mantra.

Yoga Asanas

Notice gravity, move slowly, connect to your feet.

Journaling Prompts

🖊️  What makes me feel safe in my body?

🖊️ What daily rituals help me feel grounded?

🖊️ What does home feel like to me?

🖊️ What limiting beliefs do I hold around security, money, or survival?

Tools that support Root Chakra work

• Eye pillow or blanket for grounding visuals
• Bolster or cushion for hip-open restorative poses
• Taking soft barefoot walks on grass or earth
• Using grounding essential oils (vetiver, cedarwood, ylang ylang, patchouli)

Root Chakra Importance for Wellbeing

Balancing this chakra helps with nervous system regulation, emotional resilience, and creating a foundation for healing across all chakras.

Learn more in our Chakra System Explained article to see how these teachers align across your energetic body.