getting to the root of things

Evening eKa CIRCLE,

This morning I attended a zoom class exercise session hosted by Sujanya of Liv2care4all. This little idea birthed out of my eka circle short igtv interviews. It is always so amazing to watch people become inspired do their thing and help build community to encourage and heal each other. Today Sujanya was teaching on the root chakra known as the Mooladhara. It is always great to recap things and practise with intention. The root chakra is the first chakra and sits at the very base of the spine. It governs our survival and security instincts. It is a very important energy centre as it is our connection to the physical world. Think of your spine as a conductive rod for energy flow. Indeed you are a spiritual tree.

The frequency for our meditation was at 432hz (perfect earth frequency) with a lovely guided meditation, deep breathing, mudras, the lam vibration chant (look at the sacred geometry fractals of that word!)- all designed to get things moving in the body while visualising red. Then we did some asana poses that aim to ground us and open up the hips. Asana is an ancient sanskrit word that means seat- now doesn’t that make sense! Indeed the Spirits energy must flow it is often our traumas that cause blockage. I often wonder if this is what the angel did to Jacob while wrestling aligning his hip (root chakra centre) so that he could then climb jacob’s ladder and see those great mysterious things in the spiritual realms of Yah. You can read about this in Genesis 32.

At the end of the session Sujanya suggested eating some potatoes today or some other root vegetables for our meals. I have written on this before but thought that this was a great opportunity to reiterate. Nature gives us oh so many hints, many of them so obvious that we easily overlook them. The root chakra needs the root vegetables. Earth to earth for earthing. Even the colours of the vegetables help us understand where that energy helps in each area of the body, all cleverly aligned and designed then mirrored with the colours of the rainbow above. What a creator! No wonder the root vegetables are all warmer coloured tones and grow under the earth. Gently directing us to ground in too for an essential stress relief reboot. Root vegetables as a rule are high in potassium, folate, vitamins A, B and C and manganese. They are high in phytonutrients and rich in fibre. Fibre is exactly what the our bodies need to flush out waste and toxins from our bowel. Vitamin B is great for stress and the nervous system, the healing of your nervous tree. You see nature does not get things wrong you just need eyes to see.

The root chakra is where we hold fear and anxiety. We can be especially prone to this if we have not had our basic needs met as a young child before the age 7. This is often where the work needs to be done to get this energy centre cleared. I like to refer to this area of the body as the waters below. As above so below.

Here are some things to look for if your root chakra is blocked:

• sluggishness
• colon issues
• bladder issues
• lower back problems
• left arm or foot issues
• cramping
• inflammation
• prostate issues
• insecurities about financial issues
• insecurities about our basic needs being met
• trust issues
• resistance to change
• always needing control/ dominance

Ways to strengthen your root chakra:

• certain poses like child’s pose, tree pose
• earthing, shoes off on the ground
• meditation
• eating grounding foods
• gratitude
• movement

“Sorrow is knowledge, those that know the most must mourn the deepest, the tree of knowledge is not the tree of life.”

Lord Byron

Hope you enjoy my potato “base chakra” recipe that I made up today inspired by this morning’s grounding session.

Tamarind Potatoes and Red Beans

1/3 cup mustard oil

4 red skinned potatoes, roughly diced

1 onion, sliced

3 cloves garlic, sliced

1 large green chilli, sliced

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds

1/4 tsp garam masala

3 roma tomatoes, diced

1 cup cooked kidney beans

2 tsp dried tamarind

1 Tbsp coconut sugar

salt and pepper

Heat the oil in wok. Saute the potatoes until just beginning to colour. Add the onion, garlic and chilli and toss over the heat until the onion has softened. Add the spices and toss over the heat for a minute then add the tomatoes and kidney beans.

Pour one cup of boiling water over the tamarind and stir to soften, strain the tamarind into the wok, discard the seeds. Add the sugar, simmer until it has thickened and the potatoes are cooked. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Your food is medicine.

love & light

M+ E