Transcription:
Root Chakra: The Key to Past Trauma and/or Current Anxiety/Stress

Deborah Howell (Host): Welcome to Stoughton Health Talk. I'm Deborah Howell. And I invite you to listen as we talk about the keys to our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual bodies, and get introduced to the chakras and in particular today, to the root chakra, which holds the key to past and/or current trauma, anxiety and stress.

Joining me is Amy Krull, a Reiki master teacher, yoga teacher, and holistic health coach. Amy, such a pleasure to have you on with us today.

Amy Crull: Well, thank you. It's great to be on.

Deborah Howell (Host): You know, this has been a particularly stressful time around the world with the war in Ukraine, the pandemic is still with us and a great amount of violence in the news. So it's really a good time to learn about the chakras. First off, can you give us a quick overview of the chakra system?

Amy Crull: Definitely. So when we talk about the chakra system, we're talking about energy. So everything is made up of energy. Everything has this vibration to it, has frequency to it. And that's basically what our chakra system is. It comes from the Sanskrit word chakra and it means a wheel or a spinning disc. So basically, you can just think of it as a place in the body where energy converges. And so, there's seven major chakras and we'll be talking about the first one today. And you've probably seen a picture of a person with these rainbow dots going up their spine, and those are the chakras. They're associated with different physical aspects of the body, emotional, spiritual, and mental aspects, which I'll get into today.

Deborah Howell (Host): Sure. All right. Let's hone in on that root chakra. Where in the body is the root chakra located?

Amy Crull: All right. So your root chakra, if you think of the word root, right? That's our base. So, it's going to be lower hips all the way on down to our feet. So the base of the spine. And physical organs of the body would be the legs, the feet, your foundation, your structure. So your bony structure, your bones, your teeth. It's also associated with adrenal glands. So, that's kind of getting into that stress response, that fight or flight. And your adrenals, they pump out that cortisol. So that's part of that whole system.

Deborah Howell (Host): It's interesting, because it really is tip to toe when you talk about the teeth and the toes being bonally connected. Okay. So what other things can you tell us about this chakra?

Amy Crull: So when you look at that picture of the person with the rainbow dots, the first chakra is the base of the spine. It's that red dot. So it's all shades of red and some people even see it more of like a rusty, brownish red, but we're talking about that color. And the sense that is associated with this is your smell. So smell is a very primal thing. So when you talk about the root chakra, you're talking about primal. Are your basic needs being met? So survival, things like that. Like it's formed when you're in utero to about 12 months old. So are you being fed, cared for, sheltered? It's all those really basic needs. It's the human part of us. It's that very physical part of us, that primal survival mode. And the element that is associated with it would be the earth. So, do you feel grounded? Do you feel centered? And that earth energy is really powerful in the root chakra. So themes could be like do you feel secure? Or do you mostly feel fearful? You know, of course, we're going to go back and forth between the two, but which one do you spend more time in?

Deborah Howell (Host): Interesting. Because your feet are connected physically to the earth.

Amy Crull: Yes, definitely. And I always tell people, if you want to just kind of feel more grounded, feel more centered, just go outside and get your feet in the grass. Feel that energy from the earth, because the earth also has energy vortexes, is another word for the chakra system. And you can draw on that energy.

Deborah Howell (Host): There's a certain thing about toes in the sand when we're on vacation, where we can just kind of take a breath and really feel that stress being physically removed when we wiggle our toes in some warm sand.

Amy Crull: Definitely. Yes, that's called earthing, to get your feet either in the sand, the earth, even in the water. It's just very calming.

Deborah Howell (Host): Yeah. How can we connect with this chakra?

Amy Crull: There's a lot of ways to connect with it. you can use essential oils, which are from the earth, from nature. So when you're talking about the root chakra, you're talking about trees, firs, woods, like cedar wood, things like that. There are blends called balance. And anything very earthy is a great oil.

Another thing are crystals. So, obsidian, like black obsidian is really good. It's going to ground you sometimes when you even hold it in your hands, you can feel your feet more solid on the ground. Smoky quartz is going to take away a lot of anxiety. I always suggest smoky quartz for people who are anxious. It'll just really help to make people feel less anxious, just hold that smoky quartz in your hand.

Deborah Howell (Host): That's what I was going to ask, is how do you utilize these crystals to get the best benefit from them?

Amy Crull: So you can do everything from just holding it in your hand, keeping it in your pocket when you go out throughout the day. You know, some people like to wear them around their neck in a nice necklace or a bracelet. You can even just have them in the room and it'll just really help to just bring that energy into a room. I always laugh because I had a crystal that it drew people in and it was amazing. I will move it around the room and people will congregate towards it. It's a natural thing that people want to congregate towards. So it was very interesting.

Deborah Howell (Host): Yeah, I had a necklace like that. Everybody just reached for it and touched it automatically.

Amy Crull: Yes. Right. Yeah.

Deborah Howell (Host): We are drawn to these things. There's something in us that wants to connect with it.

Amy Crull: Definitely. Another thing we can do is yoga. So there's certain poses that are connected to the root chakra. So you're talking about you're very structured ones, so like warrior. Feet are really grounded on the ground. Tree pose, so you can imagine like those roots coming out of your feet into the ground. And you don't have to do the leg really high up. Just pulling it off of the ground and even toes touching in tree is just the same. Another one is squat. It's a very primal position, right? And it's really great on your lower back, releases your lower back. That's a wonderful one. Because when we're talking about the root chakra, we're talking about all of these characteristics that can be that anxiousness in people, fear of change, addiction to security, like rigid boundaries. And so more balanced would be this feeling of being safe, vitality, prosperity, good health, and just feeling really grounded and comfortable in your body.

Deborah Howell (Host): And when you're doing squat or tree pose, you're literally working on your own balance.

Amy Crull: Definitely. Yes. And that is a wonderful thing. And I always tell people, you know, have a little smile on your face when you do balance poses because some days it's great and other days it's not. So just going with it.

Deborah Howell (Host): I love that. Oh, we could go on for hours. But is there anything else in particular you'd like to add to our conversation today?

Amy Crull: Yes. One thing I would like to add is that the sound associated with the root chakra is "lam". It's L-A-M, but we kind of pronounce it more like "LUM," so "lum." And if you ever are just feeling really anxious, that's something you can just chant to yourself, "lam," "lam," "lam." And that can be very calming.

Deborah Howell (Host): Beautiful. I'm calmer just hearing you do it. There's something about it that is very comforting. How can people get in touch with you, Amy?

Amy Crull: So you can check out my website. I'm at speroholistic.com, and I'll spell it for you. So it's S-P-E-R-O, that's Spero, and then holistic, H-O-L-I-S-T-I-C. And you can contact me there via email or via the website.

Deborah Howell (Host): So I'm going to give it again, www.speroholistic.com.

Amy Crull: Great. Yes.

Deborah Howell (Host): This has been just wonderful, Amy. I feel more centered and happier already just having this time together. Thank you so much for joining us today.

Amy Crull: Thank you very much.

Deborah Howell (Host): And for more information, head on over to our website at stoughtonhealth.com to get connected with one of our providers.

And that concludes this episode of Stoughton Health Talk. Please remember to subscribe, rate and review this podcast and all the other Stoughton Hospital Podcasts. I'm Deborah Howell. Have a terrific day.