Root chakra blockage is common in most people because we have started ignoring our basic primal needs of survival, security, and safety in this fast-paced world. Not just the physical but also the psychological aspects of it. Let’s understand in-depth why the root chakra gets blocked and what can we do about it?
Root chakra (Muladhara) is the first chakra of the spiritual body and is associated with the animal’s natural and physical survival instincts. It is located below the spine and is represented as a four-petal lotus. The color associated with the root chakra is deep red.
The root chakra is all about primal needs like food, shelter, and clothing. It is associated with feelings of safety, security, and being grounded.
Seven chakras in the spiritual body allow the life-force energy to flow within them. A chakra is said to be well-balanced if it allows optimal energy to flow through it. If the energy is either deficient or excessive, we have an imbalanced chakra.
An imbalanced chakra can cause psychosomatic problems and a host of other types of ailments. Therefore, it’s important to balance your chakras so that the energy flow through them is optimal.
Unfortunately, there is no way to measure this energy flow because chakras are not part of the physical body. However, by observing our physical and mental state, we can understand how balanced or deficient the chakra is in energy flow.
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The overactive root chakra has excess energy flowing through it. In contrast, an underactive chakra has less energy flowing through it. Both of these cases are bad. To live a completely fearless and fulfilled life, the root chakra has to be completely balanced.
A couple of years back, I had an underactive root chakra. I had lost my job, and my business was not working. I had developed low self-esteem and was always in the grip of fears. I was always worried about my future and how I would stand up to people’s expectations.
Some of the signs of blocked root chakra are as follows.
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Struggle with Financial Issues
Are you going through a financial crisis, or is money always an issue in your life? If so, you might be experiencing a blockage in your root chakra.
People with the blocked root chakra continuously struggle with their finances. When we have less money, we worry about paying bills and other financial obligations. This is a clear indication of an underactive (low energy flow) root chakra.
On the other hand, when you have excess money, you worry that you might lose it all one day, or you feel that what you have is not enough for your present needs (greediness). Greediness indicates an overactive (high energy flow) chakra.
I remember the time when I was struggling with my financial situation. I was always stressed out about money, and the worst part was that I justified it vehemently and made lame excuses. Even when people were willing to help, I refused. I said, “You don’t understand what I’m going through right now.”
My ego had created a barrier around me, and I was dwelling within my own negative internal chatter. I had reached a stage where I was so fearful that I could not take any action (in my work), and all of this had started taking a toll on my mental health. I was getting anxious and depressed.
Some of the issues related to finances that indicate an imbalanced root chakra are as follows:
- When always check your bank balance before you pay a bill.
- When you have the attitude that money should only flow in.
- When you get upset about having less money.
- When you constantly feel that you need more money for a secure future.
- When you fear that it will all go away and you will be doomed.
- When you feel that you don’t deserve to be financially well-off.
- When you financially compare yourself with others.
Restlessness and Irritation
Blockage in the root chakra makes you restless, and as a result, it’s difficult for you to settle down in life. This restlessness is caused because of fear generated within you.
I remember the time when I was struggling in my career. I wanted to develop software that was supposed to solve a big problem. As time passed, I started having doubts about my idea. So I decided to redesign the whole thing.
After a few months, I got burnt. My attention started shifting to other new things (shiny object syndrome). I started rationalizing, “only if I had done that instead of this.” I kept jumping from one thing to another, and nothing got done in the end. I wasted time and money.
At that time, I could not see how my fears (trapped in my root chakra) were playing tricks with my mind. Also, I used to remain irritated, and I could sense that people close to me were uncomfortable with my behavior. People didn’t like associating with me—even my close friends.
When our mind is restless, it gets difficult to make rational decisions, and we feel hesitant to take advice from others, including our well-wishers. This type of restlessness hinders creativity and innovation and is a classic sign of an underactive root chakra.
Impatience and Anger
How many times has it happened that you took up a project with great enthusiasm just to quit midway or when it was nearing completion? I have done this on several occasions. I took up projects and left them midway because I feared that they wouldn’t work.
Every new challenge you undertake in life requires a lot of patience and perseverance. To become an authority in your field, you have to devote lots of time to it. It’s simple mathematics.
For example, if you want to become a good writer, you should practice writing daily. In my case, now I make it a point to write at least 1000 words every single day.
You also have to keep in mind that it takes time to see the fruits of your labor. In this day and age, people live a fast-paced life, obsessed with instant gratification. They keep high expectations and desire immediate results.
“I do not fear a man who knows a thousand types of kicks, but I fear a man who has practiced one kick a thousand times”
Bruce Lee
To be the master of your craft, you need to sharpen your skills. And that won’t happen overnight. It requires time, focus, and perseverance.
I used to be so impatient that I gave up on many good opportunities that came my way. I was completely under the grip of my fears and had lost all of my ability to think straight.
I see a lot of skilled people giving up so early on their ideas. It takes time. It’s going to take years (not weeks, not months) for you to become an overnight success. Don’t go on the media-hyped news of instant success. Take a moment and fully absorb that.
Impatience is a sign of underactive root chakra.
Insecurity
It has become a common practice to instill fear within a young child’s mind to make him or her an efficient worker at a later stage in life. We don’t realize that this kind of psychological manipulation gives rise to a whole set of new problems.
As children, our parents and teachers have high expectations from us. The time we reach college, we are again expected to do give our best in academics. Once all that is over, and we transition into adulthood, we are expected to be highly successful in our respective professions.
At work, we are told to perform. And if we don’t, we are threatened to be thrown out of the job. In the family, we are pressured by our elders and relatives to push hard. We are told that life is a race, and if we don’t win, we’ll be left behind.
Especially in India, a classic fear created within a child is that “if you don’t do well in studies, you’ll be begging out in the streets.” This fear is reinforced repeatedly until the child actually starts believing it. It’s done by society, teachers, and parents.
This kind of thinking gives rise to a lot of insecurity and self-worth issues. Driven by fear, even if we actually achieve our goals, we will never be pleased. We’ll always be insecure that it might all go away one day and keep chasing happiness in financial success all our life.
Some of the signs of insecurity are as follows:
- You always feel unsafe.
- You constantly apologize to other people.
- You have trust issues with people.
- You feel uncomfortable in groups and meetings.
- You hate being alone.
- You seek the approval of others all the time.
- You suffer from high anxiety.
- You overreact in ordinary situations.
Insecurity is a sign of an underactive root chakra. You can achieve greater success, financially and emotionally, if you successfully balance your root chakra. Success should create feelings of bliss and joy instead of making you anxious and depressed.
If are successful but unhappy, you need to question your idea of success.
#5 – Codependency on Others
Children’s minds are very impressionable and don’t have the cognitive abilities to understand and realize unhealthy relationships. This is especially true if their parents have narcissistic traits.
Facing narcissistic abuse over the years causes low self-esteem within such children, and it creates unhealthy behavior patterns as they grow into adults. They feel low in confidence and constantly seek the approval of others for the smallest of things.
Due to low confidence and self-esteem issues, people become codependent on their partners and readily take from them. They feel trapped and suffocated, but they lack the courage to move on and break free. What they really fear is abandonment.
People who suffer narcissistic abuse generally have a blocked root chakra. Opening up the root chakra allows them to let go of fears and release the underlying trapped negative emotions. Healing the root chakra brings a sense of security, stability, and high confidence.
#6 – Greediness (It’s never enough)
Greediness is a sign of overactive root chakra. It’s often the case that people are not content with what they have. Their fears and insecurities constantly remind them that they need more. They overemphasize their need for survival.
Would you believe if I told you that some of the world’s richest people are miserable because of excessive energy flowing within their root chakra? But it’s true. Their root chakra is overactive, and nothing is ever enough for them. No matter how much they earn, they still crave more.
They are constantly chasing out new opportunities to invest in. They want to put their hands into multiple ventures. They inflate their ego beyond control and are constantly insecure about their wealth and relationships.
They prioritize money over emotional well-being and mental peace. They are continually on the chase and are purely driven by the ego. They bask in their own glory and hide their despair by creating a façade around their personality.
They fear being exposed and get aggressive at the slightest of provocation. Such people are high on the spectrum of narcissism, and for them, their ego is everything—their only objective to one-up others.
It’s never enough. They are always insecure and remain in a constant state of fear and anxiety no matter much they accumulate.
Final Thoughts
If you feel that your root chakra is blocked, I’m happy to tell you that there are many effective ways to remove these blockages. If you’re ready to dive deep into root chakra healing, check out my root chakra healing course.