From our Roots We Rise – Article by MBY for Gozo In The House | November 2022

Where are you laying down your roots?
Michelle Bartolo shares how working on our hips, our root chakra (aka Mulhadhara Chakra) is purposeful and necessary practice.
Have you ever paid attention to the base of your tailbone? As you sit on the earth can you sense your connection to the earth from your roots as if you are part of the earth? This area of the body represents our need for safety, security and survival. In what ways do you provide these aspects of your roots for yourself?

From Our Roots We Rise Gozo in the House
When we feel fear, insecurity, doubt or perhaps a loss of purpose our roots are compromised. We are feeling ungrounded in our being as these aspects of ourselves are what brings our root chakra off balance.

The mantra ‘I am grounded, I am safe, I am supported’ is the light aspect of this energy centre. Touching the earth in any way will help one feel the grounding energy that the earth provides when we are feeling off balance.

This month’s practices are all hip-focused. We call it a Hip Fix. Every asana aims at the outside and inside of the hips as we stay grounded, close to the earth to sense the centre of our body. When this centre is off balance we often reach out for a stimulant to help our sluggishness or to ease our fears, insecurities or doubts.

Yet what we really need to do is move our hips to be sure our ‘Apana Vayu’ which is responsible for eliminating what is no longer needed. This energy is most active in the pelvis and lower abdomen which governs our eliminative functions (excretion, urination, menstruation).

When Apana is weak we become susceptible to illness, fear, doubt, confusion & insecurity. When Apana is strong and balanced we feel grounded, ROOTED, providing the foundation for a healthy body and a flexible positive outlook on life. Reaching out for stimulants will create blockages. We need to move the energy in our hips, our roots. We need to reach inside instead of outside.

“Fear is a belief that something awful might happen, while faith is a belief that something good will happen. Although the results are different, the causes are the same – both are beliefs that govern our behaviour and influence the way we feel. If we can replace unreasonable fear with reasonable faith, then we have a natural remedy to our first chakras demon”

ANODEA JUDITH
From Our Roots We Rise Gozo in the House
FROM OUR ROOTS WE RISE
When fear strikes we have a tendency to reach out instead of sit and look within. Fear is the demon of our root chakra. Our fear has much to teach us. Fear teaches us of our own importance and the need to take care of ourselves. Only when we acknowledge this demon as an ally can it be truly mastered.

Fear engages our survival instincts by getting us ready to respond. If that becomes constant we lose our ability to respond appropriately. So we loosen up those hips! We consider the hips the junk drawer of the body, when we open the hips we clear out the junk that we’ve chosen to bury and pretend it’s not there.

Guess what? It doesn’t go away. Just like your junk drawer at home, the more you stuff in there the fuller it becomes.

Michelle. X

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From Our Roots We Rise Gozo in the House
Author: Michelle Bartolo
Michelle Bartolo is a Yoga Guide based in Gozo. Blending the styles of Vinyasa & Kundalini with Pranayama Practices, Mindful Meditation and Quantum Physics, she offers holistic classes, private sessions, retreats and training using yoga tools to heal the emotional, mental and physical bodies.