“Your biography is your biology.” ~Carolyn Myss
What’s so cool about all this scientific analysis on age-old modalities is that an Eastern practitioner would probably smile and respond to Western proof with something like, “Yes, I know. Namaste.”
Chakras are energy centers (invisible to many) throughout the body that correspond to significant intersections of nerves. Chakras are believed to store information (like a computer chip) about you and are related to sickness and health.
A great pioneer in the field of energy medicine is Carolyn Myss. She is a medical intuitive who, throughout her 30+ years of practice, has seen patterns of sickness in chakras and so have I. She, along with others in our field, have made it easy to see how our emotional health is related to our energetic and physical health.
When I first began studying Carolyn Myss’ work I was very skeptical. I really wanted to know how our emotions not only affected our energy—but how it translated into our body possibly creating illness.
So I began at the beginning–well actually the base! The base chakra, also known as the first chakra, is located just below the pelvis and is usually symbolized in red. Mystics and energy practitioners generally agree that the strength of this chakra is directly related to your perceived safety and security when you were growing up. It is also directly related to how you feel you fit into your community. Community can mean your family, your tribe, your country, or your neighborhood. Since this is the base chakra, it is believed to be fueled by the Earth’s energy (because it’s closest to the Earth!)–imagine the roots of a family tree.
For those whose base chakra is unstable, lacking in energy, or unbalanced, generally experience autoimmune deficiencies (a white blood cell malady) such as allergies, arthritis, eczema, and Type 1 diabetes. They also experience blood disorders such as blood clots and hemophilia. These symptoms often create inflammation in the body because blood feeds the joints, muscles, organs, tissues, and cells.
These disorders are the result of perceived threats on the body from the environment—not actual threats to survival. In fact, the definition of an autoimmune disorder is a condition in which the immune system reacts inappropriately to the body’s own tissues and attacks them, causing damage and/or interfering with normal functioning.
So what is making our bodies react inappropriately?
Our fight or flight response! Remember how our bodies are hard-wired to get down and dirty or get outta there? This response places stress on our bodies by making our heart race from adrenaline and releasing excess cortisol, slowing digestion, sending blood flow away from the core, and lowering our immune system! No wonder why the health of our base chakra is related to safety and security! When we don’t feel safe, we feel the need to fight or get the heck out of there.
Interestingly, in Chinese medicine, the fight or flight response is held in the Triple Burner meridian—which is fueled by—get this—prenatal and postnatal energy! It also begins in the kidney meridian—and the kidneys contain the adrenal glands and they secrete cortisol! Cortisol is essential to helping our bodies cope with stress and to fight infection– balance is crucial to health!
Isn’t it totally amazing that these energy concepts are so similar yet created by different cultures!!!
So you may be wondering what is turning on the fight or flight response?
It turns out—mental stress! What is stress? Wayne Dyer posed these questions which really got me thinking. Can you go out and buy stress? Can you touch it? No! It is a pattern of negative thought. It is worry— better known as wasted creative energy. Basically, it is all thought and no action. That energy has got to go somewhere!
There you have it, folks! We have come full circle. Emotions affect the body through the release of chemicals. Constantly bombarding the body with these chemicals because of negative thoughts (energy) about something that happened 30 years ago (for example), can over time create illness. This compounding of stress (thoughts –> chemicals) creates catastrophic complications for the body.
Cell biologist, Dr. Bruce Lipton said it best, “We are currently taught that genes control life. However, we will come to realize that our learned perceptions of life control our biology…With this knowledge, we can knowingly control our life experiences.”
So what can we do to stop this vicious cycle affecting our base chakra and the foundation of our health?
Any activity that decreases stress is a great idea. Changing thought patterns—possibly carrying a gratitude rock, living in a state of appreciation, and forgiving. As always, meditation also helps because it lowers blood pressure, decreases cortisol levels, and lowers cholesterol. Grounding (connecting to the Earth with bare feet) has also been shown to be especially effective in bringing down inflammation in the body and so has energy healing.