Monday evening, at the Radiance Rising Circle, when we each said our name and a quality that we would like to call into our lives, I said, “Teja, grounded,” and I delighted in hearing the circle repeat that out loud three times. Any time we feel excited, or in love, or spiritually expanded (or all of the above!), we need to make sure we ground all of those ecstatic energies.

At the beginning of the New Year 2010, I wrote a blog entitled, “Getting Grounded in Times of Rapid Change.” I just re-read that article and found it quite useful myself! I especially enjoyed remembering the list of practical things to do for grounding, such as touching a tree or a stone or the earth; soaking feet in hot salt water; and focusing on the breath.

The chakra associated with the earth element is the Muladhara or root chakra, the energy center located at the base of the spine. Tuning in to how the energies feel in that center and visualizing the color red there can help to ground our energies. I also like to imagine that my root chakra is deeply connected down with the crystalline core of the earth.

Before chanting at the Radiance Rising Circles, we first chant the mantras associated with the chakras. We begin with the root chakra and chant up to the crown chakra. Then, after chanting and silently meditating and sharing spiritual teachings, we close the circle by chanting back down the chakras, so that we end the evening’s circle with our attention on the root chakra. Any time we raise our energies and vibrations with spiritual practices, it is good to bring those energies down to the root so that rather than feeling spaced out, we feel calm, centered, and grounded. As one woman pointed out, that is a good thing when you have to drive home after the circle!

The Sanskrit mantras that we sing with the chakras (the energy centers in our subtle bodies), are as follows:

7th Sahasrara (Crown) ~
Bliss of Union with Divine ~ Inner Guru ~ White ~ NG

6th Ajna (Third Eye) ~
Intuition ~ Purple ~ Om (or Aum)

5th Vishuddha (Throat) ~
Expression of Truth ~ Blue ~ Ham

4th Anahata (Heart, center of chest) ~
Love and Balance ~ Green ~ Yam

3rd Manipura (Solar Plexus, above navel) ~
Will ~ Yellow ~ Ram

2nd Svadhisthana (Belly, below navel) ~
Sensuality and Creativity ~ Orange ~ Vam

1st Muladhara (Root at base of spine) ~
Sense of belonging on Earth ~ Red ~ Lam

As the seasons change, there can be a tendency to feel restless and excited. When we witness ourselves feeling ungrounded, there are many ways to come back to our centers, including focusing our attention on our root chakra energies.

May all beings everywhere know Peace and Happiness.

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini

Photos of leaves on ground and Teja by Teja Shankara.