Healing the Survival State: Understanding and Working With the Root Chakra

fabioc
Mar 12
10 min read

Updated: Mar 26

Hi Shinies,

I want to deep dive, in my own way, into the constant feeling of survival that nowadays is a daily companion; something we try to move away from, or something that makes us give up on change altogether. I will address the main center of it, and what we need to focus on in order to start healing and freeing ourselves from it.

Meditating figure with glowing red root chakra sitting on a rock in the ocean at night. — Meditating figure with glowing red root chakra sitting on a rock in the ocean at night

The main energetic center that dictates our survival response is the Root Chakra. Now, why did I use the word dictate?

Because this center holds many things such as patterns, energies, and information that can block or restrict the higher expression of this chakra.

Let's first explain what the Root Chakra is for those who have never read or heard anything about it.

The Root Chakra is located in our pelvic floor, at the base of the spine. It has the geometric shape of a torus. This shape is the same shape that energy healers describe when they talk about chakras. They perceive it as a vortex of energy that spins clockwise or anticlockwise. What they see is just one side of the energy field, because it is actually spinning in both directions at the same time. Any magnetic field emanated by objects or living beings has a torus shape.

Why am I focusing on the shape of something we cannot even see?

Because chakras constantly absorb and emit energy, and the shape of the energies flowing in and out helps us understand how complex and heavily loaded with information this chakra is.

Energy is absorbed from one side, processed, and sent through our system via meridians, and then energy is released from the other side into the outside world. It is like having both a mini black hole and a white hole.

Meridians are channels similar to our blood vessels that spread energy inside our body and our etheric body. Four of these channels pass through the Root Chakra. This is represented in ancient traditions as a lotus flower with four petals. Every chakra vibrates at specific frequencies that determine the color that healers; or people with the gift of vision or an open energetic channel; are able to perceive.

The nuance of the color indicates the vibrational expression of that specific chakra.

For example, if you think about the different shades of red, every variation of that color carries different information and amplitude.

To simplify: the less darkness (which comes from traumas, wounds, blocks, detrimental patterns, belief systems, and behaviors) that a chakra holds and accumulates, the higher its vibration. Basically, the more light it is able to emanate, the higher the frequency at which it expresses itself.

Coming back to our Root Chakra, the types of information stored and triggered here relate to our connection with our ancestors, past lives, our tribe, our species, and also to the planet; although in a smaller way compared to the Earth Star Chakra, which anchors us into the energy grid of the planet on a deeper level.

Stormy ocean symbolizing emotional survival mode and root chakra imbalance.

The things this chakra controls are physical safety and survival.

This means:

shelter
food
water
real-life threat situations
money in terms of the capacity to maintain and sustain our basic needs

What feeds and makes the Root Chakra thrive are:

traditions
a feeling of belonging
feeling safe
having a Code of Conduct and living by it
having a foundational and open belief system about the world

The themes connected to this chakra are:

justice
loyalty
spiritual foundation
family bonds
group acceptance

To work directly with it, we need to address and resolve the things that feed this center. We want to start nourishing it in ways where the information we put into it is higher and more aligned.

Code of Conduct

As chivalric as it may sound, a Code of Conduct has always been very important because it gives a person a framework for behaviors, truths, and choices to take place. It becomes something they can use to stand for themselves no matter what.

When we hear the expression Code of Conduct, something often comes to mind that feels imposed; something we must accept and follow without questioning. In a way, that can be true. But here the difference is that you are the one choosing the heart and soul of your own Code of Conduct.

So how do you start working on it?

Exercise

I will give you some questions you can answer. If more questions arise from deep inside during this process, incorporate them. There is no right or wrong way to approach this exercise if it helps give definition to your values. This is also an exercise that needs to engage all your senses. You need to feel your answers, not just think about them. Visualize scenarios if it helps give more grounded life to the process.

Questions

• What are the things that you value the most that you feel running deeply inside of you?(Examples: courage, kindness, respect, family, etc.)

• Why do you feel them so deeply? (Go as deep as you possibly can.)

• What impact could these values have on the world, from your perspective, when you embody them? And why?

• How will you feel when you embody them?

• How will they steer your life from now on?

Now write down each value and explain how you will take accountability for it and why.

Example of one of my values

Be KIND

"Through understanding, you can access kindness. Do not judge yourself, what is different from you, or what is against you. Do not make assumptions, because they close the possibility of seeing opportunities, personal blind spots, and understanding what situations are truly about. Be gentle with yourself, with people, and with the world around you. Respect the time that you need and the time that others need.

Kindness is a power that cannot be used to impose your opinions or beliefs on others through manipulation. Remember to embrace and understand your fears so they do not have power over you and so you do not project them onto others.

Others deserve to be seen for who they truly are; not for the role you want them to play. That role is dictated by fears and wounds that only you are responsible for. Be kind with yourself when someone projects their fears or wounds onto you or assigns an identity that does not belong to you. You deserve to be seen for who you truly are.

Remember that someone might use your kindness as leverage for their own benefit and to your detriment. If that happens, it is okay. You have simply learned a lesson. Do what you need to support yourself through that process. Fears are necessary because they inform you where your boundaries lie. Therefore respect your boundaries and those of others.

Kindness is even learn on letting go; for the highest good of yourself and someone else; and taking the step to create distance from a person or a situation."

From here, the Code of Conduct that you create is yours and only yours. It can evolve, expand, and change as you grow. Embody the set of principles you create for yourself. They will give you a powerful framework to guide your actions and behaviors in a way that feels deeply authentic and align.

I also strongly recommend reviewing it each year so you can adjust, expand, and improve it as you evolve through life. Otherwise, it can become a cage that no longer fits you, but instead constricts you.

Let's dive a little deeper into the healing of this chakra.

Healing Practices

Palm tree growing on the shore representing grounding and root chakra stability.

It is paramount that we begin to recognize how intense the survival state truly is, because it runs the show without us even realizing it.

Stop saying you are fine when you are not

Stop replying “I am fine” or “I am good” if it is not true when someone asks how you are.

You need to swallow the reality that you are struggling. Otherwise, you are simply escaping from your onw reality, refusing to acknowledge the pain you are experiencing. This keeps you trapped in cycles of self-repression, distraction, self-bulldozing, gaslighting, and dissociation.

In the long run, this creates a normalization of pain that becomes a silent sentence that slowly kills your spirit and hope.

Stop using the expressions “I cannot”, “I must”, and “I have to”

Replacing these expressions with “I want to” or “I need to.”

There is nothing in this world that you have to do.

“I cannot”, “I must”, and “I have to” imply that you have no freedom or choice. They keep you in a powerless state.

The truth is: there is always a choice. It becomes a matter of finding a path rather than staring at a blocked road.

The difference lies in choosing consciously instead of unconsciously, simply because of social constructs or habits. When you start to use espression like "I need to" or "I want to", ask yourself : why do I need or want this?

For example:

I wake up in the morning and say: “ Oh no, I have to go to work.”

Instead, I consciously say: “I choose to go to work.”

Then I ask myself why. I might answer:

“So I can buy the tickets for the concert I really want to attend.”

Following this example, technically you could stop going to work. But the real issue becomes the consequences of losing your income, which triggers the survival response. Awareness helps shift you from a powerless state to a conscious choice.

You are not going because you are forced; you are going because it allows you to obtain something you want.

This reduces the unnecessary emotional weight we create when we underestimate our own power. If you hate your job you, you can always find a new one, it is metter of timing and understanding your inner priorites and work with them. Remember we are not forced to do anything in this existence. We just keep agreeing because of habit or because we are trapped in a hopeless state and we feel at the mercy of life itself.

Change the way you are present with yourself moment to moment

Practice being present with uncomfortable experiences that conflict with the idea you have about yourself or the world.

Usually we tend to deny, reject, repress, or disown how we feel.

Instead, we want to sit with the unpleasant feeling rather than bury it in deeper place in the subconscious. Allow it to fully express itself.

Step-by-step process

1. Give the emotion a sensory experience

We learned to understand the world through our senses. So going through each sense ask yourself which one might be.

exsample: "if this emotion would be a smell, which one would it be?"

Assign:

a shape and color
a texture or material
a smell
a taste
a sound

This helps make the emotion more familiar and all these information are very important because give us a window to start understand the emotion's state.

It also allows the emotion to take form so you can interact with it rather than experience it as something abstract, undefined and something that you identify with.

When we visualize it, it becomes something we can observe more objectively, because it is outside you.

2. Ask questions

The goal is to know as much as possible about the emotion. Adopt the mindset of an observer without judgment.

Everything that emerges is an extremely valuable information because it can lead to the next question. We begin simply with “Why?”

Important: we are not shaming the emotion, give an opinion even when you empathize with it. You can ask if what you perceive from what the emotion said is true or not. Even if the emotion gives you responsibility for feeling in that way, do not, and I repeat, do not react, justify, deflect or defend yourself. Allow it to express its perspective and follow that thread with curiosity.

Questions to ask:

What message do you have for me?
Why are you showing up in this situation?
Why are you feeling this way?
Why is this so painful for you?
Why does it make you feel this way?
Why do you think "x" and "z" about this?
Why do you believe this about the situation?
Why do you feel unable to move forward or let go?
Why do you think it is my fault?

If new questions arise naturally, ask them. Stay open and non-judgmental.

When the questions begin to loop and no new information emerges, we move from “why” to “what.”

Questions to ask:

What do you want for yourself?
What are your dreams or desires?
What do you want me to do differently?
What can I do to support you?

From here we move into an actionable plan. Sometimes the emotion itself will give you the guide line to follow. If not, brainstorm together possible actions or behavioral changes.

Now it is paramount that you follow through with the plan. Not knowing what an emotion needs is one thing. Ignoring it once you know is another. It is equal to declaring war to it. If you struggle to follow through, communicate that with that emotion.

You might say:

“I am struggling to apply what we agreed. What is your perspective on it?”
“Is another part of me interfering with this and it is not on board?”
Which part of me is not on board and why?
Is there something else that I can do in the meantime until I am resolving this with the other part?
“Can you hold on for me while I work with the other part that does not feel safe yet?”

If another inner part appears, you can repeat the same process with it.

The goal is knowing its motives. This process allows to create open communication between you and every part of yourself. Your job is to focus on finding solutions and building understanding. There is an advanced process related to this that I will explore in a future post. For now, become familiar with this practices until it becomes second nature. I will dive deeper into this chakra in future posts. There is much more to unpack, but what we explored here is already a lot. In future posts we will explore the Root Chakra more deeply, including trauma stored in the body, ancestral patterns, and grounding practices.