Just as a lightning rod protects a building by sending excess voltage into the ground, so, too, our grounding protects the body from becoming "overloaded" by the tensions of everyday life. Through grounding we send the impact of stressful vibrations into a larger body that can handle them. A small child, for example, buries his head in his mother's shoulder on hearing a loud noise. He is, in a sense, grounding that vibration in her body.
Measurements have shown that when the human body is standing on the ground, it is electrically grounded as well. There is an electrostatic field surrounding the Earth with a resonant frequency of about 7.5 cycles per second.' The late Itzhak Bentov discussed a micromotion of the body that consists of the constant vibration of the heart, cells, and bodily. fluids. He determined that this micromotion vibrates at a frequency of 6.8 to 7.5 cycles per second. Therefore, the body's natural frequency resonates with the Earth's ionosphere. Connecting physically to this great body, as in walking or lying on the Earth, our own bodies enter into this resonance more deeply.
Grounding is a way of coping with stress. The downward channel gives us an outgoing circuit and protects us from psychic overload. The physical world is safe and stable. We can always return to our favorite chair, a good meal, and familiar surroundings when we need to feel calm and secure. This stability makes it easier to work on higher planes. When the body feels secure, well-fed, and healthy, our consciousness can flow to other levels.
Chakras filter energy from the environment. Their spinning pattern vibrates at a certain rate allowing only matching vibrations to enter into the internal core of consciousness. The rest recedes into the background, soon to be completely forgotten by the conscious mind (although the subconscious mind may often remember quite well). When too much abrasive energy is found in our surroundings, the chakras will close down to protect the subtle body from this caustic invasion. Overloaded chakras are difficult to open. Grounding is a way to discharge this excess tension.
Grounding brings clarity through stillness. Every action causes a reaction. If we can "still" our reactions to some aspect of a vicious cycle, we are "stepping out of the world of karma:" We are then able to stop the cycle. This is analogous to letting dirty water sit in a glass long enough for the mud to settle to the bottom, clearing the water.
Many people experience difficulty because their upper chakras are too open, while their lower chakras are not stable enough to support the barrage of psychic energy they pick up around them. At its extreme, this creates serious mental disorders, such as psychosis. A psychotic individual has lost touch with his ground and with consensus reality. Through techniques of grounding, psychic overload can be discharged, giving patients stability to match their sensitivity. Even simple physical touch can help to ground someone in intense pain. Physical exercises or making something with one's hands is also useful, as well as any of the grounding exercises described at the end of this chapter or in The Sevenfold Journey.'
Grounding is like focusing a camera lens, where the object is to get two images to merge into one. As our astral body becomes firmly connected with our physical body, our senses of the physical world around us becomes sharp and clear. If another person were to look at us when we were particularly grounded, they would also experience a dynamic clarity about us-a presence in the eyes and body-whether or not that person had ever seen an "aura."
In this state of "groundedness," decisions are more easily made, worries about the future are more easily assailed, and enjoyment of the present moment takes on a new luster and challenge. This is not a state that is detrimental to expanded consciousness, but one that enhances it.
Grounding forms a foundation. A person desiring to study medicine "grounds" themselves in the physical sciences as an undergraduate. In opening a new business, one first gets "grounding" from someone more experienced in the field and finds financial support. Our first chakras are the foundations on which everything we do rests. Our bodies are a microcosm of the world we create around us. The work we do and the foundations we build are of utmost importance to the success of whatever follows.
For many people, work itself is a grounding activity. Aside from providing our basic tool of survival-money-the routine of working a job according to a regular schedule can provide a basic structure that supports the life around it. This routine, while it may be drudgery at times, can actually be beneficial in its limitations. It builds a foundation. Through focus and repetition, energies become dense enough to manifest. If we are involved with constant change, we are like a rolling stone that gathers no moss. We're kept at a survival level because we are constantly building new foundations. Only through focus and repetition can we achieve expertise in an area leading to larger manifestation of goals, be they physical or ideological.
Chakras, however, must be balanced. While the stability of grounding is a necessary state to achieve, undue attachment to this security can be detrimental. The physical world is not the goal, but only a tool. It is possible to dominate our consciousness with addictions to material comforts, and the acquisition of more and more of them becomes the basis of many people's lives. It is this that is seen as a detriment to the growth of consciousness and one that makes material existence a trap. Once again, it is only undue attachment to this security that becomes a trap, not the basic satisfaction of this need.
Grounding is not dull and lifeless, but dynamic and vibrant. Generally it is our tension that makes us lethargic, and tension results from alienation between various parts of ourselves. As these parts are simplified and integrated, we experience increased vitality.
Intellectually, it is easy for people to understand the need for grounding. But the experience cannot really be explained in words. It is a cumulative skill; one session of grounding meditations may produce some effect, but it is only over time that the real benefits may be achieved. As grounding is the foundation for all else we may do, it is well worth it to take the time. (See the grounding exercises at the end of this chapter.)
SURVIVAL
First chakra consciousness is oriented toward survival. This is the maintenance program that protects the health of our bodies and our day-to-day mundane needs. Here we function from an instinctual level, concerned with hunger, fear, the need for rest, warmth, and shelter.
Survival demands awaken our consciousness. Threats to survival stimulate the adrenal glands for that burst of extra energy needed for fight or flight. As the body gets energized, awareness is heightened. The challenge of survival requires us to think and act quickly, and to innovate new solutions. Our consciousness is spontaneously focused on our situation in a way that rarely occurs at other times.
In order to consolidate our energy in the first chakra, we must first see that our survival needs are met in a healthy and direct way, so that our consciousness is not dominated by them. To ignore these demands is to be constantly pulled back into survival consciousness, making us unable to "get off the ground."
In the primal roots of our collective unconscious lie the memories of a time when we were more connected to the Earth, the sky, the seasons, and the animals-a connection that was integral to our survival, and one that was the foundation for our first developments of intelligence. We, too, were hunted like the animals we ate. What we lived on, we were also a part of. Survival was a full-time concern.
Currently, the situation is quite different. Now our survival is indirect. Our food comes from a store, our heat from a button on the wall. No longer do we need to lie awake at night guarding our food from a wild and hungry beast (unless it's a family member!). No longer do we need to keep the fire alive out of ignorance about how to relight it. Instead we need to worry about our car breaking down on the way to work, that we have enough money to pay the utilities, or that our home isn't burglarized when we go out of town.
Still, the survival instinct remains, and losing a job, coming down with an illness, or being evicted from an apartment can trigger our first chakras into working overtime. When this happens we experience
panic. Survival energies flood our system, but we may not know what to do with them. The answer may not be running or fighting, which is what the body is preparing us to do, but claiming our roots in a more conscious way.
When Muladhara is activated by danger or pressing circumstances, the response is similar to a computer searching for information on a floppy disk. The first chakra disk stores all our survival information. The "operating system" of the body then "boots" that information into the attention of the conscious mind.
The body reacts instantaneously. The spine makes contact to the Earth, via the legs, adrenaline rushes through the bloodstream, the heartbeat accelerates, increasing blood supply, and the senses are sharpened dramatically. Our sleepy consciousness awakens. It is the beginning of heightened awareness where Kundalini, who lies coiled around the Muladhara, may begin her ascent.
When survival information is not needed immediately, the chakra goes on automatic. It routinely checks internal and external environments to see that all things remain in order, and that they are conducive to the ongoing existence of the organism. When there is a threat, pre-programming in the first chakra takes over and our consciousness is dominated by the needs of the body.
There is very little we can do to interfere with this process without harming the body once the first chakra takes over. If we don't take a rest, our illness advances until we have no choice. If our income is threatened, or if we are suddenly evicted from our home, our attention is dominated by these situations until they are resolved. Like the force of gravity, we can only accept its pull and learn to work with it.
One who is perpetually plagued by health problems or constantly struggling with financial crisis is caught on this first chakra level. Some unresolved conflict, whether it be physical, circumstantial, or psychological, is keeping their consciousness trapped at this level. There is usually an insecure, panicky feeling-one which may pervade other areas of life, even when there is no need for it. As long as these situations remain unresolved, the person will have difficulty raising any appreciable amount of consciousness to higher levels. Exercises for dealing with such problems involve grounding and working with the first chakra, and some of these are listed at the end of the chapter. But first it is important to understand the ramifications of consciousness at this root level, namely, the right to be here.
If this is your experience, ask yourself, what keeps you from wanting to be here? From whom do you need permission to take care of yourself? What is the fear of grounding, of becoming stable, of standing on your own two feet? Who is responsible for your survival? How much of your thinking is unrealistic dreaming, not grounded in the world around you? How was your survival provided for in your childhood, by whom, and at what cost? Are you connecting with your body, listening to it, administering to its needs? Do you have the right to be here, to take up space, to have what you need in order to survive?
An important aspect of the ability to maintain survival at a comfortable level has to do with the ability to have things-to contain, to keep, to magnetize materiality into our own sphere. To be and to have-these are the rights of the first chakra.
The ability to have is an acquired skill. Some, born wealthy, are raised to expect abundance in their lives. To buy the best brand in the store, to order the most expensive meal in a restaurant-these come more naturally to those raised to it, and it's easier for them to maintain that level, even when finances are not provided. Expecting prosperity makes it easier to create.
Most of us were not so lucky. Raised with concepts of scarcity, we chew our nails over buying a new dress, we panic over whether to take a pleasant job that pays less, and we're nervous when we take a day off. We make do with what we have whenever possible, rather than risk extravagance. We don't allow ourselves luxuries, and if we do, it is often with guilt or worry. This is an inability to "have"-a first chakra programmed on a foundation of scarcity rather than abundance.
Developing our ability to have things begins with increasing selfworth. Paradoxically, allowing ourselves to have more also increases our self-worth, both literally and figuratively. It helps to look objectively at what we allow ourselves to have, in terms of money, love, time to ourselves, rest, or pleasure. A teacher I knew once told me she could never allow herself to buy a new pair of socks, but could buy them for her husband, and then take one of his old pairs for herself. Obviously, she could spend the money, but she herself couldn't have the benefit. Some people find it easy to spend money on extravagance, but hard to take time for their own relaxation. Others have a hard time accepting love or pleasure. When we look closely at what we allow ourselves to have, we get a chance to laugh at ourselves-to see the discrepancies between what we could have and what we allow ourselves to have. Somehow, taking care of ourselves has been depicted as selfish or evil. Yet, not taking care of ourselves results in a need to compensate in some other area, or have others provide for us.
In order to fully be here, we must be able to assert ourselves, to claim our own place in the world, and to secure our survival. We need to raise our ability "to have" high enough to fit our needs. If our unconscious says, "No, I don't deserve it," our conscious minds are given an extra obstacle to overcome.
Our ultimate foundation for our survival is the Earth itself. Unfortunately, the Earth is also in a state of survival at this time. The threat of ecological collapse, nuclear holocaust, and the scarcity of clean air and water-all affect our own feelings of survival, either consciously or unconsciously. To pass into a new era does not mean we leave behind the old, but instead incorporate it. As we ignore the Earth, She pulls us back again to ground, to the here and now, to bring into balance that which is threatened.
Culturally, this puts us all in a state of survival. As we tune into the Earth, as we get more deeply in touch, we can't help but touch a feeling of planetary panic about our future existence. Just as a threat to our personal survival heightens our own awareness, so do ecological threats heighten planetary awareness. It is often a crisis that wakes people up.
If we are to reach the spiritual levels of the upper chakras, we must see the spiritual side of our material existence. The planet we live on is one of the finest examples of beauty, harmony, and spirituality that matter can express. By understanding this, we can better develop and express the beauty within our own material existence.
Being in survival is a cue to "wake-up"-to heighten our awareness, to examine our foundation: our ground, our body, and the Earth. This is the purpose of the first chakra. It is where we begin, and where we rest at the end of the journey.
THE BODY
Here in this body are the sacred rivers, here are the sun and moon, as well as all the pilgrimage places. I have not encountered another temple as blissful as my own body.
-Saraha Doha
Just as our houses are homes for our bodies, our body is home for our spirit. While attention may wander to distant places, we still return to the same bundle of flesh and bones throughout the entirety of our lives. Our bundle may change dramatically in the course of a lifetime, yet it is still the one and only home we will have throughout life. As our body interacts with the world, it becomes our personal microcosm of that world.
The task of mastering the first chakra is ultimately to understand and heal the body. Learning to accept our body, feel it, validate it, love it-these are the challenges that await us here. The language of the first chakra is form, and our body is the physical expression of our personal form. As we examine the form-by look, touch, movement, or inner sensation-we learn the language our body speaks and discover ever deeper parts of ourselves.
Each chakra brings us a level of information. The body is the hardware through which the information is received, as well as the "hard copy" of all the data and programming within us. Etched in the flesh and posture of the bones are our pains and our joys. Coded within our nerve impulses are our needs and habits, memories and talents. Within our genes is our ancestry, within our cells the chemistry of the food we eat
, and as our heart beats out our rhythm, our muscles mirror our daily activities.
To understand the body, we have to be the body. We have to be its pain, its pleasure, its fear, and its joy. To see the spiritual being as separate is to cut ourselves off from our ground, our root, our home. We become less than whole, split, out of touch with the information our bodies can communicate.
This is not to deny the philosophies that state "you are not your body, but something more" but to enhance them. We are our bodies, and through that understanding we become something more. We become grounded, all here, in touch with all that goes on inside us. We more fully experience the spiritual and emotional parts of ourselves, for which the body is a vehicle.
Our body is made up of trillions of tiny cells, which by some miracle hang together into one composite whole. Like a gravitational field, the first chakra draws matter and energy toward itself, while various levels of consciousness organize them into a working whole. Accepting the body is accepting the central integrating structure that unites our many divergent parts. It is the container for the soul.
Our body expresses our life. If our shoulders feel burdened and heavy, our body is telling us we carry too many burdens. If our knees don't want to support us, our body is telling us that we don't have adequate support in our life, or perhaps that we lack flexibility. If our stomach has chronic pain, there is something in our life that we can't stomach.
An exercise I often do with clients who are beginning bodywork is to write a statement for each part of their body, beginning with the words "I am ... or I feel . . . ." If they are speaking for their neck, and their neck is cramped, they write "I am cramped." If their knees feel weak, they write, "I feel weak." I then read back all the statements from the body as a whole, without defining what part it came from. These turn out to be statements about how they feel about themselves as a whole in their life at that time.4
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