First Chakra, Part II – Earth Element Associations

First Chakra, Earth Element Associations – Part II

While we now will primarily focus on first chakra attributes, we must also expand our discussion to some extent to also embrace some aspects of the second chakra, as both chakras relate to many of the same issues in several ways.

As noted above, the first chakra is said to be located at the center of the pelvic floor and extend downward like an upside down tornado. The pelvic floor is also the very lowest part of the second chakra, which encompasses the entire lower abdomen.

In terms of function, the first chakra also extends upward into the entire abdominal area as the large intestine, or colon, has the role of turning water into earth. Like the small intestine, where the watery slurry of what remains of our meals and fluid intake is absorbed, providing us with the nutrients needed for our cells, the large intestine continues with that extraction of nutrients and additionally extracts the excess water.

When this process works well, we have optimal bowel function. This means that what is produced is neither too hard nor infrequent (constipation), or too frequent and loose (diarrhea). And this intestinal process is an example of how water is slowly transformed into earth.

The second chakra, or water element, is a center for emotions, creativity and our closest and most intimate relationships. As we think of these qualities, we find that in order for them to function optimally, they need to be channeled through structure.

Here are several examples of water patterns that have insufficient earth energy to be sustained in a healthy way:

Example 1: You may have observed a friend, co-worker or relative who has a recurring pattern of quickly entering into strong emotional relationships, by meeting a potential mate, very quickly becoming intimately involved and only later on discovering that the person they have become so intimate with is not a good match for a long-term relationship. Many celebrities exhibit this pattern, which often includes brief engagements and marriages that quickly fall apart.

With sufficient earth energy the people involved would put much more emphasis on building a structure for their relationship, moving much more slowly, deliberately and cautiously. The focus would be less on infatuation and more on doing routine things together… especially more mundane ones like cooking, cleaning and yard work to discover if they really liked hanging out together while doing chores and not just while on romantic outings. These routine day-to-day activities that we must do to take care of our lives are first chakra earth events. Not all that exciting, but necessary.

If the feelings of attraction, of really liking the person and of feeling intimate (water) continue while doing grounding earth activities, then we can be much more certain that what we have is not just short-term infatuation but real, committed, authentic and deep love.

Example 2: We have a strong desire to create something in an artistic realm. It could be writing, visual arts or perhaps music. We devote a good deal of mental time to musing about someday doing our art. Occasionally we become inspired by a creative idea and perhaps actually capture some of that idea as a sketch, a bit of writing or a session with our musical instrument. But nothing much amounts from this. Mostly, we just feel frustrated and think about a ‘someday future’ that gets perpetually postponed.

If this second chakra water inspiration was channeled through the first chakra of earth, we would be less infatuated with our inspirations and focus instead on creating routine structure in our lives to allow the inspiration to develop into real art in the real world.

If a musician, we would:

Make sure we had an instrument that played
Find a music teacher and schedule lessons
Carve out regular blocks of time to practice
Seek out venues to perform and commit to actual performance times to give focus to our practicing.

A visual artist would do much the same. Buy the paints or other art supplies, set up a room in the house, set aside the time to work and develop the technical skills required to transform one’s interior vision into actual art that others can look at.

A writer must write…frequently, routinely, and with a utilitarian mindset. In other words a successful writer simply makes a decision that they will write regardless if inspiration happens to currently be visiting them or not. Writers know that as long as they write, inspiration and creative ideas will eventually present themselves. They ground into the earth structure of writing, committing themselves to writing projects with fixed completion dates.

Notice that whatever emotions we experience, if they become too strong it is as if the water flowing down a river has increased to such an extreme extent that the banks can no longer contain it and it floods, often causing damage to the surrounding area. On the other hand, if the banks are high and strong, which is another way of saying that the energy of the earth element is strong and well supported in us, then even strong emotions may be appropriately channeled leading to a constructive rather than a destructive outcome.

Another way to think of this is to take strong emotions like anger and ground them into doing something practical in the physical world in order to channel them and turn the energy of the emotion into stronger structure for your life. Perhaps you are feeling hurt, frustrated and angry with your mate. Rather than flooding your being with these emotions or letting them overflow your own banks of restraint, you might choose to let these strong emotions process by doing a project, like cleaning and reorganizing a cluttered room in your house.

By doing so, you might find that the intensity of the emotion becomes more manageable and you feel good about increasing the order and infrastructure of your home so that room now supports the room’s function and therefore better supports you in your life. Working with earth and building additional practical support in our physical world mirrors the digestive and elimination process that we described above. Water is transformed into earth and at the same time a good deal of what no longer serves us is let go.

So far, we have been using the intestinal digestive function as an example of how second chakra water is transformed into first chakra earth. Another body manifestation of first chakra earth energy is our bony skeletal structure. In addition to the hardness of the bones themselves, we also have the joints containing cartilage, the ligaments wrapping around the bones and the tendons connecting to the bones. All of these manifestations of structure, along with our muscles, coordinate together to keep our bodies strong and intact.

The vitality of our structure allows us to connect with the gravity of earth in a way that keeps us upright, moving forward and feeling grounded and supported. Actually feeling the earth through our feet (another first chakra area of our bodies) will ground us into the solidness and stability of first chakra energy. We align ourselves with the earth through good posture and the connection of our entire body to our feet and our feet’s connection to the earth.

The earth physically supports us. We eat food grown in the earth. All of our musings, thoughts, emotions and mental processes won’t necessarily do us our anyone else much good if we don’t find ways to manifest these ideas as real physical events and stuff on the earth, where we and others can truly benefit. So gather your paints, schedule the time on the calendar, create a file for your inspiration and sit down and type away! Feel the earth through your feet and ground.