The original title of this blog was “Eastern Body, Western Birth: How to Heal the Root Chakra to Relax the Pelvic Floor; Shifting Your Experience From Fear to Safety and Groundedness”. A bit wordy, but worth investigating.
This blog may come across as ‘new agey’, but in modern society – a society of overstimulation, disconnection, chaos and sub-par birth experiences – it’s time to look to other methods to get grounded and to feel safe and supported during the motherhood transition.
There are too many moms in the world (highly concentrated in the USA) that not only didn’t have a great birth experience, but considered it to be traumatic. They were scared going into it, and didn’t feel supported or empowered. We must literally and figuratively look to the root of the problem as to why this is happening and address it.
From an energetic perspective, it all starts with the Root Chakra. The Root Chakra or “Muladhara” is an energy center located at the very base of your spine, pelvic floor, and the first three vertebrae. It is responsible for your sense of safety, security, and it is the home of primal energy (this is huge for birth considering it’s such an instinctual and primal process). The Root Chakra is the “foundation” energetically and structurally speaking that needs to be balanced and aligned for everything else in your body to be stable. Once this Chakra is balanced, women tend to feel more confident about the birth process and trust their bodies. When the Root Chakra is imbalanced, it can create feelings such as anxiety or fear; bring about nightmares, problems with the colon, bladder, or elimination; and is also associated with lower leg, back, or feet issues.
In order for the Root Chakra to be open, it is important that your basic needs such as proper nutrition, hydration, shelter, safety, and emotional needs are met. When your needs are met, you feel safe and have less worry. And although you may have these essentials now, the trauma could have been sparked as a child or your needs were not fully met at another time. It’s important to look into childhood trauma as well because these things tend to come up during birth.
Two Quick tips to Balance the Root Chakra
Meditation which not only grounds you but connects you to a higher power, can restores peace and stability
Yoga Postures such as Malasana (Squatting pose – which also happens to be great prep for birth to relax the pelvic floor and open the outlet circumference), Apanasana (laying on back with knees to chest: one leg at a time during pregnancy), Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (bridge pose).
*note some of these postures may be done using a block to modify
Dr. Kristyn Silver, D.C.
BIRTHFIT West Los Angeles @BIRTHFIT_WestLosAngeles
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