As part of the ancient Hindu tantric texts, the body’s seven chakras are considered to be the psychic energy center of the body. Monitoring your chakras has long been understood as a way to keep your body aligned.
However, what are you supposed to do when your chakras aren’t working like they should? It might be time to turn to essential oils. Thankfully, essential oils are a safe, natural and unobtrusive way to make a major difference for your chakras. To learn about the best essential oils for the root chakra, keep reading.
What is the Root Chakra?
According to general understanding, everyone has seven different chakras that control different parts of their physical body, emotional state and mental abilities. Chakra therapy is the process of balancing and aligning the chakras with each other so that they don’t overpower each other and make you feel off kilter and miserable. When the chakras are in the right balance with each other, you will experience the most wholeness and sense of equilibrium with your body.
The root chakra is considered the first chakra and is located at the base of the spine. It is usually drawn as a five-petaled upside down lotus blossom and thought of as the foundation of your being and the part that creates the deepest connection with your body and the world around you. Sometimes called muladhara, the root chakra is part of your survival center and responsible for connecting you with the spiritual energy of those around you, especially your ancestors.
In the same way, the root chakra is a recording of the energy of anything that threatens basic survival like war, famine and natural disasters. Regardless of whether you have personally experienced these hardships, their memory can be passed down through generations in the root chakra.
A well-balanced root chakra is considered to lead to a strong foundation for life. It supports feelings of safety and security and is part of what grounds ourselves into the energy of the earth. If you feel ungrounded, flighty and anxious in a primitive, almost animal like way, it might be time to balance your root chakra with essential oils.
16 Best Essential Oils for Healing Root Chakra
If you’re ready to start using essential oils to maintain balance and comfort for the root chakra, these 16 essential oils are the best ones to start with for balance and healing.
1. Oakmoss Absolute ?
Thanks to its earthy aroma, oakmoss absolute is common in perfumes and fragrances and can help to keep your mind grounded and in the present moment.
2. Angelica Root Oil ?
As a tall and distinctive looking herb, angelica root is prized in gardens and as an essential oil ingredient alike. It can be used as an essential oil for the root chakra because it naturally stimulates the immune system, helps the body remove toxins and can combat exhaustion, anxiety and other kinds of stress.
3. Styrax Benzoin Resin / Styrax Benzoin Absolute ?
With a sweet, warming aroma that reminds many people of vanilla, styrax is a naturally calming essential oil for the root chakra. It is naturally derived from the resin of the Styrax Benzoin tree and can usually be bought in chunks or as a powder. Its grounding abilities make it valuable for re-balancing the root chakra, especially when balanced with other oils like frankincense, myrrh and sandalwood.
4. Frankincense Oil (Olibanum) ?
Revered since ancient times, frankincense is made from tree resin for use in medicinal, cosmetic and spiritual treatments. Its heady scent makes it a natural essential oil for the root chakra, though it’s also often used for clearing up coughs and colds. It’s naturally woody scent has a fruity, spicy undertone to it that is usual for creating a grounded, relaxed mood.
5. Myrrh ?
As an essential oil, myrrh has often been used for incense and to create a spiritual state, though it’s also considered a valuable ingredient in toothpastes, mouth rinses and other oral health care products.
When steam distilled from myrrh resin, myrrh essential oil has a lighter, more pleasant smell that is still earthy and slightly balsamic. Often blended with other scents to create a meditative winter scent, myrrh is a natural choice for an essential oil for the root chakra.
6. Patchouli Essential Oil ?
Despite its reputation as the classic hippie essential oil, patchouli is a robust oil that works well in a wide variety of scents and other creations. Unlike many other oils that oxidize and weaken in scent, patchouli responds more like a fine wine and improves with age. With strong base notes that make it perfect for layering other fragrances, patchouli is occasionally used as an aphrodisiac and is naturally emotionally calming and grounding.
Vetiver chrysopogon zizanioides
7. Vetiver Essential Oil ?
Often used for topical treatments like acne and oily skin, vetiver is also valued for use in spiritual fragrance blends. The oil is known for being naturally soothing, making it a good choice for relaxing after a stressful day when you want to address anger and ease anxiety. Because it tends to be very strong, only a small amount is needed of this essential oil for the root chakra.
8. Sandalwood ?
Considered by many to be a sacred oil, sandalwood has properties that make it naturally calming, sedative and an antidepressant. Many people use sandalwood during meditations to refocus their energy and relax their nervous system. Likewise, excessive root chakra issues can be balanced out with the use of sandalwood essential oil.
9. Ylang Ylang ?
As a naturally cooling essential oil for root chakra, ylang ylang can calm down agitation and fear that stems from the nervous system and create a relaxing, sedative effect on whoever uses it.
10. Cinnamon ?
As an aid to the functioning of the adrenal glands, cinnamon essential oil also works as a natural antidepressant and can calm down and ground the root chakra.
11. Ginger ?
Used for stimulating the circulatory system, ginger is considered a powerful healthy food and a potent essential oil for soothing cold hands and feet caused by poor circulation issues. In the same way, ginger can constrict blood vessels that are triggered by the flight or fight response, which makes it easier for blood to move through the body and keep you calm.
12. Cypress ?
Used to harmonize the blood, cypress essential oil is often considered a way to move energy (called qi in traditional Chinese medicine) through the body. It’s also useful for strengthening the blood capillaries and can create a grounding effect that leads to a better balanced root chakra.
13. Carrot Seed ?
Though a less well known essential oil, carrot seed has powerful natural benefits for the root chakra. It can also be used as a blood cleanser or as an allover way to calm down the nervous system.
14. Cedar Atlas ?
Also called cedarwood, this essential oil is known for its woody aroma and naturally calming effects that make it useful for removing anger and easing nervous tension. This makes it perfect for using before a meditation session or for re-balancing by using essential oils for root chakra.
15. Rosewood ?
Rosewood essential oil can be used to regenerate tissue and heal skin conditions, making it an ideal essential oil for the root chakra.
16. Black Spruce ?
Naturally grounding and a powerful memory boost, black spruce essential oil makes the perfect base note for pairing with a wide variety of other essential oils to rebalance chakras and keep your body in equilibrium.
How to Use Essential Oils for Root Chakra Healing
Using essential oils for root chakra involves balancing out your mind and body to find an inner equilibrium. Usually activating, yet grounding essential oils are best, and the way they are applied to your body can make a big difference.
Foot massages with essential oils is a proven way to balance out the root chakra because it keeps you feeling more grounded and stable with your own body. A lower back massage that focuses on the base of your spine will also make a major difference. To breath in the benefits of the oil throughout the day, it’s a smart idea to use an oil diffuser that creates a soothing vapor of oil in whatever room you put it in.
No matter how you choose to apply them, using essential oils for the root chakra will keep you feeling grounded and stable all day long, so try them out today!