The tenth chakra in the 12-chakra mapping I am using in this chakra meditation series brings us back down, through our bodies, deep into the earth beneath us. While the eighth and ninth chakras in this system might be considered extensions upward of our crown chakra, the tenth chakra might be considered an extension downward of our root chakra. Like the eighth and ninth chakras, the tenth is an out-of-body chakra, but it is beneath us rather than above us – anywhere from one to four feet beneath our feet, depending on what we are doing.

The tenth chakra represents our ability to root deep down into the earth, and to connect with natural energies of all types on an energetic level. While the root/first chakra represents our connection to our physical body and psyche, our tenth chakra represents our connection to nature, on a vibrational level. It is not simply about our ability to appreciate the beauty of nature, or its energies – it’s about our ability to sense ourselves as part of nature, and to live in energetic interaction with it.

Author and healer Cyndi Dale, from whom I learned about this particular 12-chakra system, calls the tenth chakra our ‘earth lung.’ Through this chakra we release into the earth the energies we do not need, and receive back that which we do. In a well-functioning tenth chakra, this exchange is constantly in progress, with a steady inflow and outflow of elemental energies.

One of the great downsides of our current cement and technology based lifestyle is that many of us have little quality time in nature, and thus our earth lung, our tenth chakra, can’t breathe. We can’t release or pull in to our being the energies that we need. This can have a very real impact on our health, and particularly on our ability to handle stress. Our stress response, or our ability to handle both pressure and the unexpected, is very much linked to both our root and tenth chakras, and our ability to feel deeply grounded in both.

Grounding in our root chakra is about feeling fully in our bodies, 100% physically and psychologically present. But grounding into our tenth chakra is about feeling truly grounded in this plane of existence, and in this lifetime as a whole. If we feel this life is painful to us in some way, or that we ‘belong somewhere else’ – if we flee this plane in favor of astral planes or planes of the mind – we cannot ever fully ground or manifest here, nor can we learn the spiritual lessons we might otherwise learn. The tenth chakra is about completely rooting in our lives. Only then can we both learn and manifest to our greatest abilities.

Our tenth chakra is also linked with our ancestral inheritance – our connection with our family of origin, including our genetics. Energetically we can choose what we wish to carry forward from our family – and what we do not – but only if we have first owned our familial connections, rather than denied them. Often individuals who have come from an abusive or dysfunctional family attempt to cut themselves off energetically, but instead just end up disassociating from the past, which is not the same thing as owning and transforming it. To truly have free will, we have to ground ourselves in the reality of our current existence, and then work to transform from there.

The gifts of the tenth chakra revolve around our ability to perceive and receive from forces and healing energies in the natural world. This might include plant medicine, essential oils, extracts, rocks and crystals, or the elements. To work with these forms of healing, and to receive healing from them, we need to have an attuned tenth chakra that can interact with them vibrationally. The body holds everything, and while our root chakra is the connecting point between our mind and body, the tenth chakra is our connecting point between these amazing natural energies and our body.

There are lots of ways to experiment with the healing aspect of this chakra, and most of them don’t involve formal meditation. Take a walk and commune! Communing isn’t simply enjoying nature, it’s feeling it. Feel the vibration of the different places you walk through, and the different trees, boulders, and flowers that you pass. Sense and trust how you feel as you walk through different areas. Are there areas where you don’t feel welcome? Trust that – maybe you aren’t (the earth has private spaces too!) On the other hand, let your body (or really your tenth chakra) guide you to where you feel you need to be. Perhaps you need a half hour by a lake or pond, or with your back against a tree. Be guided and let yourself breathe with nature.

Although being out in nature is the best way to heal and open your tenth chakra, there are ways to work with it meditatively too. In this guided meditation, I will first help you ground on a deep level into the earth. Then we will connect to the ancestral root aspect of this chakra, and visualize cutting roots connected to dysfunctional patterns you do not wish to carry forward, creating new, healthier roots to take their place. Finally we will activate your ‘earth lung’, releasing that which you don’t need, and receiving that which you do. Of course, if you can safely do this meditation outside sitting on the ground, that is especially helpful! Enjoy.