Being a free moving organism (within the confines of gravity, humanness, and my understanding of space-time), I am not rooted in any physical way such as the trees are. However, my lungs are rooted to the Earth’s atmosphere in that, without drawing from it, they fail and stop, as do I. My digestive system is rooted to the flora and fauna within my food chain in the same way. Because my body is largely comprised of water, I am rooted to the water system. The rootedness I am writing about here is the rooting of the heart; the ways through love and energy I am rooted to my experience of myself and to all that I experience as other. This includes the natural world, other people, and all the actions, beliefs, objects, and situations I encounter.
Energetic heart rooting is feeling and responding to interactions through what is sometimes called in energetic discussions, “the subtle body.” When we are fed by an experience or person who resonates with us, our hearts root to the experience and responds, while we serve as the roots of inspiration and love for others.
We sometimes hear of music resonating with someone, of someone’s voice or message resounding out to the masses, or of two people who feel they share a resonance, wavelength or good vibe. These phrases are echoing and interpreting into human interaction the phenomenon of sympathetic resonance: when two objects vibrating at the same frequency vibrate together and even increase or re-sound each other’s vibrations. The frequency at which an object usually tends to vibrate when touched is known as the natural frequency of the object. Merriam-Webster gives one definition of resonance as: “the intensification and enriching of a musical tone by supplementary vibration.” The Pond Science Institute site shares that “A sympathetic vibration is a vibration that is sympathetic (in tune or forming unisons) between two or more individualized objects.” Just as a violin string when vibrated in a particular manner produces sounds, so when in energetic contact with a frequency we find harmonious, do we make sounds: we act with our bodies and we speak with our voices, our hearts singing.
When thinking about energy, it is a good idea to include chakras. Chakras (from the Sanskrit chakra or “wheel”) emerged in Indian beliefs, are mentioned in The Vedas ancient text, and are integrated into Yoga practices. Chakras are believed to be energy centers or nodes in the subtle or energetic body. They are sometimes referred to as spinning wheels of light, and energy and breath pass strongly through them. There are many chakras, but 7 major ones. The word chakra is also sometimes used in texts synonymously with nerve plexus (a branching out network of nerves). In descriptions of chakras, they are sometimes said to have petals and the body to have breath channels and wind. The root chakra, located in the tailbone area at the base of the spine, relates to our sense of security, survival, and groundedness; our foundation and root. The heart chakra, located in the center of the chest, above the area of the anatomical heart, relates to our ability to give and receive love, and to experience peace and joy within. This is the area where resonance is often felt, though it can be experienced all over the body.
Love is mercurial and works in its own way, but one way for me to understand it is through this idea of resonance. The people, places, and ways that I love resound with me, sometimes in mysterious and indescribable ways. Maybe I love you because I feel peaceful in your presence, or excited, or both, because we sat together in class all year, because we were raised in similar family situations, or because of the sweet way your face creases when you laugh at something silly I say. Maybe I love the tart flavor of Lemonheads because I’m a bit of a masochist, or maybe I love strawberry picking because it makes me sing a Beatles song in my head. If we see the emotional heart center as a plant which is fed by energetic vibrations, the things which strike and resound in our hearts, which are felt there, are those things whose frequencies interact with that of our heart naturally. Vibrations of the world around us speak to our hearts and our hearts respond, vibrating back out.
Namaste is a common Indian greeting and also a spiritual phrase. Also found in The Vedas, in Sanskrit the word is namah + te which means, “I bow to you.”
India Arie sings a similar message in, I see God in You:
“I know you cannot read my mind
But I hope you’d feel the vibe
I think it’s time I let you know that
I see the God in you”
When I say, ‘I love you,’ I am saying, you are a root for my heart: you feed me, you connect me to the Earth, and my heart wants to feed you with energy too. Rooting into love, God, the Tao, or universal energy and life connects us to the world and validates us.
“People can’t, unhappily, invent their mooring posts, their lovers and their friends, anymore than they can invent their parents. Life gives these and also takes them away and the great difficulty is to say Yes to life.”Resonance is not always instantaneous; it can build over time. As we spend time with someone, learn about the inspiration behind a modern abstract artwork, or read more about a confusing social trend, we can open up to the possibility of new connections and sympathetic vibrations. We can “tune in” and become “attuned to” new ways of thinking, being and relating. As we age, we can also tune into ourselves over and over, stay curious about our own attunement, and learn about what makes us buzz, tick, and sing. We learn how to tune ourselves like an instrument, sooth our own souls, and connect our hearts to our energetic roots. Just as a root holds the soil that feeds it, so we hold the things that give us love. Over time our song will change and our energetic roots will break and re-grow. My heart roots through resonance to the thing it loves, regardless of how long that thing stays nearby.
–James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room
Losing a loved one, a root, or a mooring post can be very painful. Some sources of love and memories will continue to vibrate with us for the rest of our lives or, depending on your beliefs, beyond.
One of the songs my husband, whom I resonate with very strongly, picked for our wedding mix was:
Good Vibrations by The Beach Boys. They sing,
“I’m pickin’ up good vibrations,
She’s giving me excitations”
If you’ve ever been in love, you know what they mean. Whether through romantic, friendly, familial, or universal love, our invisible energetic roots to life tingle in these moments of awareness of good vibrations. In the tapestry of life our energetic roots weave our hearts into the rippling, layered whole, nourishing us, and giving us opportunities to connect and create. When we’re rooted into things that feed us, we bloom and grow.
