Muladhara.

Muladhara is the root chakra, the first of the seven main centres and the base of the system. The Sanskrit name combines mula (root) and adhara (support), which together describe its traditional role: the foundation everything else rests on.

It sits at the base of the spine and is pictured as a four-petalled red lotus. In the classical map it governs the parts of life that come before everything else: physical safety, food and shelter, the body, and the basic sense of belonging to a place and a people. When this chakra is described as "ungrounded," the felt sense is usually anxiety, restlessness, sleep that will not settle, or a vague feeling of being a few inches above the floor.

Stones favoured at the root tend to be red, brown, or black. Black tourmaline, hematite, smoky quartz, garnet, and red jasper are the common choices. The work itself is usually slow and physical: a walk on real ground, a cooked meal, a regular sleep window. Stones are kept close as reminders, not as fixes.