Rooted in Strength: Overcome Fear and Insecurity Through Grounding

My very first blog shared with the outer world was about Meditation for Grounding: Connect with Your Muladhara Chakra. In that blog, I briefly wrote about why grounding is important, but I didn’t go into the real underlying reason.

Fear is the most primal, fundamental emotion we all have. It’s an emotion that keeps us alive, showing us the dangers in life. I once heard someone ask, “Will this meditation help me completely overcome fear?” This question made me think: Why would anyone want to overcome fear completely? Fear is healthy to have. It doesn’t make you weak; in fact, it makes you focus even more strongly.

Look at how children handle fear. A child doesn’t understand the dangers of traffic, animals, heat, knives, broken glass, or electricity. Unlike adults, a child has less fear built inside, so they may cross a street without checking if it’s safe. While much of our fear is learned, some fears, like reacting to loud noises, are innate.

I remember getting my first racing bike at around age 7 or 8. While riding it, I managed to hit a single lamppost standing alone in a field, with nothing else around it. I was looking down at the wheel instead of ahead. I didn’t know I had to look forward—why would I have had bent handlebars instead of the usual kind? This accident taught me to look in front of me rather than down.

Sometimes we have to experience danger firsthand to bring fear into our lives, allowing us to be more aware of safety.

These days, there are even more influences that teach us to fear. Turn on the TV, read the newspaper, or simply listen to people around you and their stories of fear. What’s happening? What do you think about the wars, the hate being spread, or the illnesses and diseases? Fear is everywhere—in the (social) media, newspapers, radio, and even the voices of others who live in fear. These messages trigger fear within us, and that fear leads to many other issues.

It’s as if we’re constantly being reminded of conflicts—Russia with Ukraine, or Palestine with Israel. I remember when I lived in the Netherlands, and some wars were in the news then, too. Just as we started forgetting about it, the news would remind us, bringing the fear back into our awareness. When we forgot again, it would be “there” once more.

Fear is placed in us from so many sources, and it will keep happening as long as we’re ungrounded.

Another big topic tied to fear and not being grounded is insecurity. Many years ago, I was dating someone who once asked me, “Why are you insecure?” I didn’t see myself that way, so I asked her what she meant. I wondered if perhaps she was projecting her own insecurity onto me, seeing something in me that was really in her. She insisted she wasn’t insecure. I asked her, “Then why did you get implants?” She went quiet and admitted she had felt insecure but believed she wasn’t anymore because they were now “fixed.”

And she wasn’t alone. So many people allow others’ fears and insecurities to shape them. Today, I see more women altering their lips, nose, breasts, hips, and so on, rather than asking themselves how they might heal from insecurity to find the strength within. Rather than reclaiming their own self-worth, they go to doctors who change their appearance.

To them, I say, ground yourself. Find your strength and see the beauty within, just as I see it in you when I look at you. You are beautiful as you are. There’s no need to be someone else. The true you is already within—you just have to look deeper.

The legs and perineum, along with the adrenal glands, connect directly to the Muladhara chakra. This root chakra is tied to the physical body, affecting the legs, knees, and feet. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, knee issues often point to kidney issues. The kidneys reflect fear; when fear becomes excessive, it stresses the kidneys. Yet the kidney is so essential that it won’t show a problem until 80% of its function is gone, and then suddenly, dialysis or even a transplant may be needed.

The knee is made for us to walk forward. We can walk backward, but not really run backward. So, why look back and let fear from the past control you? Instead, learn from the past, understanding that past experiences are no guarantee of the present or future. I know it’s challenging to make this shift, but grounding yourself will help release lingering fear more easily. Adding an exercise to your life can also encourage a better flow of energy through the knee, easing any pain caused by stagnant energy. You could try massage, a light exercise like cycling, or gentle knee extensions to strengthen the quadriceps and relieve the knee of excess pressure from body weight.

grounding roots

But not all knee problems mean the kidney is damaged; they can signal that the kidneys need care. Drinking water, grounding, and staying mindful of rising fear can all help maintain balance.

In 2017, I experienced a life-changing moment tied to fear. One night, I had severe pain in my lower back, so intense I thought I was dying. I was in bed, then on the floor, feeling the cold tiles against my back, but the pain kept worsening. I lost consciousness and came back, thinking this was the end. At the time, I was in a challenging relationship, and an argument led my ex to leave the house. Fear and sadness overwhelmed me; I didn’t know how to handle it, as I didn’t want our relationship to end.

The pain became unbearable, so I called her, crying and sharing what was happening. She called an ambulance. I ended up in the hospital, then a private clinic the next day, where they found several kidney stones in my right kidney, so large they couldn’t be passed naturally. They would need to remove them surgically. From that moment, she stayed by my side, supporting me. In the hospital room, I even told her, “This is related to fear. Fear of separation.” Once I understood the root of it, I began working on it internally.

Days passed, and the doctor from Bangkok arrived for the surgery. But after the procedure, he said there were no kidney stones left, only a little “sand.” He was shocked because, on the X-ray, the stones had been significant. I looked at my ex, and she motioned for me not to mention anything about my self-healing.

Our bodies are so intricate that medicine doesn’t have explanations for everything. This experience taught me to take back power over my own body. We can each learn to master ourselves, knowing what’s happening within and how to heal from it. By grounding daily, we prevent issues instead of reacting to them after they arise. I believe self-healing is within us all, hidden among the challenges we face.

Will you take responsibility for your own healing, or will you leave it in the hands of others?