If you know what chakras are, you probably know that they can get blocked. To address your blockages, Jissel Ravelo, a reiki master and founder of Vibra Wellness, says you have to start at the root chakra. To open your root chakra is to lay the foundation of your energy system.

“Even if like another chakra is imbalanced you gotta get to that root chakra first, and then you can build upon it,” she says. “It’s like setting up the framework for your home. Without the framework, you can’t put up walls, you can’t have the roof.”

Your root chakra is one of seven chakras, or energy centers, explains Ravelo. These energy centers are apart of our full energy anatomy. First is your aura, which is the field around the body. Next are the chakras, which are the energy centers that run from the bottom of the spine, all the way up to the top of the head. The third part is your meridians, which are pathways that received information from the chakra centers and distribute energy throughout the body.

The root chakra is located at the perineum and extends through your legs and feet. Ravelo explains that your root chakra is the first chakra you develop.

“That foundational energy is what enables us to feel secure and grounded into our birthing experience what it means to be a human being,” she says.”Right at that moment, it’s important to have that foundation because once that is stabilized, that that energy is activated within us, then we can go on to the other developmental stages of our lives.”

Brian Brunius, reiki master and founder of NYC Reiki Center, says the root chakra plays many physical and emotional roles.

The energy it brings in strengthens the reproductive functions, the bladder, hips, knees, and ankles,” he says. “Emotionally, the root chakra is very connected to feeling self-confident, having a strong self-identity, feeling safe and secure in any situation, and knowing that each of us as individuals is enough. We don’t need to be different or better.”

Brunius says when he sees clients with weak or blocked root chakras, they are usually people with poor self-esteem who have a lot of emotional ups and downs.

“They often carry a deep shame, even if they have no idea why,” he says. “Seemingly unconnected to life events, the shame pervades every day and creates a constant ‘less than’ feeling. They often look for friends or life partners who give them the balance and the stability that they don’t have on their own.”

Working with a reiki master to open your root chakra is helpful, says Ravelo, because they have the expertise to give you a more concentrated healing experience. “What you may be able to accomplish in a few weeks, it might take just one session to do,” she says. But, it’s also super important to not be reliant on a practitioner and to learn how to maintain your energy hygiene on your own. There are many ways to work on your root chakra, and Ravelo and Brunius share the best methods below.

How to open your root chakra: 7 methods you can do on your own

1. Set your intention

Brunius says the single most important thing to do is set is your intention on your root chakra and ask it to open up and help you. “Give it permission to start to heal, and be brave enough to face any emotions and old memories that come up as it does,” he says.

2. Follow online guided visualizations

“There are guided visualizations available on the internet with a voice that leads you through a breathing exercise visualizing the root chakra opening up and strengthening, releasing any negative energy that is stuck in it,” says Brunius. He likes this one:

3. Rub a metal spoon on your foot

Ravelo says the metal has a grounding property that gets your energy flowing again. “Take a metal spoon, and you rub it at the bottoms of your feet from soles all the way to your heel,” she says. “You can activate new energy to come into your root chakra.”

4. Use grounding crystals

“There are crystals that are very effective at opening the root chakra,” says Brunius. “This method works best with afew minutes a day of visualizing and holding the intention of the root chakra opening.” Ravelo suggests wearing the crystal around your neck, or laying with the crystal close to your perineum and breathing for a few minutes. She says black or green stones like onyx, hematite, black tourmaline, and red stones (the root chakra’s color) like red jasper, red agate are great because they’re “an expression of that same root chakra energy.”

5. Use grounding essential oils

“I typically recommend cedarwood, sandalwood, eucalyptus, or ginger,” says Ravelo. “You can take just a drop or two. You put it in your palms, rub your hands together and just lightly massage your feet or your tailbone.” These oils are great for the root chakra because they grow out of or underneath the ground, and therefore have similar vibrational energies to the root chakra.

6. Spend time in nature

“One of the best ways to help keep a root chakra toned and healthy is spending time in nature,” says Brunius. Whether that’s walking on a beach or sitting in a park, just taking in the sun and feeling the breeze against the skin can help tone the root chakra, especially if it’s possible to make skin contact with the earth. “These connections to the earth and nature often help the root chakra tone itself, strengthening and releasing any stuck energy that it’s holding,” he says.”

7. Tell yourself positive affirmations

“Another important aspect of self-care and the root chakra is standing in the mirror and telling yourself all the good things you can think of about yourself,” says Brunius. “Counteract negative voices in your head and become your own best friend. Tell yourself that everything’s going to be okay, give yourself permission to love and cherish yourself for who you are.”