Reflections on Making Our New Essential Oils for Root Chakra Healing Videos
- Elizabeth Ashley: The Secret Healer
- 1 day ago
- 15 min read
When Adam Barallet first said he wanted to do videos about essential oils for the chakras, arrogance kicked in a bit, because inwardly, I groaned and thought, “What else is there to say…?” Turns out when I set my mind to it, it turned out…a lot, and I ended up making four different videos to do with the root chakra!
Adam and I had created a spreadsheet each with our three chosen oils for each chakra, and immediately I saw an issue. He’d chosen an oil that I wanted! Plus, I wanted to make sure I said all the things I wanted to say in the way I wanted to say them, so a week before Adam and I were due to do our video on root chakra essential oils, I recorded one on my own that went on a deep dive into my oils.
This is my video about essential oils for the chakras… (Comes out Aug 18th 2025, 4pm)
The thing is, I had not expected that making a video about essential oils for root chakra healing would be so much work, because I thought most of what I needed to know was in my head. When it came to it, I ended up making three videos, and I was actually astonished about how much more was in my head than I expected, but much of it was floating without attribution. So going and finding the information, to put meat on the bones has been a fascinating endeavour.
For me it's not enough to say use vetiver essential oil for root chakra healing (although that is absolutely my recommendation), but I want to be as clear as I can be, in my own mind, that the logic still makes sense. After all, it has been 32 years since I first took the class in my own diploma. So the first thing I wanted to know is what does science say now….?
Are Chakras Real?
Probably the one who has enjoyed it most is Bella, the dog, who has had the benefit of me wanting to walk miles so I can get through my audio book by Valerie Virginia Hunt. Her work Infinite Mind: Science of the Vibrations of Human Consciousness was published in 1996, and I am really surprised I have never found this before. It was a really moving experience telling my mom about it, because she had never heard of Hunt's work before. And to her, finding out that someone had not only found a way to record the frequencies of the aura and show how the colours change may have been quite overwhelming I think. It proved that everything that she had picked up in her own work with the aura was correct. Not only real, but scientifically measurable and recordable.
In her book, Hunt describes the many experiments she did using ECG, EEG, EMG (muscles) and telemetry, working alongside a psychic who could see the aura and chakras and colours, Rosalie Bruyere. Together they watched a shamanic healer working upon the muscle function of a young man with polio. So you would have thought that the headline here would be that the man got better - which he did. Muscle function returned. But perhaps the bigger story was that when Bruyere was talking about the healing energy going to the root chakra, it turning red, then climbing up to the sacral chakra which was turning orange, and the aura colours changing, the scientific machines gave readings that said exactly the same things.
This scientific validation changed everything for me. It meant that when I choose essential oils for someone's root chakra, I'm not working with some vague concept – I'm working with something measurably real.
A Unique Observation About Essential Oils for The Root Chakra
Infinite Mind has given me so many lines of enquiry but one of the things that sits heaviest with me, is that Hunt's observations were that as a rule of thumb, men had strong root chakras and sacral chakras but their upper ones were much weaker. Whereas generally women had weaker root chakras and sacral chakras, but their upper chakras were much stronger than men's.
I found it so interesting that I had chosen vetiver essential oil for root chakra healing if someone is very anxious, partly because vetiver does feel very masculine. Same applies to patchouli for the root chakra. That's all about getting down into your body. Patchouli also feels masculine to me.
Hunt's observations made complete sense to me, but I wonder if she would have seen the same pattern if she had done the readings today? (Sadly Dr. Hunt died in 2014).
The book was published as the third wave of feminism was rising. It's contentious whether the advent of women activating pressure and change through social media may have begun the fifth wave, but regardless, women's lives have certainly changed. It no longer seems as likely you'd see the archetypal bloke cupping his genitals through his belt loops these days, and I think that women do leave deeper footprints than they did.
Although, I guess the important thing is that SOME women do.
Not all.
In fact Hunt herself says that a person's energetic field is as unique as their fingerprint. So just as it always has been, my assertion that every person will have a slightly different prescription of which are the right essential oils to tonify - or indeed relax - their root chakra will be different.
Why Use Chamomile Essential Oil For The Root Chakra?
So at this point..here is mine and Adam's joint video, which I was thrilled came out really differently. Obviously this one also contains our conversations about his three oil choices too. (Launches Aug 19th 2025, 4pm)
It amuses me that in the video Adam and I debate my choice of chamomile. He doesn't get it at all, and in a way, I know that would be the case, which is why I chose it. But ironically it proved my point stronger than any other. I chose Roman chamomile for root chakras that are too tight, too controlling, too fixed and stuck in their ways. I chose Roman chamomile because she sings "Que Sera Sera, whatever will be will be"... because of that lovely sense of just dance on a breeze and see where it takes you. But in choosing that oil's song over any other…I chose Doris Day! I can't see there can be many other images of the good 1950's wife really.
An Overactive Root Chakra
This is exactly why most people struggle with essential oil selection for chakra work. Adam's confusion was perfectly understandable – chamomile doesn't feel like a root chakra oil. It's not grounding in the obvious vetiver or patchouli way. But for someone whose root chakra is locked down with control and rigidity, chamomile's "whatever will be will be" energy is exactly what's needed to create flow and ease.
How would you know which type of root chakra imbalance you have? How would you know whether you need the deep grounding of vetiver or the gentle release of chamomile? This is where having a proper diagnostic approach becomes essential.
So perhaps on reflection there is a whole other aspect of issues of the root chakra that I hadn't really observed…that many of us women are now so ensconced in the material world…are our upper chakras going to suffer? I don't know yet. But it's certainly something to watch I think.
Feel free to volunteer if you would like to come and get on my massage couch for me to swing a pendulum!
The Emotions Are The Way Into The Root Chakra - Not Physical Symptoms
So many people asked me “What are the physical symptoms of blocked root chakra?” that I made a video about it, but I’m not sure it’s that helpful to know them except as maybe a secondary question check.
This became a really important part of my design process of the Sensorium Approach. I am going to use the word "diagnostic" here, understanding that a) aromatherapists should not diagnose any condition that goes into medical control territory. But also b) doctors do not deal in chakras - that feels a bit like, how can you be angry with a god you don't believe exists, to me…
The diagnostic questions I have chosen for the root chakra are based on a person's perception of themselves. How do they feel about something, what do they think about that thing, what do they sense about something else.
There are two reasons for that.
The first is that I feel that choosing essential oils for the root chakra, via conditions associated with the physical body is clumsy. The most commonly cited issue is back pain. I'd choose lavender essential oil for the pain, and juniper for toxicity…neither of those would touch the root chakra. Juniper is detoxifying so more likely to work on the sacral chakra (although that would not be one I chose) and lavender would be more the heart and third eye.
This is where most aromatherapy approaches to chakras fall down. They match physical symptoms to chakra locations, completely missing the energetic reality of what's actually happening. Your back pain might be root chakra related, but it might also be sacral chakra, solar plexus, or even heart chakra energy manifesting physically. Without understanding the emotional landscape, you're just guessing.
Interestingly though, when it came to Adam and I doing our video, he had chosen a juniper, but labelled it as a cedar. He'd written cedarwood in our show notes, then revealed it to be cedarwood Virginian…which actually is a juniper…Juniperus Virginiana…so I might need to capitulate on that plan! Even with years of experience, the complexity of oil selection can trip us up. Imagine trying to navigate this without a systematic approach.
Chakras and Dis-Ease - Understanding The Real Problem
Nevertheless, the important thing to understand about approaching aromatherapy through a spiritual lens, is to contemplate whether there might be a dis-ease of the spirit.
Note the hyphen.
That is that the spirit is ill at ease.
The high falutin way might be to say that the soul is not able to transmit its signature - in other words the soul chose this incarnation as a means to carry out its work on one particular manifestation of its purpose. The spirit being the vehicle of that, and the unique manifestation of this lifetime's incarnation….
The easier way of saying it is that your job is crushing your soul, your husband demeans you and takes away your agency. He stops you thinking for yourself. You can't be yourself around your friends….
All of those things are examples of the previous paragraph and as such, they are dis-ease.
Dis-ease of the spirit manifests first in the aura. Then I like to think of the chakras like post boxes that send little "missives of disgruntlement" as my daughter likes to describe her letters of complaint. These letters of complaint go into the body as a means of making us listen. Because what better way to be heard, than to make something hurt!
This is why emotional assessment is so crucial for root chakra healing. The spirit sends its distress signals through feelings first – anxiety, insecurity, feeling ungrounded, unsafe, worthless. If we can catch these emotional messages and respond with the right essential oils, we can often prevent the physical manifestation entirely.
So we often think of these linguistic clues, that we say that give ourselves away like "Ugh you are really getting on my nerves now..." and we get a migraine, or sciatica…maybe it is just a coincidence, but maybe it's not.
How Does Root Chakra Energy Form?
I knew that root chakra energy formed in the first 7 years of life. But when I was analysing my notes through an AI writer, Claude said to me…"but you can't back that up".
So, I interrogated….that's not something that AI knows? But sure enough Claude didn't.
Luckily for me though…since the spiders have made an incredible mess all over my bookcase that I have had to buy myself a mini hoover - ChatGPT did…Anodea Judith had said. Goddamnit. I knew all too well what had happened to my copy of Eastern Body, Western Mind: Psychology and the Chakra System as a Path to the Self.
I ruined it when I dropped tea on that and Lise Manniche's Egyptian Herbal! So, another purchase of the ebook later and we're even further down the rabbit hole!
Understanding how root chakra energy forms in those first seven years gives us crucial insight into why different people need different essential oil approaches. Some people's root chakras were damaged by neglect, others by trauma, others by over-protection. Each pattern requires a different healing approach.
How Does Abuse Affect The Root Chakra?
I had a time in my life when the activity at my own root chakra must have been non-existent. I had lived a while with a man after my first marriage had broken down. It would take me six months to realise how dangerous this man was, and by then it was far too late.
Over the next eight years, he would beat me, steal from me, cheat on me, throw me down the stairs (that he had ripped up the carpet to expose the gripper rods in preparation) put knives to my throat…and that's redacting the way he terrified my poor children.
I lost the use of my legs. They would be paralysed for hours at a time. I could not feel them, could not move them, even to pull myself off the floor. The doctors tested for MS, for dystonia and even Huntington's, until at last one doctor reviewed us a day after a beating. My eye was black, my hands all cut, after he had smashed it repeatedly against the washing machine and my lips were swollen.
The young doctor was clearly very satisfied with himself I think when he diagnosed that what was happening was I was subtly hyperventilating, so I was disturbing the blood flow. "If you two don't stop this, one of you is going to end up dead." And then he discharged me (???) But I listened, because I knew how angry I was becoming, and if I did release my temper, my children would have a mother in prison, and that terrified me.
Time To Move On
I began my plans to leave. We don't need to labour on those - I am not particularly proud of them, but when he realised I was going, he beat me so badly, he thought I was dead.
Knocked unconscious from my head being repeatedly smashed on the stairs, the doctor's warnings must have rung loud in his ears. When I came to he was sitting on the electric box cupboard by the front door, noticeably shocked. He just let me walk out the door. Two minutes later a police car picked me up, because the neighbours had seen me leave, clothes ripped and covered in blood.
I'd left six times before, but this time I knew it was done. Finally the penny dropped. Something shifted and I was finished.
The Language of The Root Chakra - Reading The Emotional Clues
I think back to the things he said to me "Useless piece of shit" was his favourite insult. Root chakra. Root chakra. Root chakra. Not solar plexus…it would become solar plexus of course, when it came to confidence and will power, but ultimately shit, faeces, excrement…that's root chakra.
And when we are thinking about how we learn to trust our parents as children, in those first seven years - and make no mistake, I had no issues with being fed, being loved, nurtured and cared for - both my parents doted on me….it came to pass that suddenly I could not trust. And that was what floored my root chakra.
So losing the power of my legs was a translation of those emotions…but the emotions and thoughts…they were the dis-ease of the spirit.
My spirit didn't want to feel scared. It hated feeling insecure. It loathed feeling guilty not only about my kids being there, but also the pain I was putting my parents through. It was humiliated, and yes, it did feel utterly worthless.
The Root Chakra Portrays The Spirit Does Not Feel Safe
THAT is the problem. The physical symptoms of a blocked root chakra, the back pain, the legs, the foot problems…they might feel they are the problems, but they are only the symptoms. (Video live 20th Aug 2025, 4pm)
And thus when we choose oils like chamomile essential oil, they soothe those feelings. Vetiver essential oil reminds us that we are safe, even if we don't feel it. And patchouli makes you realise that thinking about doing something about it isn't enough…sometimes running is the only thing that makes sense. Be in your body…get real here. Stop dissociating, face this and fucking run!
This is exactly why my Sensorium Approach focuses on these emotional states rather than physical symptoms. If I had just looked at my paralysed legs, I might have chosen circulation oils or nerve tonics. But the real issue was the emotional terrorism of feeling worthless, unsafe, and trapped. The oils I needed had to address those specific feelings.
So I did run, and thank goodness that lifetime feels like it belongs to someone else, and while I do have restless legs, they work just fine and I no longer dissociate.
Menopause And The Root Chakra - When Everything Changes Again
The biggest change in my life was The Strong Silent One - you might see his name differently understanding what came before - but then when menopause happened, I noticed a distinct change in my chakras again.
It was like the root chakra energy packed up and left with oestrogen.
I was anxious again.
My poor memory became a legend in its own lifetime.
Rage!
I have never felt anything like it! I described to the Silent One how I could feel the goddess inside me as if she was in a prison cell, shaking the bars furiously screaming “Let Me OUT!”.
I was angry at everything.
Incandescent daily!
Always in my head.
No matter what I did, that didn't change.
But then I wrote about vetiver, and surprisingly I felt better.
Funny that!
I never even considered at the time I was self medicating the root chakra.
The world needed to look out when I was writing my Sweet Basil book…I properly regained my voice, and everyone experienced a tongue lashing from me…but it felt incredible to be finding myself again and feeling like me again…I felt like me, because my energy was returning to my root.
Of course, the biggest change came when the lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) plant decided to trap me in her spell, and the bees called me into the hive. A whole new me emerged then, a very different, stronger and more discerning me.
Thinking about this inspired me to create a new practice of blending essential oils for the chakras with bee shamanism. I thought you might like a sneaky peak!
(Goes live Aug 21st 2025, 4pm)
Watch this space. I'm definitely going to make this a bigger part of the series as we go. You'll note I have made it its own playlist too, so if you find this interesting, make sure you subscribe to this too.
Finding Your Perfect Essential Oil Prescription For Root Chakra Healing
After 32 years of working with essential oils and chakras, I've learned that there's no one-size-fits-all approach to root chakra healing. Your emotional landscape is as unique as your fingerprint, shaped by your first seven years of life, your trauma history, your current life circumstances, and even your hormonal state.
The question isn't just "What essential oil should I use for my root chakra?" The question is "What specific type of root chakra imbalance do I have, and which oils will address MY unique emotional patterns?"
Are you someone who needs the deep, earthy grounding of vetiver because you're anxious and ungrounded? Or do you need the releasing, flow-inducing energy of chamomile because your root chakra is locked down with control and rigidity? Maybe you need patchouli's "get real, get moving" energy to stop dissociating and take action?
This is exactly why I developed the Sensorium Approach - a diagnostic tool that reads your emotional landscape to identify which essential oils your specific root chakra imbalance needs. Instead of guessing based on physical symptoms or generic recommendations, you can discover your personal prescription based on how you actually feel, think, and sense your world.
Ready to discover which essential oils your unique root chakra needs? Join our waitlist for the Sensorium Approach and get ready to stop guessing about which oils are right for you.
References and Works Cited
Hunt, Valerie V. Infinite Mind: Science of the Vibrations of Human Consciousness. Malibu Publishing, 1996.
Judith, Anodea. Eastern Body, Western Mind: Psychology and the Chakra System as a Path to the Self. Celestial Arts, 2004.
Leadbeater, C. W. The Chakras. Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1927.
Bruce, Jill. The Aura. Secret Knowledge Series, Book 1. Self-published, 2014.
Frequently Asked Questions About Essential Oils for Root Chakra Healing
Q: How do I know if my root chakra needs healing?
A: Rather than looking for physical symptoms like back pain (which could come from any chakra), focus on how you feel. Do you feel anxious, ungrounded, unsafe, or like you can't trust? Do you feel stuck in control patterns or completely scattered? These emotional states are much more reliable indicators than physical symptoms. This is exactly why the Sensorium Approach focuses on your emotional landscape rather than trying to match oils to body parts.
Q: Why can't I just use vetiver for grounding like everyone recommends?
A: This is the perfect example of why generic recommendations don't work! Vetiver is fantastic for anxiety and feeling ungrounded, but what if your root chakra is actually over-active and locked down with control? Then you'd need something like chamomile to create flow and ease. As Hunt's research showed, everyone's energetic field is as unique as their fingerprint - your oil prescription needs to match your specific imbalance pattern.
Q: I don't have traumatic childhood experiences - can this still help me?
A: Absolutely! Root chakra imbalances aren't just from trauma. They can develop from overprotection, sudden life changes, menopause (as I experienced), job stress, or even just the general pace of modern life. The Sensorium Approach assesses your current emotional state, not just your past. Whether your root chakra needs strengthening, calming, or balancing depends on what's happening in your life right now.
Q: How is this different from other chakra oil recommendations I see online?
A: Most approaches match oils to chakra locations or use the same oils for everyone. They might say "use these 3 oils for root chakra" without considering that your root chakra might need completely different support than someone else's. The Sensorium Approach reads your unique emotional patterns to create a personalized prescription - it's the difference between getting a custom-fitted suit versus buying one-size-fits-all.
Q: Do I need to be able to see auras or be psychic to benefit from this?
A: Not at all! While my mother can see auras and I've developed sensitivity over 32 years, the Sensorium Approach is designed for anyone. It works through carefully crafted questions about how you feel, think, and sense your world - no special abilities required. You already have all the information you need; you just need the right diagnostic tool to interpret it.
Q: When will the Sensorium Approach be available?
A: We're launching in September 2025! Join the waitlist now to be first to know when it's ready and get exclusive early access. After 32 years of working with essential oils and chakras, I'm excited to finally offer this systematic approach to help people stop guessing about which oils they need. https://aromaticmysteryschool.com/email-capture