When the first chakra is disconnected from the feminine Earth, we can feel orphaned and motherless. The masculine principle predominates, and we look for security from material things. Individuality prevails over relationship, and selfish drives triumph over family, social and global responsibility.

Alberto Villoldo, PhD, is a Cuba-born medical psychologist, author, and medical anthropologist who has studied the shamanic healing practices of the Amazon and Andes for over thirty years. He directed the Biological Self-Regulation Laboratory at San Francisco State University, which studies how the mind creates psychosomatic health and disease. He is also the founder of the Four Winds Society, an international research and training organization dedicated to bridging ancient shamanic traditions with modern medicine and psychology to achieve personal and planetary healing.