THE TWO ROOTS: FAMILY, CHITTA & THE HEART-LED RETURN TO SELF
A human life begins with two roots, though most of us only recognise one for much of our journey.
The first root is the family root —
the inherited strand running through bloodline, ancestry, conditioning, culture, loyalty, and belonging.
It anchors us into a shared field of expectation, identity, stories, and survival strategies.
We grow here first because it is where life places us.
The second is the Chitta root —
the root of consciousness itself.
A subtle and innate connection to pure awareness,
existing beneath the noise of family, personality and narrative.
It does not pull or demand;
it simply waits.
The Tangling of Roots
Most of us begin life fully fed by the family root.
We grow by absorbing its nutrients:
• approval
• rules
• emotional patterning
• inherited fears and inherited pride
• the “this is who we are” identity scaffolding
But over time, that first root can become tangled.
It loops us into unconscious repetition:
relationships that mirror lineage,
roles we didn’t choose,
trauma we carry without context,
and a readiness to betray ourselves in order to belong.
The Unravelling
At a certain threshold, the tangle becomes visible — and unbearable.
In my case, every “stuck point” showed up through the body:
tightness, looping thoughts, a sense of circling the same emotional territory.
And each time, a mantra, mudra, or breath practice created just enough space to loosen the knot.
Awareness became the tool,
not to sever the family root,
but to untwist it.
Each unwound coil reduced the tension that kept me bound to the inherited identity.
The Chitta root — once quiet and thin — began to thicken.
The Pivot
There comes a moment when the two roots pull in different directions.
It isn’t a strategic decision.
It is an internal shift of allegiance.
The heart becomes the anchor —
not the emotional heart that swings wildly in relationship,
but the inner seat of clarity — hridaya —
where truth emerges without needing permission.
This is the moment the soul begins feeding from the Chitta root more than the family root.
It feels like loss at first —
because something familiar dies.
The Real Death
The real death here is not physical or relational.
It is the dissolution of the self who lived only from the inherited root.
What falls away?
• The need to prove yourself
• The compulsion to fit family narrative
• The unconscious loyalty to struggle
• The identity shaped by others’ expectations
This is not abandonment —
it is completion.
The family root remains —
but it no longer defines the direction of growth.
A New Nourishment
Once the Chitta root becomes primary,
life begins to replenish rather than deplete.
Decisions feel clean.
Art flows.
Boundaries land silently.
Belonging comes from resonance, not obligation.
It is less about becoming someone new
and more about returning to the root beneath all roots —
the one that has always been yours.
The Continuum
In truth, both roots remain.
The family root teaches:
• where we came from
• how we learned to survive
• the pattern we’re here to transform
The Chitta root reveals:
• who we truly are
• why we are here
• what we are meant to grow into
When both are honoured —
without confusion about which one feeds us now —
the human journey becomes a conscious flowering.
This is the path of sovereignty,
not separation
but alignment
with the source that has been waiting beneath the soil all along.