Everything Under the Moon

So, I decided to meditate as my feelings have led me astray and I wasn't feeling myself lately.
I sat down, did my normal breathing exercise.
Then when I could feel myself drifting deeper I did what I usually do when asking for healing energy and imagined it coming into me from the sky, and then when I got to the part where I ask for Mother Earth's energy to enter me and fill me, it got weird. I imagined roots growing down to the core of the earth, and even that was kinda difficult. Then when they wrapped around the core it felt wrong, kinda dark energy, I couldn't breathe. I had to force myself consciously to take a breath and speak.

Then when I was done, it felt really difficult to pull the roots out of the ground.

I haven't really experienced anything like that before, I don't know if I am imagining it, or if anyone else has had a similar experience?
I'm really just trying to fish or find advice here.

Are you sure it was really negative energy, or was it just very slow and rooted? Slowing your energy to the earth might feel heavy, but it doesn't have to be negative.

Another question, did you protect your space before going into an altered state?

It might be, it did feel like I was being pulled down.
No, I didn't, is that a thing I should be doing even when going into meditation?
(Sorry, pretty new round here)

It's not a bad idea to put some protecting around yourself while you engage in work that has you slipping into an altered state. If nothing else you will feel more secure and open to experiencing and exploring what you need to. It sounds to me like you were very successfully grounded, but I wasn't there and I don't know it from your perspective.

Oh okay, thanks for the suggestion.
Hopefully I was, and that it wasn't anything else.
Thank you for taking the time to answer my thread.