*Manipura* Solar Fire: chakras + vagus nerve healing

Hello beautiful souls! It's almost Fall! This summer, in our yoga classes, we traveled to our most beloved national parks, from Yosemite and Yellowstone, to Olympic and the Arches, we found so much healing in the outdoors! I think that was my favorite series yet! Everyone seemed to enjoy each one so much! I knew another series awaited to bring much needed healing during uncertain times, or big life changes. This summer was a whirlwind of bittersweet moments as we prepared to send our daughter to college! Phew, I was not prepared for the dizzying array of emotions of letting her go, especially to a school several states away, in NY. But she is thriving, and my heart is happy! If you are feeling the same lately, with the state of the world, or closer to home, maybe job transitions, or family growth and shifts, juggling too much in this fast-paced world, you might be feeling swept away at times, like me, and desperately need to feel a deep grounding. Our society celebrates exhaustion, fast pace, constantly on the go, hurried days, full schedules. I'm the exact opposite. It's a lot, too much, and it feels like we're getting swept away, in flight, scrambling to find a safe place to perch and rest, only to get swept away again. One day our body is going to tell us when to rest either with injury or illness. Let's do what we can to prevent that!

I've always loved the chakras, and I've taught chakra classes before, but this time, we are connecting each chakra to the vagus nerve in specific ways, traveling up the chakras, from the root to the spine, to shift from our busy minds, endless to-do lists, and worries, and back into the body, where we are rooted, grounded, and at home, while releasing stored tension through vagus nerve stimulation! Join me for the next few weeks, on Fridays for a gentle flow, and Sundays for a warm, more energetic flow. Last week, we dove into the second chakra, our Svadhisthana, Sacral Chakra, and we found so much healing here in our sacrum's creativity center, our joy, pleasure, self worth energy center! This week, we arrive at the third chakra, our Manipura chakra! This swirling energy center, located 2" above the naval, element is fire, where we find our inner fire, personal power, passions, trust our judgment, follow our gut, and share our inner light. 

✨Connected Crystals: Honey calcite, lemon quartz, pyrite, yellow topaz

Connected essential oils: Bergamot, geranium, lavender, lemon, mandarin, neroli, peppermint, chamomile, rose, tea tree, vetiver, ylang ylang.

When *In Balance*: 

We are aware of others' energy but not negatively affected, have inner strength, trust our gut, balanced ego, confident, takes personal responsibility.

When *Out of Balance*: 

We overthink, judgmental, don't trust others, low self-esteem, feelings of hopelessness, thinks self-worth is based on achievements, domineering & aggressive personality.

We opened on our bellies, left cheek to the mat, hands cactused overhead or long by the hips, grounding our solar plexus to the earth, a reminder we are always connected to the soil, the sun, every plant and animal, and every human being. A self-soothing prone position. We created our pranayama practice, 3-part breath, filling from the toes to the belly, our Manipura, and slowly exhaling through the mouth. Second round fills to the chest, filling the lungs, and third round up to the crown. We release everything that's happened for the week, every future to-do list, becoming truly present. We slowed down the chatter of the mind. Inhale as the chin travels through center, right cheek meets our mat. Our mind can wander here in the stillness, so we connect to the body through our sensory scan. Even though the eyes are closed, we notice what we see beyond the lids, finding peace in the darkness, knowing light is always nearby. We notice what we hear in the room, the hum of the furnace or air conditioner keeping us comfortable, the breath of our neighbor, pinpointing an instrument in the music. We notice what we smell, notes of bergamot & lemon hovering overhead, tapping into our Solar Plexus. 

We scanned to our taste, noticing the last thing we may have eaten, or a sip of cup of tea, coffee,  lingering in the mouth, separating the teeth, the tongue falling from the roof of the mouth. Lastly, we noticed our sense of touch, what we feel against the skin, the warmth of the air against the skin, the softness of our clothes, the stickiness of our mat, supporting us, cradling us, serving as our anchor, as we shed the layers that accumulate on the body and mind from daily life, bringing us back home to ourselves, lighter, more free.

Inhale as the chin floats through center, hands ground under the shoulders, we lift Low Cobra, exhale down, hands wander outside the edges of our mat, tented fingers, inhale lift Low Cobra, elbows to the sky, exhale we melt, inhale lift, exhale left ear taps the mat, inhale lift, exhale right ear taps the mat, repeating one more time. Inhale hands reach back toward the hips, palms to the sky, inhale we lift into our Locust, exhale down, inhale lift, exhale down, inhale hands plant under the shoulders, left arm reaches out to the left side of the room, exhale roll onto the left hip, Broken Wing, right foot plants down behind the left leg, through center, Broken Wing to the right, through center, press into the palms, hips sink back Childs pose, walk the hands to the right, hips sink back and to the left, through center, hands to the left, hips back and to the right, through center, elbows bend, palms together draping overhead toward the back of the neck. Hands ground, we walk the hands in and sit back into our seat.

🍋In a comfortable seat, we crossed the legs or found a Half Lotus, to begin our self-healing practice! We formed our Rudra Mudra with the hands, folding the fingers inward toward the thumbs, and then extending the pinkies & middle fingers outward. We placed our mudra at our solar plexus chakra to connect to this energy center. Our Ujjayi breath followed, even lengths of inhale and exhale through the nose, our grounding, stabilizing breath. We rubbed the palms together to create some heat, some healing energy, remembering that our hands are tools for healing, and cupped the hands to the eyes, sending healing energy to the soul. Hands floated to the crown, sending healing energy to the mind, calming the chatter. The mind can become stuck in the past, ruminating over things that have been, or travel too far forward into the future with worry, but the body is always present, so here we connect and stay present. Left hand floated to the forehead, and the right to the base of the skull, gentle pressure into our vagus nerve, serving as a nervous system reset button, finally bringing the hands to the heart sending gratitude to the heart and lungs, for the work they do every moment of every day, for us. We set an intention for our practice. We inhaled the hands overhead, and to the right for a twist, peeling the right shoulder back to open the chest 5% more, opening our Anahata chakra, heart chakra, sending compassion, understanding, love out into the world. We arched the right hand to the sky and toward the opposite knee to open the side body, and then brought it to the left knee, crossing the arms, arching the back and dripping the chin. We honored the other side, and then came through center, planted the fingers behind us, opened the chest, arching the spine into a backbend, gaze to the sky, and then melted forward into a fold.  

🔱We walked the hands in, unraveled the legs into our boat pose, inhale we lift, exhale hover down, flutter kick the legs, inhale lift, exhale flutter kick, inhale lift, exhale flutter kick and melt to the back, lengthening long, exhale knees to chest, rocking side to side. Inhale T-pose, point the toes, curled the fingers around the edges of our mat, by the hips, and crossed one foot over the other, keeping the legs straight, criss-crossing, small movements back & forth over one another, scissoring slowing down toward the mat, hovering a few inches above the mat, and slowly coming back up toward the sky, still scissoring the legs! We repeated for a total of 3 times, warming up the core, our solar plexus, ending in our Cowface pose, right knee crossed over the left, hug shins into the chest, hands behind the head, inhale crunch in, left elbow outside right knee, exhale down, inhale right elbow outside left knee, exhale down, one more round, exhale down, arms T out, hips scooch to the right, knees fall to the left, Supine Twist. We came through center, found bridge pose, inhale T-pose, Scissor kicks left over right, and honored the left side! 

🍌We rock n rolled along the spine, into our Table Top. We began a yummy warm up flow of Cat-Cow, adding in organic movements. Inhale right eg lifts with bent knee, toes to the sky, exhale curling inward, nose to knee, and inhale  up into our Tiger, exhale nose to knee, inhale up, reaching back to bind left hand to right foot! We released the foot to the back of the mat, lifting the opposite knee to the chest, curling the back, nose to knee, then setting the knee down bending into the elbows, extending opposite toes to the sky for a push up, repeating this flow once more, then extend the right leg out to the right side of the room, inhale left hand floats, exhale thread to the right, grounding the left temple and shoulder, Rolling Panda. Unthread left hand top of the mat, sink the hips back, 1-leg Childs Pose. Through center, cat cow, and honor the left side! After the left side, we lifted the hips, Downward Dog, finding movement, then inhale rolling high onto the toes, slowly forward one vertebrae at a time, into our Plank, head is the last to roll through, exhale Downward Dog, 3 times, on the third, Pranam, lowering knees chest chin, inhale Low Cobra, exhale Downward Dog, finding our way top of the mat, into a fold, root to rise into our Tadasana. 

🌟Our first flow spiced up our energy, lit an inner fire, kept us warm, and rooted to the earth. We flowed through side bends, to the right and to the left, flowed through a Sun Salutation A, ending in our Chair pose, twisted to the right and to the left, through center, found a bind behind the back, lifted the chest and gaze, exhale forward into a fold, release the bind, left hand down, left knee bends, right hand high, through center twisting to the left, through center, move through your flow, pranam or chaturanga, meeting in Downward Dog. Inhale right leg floats, exhale right knee taps left elbow, down to the wrist, up to the elbow, and lengthen high, to the right elbow, wrist, elbow, lengthen high, exhale knee to chest, right foot steps forward, Crescent Warrior, hands to heart, twist to the right, elbow hooks knee, inhale left knee draws in, exhale back, inhale crunch in, exhale back, left hand down, right hand high, Twisted Lunge, inhale lift, exhale thread under left arm, inhale lift, exhale thread, inhale lift, exhale thread, melt to the left heel Skandasana, hands high to the sky, strong through the core, inhale through center, hands still high, to the right Skandasana, through center, WideLeg fold, hanging heavy. Inhale extend up into our 5-pointed Star, exhale Goddess. Inhale right heel lifts and down, inhale left heel lifts and down, inhale both heels lift, pulse arms out to a T, micro bends in the knees, for 5,4,3,2,1. Inhale up into our 5-pointed Star, left toes toward back of our mat, arms to a T, we melt into our Triangle, right hand high, floating forward into our Half Moon, right hand down, Standing Splits, right toes high, exhale curtsy tap, 3 times, right knee crunches in, Flamingo, hands float at heart center, right foot steps back, right hand down, left hand high, Twisted Lunge, left hand back of head, inhale elbow high, exhale crunch in toward right elbow, inhale open, exhale crunch in. Hands plant, both feet back into our Plank, melt down into the forearms, walk the feet in Dolphin, walk the feet back, Side Plank into the right hand, center, and into the left hand, center, move through your flow, into Downward Dog, walk the hands to the feet, bent knee twists, right foot steps behind the left, spin around top of the mat, move through your flow, meet in Tadasana, to honor the left side!

🌻Our Somatic practice gives us tools to regulate our nervous system, to stimulate the vagus nerve that begins at the base of the brain and runs throughout the body touching every organ system! We agitated emotions stuck in the body, to help them release, and to serve as a reset button. I usually alternate between these tools each week! We began in our Tadasana, brought the right hand to the left upper side of the chest, and extended the left arm forward, palm facing the sky. With a deep inhale, we kept the hips forward, as the left arm slowly traveled out to the left side, gaze following, to the back, paused at the back with the gaze over our left shoulder, and on the exhale slowly brought the arm back toward the top of our mat. We repeated this two more times, inhaled as the arms reached overhead, palms gathered at the heart. We brought the left arm to the right upper side of the chest, extended the right arm forward, palm facing up, and with the inhale slowly traveled the right arm out to the side as the gaze followed, to the back, and paused opening the chest. With the exhale we brought the right arm slowly back to the top of our mat, and repeated 2 more times!  We rubbed the palms together to create some healing heat, and we brought the fingertips to the crown, massaging the fingertips all over the crown and behind the ears, even the base of the skull. We moved into the temples, massaging circles here, we dripped the fingers to the jaw, the hinge where we open and close the jaw, the perfect release for jaw clenchers like myself, and maybe you too. We pulled down on the ear lobes, pulled the middle of the ears out to the sides, up to the top of the ears pulling toward the sky. With one hand to the base of the skull, pressing into the vagus nerve, the other hand brought the index and middle fingers to the hairline at the forehead and began rolling the fingers down the forehead, between the eyebrows, down the bridge of the nose to the tip, repeating 3 times, and switching out the hands. We brought our fingertips to the base of the skull, pressing into our vagus nerve, and melted the fingertips toward the ears, along the jawline, and down the front of the neck to the collarbone. We repeated this 2 more times, releasing tightness in the throat. We tapped into the collarbone, with slow rythmic taps, all fingers in unison, into one of our acupressure points in the body. We brought this tapping to the sternum, center of the chest. We slowly tapped here, either with the fingertips or Bilateral Butterfly taps using cupped hands over one another on the chest, activating both hemispheres of the brain, continuing as we inhaled, paused to bring the hands to the heart, stacked on top of one another, and as we exhaled we audibly hummed a "RAM" sound connecting to our Manipura Chakra, in our bee breath🐝! If you hold tension here in the chest, this is a nice release! Humming is a somatic release, also good for respiratory infection season to break things up in the lungs, and humming has shown to reduce anxiety better than sleep! We crossed the arms at the chest, and squeezed into opposite shoulders, down to the biceps and triceps, and into the forearms. We brought the hands to the shoulders again for a squeeze, and swiped the hands down the arms, chest, abdomen, low back, and legs, making sure anything still tethered to the body is fully released. On the way up, we formed fists, pounding into the body, until in Tadasana. We released everything from last year, last month, yesterday, that we need to let go of, swipe it away, let yourself be freed of it, so we don't carry this heaviness any longer! Allow it to melt down your back! Let it drift into the breeze, the water, no longer needed in this moment!

⚡️Our final flow began in Downward Dog, right leg high, exhale knee to chest, 3 times, bent the knee, opened the hip, circling through the hip, or flipping our dog! We extended the leg, hovered the knee at the chest, and thread the foot through into our Fallen Star, right knee to chest, and melted the shin down, knee forward, as the left toes peeled back, hips grounded, roll onto the right hip, pivot to the back of the mat, Fallen Tree, right foot into the left thigh, side bend, right hand overhead, cartwheel the hands around, right hand down, hips lift, Rainbow Arch, left hand overhead. Hands top of the mat, knees in, Table Top, float up off the hands, flowing through our Dancing Camel, meeting through center, into Downward Dog to honor the left side!

🌙Our cool down moved us from our Rainbow Arch, melting to our seat into our Straddle forward fold, walk the hands in, feet in, palms plant behind the glutes, hips lift, Reverse Table, head hangs heavy behind us. Hips melt down, soles of the feet together, Butterfly, hook the big toes, extend the feet out, Balancing Bear, bend into the knees, roll to the back, Happy Baby, rocking side to side, and melt to our back! We lengthened long, hugged the knees into the chest, planted the feet, palms by the hips, inhale up into our Bridge, last activation of the core, hands float up overhead and back, Floating Bridge, exhale hands lift overhead and to the earth by the hips, as the hips lower down, 2 more times, Floating Bridge. Inhale hug the knees in, extend the feet to the sky into our T-pose, crossed one foot over the other, bending at the knees, hugged the thighs together and reached for shins gently pulling the knees toward the chest. We released the shins, planted the bottom foot, for a supine twist! We honored the opposite side, and we made time to come into any final poses we needed before our final rest such as legs up the wall, shoulder stand, plow or wheel!

✨We made it to our PEAK POSE: savasana! Together, we completed a full body cleanse! We found meditative peace, a calming of the mind, insight into ourselves, we experienced growth fearlessness, release, and freedom. Yoga helps us shed what we no longer need, so we may see our most purest selves! Connect to divinity! 🙏🏻To slow down means to heal! That is why savasana is the peak pose, the most important pose, the goal. To find peace. In the stillness! We surrender. We discover ourselves again without the layers, the armor, the walls. They all come down, revealing our divine self.🙏🏻

☀️ I loved creating our Manipura + Vagus Nerve Healing playlist! Listen here!! 

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7smndlhPS9WqESQBfbwCW5?si=QsEMjyqeTdmI6uvmkodG4g&pi=u-VwnUy9vGRqKB

🍃Come practice with me Fridays for a gentle flow at 11:30, and Sundays for a warm, active flow at 10:00!🫶🏻 ✨🌿