*muladhara* rooted earth: 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. Our Muladhara chakra is a swirling energy center located at the base of the spine, is red in color, its element is earth, and is where we find our survival instincts, where we feel safe, grounded, where connections to the earth, and to family as an infant are created. It's where we build trust, our belief systems, discover loyalty, and where we feel at home.

🪭Connected Crystals: Hematite, Jasper, Obsidian, Tourmaline, Garnet

Connected Essential Oils: Cedarwood, clove, frankincense, ginger, myrrh, patchouli, sandalwood, vetiver, ylang ylang.

When *In Balance*: 

We feel confident with change, trust our judgement, aware of past events but not emotionally connected. Able to sit still & are peaceful. We feel centered.

When *Out of Balance*: 

We have safety & trust issues, afraid to make changes, greedy behavior, often in fight or flight state, conflicting family beliefs, feel there is not enough time/money/fun/love.

Lets dive into the first chakra, the Root Chakra, Muladhara!! We opened in a half lotus, or comfortable seat, intentionally connecting our root chakra at the base of the spine into the earth, and formed a Muladhara mudra with the hands! Beginning in Anjali, prayer hands, then folding the pinkies and ring fingers inward, middle fingers stay high, and the index and thumbs circled around each other, fingertips touching. We moved into our Pranayama practice with our mudra, deep inhales through the nose, long slow exhales through pursed lips as if slowly blowing out a candle, to lengthen and slow down our exhale, calming the nervous system! We released past events & future schedules. We took time just for ourselves, present in this space, in this moment. We extended our breath work into hands behind the head, bent elbows with a deep inhale, opening through the chest, gaze lifted, and with the exhale, curled inward, forearms and elbows come together, cradling the head. We moved into twists to the right and left, a mini backbend, and a forward fold. Walk the hands in, unravel the legs, crossing the opposite on top. 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. One hand floated to the forehead, and the other 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 unraveled the legs, to float forward into our Navasana, Boat Pose, floating on the root chakra, tailbone. Palms together at the heart, we twist to the right, through center, to the left, back and forth, through center, floating back one vertebrae at a time to our backs. Lengthening long when we arrive on the inhale, rolling out wrists and ankles, exhale knees hug into the chest, rocking side to side. Inhale we lengthen long, exhale Crescent Moon to the right, hands and feet to the upper and bottom right corners of the mat, grounding the shoulders and melting the hips to the earth beneath. Inhale hands and feet through center, and Crescent Moon to the left, reanchoring the body to the earth. Inhale through center, feet reach to the sky, T-pose, right leg crosses over the left, stacking the knees, Cowface, reaching for our shins, a gentle pull of the knees toward the chest. The IT band, and periformis muscle of the outer right hip begins to lengthen and soften, relieving any sciatic nerve pain. Release the shins, left foot plants down, hips scooch to the right, knees fall to the left, Supine Twist. 

We connected to our senses to stay present in the body, even though the eyes are closed, we noticed what we see beyond the lids, finding peace and serenity in this darkness, knowing light is nearby. We traveled to our smell, noticing what we smell around us, notes of frankincense & sandalwood, grounded scents! We scanned to our hearing, noticing the sound of our breath, the breath of our neighbor, the hum of the furnace, pinpointing an instrument in the music. We floated through center, feet to the sky, T-pose, left leg over the right, Cowface, reaching for shins to lengthen and soften the left IT band. Release the shins, right foot plants down, hips scooch to the left, knees fall to the right, Supine Twist. 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.

🍉We rock n rolled along the spine to come into our table top. We moved in yummy ways, with a yummy warm up flow of Cat-Cow, adding in organic movements, evening up our sides, to arrive in a neutral table top. We melted down into the forearms, into our Puppy pose, tail to the sky, inhale we lift the gaze and right toes to the sky, exhale knee to chest, inhale lengthen long, exhale knee to chest, inhale lengthen long, right foot to the back of our mat, we float up into the hands, supported side plank, right hand lifts to the sky. Lift up off of the left hand, staying on the left knee, hands reach up to the sky, right hand to the right leg, left hand overhead, Gate pose, and cartwheel the hands around, left hand down, right overhead. Melt down to the mat, left foot in to the right thigh, Fallen Tree, right hand reaches for the right foot, left hand overhead. Rainbow arch left hand top of the mat, hips lift, right hand overhead. We come through center, cat cow flow, then honor the left side with our puppy kicks. 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 increased our energy, kept us warm, and rooted to the earth as we flowed from our downward dog, into plank, pranam, low cobra, downward dog, into our tadasana, rooting the feet into the earth, feeling that grounding energy all the way up to the crown. We flowed through side bends, high onto the balls of the feet, to the right and to the left, through center, ground the heels, inhale cactus the arms, exhale arch forward, cradle the head, forearms together, repeating one more time, and melting into our chair pose, a grounding pose for our Muladhara. Hands to heart center, we twist to the right, elbow hooks the knee, through center to the left, and back to the right, staying in our twist, right foot floats to the glutes, and steps back, exalt your warrior, left hand high, cartwheel the hands around Side Angle, left elbow to left knee, right hand overhead. Right hand down inside left foot, left hand high, Twisted Lunge, left hand down, left foot sweeps through center and up, 3 Limb Downward Dog, inhale lengthen, exhale knee to chest, shin down, inhale high, 2 more times, left foot steps forward , Warrior I, inhale hands high, exhale arms cactus right knee taps down, inhale hands high, exhale cactus arms, right knee taps down, Low Lunge, hands connect, elbows bend, hands drape down behind our neck. Hands plant down, hips tip back, Quarter Split, inhale roll forward, right hand down, left hand high, Twisted Lunge, inhale high, exhale melt to the right heel, Skandasana, inhale Twisted Lunge top of the mat, exhale Skandasana to the right heel. Inhale through center WideLeg forward fold, hanging heavy. Inhale rise up into our 5-pointed Star, exhale into our Goddess, deep bend in the knees, cactus the arms, palms through center, inhale float into the right foot, into our Tree, left foot meets the right leg, through center, and to the left foot, Tree pose, through center, 5-pointed Star, right toes turn to the back of our mat, arms out to a T, right hand reaches forward and down, into our Triangle, our most stable, grounding shape in existence, left hand high. Left hand down, right shin down, into our Pigeon, hands walk out beyond the edges of our mat, inhale we lift, exhale we melt down, elbows to the sky, 2 more times, Pigeon waves. Inhale unravel the right leg up to the sky, walk the hands back toward the feet, Standing Splits, inhale right toes high, exhale curtsy tap down to the left, inhale high, exhale tap, inhale high, exhale, right shin down, down to our seat, inhale let leg extends forward, hands to the ankle, exhale we open left hand out behind, opening the chest, through center, open out to the right, through center, cowface pose, knees stacked. Inhale walk the hands to the left, hips lift, and pivot to the top of our mat, melt the hips, Yogi Squat. Inhale hips lift, heel toe the feet in, move through your flow, to meet in downward dog, to honor the left side!

🍄Somatic experiencing gave us tools to regulate our nervous system, to agitate those emotions, to help them release, and to serve as a reset button. We rubbed the palms together to create some heat, some healing energy, and began at the crown, massaging the fingertips all over the crown, down into the temples, into the jaw, the perfect release for jaw clenchers like myself. We brought one hand pressing into the base of the skull where the vagus nerve begins, and the other hand pressing the index + middle fingers at the hairline, and slowly moving down between the eyebrows, down the bridge of the nose! We often do this massage for our cats, dogs, horses, perhaps you've done this as your child is waking up. It's a nice calming tool, so today we nourished ourselves with the same gesture! We tapped into the collarbone, and into the sternum! We inhaled through the nose as we tapped into the sternum, and stacked the hands at the heart and we exhaled creating a "LAM" audible seed mantra chant! Humming, singing, and tapping into the chest encourages a softened chest, slower and longer breaths, and reduces anxiety, to signal to the brain that the body is safe. If you hold tension here in the chest, this is a nice release! We squeezed into the shoulders, biceps, triceps, forearms, and swept the hands at the shoulders, down the arms, chest, abdomen, hips, low back, glutes, down the legs to the toes. On the way up, form fists and pound into the  body on the way up, releasing anything we feel is still tethered to the body, a conversation or event, we have been carrying, let it go, send it into the earth below to be refined for something better! We swayed the arms side to side, and came into Tadasana, noticing the effects: coolness, heat, or tingling sensations! We removed anything stuck, harmful & toxic still attached to the body! We stimulated the vagus nerve, the super highway of information located at the base of the brain and runs throughout the entire body, touching every organ system! We sent messages to the brain that the body is not under threat, it does not have to exist in a continuous active state (fight mode). We helped our body adapt to triggers. We have the ability to help our nervous system shift fluidly between states when each are needed, the sympathetic & parasympathetic nervous systems! Both are useful and 100% needed, but we do not want to become stuck in one state for too long. These practices are so useful off the mat as we encounter stress or triggers in our daily lives!

Our final flow began in Tadasana, and moved into our Downward dog, and walked the hands back toward the feet until the heels grounded, we twisted right hand to the left shin, through center, left hand to the right shin, heel toe the feet in, melting the hips into our Toe Squat, and to our seat, rooting to the earth once again, feet reach forward Staff pose we fold forward. Inhale walk the hands in, right knee comes with us as we twist to the right, left arm around the right knee. We pivot to the left, right foot crossing over the left leg. The right hand reaches for the left foot, right toes toward the long side of our mat, we lift the hips, into our Baby Grasshopper. Through center, windshield the knees left to right, and lengthen long, Staff forward fold, inhale hands walk in, left knee comes into the chest we twist to the left, right arm wraps around, and then find our Baby Grasshopper to the right. Windshield the knees right to left, feet plant, hips lift, Reverse Table, head hanging heavy, hips ground, Butterfly pose, soles of the feet together, we make peace fingers with our hands, hook the big toes, and extend the legs out, Straddle pose, our Balancing Bear, bend into the knees, and roll back, ending in Happy Baby, rocking side to side.

We arrived on our backs, long stretch hands overhead, toes reach forward, exhale knees hug into the chest, right knee stays in, left leg long to the mat, open and close the right knee out to the right side of the room, reach for the heel, Half Happy Baby. Begin to walk the left foot in, knee to the sky, and bring the right foot over the left thigh, Reclined Pigeon, finding a clasp of the hands behind the left thigh. Release the clasp, hips scooch to the right, knees fall to the left, Supine Twist. Through center, we honor the left side!

🐞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 Muladhara + Vagus Nerve Healing playlist! Listen here!! 

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/092AVjzELgeuHG9uplVZow?si=xpE3oLOqTrS_nlV69LxMew&pi=u-Be3muk48T3Ky

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