*svadhisthana* sacral worth : 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 first chakra, our Muladhara, Root Chakra, and we found so much grounding, just as the breeze & lower temperatures began to roll in, the first signs of Fall on the way! This week, we arrive at the second chakra, our Sacral chakra! Our Svadhishthana, Sacral Chakra, is located 2 inches below the naval, is orange in color, and its element is water. This swirling center of energy is where we find our emotion and feeling center, self esteem, our self worth, creativity, joy, pleasure, intimacy, openness to new ideas, new paths, where we form healthy boundaries.

Connected Crystals: Carnelian, Sunstone, Citrine, Amber.

When *In Balance*: 

We go with the flow, express our creative side, healthy sexuality, respect for oneself and others' boundaries, open to new experiences.

When *Out of Balance*: 

We have creative block, are narcissistic, controlling of others, overly protective of loved ones, unable to relate to others, attention seeker, fearful, can't let go, addictive behaviors.

🌇 We opened our practice in our Child's pose, opening the hips right away, to open up our sacral space, our Svadhisthana! We found our pranayama, our breath work, through a 3-part breath, deep inhale into the sacrum, the abdomen, expanding and taking up space, and a slow deep exhale through the mouth, from the sacrum to the toes. The second breath inhaled into the sacrum, the chest, filling the lungs, and exhale through the mouth, with the third round all the way up to the crown, with our longest, slowest exhale out through the mouth from the crown to the toes. We thread the needle in our Childs pose, left hand reaching to the top of our mat, right arm threading underneath, through center, and thread the left arm under the right, grounding down to the earth beneath us. We found Childs pose waves, walking the hands in with our inhale, curling the back, drip the chin, all the way until the glutes reach our heels, hands reach up overhead, to heart center, and walk the hands forward into a fold, repeating this wave, just like water, our Sacral element, 2 more times. On the third round, rest onto the heels, knees together, Hero pose, inhale hands reach up overhead, exhale right hand down, left overhead, through center to the left, through center, inhale cactus the arms, exhale curl in, cradle the head, forearms together, one more time, and meet in a comfortable seat. 

Our Ujjayi breath followed, even lengths of inhale and exhale through the nose, our grounding, stabilizing breath. We formed our Yoni Mudra with the hands, and placed our mudra at our sacral chakra to connect to this energy center. 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 into our Navasana, Boat Pose, inhaling here, exhale lowering down toward the mat, hovering as we flutter kick the legs, small movements, strong in the core, inhale lift, exhale hover kick, 3 times, landing onto our backs. Inhale lengthen long hands overhead, toes reach forward, full body stretch, exhale knees into the chest, rocking side to side. Inhale feet reach to the sky, T-pose, exhale right leg crosses over the left, Cowface pose, reach for shins, a gentle pull of the knees toward the chest. Inhale unravel the legs out to a V, Straddle pose, opening the hips, exhale cross the right back over the left Cowface, hips scooch to the right, knees fall to the left, Supine Twist. Our mind can wander here, in the stillness, so we return to the body, to the 5 senses through a sensory scan.We connected 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 geranium & rose, sacral 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.

Eyes came through center, knees float through center, inhale feet reach to the sky, T-pose, exhale left leg crosses over the right, Cowface pose, reaching for shins, as we draw the knees into the chest. Inhale the legs unravel out to our Straddle, V shape, exhale left leg back over the right, 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 came through center, rock and rolled along the spine, to meet in our Table Top, moved in yummy ways, with a  Cat-Cow flow, adding in organic movements, listening to what our bodies need in the moment. We melted down into the forearms, inhale the gaze and right toes lift to the sky, exhale right knee in, nose to knee, inhale lift, exhale crunch, inhale lift, exhale crunch. Inhale right leg reaches back of the mat, exhale over to the left of our mat, melt the hips back, still on the forearms. Right knee tucks in behind the left, hands walk to the right a handprint, melt the hips back, Cross-Leg Childs Pose. Unravel and lift into the hands, right leg out to the right side, hips melt back, 1-leg childs pose, float off the hands, hands reach up overhead, right hand down, left overhead, and cartwheel the hands around, left hand down, right overhead. Melt the hands down, a round of cat cow flow, and then we 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 spiced up our energy, kept us warm, and rooted to the earth as we flowed from our downward dog, into plank, creating waves as slowly as possible, 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, palms to the sky, to the right, and to the left, inhale release arms to cactus, exhale cradle the head, arching forward, forearms together, inhale cactus, exhale cradle, inhale hands reach back behind us, high onto the toes, a lean forward, Diver pose, connecting to our water Sacral element, like swimmers on the diving block, and hands to prayer, sit deep into our Chair pose, twists to the right, elbow hooks the knee, and to the left, hands ground, move through your flow, to meet in Downward Dog. Inhale right leg floats, exhale right knee to left elbow, inhale lift, exhale right knee to right elbow, inhale lift, exhale knee to chest, knee taps down, a little pushup, left toes to the sky, nose grounds, and rise up, right foot forward, Warrior I. Inhale hands to the sky, cactus the arms, arms reach out to the walls, exhale hands roll forward, leaning forward. Inhale hands reach back cactus the arms, exhale forward, like an ocean wave we bring it in toward us, washing the soul clean, exhale sent the wave away, 3 times, and pivot to the back of our mat, Warrior 2, Sky Archer, right hand down, left high, left leg straightens. We can cradle the head, even a bind behind the backs, Cowface arms. Unravel the arms, Side Angle, left elbow to the left thigh, right hand overhead, inhale up Sky Archer, Side Angle, float forward into Half Moon, left foot, left hand ground right leg and hand float to the sky. Right hand down, we melt to the right foot, Skandasana, inhale up to the left foot, Twisted Lunge, right hand down left hand high, left hand down, melt back to the right foot, Skandasana, inhale Twisted Lunge, left hand high, thread the left hand under the right arm, inhale lift, exhale thread, into our WideLeg fold hanging heavy. Inhale we rise up 5-pointed Star, exhale Goddess pose, creating waves with the arms to the right and left, back and forth. Inhale 5-pointed Star, arms out to a T, right toes turn top of the mat, right hand down into our Triangle, left hand high, and down, Twisted Lunge, right hand high. Right hand down, float up, right elbow to right knee, Side Angle, finding a half or full bind, or a Bird of Paradise, big hip opener, activation of our Sacral Chakra! Come back into our Side Angle, float forward Half Moon, reaching back for the foot to rise up into our Dancer, strong in the right leg, slow release of the left foot to the back of our mat, left hand down, right hand high, Twisted Lunge, heel toe the right foot out, Dragon, melting into the forearms or opening out into a twist to the right, binding for a back foot. Through center, right foot meets the left, we move through a flow to meet in our 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 "VAM" sound connecting to our Sacral 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!

We came into stillness, then swayed right and left, and found stillness again, noticing the effects: we can feel cool, heat, or tingling sensations, even a spontaneous yawn! All signs of a regulated nervous system. We removed anything stuck, anything harmful & toxic still attached to the body! We stimulated the vagus nerve, the super highway of information from the brain to the body! 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 /flight/freeze mode). We helped our body to experience a larger capacity to sit in discomfort, and not immediately reach for unhealthy soothers, or run from it. We welcome space for triggers to be felt and moved through. 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! We find balance! We find freedom.

 🦊Our final flow began in Downward Dog, inhale right leg floats, exhale knee to chest, 2 times, inhale lengthen, bend the knee open the hip, maybe flip into Wild Thing, through center, right knee to chest, thread it to the left Fallen Star, right knee into chest, and set the shin down, Pigeon Waves, hands walk out, inhale we lift, exhale melt down, elbows to the sky, 3 times, unravel right leg to the sky, into Downward Dog, walk the hands back, hips sink into our Yogi Squat, big hip opener. Choosing flight into a crow, melt forward, or heart openers. Hips lift, heel toe in, walk the hands forward  into our Downward Dog, melt down into the forearms, Dolphin pose, walk the feet in. Feet walk back, knees ground, Childs pose. Inhale forward into our table, then downward dog, to honor the left side!

🏜️Our cool down moved us from Pigeon on the left side, roll onto the left hip, right leg to the top right corner of our mat, Fallen Tree, left foot in to the right thigh, melt forward. Walk the hands in, twist to the left, left hand down, hips lift, Rainbow Arch, right hand overhead. Exhale melt down, through center, float the legs as the are, hands to heart center, switch out legs, 3 times, landing left leg long to the upper left corner, right foot into the left thigh, fold forward, walk hands in, twist to the right, right hand down, Rainbow Arch, left hand overhead. Through center, Straddle pose, both legs extend out, fold forward. Walk the hands in, seated childs pose, arms wrap around shins, soles of the feet together, Butterfly pose, hook the big toes, extend the legs out, Balancing Bear, bend the knees, roll to the back happy baby, rocking side to side. Inhale lengthen long, exhale knees in, inhale T-pose, right foot to left thigh, Reclined Pigeon, into a twist, knees fall to the left. Through center, we honor the left foot to right thigh Reclined Pigeon into a twist to the right.  We find anything else we may need in these final moments!

🧡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 Svadhisthana + Vagus Nerve Healing playlist! Listen here!! 

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1P4wHKUMqycumPcc07g2CR?si=X4XgoG2DS0u4-KpbEdn_Vw&pi=u-gzWTpthmT7y0

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