Click above for the full article on YogaRenew’s Website.
According to Anodea Judith in her book “Eastern Body, Western Mind, “A chakra is a center of organization that receives, assimilates, and expresses life-force energy.”
Today we’ll begin our Journey Through the Chakras within the context of our weekly class themes. Chakra translated to English means “wheel” or “disk.” You can think of it as a spinning wheel of energy which moves prana (life force energy) through the body.
There are 7 chakras which go from the lowest frequency and most grounding (first chakra) to the highest frequency and most ethereal (seventh chakra). Today we’ll be discussing the root chakra, in Sanskrit known as Muladhara Chakra.
The location of the first chakra is at the base of the spine at the tailbone.
Root Chakra’s areas of concentration are:
Survival
Organization
Boundaries
Solidity
Consistency
This chakra sets the foundation for the rest of the chakra system, establishing the “roots” of the energetic self.
A healthy first chakra is established when one’s survival needs are met so that we can feel safe and secure thereby giving us the ability to relax. This includes having a roof over our heads and a place to call home, having food to eat and water to drink, ensuring our physical form is fit and healthy, and having a stable income to support ourselves and any dependents. When survival is threatened we’re at risk of remaining in a hyper-vigilant state which can lead to feelings of fear or hopelessness.
The lesson in the first chakra lies in our ability to deal with fear in service of healing, grounding, and setting solid ground to move forward. Keep in mind, life is not and will most likely never be absent of fear. But the power lies in our ability to respond to such an emotion.
Root Chakra + Flying Pigeon Pose
Most arm balances such as flying pigeon lie within the forward folding family as well as the arm balancing family. In this aspect, the class will support a more “grounding” energy. Additionally, flying pigeon requires a solid ground and working through fear to not only balance the shin on the upper arms, but to extending the back leg while reaching the chest and head forward.
Read the full article linked at the top to see what poses can help lead practitioners to flying pigeon.