Start sitting up nice and tall.
Close your eyes and begin to connect in with your breath.
Coming into your Ujjayi Pranayama.
As you're settling in,
Your root chakra is about groundedness and connectedness.
As you're sitting here,
Imagine that connected to your sitting bones,
There are two red cords or roots.
These red cords or roots are connected to your sitting bones and they're drawing down toward the center of earth.
So you are connecting to earth and you feel very grounded.
Hold on to this connected feeling throughout our practice.
You are always connected to earth energetically in this way,
As is all life on earth.
We are all connected to earth and connected to each other.
We will continue moving through poses today that will support the groundedness of your root chakra.
The color associated to this chakra is red and it's related to how we connect to our environment and the people around us.
May our practice today help us feel our innate connection to earth and all life on earth.
After our practice,
May that connection transfer over to our loved ones and everyone we come into contact with today.
I invite you to add your own intention if you like.
Let your eyes softly blink open and we'll make our way onto our hands and knees with your wrists under your shoulders and your knees under your hips to start.
And then we're going to take it right into extended child's pose.
Take your hips back to your heels and reach your arms forward.
Spread your fingers wide.
Your head can rest on the floor.
If that's not comfortable,
You can always rest your head on a yoga block or a pillow or whatever you have to prop your head up.
In this child's pose,
Make sure your arms are shoulder distance apart.
Press firmly into the base of your fingers and as you're pressing into them,
Press your hands forward.
Not that they'll move,
But just so that you can extend your sitting bones back toward your heels.
Notice the connection of your hands on the ground,
Sitting bones to your heels.
You can take your knees a little bit wide so that your belly can release between your thighs.
Start to turn your outer upper arms or triceps down toward the ground and your biceps up toward the sky.
As you make that little movement,
Press extra weight into your thumb and first finger side of your hands.
Pressing back,
Take three more breaths.
On your next inhale,
Come up onto your knees.
Keep your hands just where they are,
Tuck your toes and stretch into downward facing dog.
Adho Mukha Svanasana.
Make sure your feet are hips width apart and bicycle your legs here.
Bend both of your knees and stick your hips way up.
Keep extending through your spine.
Pull your ribs and belly in.
Start to reach your heels toward the ground.
If your heels touch,
That's great.
You can press through your heels,
Really increasing your connection to earth.
If they don't touch,
Try to walk your feet in for a moment.
Maybe you can touch your heels to the ground just for a moment,
Just to feel that connection.
But then we'll walk them back out so we can get all the length in your spine.
Pull your ribs and belly in.
Inhale to come forward into plank pose.
Your knees can be up or down.
As you exhale,
Shift forward.
Hug your elbows in and come all the way down.
Pause here for a moment.
Feeling all that connection,
All that grounding into earth.
Start to lift your body away from the floor and lengthen your sitting bones toward your heels.
Bring your hands by your lower ribs and inhale,
Peeling your chest up for a baby cobra.
Roll your shoulders back.
Exhale,
Take your toes and press up and back into down dog.
Stretching back here,
Take another long breath in.
Exhale everything out.
Bend your knees,
Lift your hands and walk your feet forward.
As you inhale,
Bring your hands to your shins and lengthen.
As you exhale,
Fold over your legs and bend your knees as much as you need to.
Press through your feet and rise up with a long spine on your inhale.
And exhale,
Bring your hands down.
Come to the front of your mat.
Take either your big toes together with your heels slightly apart or your feet or hip socket distance apart.
Let your arms come down by your sides.
We're working with grounding and connecting to earth.
So bring your attention to your feet,
The base of your big toes,
The base of your little toes,
Your heels.
And press down through your feet like you're getting drawn down into the center of earth.
From that pressing down,
Start to lift through the inner and outer arches of your feet.
Spin your inner thighs back.
Lengthen your bum towards your heels.
Lift your belly.
Lift your chest.
Close your eyes.
Take a couple of long breaths.
Feel that connection to earth as you're getting pulled down to her center.
Toward the center of earth with your feet.
Start to lift away from there so you feel lighter from above your waist and a little heavier from below.
Let your eyes blink open.
Inhale.
Reach your arms up,
Palms facing each other.
Exhale,
Fold forward,
Hinging from your hips.
Inhale,
Come halfway up,
Lengthen.
Exhale,
Step to plank.
Knees can be up or down,
Chaturanga.
Shoulders no lower than your elbows.
Inhale,
Either a cobra or up dog,
Your choice.
And exhale,
Downward facing dog.
Moving through a couple of sun salutations as we warm up our body.
Be very mindful today of what's connected to the ground.
Notice your hands and feet touching the ground.
Really make an effort to press down through the base of your fingers as your forearms lift and press down into the balls of your feet and your heels if they touch.
Take one more breath in.
Exhale it out.
Bend your knees,
Look up as you inhale.
Step or hop your feet to your hands,
Halfway lift.
On your exhale,
Fold.
Inhale,
Press down to rise up and exhale to samasthiti.
Inhale,
Arms reach.
Exhale and fold.
Inhale,
Look up to lengthen.
Exhale,
Step or float back to chaturanga.
Inhale,
Press into your hands and feet,
Up dog or cobra.
Exhale,
Stretch all the way back into down dog.
Take a couple of breaths here.
Remember to press into the base of your fingers.
Lift up through your forearms.
Keep spinning your triceps,
Back biceps forward and then press a little extra into your thumb and first finger side of your hands.
Nice smooth ujjayi pranayama for 3 and 2.
And one more breath in.
Exhale it out.
Bend your knees,
Step or hop your feet to your hands.
Inhale,
Halfway lift.
Exhale to fold.
Press down into earth through your feet.
Inhale,
Reach up towards the sky.
Exhale,
Arms down.
Turn to the long side of your mat.
Step your feet out nice and wide.
Turn your right leg all the way out from your hip,
Back toes in slightly.
Make sure to line up your front heel with your back arch.
As you inhale,
Bring your arms up.
As you exhale,
Bend your knee.
Make sure you're pressing into your front heel.
Exhale,
Feel your grounded connection to earth.
As you press down into your front heel,
Press into the outer edge of your back foot.
Feel heavy from your waist down.
You're getting pulled down to earth and from this place of pulling down,
Lift up through all four sides of your waist and breathe.
Now we'll reverse.
Inhale.
As you exhale,
Bend into your front leg.
Inhale,
Straighten your leg.
Reverse triangle pose.
Exhale,
Come back up.
Inhale,
Sit up for triangle.
Try taking a shorter stance.
It may help you feel more grounded.
Hand in front of your hip crease.
Reach,
Reach,
Reach.
Your right hand can come to your shin or your foot or the ground or a block if you have one.
Stretch out through your left arm.
Firmly press into the big toe mound of your right foot.
Continue to feel your connection to earth through the back outer edge of your foot.
One more breath here.
Look down.
Inhale.
Come on up.
Bring your feet to parallel.
Take your block with you if you used it on the first side.
Come into Warrior II,
Virabhadrasana II.
Pay special attention to your feet and your legs.
Press into your front heel.
Press through the outer edge of your back foot.
Lift your back inner arch.
Back inner thigh lifts and press your back leg back.
Breathe here.
You're very heavy from below the waist and lighter from above.
Make sure your knee stays right over your ankle.
Keep your front knee bent.
Exhale and reverse.
Bend into your knee a little bit deeper.
Inhale.
Straighten your leg.
Exhale.
Inhale and come back up.
Shorten your stance for triangle to feel a little more grounded.
Hinge from your hip.
Reach,
Reach,
Reach out and down.
Take your left hand down to your shin,
Your foot,
The ground or your block.
Stretch up through your top arm.
Feel your connection to earth grounding down.
Ground into earth through your feet.
Press into the base of the big toe of your left foot and continue pressing through the outer edge of your back foot as you firm your legs.
Being mindful that you're not locking up your knee joints,
Keep your knee joints a little bit soft with your legs engaged.
Look down at your foot.
Inhale as you come back up.
Bring your feet to parallel and your hands to your hips.
Point your toes slightly in toward each other.
Roll your shoulders back.
Look up.
Inhale.
Firm your legs.
Your inner thighs are spinning back as you exhale and come forward.
Take your fingertips to the ground.
Inhale as you pull your chest forward.
You can stay here or fold in deeper as you exhale.
Bring your awareness to your feet and your legs.
Feel your connection to earth.
Shift your weight a little toward the balls of your feet.
Continue to pull up on your kneecaps and firm your leg muscles.
Start to spin your hips in toward center.
Take another breath here.
Inhale to come halfway up.
Exhale as you bring your hands to your hips.
Inhale and come back to center.
Step or hop your feet together and come back to the front.
We're going to move through Surya Namaskar B but we will hold our Virabhadrasana 1.
Bring your feet together or hip socket distance apart.
Pause to feel your connection to earth.
Feel yourself grounding down.
Inhale as you bend your knees.
Come into Utkatasana,
Chair pose.
Sit back.
Keep your weight in your heels.
Exhale as you bring your belly to your thighs.
Then straighten your legs as much as you can.
Inhale.
Look up.
Lengthen.
Exhale.
Step back to plank or hop right into Chaturanga.
Inhale.
Press through your hands and feet.
Urdhva Mukha Svanasana.
Exhale into Adho Mukha Svanasana.
As you inhale,
Step your right foot up by your right hand.
Spin your back heel down and come into Virabhadrasana 1.
Pause here.
Holding your right hip back and sending your left hip forward.
Ground into earth through your back foot as you press into your front heel.
Breathe.
Inhale as you straighten your front leg.
Walk your back foot in about a foot or so.
Square your hips and shoulders to the front.
Bring your arms to a T.
You can do a fist bump behind your back or press your palms together.
Look up as you inhale and exhale as you come forward.
Pull your right hip back.
Send your left hip forward.
Pull in through your belly.
Lift your shoulder blades.
One more breath.
Now releasing your hands down,
Bend your front knee.
Make your way to Adho Mukha Svanasana.
Any way you like.
You can come right into it or go back to plank.
Chaturanga.
Inhaling up.
Exhaling back.
As you inhale,
Step your left foot up by your left hand and step back into Virabhadrasana 1.
Warrior 1.
Inhale.
Pull your left hip back and bring awareness to your back leg.
Press through the outer edge of your back foot.
Spin your back inner thigh back and firm that leg.
Put a lot of weight back there and then also connecting into your front heel.
Relax your shoulders.
Relax your jaw.
Try your best to square up your hips toward the front of your mat.
Of course,
It's not easy.
Now straighten out your front leg.
Walk your back foot in about a foot or so.
Line up heel to heel or go wide with your feet.
Take your arms to a T.
Bring your fists or palms together behind your back.
Roll your shoulders back.
Inhale to lengthen.
Exhale to hinge from your hips down.
Keep pulling your left hip back.
Send your right hip forward.
Feel the connection of your back foot and your leg and your front foot and leg.
Press into the big toe mound of your left foot.
Firm your legs without locking out your knees.
Lift your shoulders.
Breathe.
And release it.
Come into Adho Mukha Svanasana,
Downward Facing Dog,
Either by taking a vinyasa or going right into it.
Inhale as you make your way to Plank.
As you exhale,
Slowly lower down to your belly.
Lengthen your bum to your heels.
Lift your belly.
Inner thighs lift up.
And roll your shoulders up as you come into Shalabhasana,
Locust Pose.
And release.
Take Shalabhasana one more time or you can take Dhanurasana.
A little bigger breath in.
Pull your belly in.
Reach your bum to your heels.
Lift up.
Roll your shoulders away from earth.
Stay here or reach for the little toe side of your feet.
Make sure your knees don't go wider than your hips as you lift.
Breathe.
Release.
Bring your hands by your waist and press back into Extended Child's Pose,
Utthita Balasana.
Ground down into the base of your fingers.
Reach your hips back towards your heels.
If you have knee issues and it's better for you to stay off your heels,
Then that is totally fine.
But if your knees are okay,
Press back.
Walk yourself up and take your hips off to one side so you can extend your legs out in front of you.
You've done an awesome job.
Feel your sit bones grounding down.
Close your eyes a moment and visualize those red grounding cords or roots connecting you toward the center of earth.
If it's difficult to sit up,
You can sit on the edge of a block or a cushion to help you lengthen your spine.
Inhale as you reach up.
Exhale.
Hinge from your hips and come forward.
Again,
Pull your chest forward to lengthen as you inhale and come forward any amount as you exhale.
Feel free to use your strap or hold onto your leg if it's hard to reach your feet.
Take two more long breaths.
Try to keep your spine nice and long.
Instead of letting your spine round,
Lead with your chest.
Look up as you inhale and release.
Make your way onto your back.
Bend your knees.
Take your hips off to the right a little and drop your knees to the left for a twist,
Looking over your right shoulder.
If you want a deeper twist,
You can cross your right knee on top of your left knee.
Come back through center.
Pick up your hips.
Take them to the left,
Knees over to the right,
Looking over your left shoulder.
If you want a deeper twist,
Left knee crosses over right.
Turn your belly up towards the sky.
Now head to center.
Let's hug our knees in one more time.
Lengthen your sitting bones toward earth.
Make your way into Shavasana.
Take a few moments to get comfortable in your Shavasana.
We're going to be here for a couple of minutes.
Lengthen your sitting bones toward the backs of your heels and your shoulder blades toward your waist.
As you're settling in here,
Take a moment to feel that connectedness of your body into earth.
Feel safe here.
Feel the comfort of being supported by earth.
Relax into natural breathing.
Our quote for the root chakra comes from Rumi.
Maybe you are searching among the branches for what appears only in the roots.
Start to take some longer breaths here.
Begin moving your fingers and your toes,
Your hands and your feet,
And reach out your arms and your legs.
Bend your knees.
Roll yourself off to your right side.
Take a moment to revisit your intention.
Carefully press up to seated.
Feel your connection to earth,
That your sitting bone is being pulled down and lifting away from there.
Bring your hands together in front of your heart.
Bring your hands to your forehead,
Reminding you to have clear and loving thoughts.
Hands to heart center,
Reminding you to have clear and loving intentions.
And your hands to your mouth,
Reminding you to have clear and loving communications as we send out this wonderful energy we created together to all beings everywhere.
Namaste.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
You can dive deeper into aligning your root chakra in the self-guided online experience I have created for you.
Align your chakras.
I'll leave a link to enroll below.
This practice is dedicated to the memory of my yoga teacher and my dear friend,
Leslie Fightmaster.
May her beautiful light continue to shine here on earth.
