Root to Crown: A Yin Chakra Cleanse

A guided Yin yoga practice designed to move prana through all seven chakras, from the root up to the crown. Through long-held, passive postures, this practice works the deeper connective tissues — hips, spine, and heart — while targeting specific energy centers to clear and rebalance the subtle body. Suitable for all levels. Props (blocks, bolster, blanket) are welcome.

The sequence moves through:
Butterfly — Root, Sacral, Solar Plexus
Seated Twist — Sacral
Child's Pose — Root, Sacral, Solar Plexus, Third Eye
Dangling — Root, Sacral, Solar Plexus, Third Eye
Squat — Root, Sacral
Camel — Solar Plexus, Heart, Throat, Third Eye, Crown
Seated Forward Fold — Root, Sacral
Twist — Root, Sacral
Snail — Solar Plexus, Throat, Third Eye, Crown
Supported Fish — Heart, Throat

Suitable for all levels.

Transcript

If like me, Your knees are lifted, You can bring walks or pillows or something under your thighs just so you can. . . Allow your thighs to kind of rest and don't have to hold anything up. And then grabbing your ankles or your feet, You can just start to round your back and fold forward. And this is where we're going to get started. So just allowing your head to be heavy. And soften your gaze or close your eyes if that feels good. It's beginning to arrive on your mat. Let me take the first few. Moments. To just really find a place where you can stay in stillness. So we're going to hold this pose for a bit. And for all the yin poses that we practice today, Just be really mindful that. You move to your edge, Go to a spot where you can feel the pose. And then. . . Make adjustments. So you can back out a little bit, Making sure that there's no pain. Making sure that you're not. Holding anything. That is not comfortable. So when you find your seated butterfly. Just arriving. Allowing your body to soften and settle. Into stillness. Soften your jaw, Your forehead, Soften your gaze. And come to your breath. Noticing your breath. Let's see if you can start to. . . Lengthen your breath, Deepening your inhales. And lengthening your exhales. Allowing your head to feel heavy. And as you breathe here, Just start to. Scan your body. From the crown of your head. Moving down to your neck and your throat. To your shoulders, To your back. The spine. The front of your body, Your chest, Your heart center. All the way down to your sits bones, Your hips. Your leg. Your knees, Your ankles. Your arms. Yes. Just notice if there's any part of your body That is maybe a little bit tight or sore. May need a little bit more love during practice. And be mindful If any of the poses we move into. Doesn't feel right for you. Please don't do that. Come out of the pose and take a resting posture that works for you. Take a deep breath in. And a long breath out. One more deep inhale. Full and complete exhale. Now you may notice that as we've held this pose for a few minutes You may be able to move deeper into the pose. So maybe you may. Adjust your props and your knees move a little bit closer to the ground. Maybe you can round your back a little bit more and fold forward. Bring your forehead. Towards your feet. We're not going to be here for much longer. So just breathing deeply. And staying with your breath. Notice your mind. Notice if. . . It's racing. It's busy. Or quiet. If you're thinking about the rest of your day or evening, The rest of your week. See if you can bring. Your awareness to this moment, Right here, Right now. Take a deep breath in. Exhale all the around. Slowly start to come all the way up into a seat. And you can move your props and bring your feet as wide as the mat. Just gently windshield wiper your knees from side to side being really mindful. And then just coming to a seat, Sitting tall. Pausing here for a breath or two Bring your arms by your side, Inhale, Reach all the way up, Palms touch overhead. And exhale, Bring your hands to your heart center. Bow your head to your hands. And think of one thing that you are grateful for today. Good. We're going to come to a twist. So bring your left hand behind you, Right hand to the outside of your left knee, And just inhale to sit tall. And exhale to twist. Good, Maybe you look over your left shoulder. That feels good. Inhale to sit tall. Exhale to twist. One more inhale. And exhale. Slowly come back to center switching sides left hand behind you use your arm to sit a little bit taller right hand behind you, Left hand to the outside of your knee, Inhale to sit tall, And then exhale to twist. You can look over your right shoulder if that feels good. With every inhale, Your spine gets long. With every exhale you twist a little bit more. Slowly come back to center and we're going to move into child's pose so grabbing any props you need for child's pose we're going to hold this for a few minutes so if you have pillows or blankets it will definitely help to lay on something. So bring your knees wide, Maybe as wide as the mat, Big toes together. And then sit back on your heels and you're just going to gently roll onto your props. So maybe it's a rolled up blanket, Maybe it's a pillow, Maybe it's your bolster. And you can bring your forehead. Down On your prop. If you don't have one, You can also use a block to bring your forehead down on your block. If sitting like this on your knees isn't comfortable, You can bring a blanket between your thigh and your calf. Just taking a few moments to get really comfortable. Settled. Grounded, Allowing everything to soften. You can also bring one side of your head to the prop if that feels better in your neck. Good. And when you find your child's pose. Coming to stillness. Soften your gaze or close your eyes. Bring your awareness to your breath. Allowing your hips to be heavy, Moving towards your heel. Just notice if there's any part of your body that you're holding on to that you can soften just a little bit more. Good. Breathing deeply in and out of your nose if that feels good. If your mind starts to wander. Kindly bring your awareness back to your breath. I'm gonna be here for. . . About a minute longer. Just see if you can stay in this moment. Notice if you're. . . Starting to get frustrated with this pose. Or your mind is jumping around. And see if you can stay here for a bit longer. Take a deep breath in. And the long breath out. One more like that. Deep inhale. Full and complete exhale. Slowly start to come out of the pose. So just pushing yourself up. Moving your props away. You can come to a seat, Kneeling. Cross leg. And then when you're ready, Come to tabletop position. And just letting that go. You can start to make circles. With your hips in one direction and then the other. Maybe move through some cacao if that feels good. Just letting that. Go however that feels good in your body. And then start to walk your hands forward a little bit. Tuck your toes under and push your hips up and back. Coming to a downward facing dog. You're just bending one knee and then the other, Walking your dog really slowly and mindfully. Allow your head to be heavy, Pushing your hips up. You can come to stillness, Just letting that go. From here, We're just going to walk our hands back. Towards our feet and come to a dangling pose. You can have your feet. A bit wider than hip distance or closer. You just want to be able to feel really grounded. Maybe pick your toes up and just notice that feeling at the bottom of your feet. And then gently bring your toes back down. And you're just going to hang. Over your thighs. Feel good to grab a block, Maybe bring in your hand. On a block, It may feel good to grab opposite elbows. We're not going to be here for too long. But bending your knees as much as you need. So being really mindful of how this feels in the backs of your legs. And bending your knees. A lot. So you can bring your belly onto your thighs, Let your head be heavy. You can start by nodding your head yes, Shaking your head no. Again, Just breathing here for a few breaths. Allowing your shoulders, Your head to be really heavy and feeling this release in your back, Your upper back. Your entire spine. Good. Take a deep breath in. And a long breath out. One more inhale. And exhale. Slowly from here, Bring your hands. Fingertips on the mat and just start to walk your feet. Mat distance apart. You can allow your toes to spill off the mat. We're coming into a squat. You can squat halfway and bring your elbows onto your thighs. Or if. . . You can move into a full squat. You can do that. If you have blocks, You can always sit on a block. There's. . . Is a more supported yogic squat so you can sit on a block. Just lengthen your spine, Allowing your hands to come to heart center, Maybe pushing your knees gently away with your elbows. So whatever version of squat. Feels right in your body. I'm going to be here for about 30 more seconds. So just breathing deeply, Soften your gaze, Soften your jaw. Notice if there's any part of your body that you're holding on to. That you can let go of. Take a deep breath in. And a long breath out. One more inhale. And exhale Get slowly starting to come out of the pose. Move your props. And again, Just come to a tabletop position. Make your way to tabletop. Wrists under your shoulders, Knees right underneath your hips. We're going to move through some cat-cows. So inhale to drop your belly, Open up your heart, Look up. Exhale to round your back, Touch your tail, Lift down. Inhale, Drop your belly, Open up your heart, Look up. Exhale, Round your back, Touch your tail, Look down. One more. Inhale to cow pose. And exhale to cat pose. Good. From here, Start to walk your knees forward and. . . Just come to your knees. So we're moving into camel pose. Which is. . . Pretty difficult posture. It's a back bend and I'm going to give you different options for this pose. If you have blocks, You can bring your blocks right beside your feet. You may use them. So bring your hands to your hips. Make sure your shoulders are stacked right over your hips. Your hips are right over your knees and you can have your toes tucked. If that feels better in your knees or if it helps you balance a little bit more. So your toes can be tucked or you can have the tops of the feet on the mat. I'm just pausing here. Your hands on your hips. You're just going to start to lean backwards. And as you lean back backwards, You can feel the stretch on the top of your thighs. Making sure there's no pain in your knee so you can bring a blanket or a pillow, Something soft under your knees if you need that. And this can be your pose. You can stay here. You can tuck your chin. If you want to move a little bit deeper, You can start to bring your hands maybe onto your lower back. Or onto blocks. We're just walking the blocks back. You can use your blocks. And bring your hands or your fingertips onto the blocks and lean back a little bit more. Again, You can keep your chin tucked or you can look up if that feels good. So this is a big stretch in your neck. So if it doesn't feel good in your neck or it's affecting your breathing. You can keep your chin tucked. You can look up, You can soften your gaze or close your eyes. If you want a little bit more, You can maybe move your blocks back or you can come to a lower height in your blocks. You can bring your hands to your heels. And just move back again, Just taking a few moments. To move into the different variations if you can and pick one that feels right in your body. We're not going to be here for too long. So just finding. . . A pose that you can hold for a few breaths. And if you've already had enough, You can move into child's pose. Take a deep breath in. And a long breath. One more like that. Deep inhale. Full and complete exhale. Slowly start to come out of the pose Standing on your knees, Hands on your hips. For a breath or two. And then sitting down on your heels, Moving into child's pose. So. . . You can keep your knees. Together or math distance apart. Then slowly folding forward, Bring your forehead onto your mat on a block. Your arms can reach back. Or forward whatever feels better in your shoulders. And just breathing here. We move back into camel pose for. The second round. But if you want to skip that, You can stay here in child's pose. If you want to Try a camel again. We'll move into. Maybe the next level moving in a little bit deeper into camel pose you can try it out Just listening to your body. As you're here in child's pose. Just scan your body. Notice how it feels. Notice your back, Your lower back, Your spine. And decide if you want to. Move back into camel again, Or just stay here. When you're ready you can come up and move into camel pose again again grabbing your props if you need them coming on to your knees hips over your knees your shoulders over your hips. You can have your hands on your hips. You can bring fists to your lower back. And just starting to lean back You can. . . Your chin tucked or. . . Look up if that feels good in your neck. Thinking about keeping your heart open and pushing. Your hips forward. Be really mindful of how this feels in your lower back. You can find a variation. That feels right in your body And just breathe here. Again we're not holding this pose for too long. Take a deep breath in. And a long breath out. One more inhale. And exhale Slowly tuck your chin if it's not already. Starting to walk your hands up. Coming up to your knees, Pausing here. And then you can sit down on your heels and just sit in kneeling for a breath or two. Palms. Resting gently on your thighs. Soften your gaze or close your eyes. And just notice the sensations in your body. Notice the after effects of that pose. Any tingling any dullness. And then from here, Coming back to child's pose. So keeping your knees together if that feels good. You can. Fold forward, Bringing your forehead down on the mat or on a block. Your arms can reach forward or back, Whatever feels good. And just pausing here. Take a deep breath in. And a long breath out. One more deep inhale. Full and complete exhale. Could slowly start to come up. And come to a seat so bringing your feet in front of you. You can bring your feet mat distance apart and just windshield wiper your knees from side to side, Releasing any tension in your knees and your thighs. From those poses. We're going to come into another forward fold. So having your legs together or you can bring your legs wide. On the mat you can sit on top of folded up blanket, Roll up your mat a little bit just so you can tilt your hips forward. And then we're going to come to a forward fold. So you can have your knees bent. You can bring a bolster or a pillow under your knees if that feels good. And then just starting to fold forward. So legs together or. Apart. You can bring them wide apart or just that distance apart. And just folding forward again bringing your forehead onto a block. Or two depending on how much you can fold forward. You can allow your arms to rest beside your legs on the floor. And just being really mindful of how this feels in the backs of your legs and in your lower back. So making sure that there's no pain or discomfort, You're not holding any tension or sharp. Sharp pain anywhere in your body. And just folding forward. Letting your forehead rest on something. Feeling that pressure. In your forehead, In your third eye. This is a forward fold so you may notice any Let thoughts or feelings start to come up. You may notice that you're maybe still thinking about Camel pose. And. . . Just notice the tone of your thoughts. Notice how you're speaking to yourself. See if he can let go of any judgments. Okay, This is And really kindly and gently see if you can bring your awareness back to your breath in this moment. And just be here in this pose. Noticing where you feel the pose. And bring your awareness. To that area in your body. See if you can visualize your breath moving to that area. Maybe it's lower back. Maybe it's the backs of your thighs, Your legs. And see if you can soften with every exhale. Take a deep breath in. And a long breath out. One more just like that. Deep inhale. Full and complete exhale let it go slowly start to Come up to a seat coming out of the pose. Moving your props aside. We can Bend your knees freeing. Your feet on the mat just walk your feet towards you give yourself a hug and maybe bring your forehead onto your knees Soften your gaze or close your eyes and give yourself a big hug, Tight squeeze. And thank your body. Four, Everything it does for you, For all the poses, All the movements, On and off your mat. Slowly start to make your way to your back. So we're coming to our back. And start by having your knees bent I'm just pausing here. On the mat so you can bring your hand somewhere on your body so maybe your right hand on your belly left hand on your heart And just pausing here, Maybe rolling your shoulders down, Your back away from your ears. Coming back to your breath. Notice the quality of your breath. Notice if it's any different from the beginning of the practice. Maybe it's a little bit longer. A little bit deeper. A little bit softer. Good. Moving into a twist from here. So if you want to cross your legs, You can start to cross the right leg over the left. Then lift your hips up towards the right side and let your knees fall towards the left side. So as you do this, You may want to bring a block or a bolster under your knees just so you can have your knees rest. And if crossing your legs doesn't feel right, You can uncross your legs and just let your knees fall towards the left side. And. . . Just taking a few moments to find your twist here. Move your props where they need to be. You can have your arms in a T. You can come to cactus arms or reach your arms overhead. Whatever feels good. Maybe turn your head towards the right side. And then soften your gaze. Or close your eyes. Just breathe into this twist. Noticing how this feels And your shoulders, See if you can let your shoulders be heavy. On the mat. How this feels in your lower back. Notice if you're holding onto anything that you can soften and release in your lower back. Breathing deeply. In and out of your nose, If that feels good. Take a deep breath in. And a long breath out. One more inhale. Slowly start to come out of the pose so Uncross your legs. If they're crossed bring your hands again somewhere on your body and pause here for a breath or two before we move to the second side. So on the second side, If you want to cross your legs, Bring your left leg over the right. Lift your hips up towards the left side and let your knees fall towards the right. And again, You can bring a prop, A pillow, A bolster, A block under your knees just so you can have your legs rest on something if they're not reaching the ground. Allow your arms to come to a T. Shoulders heavy on the mat. Maybe you turn your head towards the left side. And then soften your gaze and just breathe here. If your mind starts to wander. Just gently guide it back to your breath. Take a deep breath in. And a long breath out. One more like that. Deep inhale. And exhale, Let it go. Slowly start to come out of the pose. Uncross your legs if they're crossed and again just pause here for a few breaths. Resisting the urge to hug your knees in. From here, You can start to hug your knees into your chest, Giving yourself a tight little hug, Maybe walking gently from side to side. Massaging your lower back, Maybe making circles with your knees. In one direction and then the other. And from here. . . We're going to move into. Snail pose in yin. Other styles of yoga, You may know it as plow pose. You're moving into this pose make sure you're not turning your head from side to side so if you need to watch me to start do that Then when you move into the pose, Make sure you're looking straight up so you're not moving your neck from side to side. From here, You're going to start to lift your knees towards your chest. Then lift your hips up. You're going to be bringing your arms to your lower back. And then bringing your feet behind your head. Maybe your feet rest on the ground or on a pillow. And you can have your knees bent as much as you need. Your arms can stay on your lower back for support. Or you can reach them forward, Allowing them to rest. Again, Making sure you're not turning your head from side to side. And if this pose is not. Right for you. You can come to happy baby pose. It. We're not gonna hold this for too long. So when you find the posture, Make sure there's no pain or discomfort. And just pause here for a few breaths allowing the knees to be soft. Take a deep breath in. And a long breath out One more inhale. And exhale, Start to bend your knees a lot and gently. Start to bring your hips down using your hands and arms to support you. Just gently coming back down, Bringing your feet on the mat and just pausing here with your lower back rounded. Your shoulders heavy and hands resting somewhere on your body. Just allowing. Your body to rest in stillness here and feel the sensations moving through your body. So these poses were working on the higher chakras, The throat, The third eye, The crown. You may notice a rush of energy. Moving through your head. If you do know that it's normal just allow it to pass giving it time and patience. From here you can maybe start to rock your knees from side to side. Massaging your lower back letting that go Good. And then we're going to get ready for our final posture. And for your final posture, You can come to Shavasana or find supported fish. And if you want to move into supported fish, You can grab a bolster or a pillow and just bring it behind you. Bring your hips. Right up to the edge of the bolster, Rolled up blanket or your pillow. And you're just going to gently rock or lie back on the bolster. So just bringing your spine all the way down on the bolster. Um, If you want a little bit more height, You can bring a block under. Lift the bolster up a little bit if that feels better in your neck and shoulders. Allow your arms to rest by your side. Your legs long. If you're not in supported fish, You're in shavasana. Everything else is the same. So arms by your side, Palms facing up. Opening up your heart. Let your legs be heavy. Your feet are gently falling towards the edges of the mat. Your hips heavy, Your lower back soft and grounded. Feel your spine on the mat, Your shoulders heavy and grounded. Away from your ears. Arms by your side, Palms face up gently. Curl your fingers in. Your head is heavy. Soften your jaw. Let your tongue fall away from the roof of your mouth. Often the muscles of the face. Soften your eyelids and let your eyes gently close. Off in your forehead. Scan your body from the crown of your head all the way down to your toes Let's see if there's any part of your body that you can soften and let go of. Just a little bit more. I feel a bit more comfortable here in Shavasana. Allow your body to breathe naturally and take in the effects of your practice. Take a deep breath in. And a long breath out. One more just like that deep inhale full and complete exhale let it all go Slowly start to bring some movement back to your body. Feeling your fingers, Your toes. Maybe gently rocking your head from side to side. When you're ready, Start to bend one knee and then the other. And roll onto your right side. In a fetal position, Using your bottom arm as a pillow. Keep your eyes closed. Slowly push yourself up to a comfortable seated position. Sitting with your spine tall. Your neck straight, Chin parallel to the mat. Bring your hands by your side. Inhale, Reach your arms all the way up, Palms touch overhead. And exhale, Hands to your heart center. Bow your head to your hands. And thank yourself. For coming to your mat today, For spending this time for yourself, For your practice. Bring your thumbs to your third eye, The space between your eyebrows. May your thoughts be kind. Thumbs to your lips, May your words be caring. And thumbs to your heart center, May your heart be filled with love and gratitude. Thank you for practicing with me today. Namaste.