Welcome to the first in my 20-minute chakra yoga practice series, working up from root to crown. This practice is all about Muladhara – the root chakra.

When this chakra is in balance, we feel secure, confident and grounded. When we’re out of balance, we feel insecure and anxious or over-confident and all over the place.

Muladhara is symbolised by a four petal lotus and the colour red. This chakra or energy centre is located at the very base of your spine, the foundation – or root – of our whole being. So often when we start a yoga practice, we start by focusing our attention down into the seating bones and lengthening through the spine, so that the energy can move up and down the spine from the root to the crown.

I am grounded

Our affirmation for this practice is “I am grounded”. Repeat it to yourself over and over again, silently, in your head. Habits, good and bad, were made through repetition, and after time, it will be true. Balancing the chakra isn’t just in the physical poses, it’s in changing your mind set towards positivity and balance.

Mudra: hand mudras are hand positions or gestures that direct the energy flow. Some are for focus and concentration, some to focus intelligence, or divine or feminine energy, some are to channel the earth, fire, water or air, and have been used for thousands of years in yogi practices. In this practice, we will use it in Warrior I (see below).

Kali mudra – goddess of fearlessness – harness your inner strength

Kali is the goddess of fearlessness, representing power and transformation. And also death! She is fierce and strong, and I challenge you to be fierce and strong too, and embody her in your root chakra yoga practice.

Interlock your pinky, ring and middle finger, with your index fingers pointing up like a pistol. Palms together.

Child’s pose

On your hands and knees, bring your big toes to touch and your knees wide. I like to have my knees as wide as my mat, you can be anywhere from knees touching, resting your trunk on your thighs for a super supported child’s pose, or you can bring them wide, allowing space for your chest to sink into your mat. In any variation, you can rest the forehead into the mat and your arms either along your sides or reaching in front of you.

Silently chant your affirmation in your head, I am grounded. I am grounded. For a side body stretch, check out the video!

Warrior I

Warrior I, or Virabhadrasana A, takes its Sanskrit name from a famous warrior and hence the translation. This foundational yoga pose builds focus through balance, and strength and stability through the legs. Keep your base strong!

Hips should be square in Warrior I and I tend to teach it more like a high lunge because I want the hips to be dead square so that I get a deeper stretch up the PSOAS muscle running up from the quads. You will feel this on the hip of the back leg the most. This variation does make the balance a bit more challenging but I think the rewards are well worth it. If you feel balanced, reach your hands up to the sky (A), bring the palms to touch (B) or come to Kali Mudra (C) and reach the hands up and back behind your ears.

Keep those arms straight and don’t forget to breathe.

Malasana

I love Malasana – yogi squat – but I generally love all hip openers! I also live and work in an environment where squatting is very normal. Squatting to be at an even height with tiny humans, squat toilets, squat everything! I also don’t often sit like a normal human being on chairs, I sit cross legged anywhere I can, so this is fairly easy for me – and it can be for you too! It just takes time.

Start by stepping your feet as wide as your mat and bend you knees for as far as you can sit down, and maybe that’s quite high or maybe it’s very low. Your body; your version of the pose. Try to be comfortable and find peace in the pose.

Give it a try.

Over time, the ankles will allow you to be happier in this pose. The hips can be more open. Maybe not today, but someday.

If you have stiff ankles (and this usually points towards tightness in the calves), there are options to modify this with blocks, books and blankets. Give yourself the support that you need. If you have stiff hips AND stiff ankles, you might find that doing this pose sat on a small stool or chair is a better option for you. Try to encourage your knees to open wide rather than falling in, use the strength in your hips and glutes. Experiment with toes going straight ahead and sticking out like dancers’ feet.

What works for you? Check out the variations I put in the video too!

Bridge

Bridge pose is a backbend, and inversion (your hips are above your head) and stretches the quads and stomach, engages the glutes and back, and stretches the shoulders. It’s also something that be modified to be an active or passive pose. Try out each variation and report back!

Active and unsupported

Lie on your back and bring the soles of your feet to the mat hip-width apart and close to your bum. If you can touch the ankles, great! If not, no worries.

Next, lift the hips off the mat, keeping your feet and shoulders on the mat, driving down into the outer foot and squeezing the shoulder blades together. Start lifting the hips up on your inhale and down on your exhale. You can then hold the pose for a few breaths.

If you can, try interlacing the fingers and pressing your straight arms into the mat underneath you.

Active and supported

Start the same as before but when you lift up, either use your hands to support you under your sacrum or a block. If you’re using a block, you can interlace your fingers around it and press your straight arms into the mat underneath you. Keep the feet, arms and glutes active.

Passive and supported

Use a block! Place it under your sacrum on either the middle or low level so your hips are elevated. It can be super nice for the ladies out there – especially if you’re in those three or four weeks of your moon cycle – to put place the block with the thin side going up your spine from your sacrum.

This releases tension from the SI (sacroiliac joint) and can give some menstrual relief too! Experiment if you like and try gently, gently rocking from side to side, see how it feels but be careful to not fall off! Don’t worry too much about this though, your feet are there to support your and this hasn’t happened to me… yet!

Using the block isn’t only for the lady times either, use it to make this a restorative pose while still receiving the stretch along that front line of the body.

How did you find this chakra balance practice? Tell me in the comments or contact me. Check out the full 20-minute chakra balance sequence here!