Sahasrara or Crown chakra

Sahasrara, the most common Sanskrit name for the Crown chakra, means ‘thousand-petaled.’

This energy centre controls our connection to spirit, and our sense of universal consciousness, wisdom, unity and self-knowledge. Association with the colour violet reflects the Crown chakra’s link to spirituality and enlightenment.

The Crown chakra stores energies amassed through kind thoughts and actions, faith, meditation and prayer. Here we are able to transcend the material world and commune with the divine. Sahasrara is aligned to seek an intimate relationship with the universe.

Key elements of the Crown chakra

• Sahasrara: Thousand petals

• Element: The element associated with Sahasrara chakra is thought.

• Physical Body: The crown chakra is located at the top of the head, or slightly above – like a crown, radiating upward. Its location means it is closely linked to the brain and the nervous system. Sahasrara is associated primarily with the pituitary gland, secondarily with the pineal and the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus and pituitary gland work together to regulate the endocrine system (all of the body’s biological processes). Energetically, the seventh chakra has a connection with the first chakra – they are bookends of the chakra system.

• Emotional Body: Devotion, inspiration, prophetic thought, mystical connections and transcendental ideas come from the Crown chakra. Extraordinary dreams may be messages from your Crown chakra…

• Mental Body: When working with the Crown chakra, we divert our attention from ourselves to the world around us. Questions may arise like: How am I connected to the world? How can I gain clarity about my place in the world? How can I better serve the world?

Signs of imbalance

As we’ve learned in previous chakra articles (see below), stress in any layer of the body (physical, mental, emotional and energetic) can cause you to slow down, stagnate or completely go into overdrive. An imbalanced Sahasrara chakra may manifest as confusion, distraction, lack of focus, feeling disconnected from the body or world, or hyper spiritualization (too much meditation!).

Checklist for the Crown chakra

• Connect! The more people who connect with the power of this chakra, the greater the shift of our collective consciousness towards a holistic understanding of health, biodiversity and humanity as a whole.

• Discover the power within. Understanding that we are responsible for what we create – in turn learn to act, think and speak with love and wisdom – helps us to become happier, healthier and less reactive.

• Learn from obstacles and illusions. Seek meaning from physical and emotional obstacles but let them go once they’ve served their purpose or taught their lesson.

How to balance your Crown chakra

Balancing the Crown chakra may help you feel more ease. Mentally, the ability to situate yourself in the world around you brings relaxation and clear-headedness. Increased synergy between the physical and mental allows a deeper connection with the spiritual realm. There are things you can do on and off the mat to strike an equilibrium.

Yoga poses for Sahasrara chakra.

Balance this energy centre with these targeted yoga poses:

• Supported Headstand (Salamba Sirsasana)

• Plough (Halasana)

• Supported Shoulderstand (Salamba Sarvangasana)

• Lotus (Padmasana)

• Seated Forward Bend (Paschimottanasana)

• Reclining Bound Angle (Supta Baddha Konasana)

Chantra mantras or sound vibrations

Om is the Kundalini bija mantra. Chanting OM (pronounced AUM), works on the vibrational frequency of the Crown chakra. Use the breath – breathe in and as you breathe out vibrate the sound OM. This mantra is very powerful and signifies the essence of the ultimate reality.
Mudra for the seventh chakra: The Mudra of a Thousand Petals 

In a comfortable seated position, sit up tall. Touch the tips of your index fingers and thumbs together to form a pyramid shape. Allow the other fingers to extend upward, keeping them straight. Raise this mudra to about 6 inches above the top of your head.

Thought is the quality of the Crown chakra

Discover the infinite within, and know that it is one with all outside of your. Working with the top of the head through asana is a beautiful step to help clear the Crown chakra. When we work on the body, tightness and stagnation can come to the surface. If we can find the patience and the wisdom to sit with it and watch it without judgment, we can start to understand the deeper lessons, meanings and connections of everything that arises and then consciously let it go. As a result, we find freedom. Within the Crown Chakra, this means the freedom to deeply connect with all.

Meditation for Sahasrara chakra

Violet is the colour for this chakra. Try visualising it during your relaxation or meditation – perhaps as a glowing halo just above your head. With your eyes closed, imagine the radiance. Let it pulse with the breath, awareness rising up into a column of light, shining back down into you. Draw it in through your crown, to fill your entire body and the space surrounding you, rise back out through the crown, encasing yourself in a sparkling violet spotlight… As you meditate on your crown, visualizing your breath as a beautiful column of violet light – chant the sound OM to connect with all that exists inside and outside of you.

Yoga for better sleep

Yoga is a gentle and restorative way to wind down your day. A national survey found that over 55% of people who did yoga found that it helped them get better sleep. Over 85% said yoga helped reduce stress. You can use supportive props like bolsters, blankets, and blocks to make poses comfortable so that you can stay in the pose for longer and continue to breathe.

Your breath is key to be able to relax in these poses. Breath in yoga is equally important—if not more important—as the physical pose. Use a gentle and calming yoga breath technique called Ujjayi Breath, also known as Ocean Breath or Victorious Breath. Inhale deeply through the nose. With your mouth closed, exhale through your nose while constricting the back of your throat as if you are saying "ha" but keep your mouth closed. This exhalation should sound like the waves of the ocean (or like Darth Vader from Star Wars). Use this slow and steady breath to soothe yourself in each of these poses.

Practice these yoga poses right before bedtime and stay in them about 3 to 5 minutes each. Use your Ocean Breath in each pose, with the exception of Corpse Pose, where your breath returns to normal.

These seven restorative yoga poses relieve tension and stress at the end of the day. The more that you practice these poses regularly, the more you likely you can get a good night’s rest.

Best yoga poses for assisting sleeping patterns:

1. Wide-Knee Child’s Pose (Balasana)

2. Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana)

3. Standing Half Forward Bend (Ardha Uttanasana) at the wall

4. Reclining Bound Angle (Supta Baddha Konasana)

5. Legs Up The Wall Pose (Viparita Karani )

6. Corpse Pose (Savasana)

7. Legs on a Chair Pose

Other ways yoga can assist you to sleep better?

• Yoga improves mindfulness, increases melatonin levels, and helps reduce sleep disturbance.

• The deep breathing technique is extremely relaxing and it induces sleep.

• The key to possessing proper sleep is regular exercise with a combination of yoga.

• Yoga and meditation help us de-stress.

• It relaxes our nervous system.

• It revives our body, makes us feel good, and provides us with a relaxing effect.

Yoga is good in many aspects of life as it helps improve our overall health and helps us attain a better and calming mind. If we indulge ourselves with the practice of yoga, then physical and mental stress are reduced and we stay in a happy, positive state of mind helping us to be mindful, and responsive.

Yogi's Guide to Winter

In the dark, wet, windy and cold days of winter it can be a real struggle to get up and get onto our yoga mats. At this time of year the idea of hibernating until spring grows ever more appealing! What we do know is that a regular yoga practice is one of your best defences against illness and remedies when a bug does strike.

It is important that we change with the seasons just as nature does by adapting our daily habits, yoga practice and food choices. During the winter , the energy of the Earth and its creatures is drawn inward. We can use this time for restoration and introspection, just as many plants and animals use it for hibernation. In preparation for the spring, it is important to slow down and rejuvenate.

Here are our top Winter survival tips:

WINTER YOGA POSES

The winter months are notorious for colds and flus, so poses that open the chest, throat and sinuses will aid in improving congestion and supporting your respiratory organs. The following poses are metabolically invigorating and help to warm the kidneys and clear phlegm.

1. Sun Salutation (Surya Namaskara):

This invigorating invocation to your yoga practice helps build heat in the body. 

2. Fish Pose (Matsyasana)

This supine backbend/inversion opens the throat and chest. 

3. Bow Pose (Dhanurasana):

Open your chest with this backbend. 

4. Shoulderstand (Salamba Sarvangasana):

This supported inversion helps with stagnation of lymph. Hold for at least eight breaths

5. Locust Pose (Salabhasana):

This “baby backbend” opens the chest while strengthening the back. 

6. kapalabhati breathing,

a practice that builds internal heat and eliminates mucus from the respiratory tract. These are rapid, sharp exhales, passive inhales, and a snapping of your lower abdomen. You can start with cycles of 30 breaths and gradually increase up to 100, for 3-5 rounds.

WINTER FOODS- warming the body and soul

If your natural tendency is to eat warmer and heartier meals during the winter, you are on the right track! In response to cold weather, the body constricts the pores on your skin and the superficial connective tissue to prevent heat loss. This directs heat away from the peripheral tissues and into the body’s core. Because of this, your appetite becomes stronger in winter.

However, although we are designed to eat more in the winter, the selection of foods is still important. Try to pick foods that will keep your immune system vibrant and that minimize congestion.

• Eat a plentiful amount of soups/stews, grains (oatmeal, rice, barley, quinoa, etc.), healthy oils (coconut, avocado, olive, ghee) and cooked seasonal root vegetables (kohlrabi, turnips, rutabaga, celeriac, carrots and turnips). Avoid vata-provoking foods, such as salads and cold drinks.

• Drink warm teas. It is beneficial to start and end the day with a glass of warm lemon water to aid with digestion.

• Be sure to eat a hearty, warm breakfast to break the fast of your night’s sleep, feed your digestive fire and lubricate your bodily tissues. Oatmeal, porridge, or cream of wheat are all good options.

• Warming spices to include to any and all meals: cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, cardamom, fennel, cumin, coriander and nutmeg.

Life Style Choices

• Try doing some kind of invigorating movement –yoga or other exercise in the morning to boost immunity and mood and kick-start the movement of lymph. This helps prevent build-up of mucus and congestion.

• Start your day by 7:00 a.m. This might be a bit later than you are used to, but Winter encourages us to hibernate a little longer at night. Remember that Winter is a natural time for resting. So at night, do peaceful and calming activities that promote a sense of stillness. Try to go to bed earlier than you are used to.

• Use a warm-mist humidifier at night to help keep your sinuses clear. Have you tried a neti pot? During winter I use once a day to irrigate and moisten your nasal passages.

• Soak up as much sunshine as you can by sitting by a window or taking a winter walk. Sunlight helps your body produce vitamin D (which is crucial to ward of illness), relaxes the muscles, combats seasonal mood disorders, and aids the body in maintaining healthy sleep cycles

The seasons come and go. Winter turns to spring, and autumn into winter. We go through times in our lives full of prosperity, and others are in poverty. As the world changes around us, our time on the mat can be a consistent source of comfort and grace.

Knowing you can count on your yoga practice promotes mental clarity, a sense of security, and a healthy muladhara chakra. Keep it up. No matter what is changing in your life or in the world around you. Yoga is peace, and peace is the language of the world.

Tips for improving arm balances

Confession: I have an aversion to arm balances. Aversion (dvesha), according to the sutras, is just another flavor of attachment and one of the ways we create suffering in our lives. While I don’t think it’s necessary to practice Headstand or Handstand to be a “real” yogi, I do believe that real yoga means practicing equanimity. Confronting our aversions may reveal lessons about acquiring balance in our lives—but we have to start by greeting the challenge.

To approach arm balances, the first thing I needed to change, obviously, was my attitude. I tried a number of classic alignment tips (hand placement, position of pelvis; strengthen the arms, wrists and core, etc.) without achieving liftoff, so I began to ponder some new angles:

Building up.

Strength is in the mind as well as the body, and thinking of my arms and wrists as puny kept me earthbound. But go to the gym? Nah. Like old-school bodyweight exercises, yoga asanas include a number of strengthening moves that also help train the mind for more challenging asanas. Until you have the strength and control to practice Chaturanga safely, begin with Plank Pose and its variations, working your way up to Side Plank (Vasisthasana). Improve your shoulder mechanics in Downward-Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana), Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana) and Dolphin Pose (Ardha Pincha Mayurasana). Be patient and diligent, as the rewards are cumulative and confidence-building.

Break the pose down.

Demystify a challenging pose by looking at its major components for clues on how to prepare or modify. Take, for example, my least favorite arm balance: Bakasana (Crane Pose). It’s a balancing pose, but also an inversion and forward bend. Bakasana uses the arms as fulcrum for the body’s weight, which requires lightness, steadiness and stability. So rather than pouring my weight forward onto my arms, I started to lift my hips and buttocks while engaging my core—similar to what one might do in Uttanasana or Prasarita Padottanasana. Starting from a squat with a rolled mat underneath my heels also made it easier to find my fulcrum point and create a sensation of lift.

Inwardly sensing. 

That magical moment when an asana “clicks” depends on proprioception (sensing where the body is in space) and interoception (recognizing the body’s internal signals). Preparatory poses help build sensing memory, but another way to get from A to B is to practice the pose with the help of props or a teacher or partner. I’ve used folded blankets to make falling less scary, experimented with furniture and walls for support, and enlisted others for spotting and feedback. After lots of trial and error, Crane Pose finally clicked for me with a simple shoulder adjustment.

Embodying the details. 

It’s good to get out of your head, but not if it means losing track of the little things like—oh yeah!—breathing. Focus the gaze (drishti). Scan your body head to toe for pockets of forgetfulness (like lazy hands and feet) or tension, the result of over-compensating for fear or imbalance. Over time, detail awareness becomes a natural and organic part of practice rather than a conscious review.

Practicing with dedication.

 Design a home practice with the above elements in mind, and commit to it. Be sure to sequence arm balances after warming up the wrists and shoulders, but before performing too many strength-building poses, which can tire the arm muscles. If turning upside-down is too much at this stage, no problem. The richness of an asana practice isn’t in nailing a pose; it’s in the small steps it took to get there and the mental training it takes to stay there when the pose starts to get uncomfortable again.

The deeper benefits? Learning how to approach a dreaded pose with equanimity can help us do the same with the challenging people and events in our lives.

Yoga for mental health

The ancient science of yoga unites poses with breathing and concentration to build strength, awareness and harmony between mind and body. Yoga provides many obvious physical benefits – flexibility, stamina, circulatory health, to name a few – and now more than ever, we realise its important role in our mental wellness too.

Self-care is a hot topic, thankfully, as with life continuing to pick up speed all around us – we’ve got to slow down and look inward, at our own mental health.

Yoga helps our mental health by:

• Relieving anxiety

• Lowering depression

• Promoting better sleep

• Fighting fatigue

• Decreasing stress

• Improving focus

• Increasing tolerance

Up the ante with the extensive neurological benefits of meditation. Studies show that it increases focus and concentration, and lowers levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

Anxiety, stress and depression are often inter-linked. They manifest in many different ways, causing everyones’ experience of mental illness to be unique, sometimes including:

• Physical sickness

• Difficulty breathing

• Emotional outbursts

• Low mood

• Poor sleep

• Physical aches and pains

• Coping strategies such as addictions

Yoga and meditation promote relaxation

Yoga and meditation promote relaxation – the opposite of anxiety, stress and depression. They build our ability to stay centred, which is vital for stress management. By pausing to breathe, meditate or stretch, the mind is directed away from the trigger and a biological reaction of calming begins.

Specific yoga and meditation practices stimulate our vagus nerve which is involved in our parasympathetic nervous system – our rest and digest response.

These simple practices amplify awareness of what’s happening in our body, making it possible to detect changes and early signs of mental health issues. How? One way is by teaching us to be present, rather than worrying about what’s occured in the past or what may happen in the future.

And… Exercise naturally increases the flow of serotonin, ‘the happy hormone’. So moving and relaxing our body calms the mind, and enhancing our mental health positively affects our physical health.

When the world feels out of balance, unequal or low, yoga can help us maintain our internal equilibrium and elevate our experience of daily life. And it’s available to us anywhere, any time.

Yoga poses for the modern day office worker

Whether you started working from home, started an online business, got your Uber license, had a baby or have been sitting for prolonged periods for any other reason (Netflix, anyone?) – you may have noticed yourself sitting a lot more over the past couple of years! In other words, moving your body less and stressing your mind more.

If your home office (or the equivalent) set-up is less than ideal, you’re probably familiar with stiff shoulders, back discomfort, pinchy hips, overworked eyes, the merging of work and personal life into one neverending sit-a-thon…Many of us are aware of the quote, ‘sitting is the new smoking’ and while we’re not fans of sensationalist headlines, there’s no doubt that sitting for prolonged periods can have a detrimental effect on our health.

So we’ve put together a survival guide for preventing and dealing with working-from-home aches and pains – including yoga poses and exercises to ease tension in your body and mind!

Hip flexors

Sitting for long periods of time is the first suspect when it comes to tight hip flexors. Whether your posture is perfect or you’re slouched over, extended sitting sessions will shorten your hip flexors.

The ‘hip flexors’ include multiple muscles which support the pelvis in balancing over the legs. The main ones are the iliopsoas (the psoas major and the iliacus together), the rectus femoris (one of the quadriceps) and the sartorius.

Simple actions can help improve balance between the legs, pelvis and back, which relieve and release the hip flexors, including:

• Low Lunge

• Bridge

• Happy Baby

Psoas-specific

Sensations of the psoas are subtle. This hip flexor (which most of us had never even heard of until a yoga teacher mentioned it) is buried in the lower lumbar region, extends through the pelvis to the femur and tends to engage in habitual holding patterns – especially when sitting a lot.

The psoas flexes the hip joint and lifts the upper leg towards the body – it’s in action when you’re walking.

Deeply linked to emotions, the psoas responds best to quiet attention, patience, and perseverance. And here are some yoga poses to nurture that:

• Pigeon

• Tree

• Reclined Butterfly

Shoulders

Shoulders have a leading role in almost every yoga pose, and much of life in general. Their mobility and flexibility, or lack thereof, affects us constantly – especially while many of us are relentlessly hunched over phones, computers and steering wheels, which means our shoulders are in protraction for long periods.

Strength is important, but so are flexibility and mobility. These yoga poses will provide a stretch to open the smallest fibres between your joints:

• Cow Face pose

• Melting Heart Pose

• Melting Heart

Back

The spine moves forward and backward (flexion and extension), side to side (lateral flexion), and twists too. Sitting loads, especially if slumping over a computer, encourages flexion but misses out all the other movements.

Adding side bending, back bending and twisting to the natural forward motion of sitting helps improve posture and reduce back pain by bringing strength and flexibility to the muscles that stabilise the spine. These yoga poses do just that:

• Extended Side Angle

• Revolved Head to Knee Pose

• Reclined Twist

Eyes

Are your eyes dry, scratchy, burning or tired? Is your vision blurry? Screen time strains the eyes – whether you’re working from home or binging on Netflix, most of our oculus uterque are suffering. Tired eyes can lead to headaches and difficulty concentration, as well as physical ailments such as tight shoulders and back pain.

We can remedy eye strain with care, rest and yoga. Try these eye strengthening exercises:

• Move. Without moving your head, look up and down, left and right, and diagonally a few times each way.

• Close/Blink. Keep your eyes moist by lowering your lids regularly.

• Warm. Rub your palms together, then place your warm hands gently over closed eyes.

• Stare. Focus your eyes and stare at an object without blinking.

And a few yoga poses to sort out your sore eyes:

• Child’s Pose

• Downward Facing Dog

• Forward Fold

So…

Whether you’ve got a minute or an hour – treat yourself to a break from sitting! Try some of our yoga suggestions, or just stand up, shake it off (literally!) or have a mini dance-off! “You put your whole self in, you take your whole self out, you put your whole self in and you shake it all about…”