Welcome back to my chakra flow series.
Today we're focusing on the third eye chakra.
If you are new to me,
Hello,
I'm Ali Temple.
I'm a global yoga and meditation teacher,
Retreat leader,
And yoga teacher mentor.
I am traveling the world hosting retreats.
I am currently in central Vietnam and I am practicing with you here in a beautiful yoga studio space that is in the hotel that I'm staying in.
Is our third eye chakra practice.
We'll start with a short seated meditation and then we'll move some energy around really focusing in on this space here.
Your third eye chakra is where your intuition comes from.
It's connected to your imagination and your higher knowing.
So if you're feeling blocked,
Like you're not sure where to go or what to do,
You're feeling kind of stuck in life or just like you're not able to really use your imagination,
Then this could be a great practice for you.
We'll shift some energy around in that physical and energetic space.
So go ahead and find a comfortable seat if you're not already there on a cushion,
Block,
Floor,
Whatever works best for your body today.
And as you drop into your body into stillness,
Just start to become aware physically.
Of what's happening.
In your body today.
Notice your breath moving through your body.
Notice any thoughts traveling through your mind.
And as you shift your awareness to your third eye chakra,
I want you to just take a little reflection.
Notice if anything comes up when you consider whether you've been lacking imagination recently in your life.
Whether you feel like your intuition might be blocked.
Or you're not feeling much mental clarity.
It's all good if that comes up for you,
Just notice it.
Let's take a deep breath in.
Big exhale out.
Keeping your awareness.
In that third eye space.
Right between the brows.
We'll drop into just a short breathwork practice.
This is Nadi Shodhana or alternate nostril breathing.
I love this one to help balance out the right and left brain,
To bring a little extra concentration and clarity in.
So you'll take your right hand And you're going to bring your index and your middle finger right onto the third eye space.
You'll use your thumb to cover your right nostril.
And your index finger,
Pinky finger to cover your left.
I'm doing this opposite.
So let's see if I can have the mental clarity to pull that off.
So go ahead and place your index and middle right around the third eye area.
Let's start by covering your right nostril with your thumb.
Take an inhale through your left.
Cover your left.
Uncover your right,
Exhale.
In through your right.
Cover rate.
Exhale through the left.
In through the left.
Out the right.
In through the right.
Covered.
Out the left.
In through the left.
Hover.
Out the right.
One more round on your own.
Gently bring your hand back down to your lap and just breathe naturally and observe.
And we'll bring it into a wide knee child's pose on your mat.
You can slide any props off to the side.
And as you come into Child's Pose,
Bring your knees wide,
Big toes together.
We'll just start to soften your forehead all the way down to your mat.
Place it on your hands if it doesn't reach and really bringing your focus to that space between your brows,
Connecting down to the earth or to your hands.
That grounding connection as you breathe.
Gently let your forehead rock side to side,
Loosening up any tension in the forehead.
Roll through to hands and knees.
Curl your toes under,
Downward facing dog.
Take a big old stretch into the back of your body.
And let's bring it right forward into a high plank position keeping awareness at the third eye between the brows as you fire up your core Heat up the body.
Take another breath in here.
Knees to the mat.
Exhale,
Lower all the way through to your belly.
Cobra pose,
Feel the third eye lift up as you stretch the chest gently.
Press through hands and knees,
Curl your toes down dog.
One more of those inhale ripple forward to high plank Exhale,
Knees down,
Lower with control.
Inhale to cobra,
Lift the third eye.
Through your knees to downward facing dog.
Now bring your right leg back and up behind you.
Look forward and step outside your right hand.
Pivot your back,
Heel down,
Toes down,
Warrior I.
Stretch your arms up overhead.
So hips draw forward,
Front knee over the ankle.
Draw your ribs in and your back heel down come into eagle arms wrap your right arm underneath your left Hands are about right in front of your forehead.
As you stretch your elbows up away from your chest here and really anchor down your back foot.
Should feel a stretch in the back of your calf.
The leg.
Many other places as well,
So just observe where it is.
And then unravel your arms,
Stretch them behind you,
Interlace your fingers.
Drawing your shoulder blades toward one another,
Puff your chest up slightly.
Into humble warrior bringing your forehead down towards your shin your inner right shin Still anchoring down your back foot.
Press your leg into the side of your body.
Ground through your feet,
Let's rise it back up.
Stretch your arms all the way up.
Open up to warrior two,
So widening your stance.
Front knee stays bent.
Reverse your warrior.
Right arm floats up and back.
Just back to Warrior 2.
One more of those and I'll reverse it.
Exhale,
Circle your hands down,
Frame your front foot,
Lift your back heel,
Pause here.
Let's take a twist as you inhale,
Reach your right arm up,
Look up to your right.
Pointing the third eye up to the sky.
Exhale,
Look down,
Plant your hand high plank.
Pause for a breath in,
Flow it out,
Exhale lower.
Chaturanga or through the knees.
Inhale cobra or upward facing dog Exhale,
Downward facing dog,
Take a big breath in.
Big breath out.
And you'll lift your left leg back and up Exhale,
Step outside your left hand.
Warrior I,
Spin the back,
Heel down.
Inhale,
Rise up.
As you exhale,
Wrap your left arm under your right eagle arms.
So back heel is down,
Front knee is over the ankle.
Press your right hip forward.
As you draw your elbows forward and up.
Awareness to where your hands are.
In relation to your forehead.
Breathe here as you stretch and open into the body Feeling a balance of grounding down through your feet.
And stretching up through the upper body.
Keep that groundedness in the lower body.
Release your arms interlaced with your opposite grip.
Stretch the shoulder blades in.
Humble warrior,
Bring your forehead down towards your inner left shin.
Hands can rise up.
Any amount over behind the back of your body.
Keeping the rooting.
Through your feet.
As you Soften across the forehead.
Press it down to rise it back up.
Inhale.
Warrior II as you exhale.
Widen your stance,
Stretch through your arms.
Reverse your warrior breath in.
Warrior II,
Breath out.
One more time,
Inhale.
Exhale,
Hands to the mat to pause,
Lift your back heel.
Inhale,
Stretch your left arm up,
Open the chest,
Look up.
Exhale,
Plant your hand,
Step back to high plank.
Breath in.
Breath out to float.
Follow your breath as you inhale.
Ride that wave to lift your heart.
Lift your forehead.
Exhale,
Takes you back,
Downward Facing Dog.
Deep breath in.
Big old breath out.
Now let's walk your hands back to your feet.
So you're coming towards the back of your mat.
And we'll come into a forward fold here.
Bring your feet about hip distance.
You can interlace your fingers behind you again,
So interlace them at your lower back As you start to draw your belly towards your thighs,
Your hands rise up.
Your forehead draws toward your shins.
Roll your inner thighs back.
Keep your awareness down towards your forehead.
Slow deep breaths.
Release your grip,
Bring your hands back to your mat.
Now crawl your hands forward,
Come back to your downward dog,
And from here we'll move into dolphin.
You can always stay as you are.
Or,
For dolphin,
It's like a downward dog from your forearms.
Bring your forearms down.
See if you can bring them parallel.
Nice good stretch into the legs today.
Maybe walk your feet in a little bit more.
Legs are long,
Hips are high.
Press your forehead down toward the mat.
Any amount,
Keep breathing.
Nice,
Now walk your feet back,
Come into a forearm plank just for a sec.
And then lower your lower body down if you're here in crocodile or sphinx.
On the forearms,
A nice stretch to open up the chest.
Centering the body.
Taking a little rest.
As you create space in the upper body and awareness in the third eye.
Let's press it back once again to child's pose.
You can lower down first,
Hands under your shoulders.
Press back,
Knees wide,
Big toes together.
Soften your forehead down.
Find that connection.
As your forehead finds a grounding here.
Once again,
Maybe a little rock side to side with your forehead.
And let's come up.
To a seat back on your heels.
If you are feeling like you want to just land and focus for a moment,
Stay here.
Otherwise,
We'll move into a backbend camel pose.
Rise up onto your knees.
So feet and knees are about hip distance,
Hands come to your glutes behind you.
And you'll start to draw the elbows toward one another,
Hips over your knees.
Send your third eye up toward the ceiling and then back.
As you open up your heart,
Maybe tucking your toes,
Stretching your hands back to your heels.
Keep breathing.
Opening up through your chest and the forehead up toward the sky.
Hands to your glutes,
Slowly rise it back up.
Take a seat just for a moment.
Place one hand on your belly,
One hand on your chest.
Arrive here in stillness.
And observe.
Let's swing the legs out in front of you.
And we'll bend your right knee.
Cross your right foot over your left knee,
Coming into a seated twist,
Right hand comes back,
Stretch your left arm up.
On your breath out.
Cross your elbow over your knee.
Stretching to your right.
Bring it right back to center.
Let's switch it up.
Left foot crosses over right knee,
Left hand back,
Stretch up.
Breath out to twist left.
Okay,
Back to center.
Let's uncross the legs.
Come through the hands and knees.
Little cow pose,
Bringing some length once more into the upper body.
And cat pose to round your spine.
Tuck your toes downward dog into pigeon,
Right leg up and back.
Shift it through,
Knee to wrist,
Toes toward the right.
You can stay upright if you're feeling that,
Otherwise sleeping pigeon,
Crawl your hands forward.
Once again,
Finding a hard surface or a support for your forehead.
That's your hands,
Fists,
Or the mat,
Or a prop.
Go ahead and find what you need.
Now try to just allow your chest to soften here towards the earth.
As you support your forehead.
A few deep breaths.
Slowly,
Gently press into your hands,
Tuck your toes,
Stretch back,
One more downward dog.
Into the other side,
Left leg back for pigeon.
Knee to wrist,
Toes toward the right.
Find what you need on this side.
Could be different as far as props go.
Connect your forehead to something.
And breathe.
Gently bring yourself back up to a seat and then shift just right around to lay down on your back.
Let's take one final squeeze here.
Hug your thighs into your belly.
Little rock and roll side to side,
Rolling circles with your hips.
Bring yourself into Shavasana,
Extend your legs out nice and wide.
And as you drop into stillness,
Let's begin here by bringing your palms together.
Bring your thumbs to your forehead,
Between your brow,
Your third eye space.
Settling in.
To observe.
Anything that may have shifted through this practice.
Your third eye chakra is associated with the color purple.
Or indigo.
So imagine that color moving up.
To that space in the forehead where your thumbs are.
Inviting that color in to clear out any stuck energy.
Anything blocking you from your intuition,
Your higher knowing?
Your imagination.
You can bring your arms down by your side.
Just allow the practice to integrate as you breathe.
Stay here as long as it serves you.
If you'd like to finish the practice back up in a seat.
I'll meet you there when you're ready.
Slow movements first.
Wake up the body.
Stretch the body.
Roll through one side.
Find your version of a comfortable seat.
Taking a moment to land in gratitude for anything that this practice brought you.
Know that you can come back to it whenever you need it.
I want to thank you for having the courage to show up and find peace within.
I'll see you next time.
Namaste.
