This is a guided practice where we're going to work on the root chakra to create more grounding and stability,
And we're going to invoke the energy of Ganesha.
Ganesha is invoked in the yogic tradition.
Whenever we start something new,
Ganesha is the muladhara murti.
Muladhara is the root chakra.
The Sanskrit translation is literally root foundation.
I'll ask you to sit comfortably,
Find a nice quiet spot where you won't be disturbed,
And we're going to bring our hands into the prithvi mudra.
Prithvi is the earth element,
And each of the fingers represent one of the five elements.
In this case,
We'll be touching the tip of the thumb to the tip of the ring finger.
The pinky is straight.
The middle finger and index finger are together and also straight,
And then we'll rest our hands on our thighs or in our lap facing up in a nice comfortable position.
Take a couple of nice deep cleansing breaths,
Gathering in all of the threads of your mind and bringing your attention to your body,
To your breathing,
And to this prithvi mudra where the ring finger and the thumb are gently touching.
Now we're going to bring our attention to our root called in Sanskrit the muladhara chakra.
The element connected to the root is earth.
The color is red.
The presiding deity or energy is Ganesha.
Ganesha is depicted as a jolly,
Round,
Young boy with the head of an elephant,
Said to be the son of Shiva and Shakti or consciousness and power,
Universal consciousness,
Universal power,
And he's the energy of stability,
Steadfastness,
Grounding,
And they say when we have this very stable root,
That Ganesha energy is the remover of obstacles,
Whether that be an internal obstacle,
Unhealthy thought patterns,
Emotional patterns that pull us down or cause us suffering,
Or external situations where because we're so rooted,
We're so grounded,
We're not thrown off by situation,
We're able to find solutions and respond rather than react from a place of alignment and integrity,
Kindness,
Compassion,
And healthy boundaries when we need them.
So being present to this root,
This foundation,
This muladhara chakra,
Which is in our pranic body,
And the physical correlation is the area of the tailbone,
The anus,
And the perineum.
So let your attention rest on that part of your physical body.
If the mind wanders,
With kindness and gentleness,
Just keep bringing it back to this root area in the body,
To this pritivi mudra,
And to your nice,
Relaxed breathing,
Where we'll breathe in through the nose,
And we'll breathe out,
Pursing the lips,
Making a gentle whooshing sound and elongating the exhale.
Breathing in again,
Through the nose,
Expand,
Expand,
Expand,
And pursing the lips,
Exhaling.
We'll breathe in one more time together,
Inhaling through the nose,
Expand,
Expand,
Expand,
And pursing the lips,
Nice,
Elongated exhale through the mouth.
Now you can visualize and feel nice roots of light coming out of your base,
Coming out of your muladhara.
Feel your seat connected to either the earth,
Or the chair,
Or the bed,
Whether you're sitting or lying down,
And from your base,
From your tail,
Feel those roots of light growing down into the earth,
Like tree roots,
Sinking deeper and deeper into mother earth,
Connecting your whole being to that stable,
Unchanging presence of support beneath you.
You might feel or visualize one big,
Thick tap root from the center,
Growing straight down into the earth,
And then a web of smaller roots growing out in all directions,
Taking in all of the sustenance of mother earth,
And absorbing that into your body.
You might imagine those roots as a white light,
Golden light,
Or if you want to bring in the color of the muladhara chakra,
You can imagine them as a nice,
Deep red.
Again,
If the mind wanders,
Just bring it back to these beautiful roots growing from your base,
From your foundation into the earth,
And also have your attention on the prithvi mudra,
The thumb and ring finger gently touching at the tips,
And your nice,
Relaxed breathing in through the nose,
Out through the mouth.
You would like to release stress and soothe the nervous system,
Or if you're feeling very relaxed and it's more natural,
You can just breathe in and out through the nose.
Let's take three nice,
Deep,
Cleansing breaths together.
We'll breathe in through the nose,
Feeling those roots of light growing into mother earth,
And exhaling,
Cursing the lips.
Breathing in,
Expand the diaphragm and the chest,
Like a balloon expanding in all directions,
And exhale.
One more time,
Breathing together,
Inhale through the nose,
Expanding the diaphragm,
The lower,
Mid,
Upper chest,
In all direction,
And exhaling through pursed lips,
Feeling these beautiful roots of light,
Creating stability and sustenance from mother earth.
I'm going to chant the Ganesha Gayatri.
This is a beautiful invocation of that energy of Ganesha.
You can think of Ganesha as the vibrational quality which stabilizes us in our body,
In our mind and emotions,
In our energy body,
And in our own essence,
In the ground of our own being,
Creating a nice stable awareness where we move from reactivity to the capacity to respond with kindness and awareness in situations that otherwise might be challenging for us.
The more we build this root,
This foundation,
This quality of Ganesha in us,
The more we'll have equanimity in our lives.
Samastitthi is the word in Sanskrit,
Sama,
Same,
Stithi,
Stance,
We have this equal or same stance towards life under all condition,
And that helps us to move through our samskaras.
Same root word,
Sama,
Katana is action,
Samskara is that same or repetitive action based on our conditioning,
Our wounds and traumas,
And those thoughts,
Emotions and actions that we repeat over and over again.
It creates those grooves in the record of our mind we repeat over and over,
And through this rootedness,
We're able to create new grooves,
Make new choices,
And with the help of this vibration of Ganesha.
So as I chant,
I'll just invite you to keep your attention on your mudra,
That connection between the thumb and the ring finger,
And on your root,
Tailbone,
Anus,
Perineum region in the body,
And those beautiful,
Supportive,
Nourishing roots of light deep into mother Take a moment to absorb those vibrational qualities of Ganesha,
This archetype of Ganesha This beautiful,
Universal energy that is available to all of us,
Is an aspect of our own higher self,
Our own highest reality,
And it's there for us to tap into,
Whenever we bring our mind,
Body,
Our intentionality,
Our mindfulness to this quality.
Let's take three more nice,
Deep,
Cleansing breaths to anchor,
Integrate,
Absorb the benefits of this practice today.
Breathing in through the nose,
Expand,
Expand,
Expand,
And exhale through pursed lips.
Breathing in,
Expanding,
Expanding,
Expanding,
And breathing out.
One more time,
Nice inhale through the nose,
Expanding diaphragm and the whole chest in all directions.
Nice elongated exhale through pursed lips,
And we'll take a moment of silence,
Absorb and rest into this.
And you can bring your hands,
If you like,
Into the namaskaramudra,
Or the namaste,
Bringing the palms together and resting at the heart,
Bringing together all of the opposites,
Left and right brain,
Masculine,
Feminine qualities in the heart,
Where love unifies and transcends all duality.
We'll bow to our own heart,
To our own essence,
Giving thanks and gratitude to ourselves for making the effort today to show up and practice,
So that we can be stable in ourselves,
In our lives,
In our relationships,
And in the work that we do in the world,
Whatever that is.
Wishing you stability and equanimity in all that you do today.
Until next time.
