Welcome to your chakra kundalini pranayama practice that cleanses and charges your seven energetic centers that lie within. 

Let me forewarn, you’re in for a weird one today.

I learned this chakra pranayama (breathing practice) from a workshop I attended with Anodea Judith, and instantly knew I needed to know more about it. My curiosity led me to buying another book, crazy I know, and learning the intricacies of this energizing, clearing, and quite euphoric experience. 

And what I mean by euphoric is….  as you breathe and cleanse your chakras, you’ll be directing your breath in and out of the body, at an increased rate, which leaves you in a high, trance like state. 

Personally, this high feeling helps me tune into subtle sensations, thoughts, and feelings that might otherwise have gone unnoticed, and it helps further pinpoint where stuck energy lives. 

As someone whose studied the chakras for a few years now, I admit, they can be confusing and overwhelming. The idea with your chakra system is to bring your inner portals of energy that run along your spinal column into equilibrium, and have the awareness to know which ones need to be fine tuned. Once you fine tune yourself, your energy can travel up and down the core of who you are (your spinal column) without hitting blockages. 

Essentially, you can then experience kundalini rising.

Kundalini rising is a wholeeeee other topic, one that I’m not confident to speak on, but it is part of the chakra experience as well as an entirely different style of yoga practice and lineage.

Now here’s the crux, kundalini rising is both challenging to reach and should be guided by a qualified teacher. It requires dedication, awareness, focused intention, and the willingness to work through some super tough shit. Shit like past pain, trauma of any kind, limiting and false beliefs, and anything that feels like tension. 

If you’re still confused, I would liken kundalini rising to reaching your seventh chakra, because you’ve cleared and charged all of the preceding energetic centers, or if you follow and practice the eight limbs of yoga, it’s akin to reaching samadhi (enlightenment). 

So, with this information planted, let’s now dive into the chakra pranayama practice and learn how to harness it as a powerful tool in the comfort of your home. 

Related: Experience your entire chakra system, join my free seven day Chakra Challenge Program today! 

This breathing practice was created by Anodea Judith, the chakra guru, and it’s intention is to invite energy up through your chakra system, aka your liberation current. It can be used as a quick-me-up or before you begin a yoga or meditation practice.

It can also be deconstructed and used for each individual chakra. For example, if you’re aware that tuning into sensations, emotions, and feelings is a challenge for you, try doing the 2nd and 4th breathing techniques. And the same goes for any chakra you’re working on. 

Important note: Each breathing pattern begin in a cross-legged position with an erect spine. Each inhalation is directed through your nose, and each exhalation out your mouth (audibly with a sound, if you can). Keep your eyes open throughout the exercise, unless otherwise cued. If sitting in an erect position for a lengthened amount of time is uncomfortable, please prop yourself up using a blanket, block, or bolster.

Now let’s begin cleansing and charging our chakras!

Root Chakra: Muladhara 

Element: earth 

Body parts: feet, legs, bones, sciatic nerve 

Purpose: foundation, support, stability, safety

Instructions: 

1. Bring your hands to your shoulders, and lift elbows out to the side, in line with your shoulders 
2. Inhale through your nose and extend both arms straight overhead, simultaneously  lifting your knees to the sky too. 
3. Exhale through your mouth and pull your arms and knees back to the original position
4. Repeat 10 – 20 times, increasing in speed if you can, then return to a normal breathing pattern
5. Close your eyes and tune into the charge you created at the base of your body, your root chakra. 

Sacral Chakra: Svadhisthana 

Element: water 

Body parts: hips, sacrum, lower abdomen, sex organs, inner thighs, joints 

Purpose: movement, flow, expansion, emotional wellbeing, pleasure

Instructions: 

1. Place your hands on the front of your knees, palms facing down, with a gentle grip. 
2. Inhale (through your nose) to bring your sacrum forward like in a cow pose, and gently pull on your knees to increase the curve of your spine while lifting the chest. 
3. Exhale (out of your mouth) to round your back, like cat pose, bringing your navel back towards your spine. 
4. Repeat 10 – 20 times, then return to your normal breathing pattern
5. Close your eyes and tune into the charge in your sacral chakra area. 

Solar Plexus Chakra: Manipura 

Element: fire

Body parts: upper abdomen, digestive organs, adrenal glands, solar plexus, and ribs 

Purpose: energy, strength, willpower, transformation, change 

Instructions: 

*I sometimes teach cat + cow pose as a barrel like movement, imagining that your body is like a spoon cleaning out a peanut butter jar, this same sensation is what you’ll want to use here. 

1. Inhale, bring your belly forward like you did in chakra two, then exhale and bring your right side body to the right and toward the back.
2. When your exhale is complete, inhale and bring your left side body around the left side and back to the front. 
3. Continue this movement and breathing pattern, becoming more familiar with the sensation, and then begin to pick up speed.
4. Repeat 10x clockwise, and 10x counterclockwise. The number ten is symbolic of the ten petals to this chakra. 
5. Once complete, release the movement, return to normal breathing, close you eyes and connect with your solar plexus. 

Heart Chakra: Anahata 

Element: air

Body parts: chest, lungs, diaphragm, ribs, heart, respiratory system, shoulder blades

Purpose: love, expansion, relationships, connection, union 

Instructions: 

1. Bring your hands to shoulders like you did for the root chakra, elbows at shoulder height. 
2. Inhale through your nose and twist to the right, with gentle core engagement. 
3. Exhale through your mouth and twist to the left. 
4. Repeat 12x, inhaling to the right, exhaling to the left, then switch sides and inhale to the left, exhale to the right.
5. Once complete, release the movement, return to a normal breathing pattern. 
6. Tune into the life force that you feel in your heart space, notice if any changes have occurred. 

Throat Chakra: Vishuddha

Element: sound 

Body parts: shoulders, neck, throat, tongue, mouth, ears

Purpose: communication, purification, refinement 

Instructions: 

1. Interlace your fingers under your chin, with the elbows down.
2. Inhale to lift your elbows to the sides, while keeping your fingers interlaced and your head level. 
3. As you exhale, lift your chin, draw your head back, open your mouth, and bring the elbows together. Exhale with an audible sound here. 
4. Repeat 16x, one for each petal of the throat chakra. 
5. Release your hands, return to a normal breathing pattern, and tune into the charge at your throat center. 

Third Eye Chakra: Ajna

Element: light

Body parts: eyes, forehead, pineal gland

Purpose: insight, guidance, wisdom, vision, imagination

Instructions: 

1. The goal of this breath is to imagine you are opening a curtain wide, just as the morning light is flooding your eyesight. 
2. Inhale (through your nose) to reach your hands forward, fingertips spread, and open your eyes wide. Widen your arms as if you’re opening those morning curtains, and try to focus on a specific color or visual that lies in front of you.
3. Exhale (out your mouth), bring your hands to your eyes, and lock that memory of light, color, or image into your inner world. 
4. Repeat 10 – 12 times. 
5. Release the movement, return to your normal breathing pattern, and visualize your inner world flooded with a beautiful, bright light, guiding you towards your journey. 

Crown Chakra: Sahasrara

Element: consciousness, thought, nothingness and everything 

Body parts: head, brain, nervous system

Purpose: awareness, ideas, union, communion with the Divine, spirituality 

Instructions: 

1. Bring your palms together in prayer position at the heart.
2. With your palms together, inhale and raise your arms overhead. 
3. Exhale, separate your hands and expand them outwards like you’re creating a lotus flower. 
4. Repeat 10 – 20x, release the movement, and return your normal breathing pattern. Rest quietly here.
5. Notice the energy running through your entire body, feel whatever charge is arising, tune into the subtleties of what your body is teaching you. Pay special attention to anywhere in the body that feels like it’s not holding the energy or is too energetic, these might be your chakras to work on! 

And your chakra pranayama cleansing and charging practice is now complete! You did amazing! 

I recommend taking a moment to journal about your experience today, noting what parts of this exercise spoke to you, and if any sensations/feelings/emotions or answers to pending life questions revealed themselves to you. 

As always, thank you so much for joining me on this journey, and for trusting me to guide you through these powerful chakra experiences. 

All my energy, xoxo. 

Related: Want more chakra work? Join my free 7 day program to awaken, energize, and reconnect your entire system. 

This content was originally published here.