1st Chakra meets 4th chakra

This entry is like a Chemist's entry into a lab book.

Hypothesis: My heart chakra is very strong, but no matter how much I work on it my shoulders have come to a plateau period of tightness. I'm fairly certain my 1st chakra needs to be focussed on in order for my shoulders and heart to open more.

Recent discoveries:
During Brahmeri, when beginning with the heart chakra and really buzzing it up I can translate and transfer my energy more easily to my 1st chakra, which when I breath and buzz up the 1st chakra, I feel the vibration throughout my whole body and my shoulders release. It feels like I've been doing the work of "holding myself" in my 4th chakra/upper back and shoulders area for a long time not realizing how much strength and power is in my 1st chakra that easily holds me and actually opens up the energy throughout my body without struggle.

I have also noticed this with one of my students who holds around the 2nd chakra and has a very disconnected interrupted vibration in 4th and 1st chakra--the throat catches, which may be a 5th chakra thing, but as soon as I get him to buzz up his 1st chakra the energy in his body changes--moves into the 3rd chakra and unclogs some of the stuckness in the 2nd chakra.

To really get the feeling between 1st and 4th, I've found that standing in horse with back up against the wall and doing brahmeri into 1st chakra will really turn on the circuit. Today when I was doing this, there was a release that happened between my diaphragm and entry way into left shoulder that was super intense. It lasted a very short moment, because I felt something that was pretty scary, but the pathway was very evident into the troubling left shoulder of mine.

Also I started playing around with forearm balance variation. My shoulders are so tight that it's very difficult for me to rest my sacrum on the wall without arching into my low back, but I'm slowly getting the courage to really take my breath into my chest and upper back. Lately I have been playing around with what happens to my legs in the pose--what exactly are they doing sticking up at the ceiling? I definitely get the connection between my core and my shoulders, but to feel my legs and to really turn on the lines of energy in them is another story. So I tried breathing into my 1st chakra--see what would happen. My shoulders miraculously started to open a little but the lower abdominal muscles fired up to such a degree that I was like "Woah Nelly." I finally felt my feet in the pose. And that was progress--2 breaths at a time--focussing entirely on my groin and hip area with my breath. It's a very illogical way to think when you're upside down, but it actually is a very logical way to work.

And there's bridge. When breathing into 1st chakra using the feet to transfer energy through the legs--especially pressing down through the balls of the feet and the heel, the power and endurance that you're able to gain is pretty incredible. I've always had strong legs, but since discovering my feet in this pose and my pelvis and the interior muscles around the pelvis, bridge has become one of my favorite poses to work with because i really turns on my connection to 1st chakra and throughout the rest of my practice I feel a lot more powerful. Plus this pose is a version of a backbend and when transferring the breath from 1st to 4th chakra the shoulders and neck relax creating more space in the low back.

I have been using more cues regarding the placement of the feet while I teach, especially when balance is an issue in twisting lunge or any of the warrior poses. The challenge is brought into the legs, but sending energy into the feet awakens the rest of the leg from the 1st chakra down leading to more strength in the legs and more opening in the hip once the initial thigh burn subsides. The more the hips open the more the heart opens.

1st chakra is the home of security and the connection to our placement in our family, tribe, and culture. It makes sense that the 4th chakra would feel closed if  we are not able to connect and feel safe within our place or connection to place in the world.

So if  you're reading this, right now, close your eyes, and get your breath all the way down into your genitals, and lower hip and pelvis area. It's easiest to feel this if you're in an easy cross-legged position. If you spend 1 to 2 minutes breathing into this area of your body, notice what changes. Notice how you can feel your legs and any tight spots in your hips. And then notice on an energetic level what is happening. Do you feel warmer? Do you feel more awake? Do you feel more steady? Perhaps your legs begin to shake as you begin to wake up this part of your body. Shaking is a good thing, it means you're moving stuck energy, which will allow you to be more open and can translate into the release of toxins.
I'm a huge shaker :-). And then bring your attention into your shoulders and upper back have they softened a bit? Do you feel more of the places in your spine that you couldn't feel before?

Breathing into 1st chakra is not only great for connecting with the heart, but it's also a great way to connect with your creative energy. I have begun breathing into 1st chakra at work and whenever I'm writing. I've noticed I'm more productive, less in my head, and more assured of what I'm writing and doing creatively. Plus it keeps me awake.

There will be more on my discoveries, but for now, take a deep breath and feel.
Namaste,
Anne