The crown chakra is often associated with a higher power, but I encourage you to see the crown chakra as your connection to yourself, your energetic body, and your consciousness. Practicing yoga for your crown chakra can help you stay grounded in your own energy, and always works into the other chakras as well. Below you’ll find a yin yoga sequence for the crown chakra that will help you ease into the energy and heat that you create in this uplifting practice.
Crown Chakra Basics
Location: Top of your head
Element: None
Colour: Violet (white)
Meaning: The crown chakra governs your connection, spirit and is connected to your consciousness. It is associated with the emotion of grief.
Other names: Seventh chakra, Sahasrara chakra
Translation: Thousand petaled
Love affirmations? Try adding these crown chakra affirmations to your practice!
Crown Chakra Yoga
For a slow practice, join me for a crown chakra yin yoga sequence that will create space in your spine as you reach for the sky. If you prefer a more active practice, I’ve got a crown chakra flow too!
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Crown Chakra Yin Yoga Poses
Pick your favourite 7th chakra yoga poses to practice individually or be inspired to create your own sequence!
Meditation Pose
Meditation pose is always a beautiful way to start a class as it stacks the chakras and the vertebrae of your spine into alignment and begins to create space for all.
Come to sit in a cross-legged position with either leg in front. Option to sit on a block, blanket, or pillow for cushion and for some height which can help you to sit with a taller spine and open your hips. Allow your tailbone to grow heavy and the crown of your head to grow light. Your shoulders fall away from your ears as your shoulder blades move down your spine. Let your hip flexors release as hands become soft, palms facing down or up on your legs.
As you inhale, feel your breath move from your root chakra, your base, all the way up your spine through each chakra until it reaches the crown of your head. Hold your breath for a beat and release, your breath moving back down to your root chakra. Allow this breath to energize you and feel yourself grow taller. Hold meditation pose for 20-30 deep breaths.
Dragonfly Pose
Dragonfly pose is not only a deep inner thigh and hamstring stretch, but this forward fold is a wonderful way to surrender.
Bring your legs as far apart as feels good. Remember that this is yin and poses grow more intense with time so be mindful of not feeling too much of a stretch in your inner thighs. Sit with a straight spine as you inhale. On the exhale hinge forward with a straight spine as you walk your hands forward. Pause once you reach your edge and then allow your spine to curl forward. You may bring a bolster or rolled blanket under your body to relax on to, or a block or pillow under your forehead to bring the ground closer to you.
Use your breath up and down your spine to relax or direct your breath into the spaces where you feel the most tension. Know that you can back out at any point slightly if the pose has grown more intense. Or you may need to move props and adjust to allow yourself to fold forward more as time and your body weight give you more space. Hold for 20-30 deep breaths. To release, press into your palms and slowly push yourself back up.
Square Pose
Square pose is a hip and glute stretch but also stacks all of the chakras and is a great way to continue to feel the energy moving up your spine.
Come to sit on your sit bones with your right leg in front. Without using your hands, see how far you can come to stack your right leg over the top of your left leg so that your shins are directly one over the other. Flex into both feet and wiggle your ankles so that your ankles are directly over or under your knees. When you’ve gone as far as you can without your hands, you may gently move your right leg into place. Keep your feet flexed to protect your knees.
For those with knee sensitivity, injury, or tight hips, it may feel best to place a block under either or both knees so your legs or knees aren’t hanging. Once you find a position that’s comfortable enough for you, sit with a straight spine, grounding through your sit bones. Hands can come to sit on your top leg. Hold for 5-10 breaths. Stay here or if you’d like to invite more of a glute stretch then begin to walk your arms forward, hinging at the hips. Stop when it feels like enough as you find your edge, but continue to make sure your sit bones stay glued to the mat. Hold for another 10-15 breaths. To release, place your hands behind you, lean back, and switch your legs.
Sleeping Swan Pose
Sleeping swan is a personal favorite of mine. While it’s most often associated with the second chakra because it releases emotions, I also think it’s a wonderful pose for the crown chakra too.
Come to either downward dog or your hands and knees. From downward dog, bring your right knee to behind your right wrist and place your shin on the mat, most likely in about a 45-degree angle. From your hands and knees, step your right foot behind your right wrist and then walk your foot to the left and allow your shin to come to the mat. From either option, walk your left toes back and bring the top of your left foot to meet the mat.
Option to place a block under your right glute if it floats off of the floor. Inhale, walk your hands towards your front shin as you reach through the crown of your head. Exhale, begin to walk your hands forward. You can stay on your hands, come down to your elbows, or stack your hands or fists, to create a pillow for your head. For options with props, place blocks or a bolster under your hands or elbows, or bring a bolster (or rolled blanket) lengthwise to lay on. Look in one direction and we’ll look in the other direction on the opposite side. Hold for 30-40 deep breaths, feeling your left hip flexor move towards the mat with time. Breathe into the areas you feel the most tension. To release, step back to downward dog, or table. Repeat on the other side.
Happy Baby Pose
Happy baby grounds, opens the hips and lengthens the spine in a nourishing way.
Come to lay on your back. Bring your knees into your chest and hold onto your shins or the backs of your thighs. Allow your legs to open to either side of your belly to make room for your breath and arms. Shine the souls of your feet towards the sky. Bring your arms to the inside of your legs as you reach up and out to grab hold of the outside edge of your feet. Option to hold the backs of your thighs or calves.
Allow the weight of your arms to pull your legs closer to the ground as your chest opens and your shoulders become heavy, melting closer to the mat. Hold for 20-30 deep breaths. To release, hug your knees back into your chest.
Savasana
Last but certainly not least, savasana is a necessary part of every chakra yoga practice. Come to lay on your back on the mat and feel yourself completely supported by the ground beneath you. Allow the crown of your head and your forehead to soften. Your chest and shoulders become heavy, belly grows soft. Let your hip flexors release, your glutes let go. Legs are heavy, fingers curl, and your feet roll out to either side. Hold for 20 deep breaths at least, or as long as feels good.