Root Chakra Exercise | Yoga Frog Stretch

Although a great deal of emphasis is often placed on the higher chakras, the importance of the lower 3 charkas, the root chakra, sex chakra and navel chakra, should not be underestimated.  Balancing these chakras is equally important for living a healthy, productive and happy life, and of these 3 charkas, the one that is often out of balance is the root chakra.

In the article, Chakra Healing | How to Balance Your Chakras, I provided details for how to analyze your chakras and determine which ones needed work.  In that article I also provided various exercises and poses you can use to heal and balance the weak chakras.  Below is the criteria to determine if your root chakra, which is responsible for physical security, fear and overall health, needs attention…

1. You feel physically weak and insecure.
2. You have constant health issues and illnesses.
3. You have a great deal of fear.
4. You don’t feel connected to the Earth or a part of nature.

If the above criteria apply to you, then working on your root chakra will be the way to help resolve these issues.  For those who are new to Kundalini Yoga or the Chakra System, the following articles would be helpful: Kundailni Yoga Seven Chakra System Overview and Introduction to Kundalini Yoga.

Alternate Root Chakra Cleansing Exercise:

In addition to the exercise I am going to detail for you in this article, there is another technique on the website which is great for clearing the root chakra and that is Yoga Crow Pose for Cleansing Root Chakra.  That article also has a video demonstration of crow pose along with modifications, etc.

Yoga Frog Stretch for Root Chakra:

The particular pose I am going to discuss in this article is called Yoga Frog Stretch.  This should not be confused with Frog Pose, which is a great Kundalini Yoga Exercise for toning one’s thighs and buttocks.  Frog Stretch on the other hand, is simply excellent for stretching your inner thighs, hips and groin, and excellent for balancing and cleansing your root chakra.

Originally, I started Kundalini Yoga in order to help me sit longer for meditation, so this was an exercise that I did religiously.  It is perfect for stretching those areas one needs to open up in order to sit comfortably in meditation for long periods of time.  For this reason, this exercise is a key component of the Yoga for Meditation Set as well.

More Yoga Exercises and Stretches:

Frog Stretch will of course be added to our ongoing yoga poses and exercises collections which you can access from the following pages – Free Hatha Yoga Galleries and Free Kundalini Yoga Exercises.

For Yoga and Meditation Certification Course Students:

For students enrolled in the Online Yoga Teacher’s Training and Certification Program or Online Meditation Certification Program, I suggest practicing this exercise during the warm-up phase as it will assist in doing any vigorous lower body work you are planning for your students.

Root Chakra Exercise – Yoga Frog Stretch

Below please find details of how to practice Yoga Frog Stretch, along with illustrations, step-by-step instructions, benefits and practice tips.  As you can see this is a difficult exercise to describe in words, so I feel the illustrations should be particularly helpful and are long overdue :-).

Frog Stretch Illustrations

Frog Stretch – Illustration #1

Frog Stretch – Illustration #2

   

A. How to do Yoga Frog Stretch:

• Lie on your back and bring both legs up in the air.  Your legs should be bent at the knees and the soles of your feet pointing up towards the sky.  See illustration #1 above.
• Next reach up with your hands and hold the soles of your feet.  You are holding your feet as shown in the illustrations above.  The hands are on the inside of the feet as you are gripping the arch of each foot.  See illustration #2 above.  
• Now pull down and have your legs stretch wide apart.  You are pulling your knees down your armpits to create a good stretch in your groin region, hips and inner thighs.  As usual, only stretch as far as is comfortable and increase the stretch as you feel yourself getting warmed up.
  
• This pose will allow you to relax your rectum and lower muscles.  Do so consciously.
  
• I love doing this exercise with powerful Breath of Fire.  If you feel ready you should try that as well.  You can also switch to long deep breathing or normal breathing whenever necessary.  Doing this exercise with the Breath of Fire I feel enhances the cleansing affects for the root chakra.

B. Duration:

• I suggest holding for 1 minute and building up to 3, 5 or even 7 minutes.

C. Frog Stretch Benefits:

• Helps open up your groin and increases the flexibility and health of this region.
• Helps improve the flexibility of the inner thighs and hips as well, helping you to sit more comfortably in meditation.
• Excellent for balancing, healing and cleansing the root chakra.
• Done with Breath of Fire it gives you a good opportunity to expand and strengthen your respiratory system.

D. Practice Tips for Frog Stretch:

• You can do this stretch more than once in your routine.  I suggest doing it once early in your set and then again later once you are more warmed up.
  
• You can do Mula Bandha squeeze and release at the end of the exercise 3 times to really bring focus to cleansing the root chakra.
  
• If you have difficulty sitting in meditation for long periods of time, certainly do this pose prior to your meditation session to help you sit more comfortably.

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