Everything the wheel opens, one animal at the center
The Eastern wheel, your birth year's animal
The Western wheel, the sky on your birthday
The craft your Zodi Animal practices
五行 · featured system
The five phases that move through everything — now mapped to the seven chakras, each with its own yoga practice.
Two skies, read together
The Moon overhead, its phases, and the path they light.
01 · Muladhara · मूलाधार · Earth · LAM
Every pose asks the same question: can you receive the earth's support without bracing against it? The root practices don't create groundedness. They remove the contraction that prevents it from arriving.
Pose library
Tadasana
Stand with feet hip-width, weight equal on all four corners of each foot. Arms alongside body, palms forward. Spine long, crown floating upward. The most demanding pose to inhabit with full attention — most people have never truly stood still. Hold 10–20 breaths with complete awareness of the ground beneath you.
Vrksasana
From Mountain, shift weight to left foot. Place right sole on inner calf or thigh (never on the knee). Hands in prayer or overhead. Gaze at a fixed point. Try 5 breaths eyes open, then 5 with eyes closed — the shift from external to external reference is itself the teaching. Root down to rise up.
Virabhadrasana I
Back foot at 45°, front knee over ankle, hips square toward front. Arms rise overhead. The back foot is the root — feel it pressing firmly into the earth while the arms reach upward. This is Muladhara's teaching in motion: stability at the base is what allows aspiration at the top.
Virabhadrasana II
Feet wide, front knee over ankle, arms extended parallel to floor. Gaze past the front fingertips. The wide stance creates a direct experience of claiming ground. Both feet pressing actively — the psoas and inner thighs engage. Feel the stability of a wide base before anything can be built on top of it.
Deviasana / Utkata Konasana
Feet wide, toes turned out 45°, sink into a deep squat with knees tracking over toes. Arms in cactus or extended. The inner thighs and pelvic floor are directly engaged. This is Muladhara's power pose — the body wide-legged and rooted, claiming territory. Hold and breathe into the base of the torso.
Malasana
Feet hip-width or wider, toes out. Sink into the deepest comfortable squat. Bring palms to prayer at the heart, elbows pressing knees wide. The perineum — the anatomical seat of Muladhara — descends toward the earth more than in any other common pose. The discomfort of staying is the practice. Build from 30 seconds to 3 minutes.
Balasana
Kneel, sink hips toward heels, forehead to mat. Arms forward or alongside body. The crown and the root simultaneously reach toward the earth. The body gives itself completely to gravity. This is the great surrender pose — the body practicing the trust that Muladhara requires. Hold a minimum of 3 minutes for a genuine root-chakra effect.
Viparita Karani
Hips 2–6 inches from the wall, legs vertical, arms resting. The nervous system reads this position as deep safety — the fight-or-flight system downregulates rapidly. The lower body drains; the pelvic floor releases passive tension. One of the most deeply Muladhara-restorative poses. 5–15 minutes transforms the entire quality of the practice.
Setu Bandha Sarvangasana
Lie on back, knees bent, feet flat and hip-width. Press feet firmly into the floor and lift the hips. Clasp hands beneath the body and press the arms down. The four corners of each foot pressing equally into the earth — the exact Muladhara cue in a supine form. Practice Mula Bandha at the top of the hold. 3 × 5–8 breaths.
Dandasana
Seated, both legs extended straight, spine erect, hands pressing the floor beside hips. The sitting bones connect completely to the earth. The back of the thighs and calves press down. The simplest seated grounding pose — often underestimated. Flexi practitioners find it harder than it looks. Hold 10–20 breaths with spine lengthening on each inhale.
Complete practice
A complete grounding practice from opening to integration. Begin with the floor, build through standing, return to the earth.
Opening · 5 min
Child's Pose 3 min (forehead to floor, full surrender)
Cat-Cow 5 breaths (feel the spine as a root system)
Downward Dog 5 breaths (four limbs pressing earth)
Standing sequence · 15 min
Mountain Pose 2 min (four corners of feet, full stillness)
Tree Pose both sides (5 breaths open, 5 closed)
Warrior I both sides (5–8 breaths, back foot is the root)
Warrior II both sides (5–8 breaths, wide territory)
Goddess Pose 10 breaths (pelvic floor descending)
Garland / Malasana 1–2 min (the deepest squat)
Floor sequence · 5 min
Bridge Pose 3 × 5 breaths (Mula Bandha at the top)
Staff Pose 10 breaths (sitting bones to earth)
Legs Up the Wall 5–8 min
Integration · 10 min
Savasana minimum 10 min
Before rising: roll to side and pause — feel the ground
Return to seated. Notice the quality of stillness.
Breath and energy
Sit comfortably. On each inhale, visualize the breath rising from the earth through the soles of the feet — traveling up through the legs, filling the pelvis, expanding the belly, reaching the heart. On the exhale, the breath returns downward through the body into the earth. Not a visualization of energy — a felt sense of receiving upward. 10–20 rounds. The body relaxes its gripping against gravity.
Gently contract the pelvic floor — the muscles between the sitting bones — without gripping the glutes or inner thighs. Hold for 5 breaths, then release completely. Notice the difference. This is Muladhara's specific energetic practice: the direct activation of the chakra's territory. Practice throughout standing poses, during breath retentions, and at the end of each exhale in meditation. Build from 5 to 30 seconds with ease, never strain.
Inhale for 4 counts. Exhale for 4 counts. Equal length in both directions creates a physiological balance — the nervous system learns that the exhale is as safe as the inhale. This is Muladhara's underlying teaching: equilibrium, not drama. Practice 10 rounds before beginning any Root Chakra practice to settle the body into the quality of groundedness.
Continue exploring
Guardian, element, traditions, profile finder — the complete Muladhara deep dive
🪷The complete yoga hub — every chakra's practice in one place
🟠Hip openers, fluid movement, Pigeon — Svadhisthana yoga
七The complete chakra map — each center, its guardian, its tradition