Yoga for the crown chakra in Maui
Touch stillness and something larger than you.
Crown classes take their theme from Sahasrara, the thousand-petaled lotus that in this framework sits at or just above the top of the head. They are usually the quietest in a chakra series: long meditation, rest and sometimes inversions.
No classes scheduled in the next two weeks.
What Crown does for you
You get permission to do very little and pay attention to it. Long rests, gentle inversions and meditation leave many people with a spacious, quiet feeling that is hard to come by in a busy city. Some come for a sense of connection to something larger than themselves, however they name it. Others simply like an hour where nothing is asked of them.
It suits you if
- you want stillness more than stretch
- you are curious about meditation and contemplative practice
- you like sound baths and a long savasana
- you want quiet without the strictness of a formal sit
Read the full guide to CrownWhat a class is like, your first time, history and the words you will hear
What a class is like
Classes last 60 to 90 minutes, and much of that is spent seated or lying down. Expect a short, gentle flow, perhaps headstand or rabbit pose for those who want them, then a long meditation, yoga nidra or a sound bath with gongs and bowls. Violet or white light imagery, silence and a single chanted 'om' are common. There is very little talking and no sweat.
Your first time
- Bring warm layers and socks, since lying still for a long time gets cold.
- Arrive on time, because crown classes often begin in silence.
- Let the facilitator know if you prefer not to be touched during rest.
Good to know
- Long silence and inward focus can feel unfamiliar or stir things up; you can open your eyes, move or step out at any time.
- Headstand is always optional; skip it if you have neck problems, high blood pressure or glaucoma, or if you are pregnant.
Where it comes from
Sahasrara means 'thousand-petaled'. In the Sat-Cakra-Nirupana, the text the Bengali tantric Purnananda wrote in 1577, it is not counted among the six chakras at all. It sits above them, a lotus of a thousand petals at the crown of the head, described as the place where the goal of practice is reached.
In this tantric framework, kundalini, pictured as a coiled energy sleeping at the base of the spine, rises through the six centers to the crown, where the goddess Shakti unites with Shiva, pure consciousness. The imagery is devotional and meditative, meant to be visualized, and other tantric texts describe different numbers and arrangements of centers.
The British judge Sir John Woodroffe, writing as Arthur Avalon, translated the text in The Serpent Power (1919), and Theosophy, notably Charles Leadbeater's The Chakras (1927), spread chakra ideas further in the West. The violet or white color, the link to the pineal or pituitary gland (writers disagree) and the themes of spirituality, wisdom and universal consciousness come from the modern Western system, shaped over the 20th century by color therapists, Carl Jung's 1932 kundalini seminar, the human potential movement and the New Age movement. Anodea Judith's Wheels of Life (1987) describes it as the center of consciousness and thought.
In Berlin crown themes usually close a chakra series, and they overlap with the city's sound baths, gong evenings, yoga nidra classes and full moon gatherings.
Words you will hear
- Sahasrara
- Sanskrit for 'thousand-petaled', the lotus at the crown of the head.
- Savasana
- Corpse pose: lying still on your back for the final rest.
- Shirshasana
- Headstand, always optional and often replaced by a gentler forward fold.
- Dhyana
- Sanskrit for meditation, sustained and effortless attention.
- Shiva and Shakti
- In tantric imagery, consciousness and energy, whose union at the crown is the goal of practice.