Susan Ingraham led a slow flow yoga class focused on opening the crown chakra at the ABC Sanctuary in New York City. The author of the summary arrived late and rushed to the class. Ingraham calmly pointed her to the bathroom before class began. During class, Ingraham led the students through gentle poses and three meditations to stimulate each chakra ending at the crown, and encourage a feeling of calm and light.

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Chakra Slow Flow with Susan Ingraham
ABC Sanctuary
638 East 6th Street, 3rd floor
New York, NY 10029
646-481-7222
Wed, 12:30 PM To 1:30 PM
Open
www.abcsanctuary.com
Get Map & Directions >>
The Wednesday morning I decided to dedicate to Susan Ingraham’s special Chakra Slow Flow at ABC Sanctuary I was moving
anything but slow, running late to practice. I rolled in there like a bat out of hell, out of breath from booking it from the subway.
“Where’s the bathroom?” I asked in a flurry as I threw down my mat and fought to free myself from my sweatshirt that clung to me
from a dewey sweat from the humidity outside. Ingraham, sweetly and calmly, pointed in the direction of the facilities so that I could
ease my coffee-filled bladder in hopes to settle into some stillness once I got to my mat.
Once I joined the other students to bask in the light of ABC Sanctuary’s beautiful space, Susan, sitting in front of a Buddha-fied altar,
decked out with crystals, figurines, candles and branches that sat beneath a large, circular window flanked with butterfly wings
painted onto the studio wall, asked if I had any injuries. I informed her of some hip tenderness that I had been experiencing from too
many intense hip openers I engaged in during a yoga intensive from the previous weekend. "I doubt it'll be an issue here today, we'll
be focusing on the crown chakra," she enthused.
The theme of the day’s practice set, Ingraham warned us from the get-go that we’d spend a good deal of the class meditating to
connect with the Sahasrara chakra. Promising we’d do some asana before attempting to channel our higher selves, we first took a
meditative seat, where we played with shaking our hands palms up. “Liberation,” said Ingraham. Then palms down, “Manifestation.
Can you feel the difference?”
It was, in fact, palpable, for this yogi at least; feeling a sense of lightness with the palms facing up, a weighted, heaviness with the
palms faced down. It was a grounded feeling Susan was going for, trying to subdue the vata she felt in the air, perhaps from all the
stirring my scattered presence affected in the atmosphere of the small studio.
Whatever the reason, we soon came onto all fours, playing with some Cats and Cows before finding our way into Downward Dog.
The crown chakra might have been the focus of today’s class, but Ingraham made sure to ignite each chakra to life, starting at the
bottom and working our way up. We held poses like Plank, Warrior I, Warrior III and Navasana to awaken the four chakras located in
the torso; Shoulderstand, Plow and Headstand to target the throat and third eye.
Though the asana portion of the class felt a bit short (perhaps a good thing on such a nasty, humid day), the poses did their job,
billowing up my energy, the Headstand surely bringing a tingly sensation to the top of my head.
With the energy focus now in the right place, we came back to a seated position. Concerned that we should be comfortable before
journeying inside ourselves, Susan suggested that we raise our bums to sit a bit elevated on a block or cushion, our legs crossed in
front or in a supported Virasana position.
Instructing us through three separate meditations - our first attempt had us just watching our thoughts, noticing the things or stories
that played before our closed eyes - she then had us chant to ourselves “So Hum,” a transcendental meditation mantra she had been
given to work with.
And for our last attempt, she had us envision the 1,000-petaled lotus flower (the image associated with the crown chakra) above our
heads, radiating with light that seeped down into our own bodies and filled us up with light. A wonderful way, if you ask me, to send a
troupe of yogis out into the world: calm and full of light.
Classes are donation based, sliding scale. Suggested donation is $10-20. No students will be turned away.
-Jessica Mahler for Yoga Sleuth
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