Manifesting On The Mat by Martina Sanghion

Everything You Need Is Already Inside You: A Chakra Interview with Martina Sanghion

What if manifesting wasn't something you thought your way into, but something you moved your way into instead? We sat down with Martina Sanghion, Umaversity's founding Hatha, Yin, and pre and postnatal yoga teacher, to unpack the class she taught seven months pregnant, days before stepping away to give birth. Here's what she wants every woman+ to understand about the third chakra and the heart chakra, and why she paired them for this practice.

"Everything that you need is inside of you." — Martina Sanghion

The Chakra Behind Your Self-Worth   What is the third chakra, and why does it matter for manifestation?  The third chakra is your solar plexus, right around your belly button, and I always tell people to imagine a warm yellow light living there. It represents your personal power, your self-esteem, and your sense of purpose. When it's in balance, you get clear thinking, a defined sense of purpose, and the ability to identify your own worth without needing someone else to confirm it for you. You find inner tranquility, and that supports your nervous system so you can move through the world with a clear mind.

When Your Power Feels Out of Reach   What does an imbalanced solar plexus actually feel like?  It shows up as low self-esteem and not trusting your own fire. You start seeing control issues creep in, and you can slide into a victim mentality without realizing it's happening. It can even show up physically, in digestive issues, especially around your intestines and your liver. The body and the mind are never really separate in this work.

• Low self-esteem and self-doubt

• Difficulty trusting your own decisions

• Control issues or rigidity

• A tendency toward victim mentality

• Physical tension in the digestive system

  
  

The Chakra That Connects Everything   Why pair the heart chakra with the solar plexus for this practice?  The heart chakra is really the portal that connects the lower chakras to the higher ones. It's the bridge that ties everything together in the body. When we talk about the heart chakra, we're talking about how you express love outward, into your relationships, and how you find emotional equilibrium in your own life. I wanted this class to connect all the chakras through that bridge, so we could move through both power and love in the same practice.

"It's really the portal that connects everything together." — Martina Sanghion

What a Blocked Heart Feels Like   How does someone know their heart chakra is blocked?  You feel emotional discomfort. You struggle to engage positively in your relationships, and there's often a physical unease around the chest, sometimes it's hard to breathe deeply, or there's a heaviness that just lingers there. When we're not centered in that space, and we don't love ourselves, it becomes really difficult to love other people well or build relationships that actually nourish you.

Inside the Meditation   Walk us through what you ask people to do during the meditation.  I ask people to find a comfortable seat, close their eyes, and just start noticing their breath without trying to change anything. From there, we bring one hand to the belly and one to the chest, and we start to visualize a vibrant green light in the chest. With every inhale, we bring in love, compassion, and kindness. With every exhale, we release resentment, anger, self-doubt, and any thought of not being enough. By the end, we're saying affirmations out loud: my heart is open and receptive to love, I am worthy of receiving love unconditionally, I forgive myself and others, I am at peace with myself.

What She Wants You to Walk Away With   What's the one thing you hope people take with them after this class?  That everything they need is already inside them. We close every class the same way, hands to the heart, a bow of the head, and a moment of thanking yourself, your body, your mind, your breath, for the way they support you every single day. If you leave with your heart a little more open and a little more kind toward yourself, the class did its job.

Martina's class is a reminder that manifestation doesn't have to live only in your journal. Sometimes it lives in your breath, your spine, and the quiet moment you finally decide to believe your own power is real. 📺 Watch the full Umaversity Masterclass episode here:

https://youtu.be/HCYNYbFzn08