Swadhisthana chakra is the Sanskrit name for our second energy center and translates to “sweetness” or “sacred home of the self.”

Imagine your mind as still as water in a vast lake.

Breathe in a long, deep breath of inspiration, then let the exhalation go naturally, easily. Repeat this technique for a few moments. Notice how your breath sounds like the ocean waves that are forever crashing upon the seashore. Feel how your body moves. Let your energy take on the physical qualities of water, flowing to fill its container. Breathe in a sense of arriving totally, right where you are.

The element associated with this center is water. The sense is taste and the color is orange.

The key dynamics with the sacral chakra have to do with integration of male and female, sexuality, sensation and feeling, movement, change, balance, emotion, and pleasure. If the root chakra is unity and oneness and the groundedness of being, then the sacral chakra is duality, represented by the two-way street of attachment and aversion, desire and relationship.

Many of us on the planet could use some major balancing and healing of our essential second chakra energy. When our energy is out of balance here, it can show up as sexual repression and frigidity, or over-the-top promiscuity. Our sexuality, if not healed, can cause a range of problems in our physical, emotional, and mental bodies.

May these suggestions be of benefit:

Six ways to heal the sacral chakra.

1. Move your hips.

Play your favorite songs. Shake it up. Move your whole body, including your hips. Hula hoop. Salsa dance. Ecstatic dance. Do hip-opening asanas like pigeon pose, lunges, warriors. Whatever suits you best—shake the energy up in those hips! The second chakra resides in the pelvic bowl. Sit in easy pose, half lotus or lotus and make circles with your torso. Breathe deeply. Do a few spinal twists. Sit still and notice the sensations in the body and on the skin.

2. Employ aromatherapy and healing gems and stones.

Notice the sensations of smell. The essential oils that activate Swadhistana energy include patchouli, frankincense, jasmine, and cypress. Burn cedarwood and juniper incense. Wearing gems and stones, such as coral, garnet, moonstone, pearl, and aquamarine assist in healing and aligning our sacred sacral energy. It’s also useful to place these gems and stones on our meditation altars.

3. Enjoy sweet fruits and salads.

The sense associated with the sacral chakra is taste. To counteract feeling stuck, oversensitive, or numb, we can intentionally eat meals and snacks that help our digestion flow and reconnect us with the water element. According to chakra yoga philosophy, sweet fruits like apple, pear, peach, melon, mango, strawberries, and oranges (in raw or juice form,) are useful for balancing the energy in the second chakra. Likewise, raw salads with lettuce, spinach, cucumber, and tomato are prescribed.

4. Make love.

Notice the sensation of touch. What textures, qualities, and substances attract you? What do you desire? What do you need? What gives you pleasure? Reflect on these questions, and make it a priority to pleasure yourself—emotionally, mentally, physically, sexually, spiritually. In these challenging times of confusion, worry, and war, we need to devote plenty of energy to conscious peacemaking and lovemaking. Let go of any guilt associated with feeling good. When we feel good, we can radiate that energy out and help others feel the love and joy, too. One of our most basic human rights is to feel and to have pleasure.

5. Revitalize the container.

According to author and chakra expert Anodea Judith, “If we think of the body as a vessel for the soul and spirit, then the element of earth in chakra one provides support and containment for the fluid essence of chakra two, much like a cup holds water.” Make sure your cup (the root chakra) is solid, balanced, and whole. It needs to contain the watery energy of the sacral, sexual center, to let it flow, to hold space for it without constraining it. Find energetic balance. This is what will enable the reintegration of dualities: male and female, shadow and light, stillness and movement.

6. Feel.

“Emotion is the chief source of all becoming conscious. There can be no transforming of darkness into light and of apathy into movement without emotion.” ~ Carl Jung

It’s okay to feel. There is a growing awareness that repression of emotions will only boomerang back at us sooner or later. The better choice is to experience and express the emotions as they occur. Try to transcend the mindset of “positive” and “negative.” Just feel whatever it is you feel. Notice the sensations brought up by different feelings as they occur. Body movement helps. Breathing helps.

Don’t constrict, resist, or hold back for the sake of society. It’s okay to cry. It’s okay to sob. It’s okay to giggle, guffaw, roar, sigh. It’s okay to feel whatever we feel.

I choose love over fear.

I choose peace over war.

I choose action over laziness.

I choose communication over secrecy.

I choose silence over noise.

I choose compassion over complaints.

I choose balance over corruption.

I choose openness over being closed.

I choose intimacy over barriers.

I love me.

I love you.

I love everyone.

~

Author: Michelle Fajkus
Image: Sandy Manase/Deviantart
Editor: Lieselle Davidson