Journey Through the Chakras: Go With the Flow

Journey Through the Chakras: Go With the Flow

The second chakra is Svadhisthana and is symbolic of water. It is associated with taking pleasure and is located in the sacrum, genitals, hips, knees and low back.

Svadhisthana represents ‘the right to feel’. If we cannot interpret how we feel then it is very difficult to know what we want.

The first chakra is about everything solid. This solidity creates foundation, which gives us the base of support to rise up from. The second chakra Svadhisthana is about water and the ability to go with the flow. The form transforms into formlessness. The principles of water are fluid, feminine, and rhythmic.

Qualities of Svadhisthana Chakra

Pleasure:

Pleasure allows us to move more deeply into the temple of the body. Pleasure allows us to expand while pain creates contraction. Our sensations are so important to the experience of pleasure. When we taste good food, or take a deep breath in the outdoors, we are opening the pleasure centers and creating an extension of the spiritual dimension. Some may argue that we need to shut off our senses in order to tune into the subtler body. However the senses are the building blocks to our emotions and feelings. Without them we become lifeless and disconnected.

Unfortunately we are often taught to beware of pleasure. We don’t easily allow our self to do what we want and instead do what we should. Eventually this can lead to resentment and frustration. Svadhisthana invites us to turn on our pleasure centers and delve into the deep recesses of the feeling body.

Emotions:

The second chakra is where the emotional center of the body lies. In a balanced state we feel emotions, but do not get overridden with them. If this second chakra is turned on too much we are overly emotional meaning our emotions begin to cloud our rational judgment. When this chakra is repressed we are shut off from our emotions and we feel very little. Repressed emotion creates tension and tension creates lethargy. We need to find the way to send the emotion out (in an appropriate way). The absence of tension creates a harmonic flow between the mind and the body. This creates an even deeper pleasure within the body, allowing deeper connection with others.

Sexuality:

Sexuality is the ultimate expression of Svadhisthana yet it can also be the reason why we have many issues with movement, sensations, pleasure, desire and emotions. In our western culture sexuality has been gravely misunderstood and mismanaged. This affects the natural flow of excitation throughout the body. Guilt is the demon of the second chakra. It halts our pleasures and self-esteem. To reclaim the second chakra is to reclaim our right to feel and our right to healthy sexuality.

Balanced Svadhisthana: Healthy boundaries, having passion in life and feeling alive, the ability to go with the flow and movements are graceful, nurturing of the self.

Excessive Svadhisthana: Change is necessary in order for the mind to stay active and alive. An excessive second chakra scatters the liberating energies too soon so it does not flow through to higher chakras. Therefore it is important to be honest with your self when exploring how much change is too much.

Depleted Svadhisthana: Fear of change, energy gets trapped in the structure of the first chakra and resists fluidity, becoming hard and stiff. Little passion and too much self-control. If we experience chronic tension in the hips, low back, and glutes try and tap into the current and flow of life.

Rituals to restore Balance: Connect with water. Take hot baths, drink more water, sit by the river or ocean. Add a flow and pulse to your regular yoga poses such as swaying and rocking the body. Change a routine (running route, clothing color, meeting place). Start with nurturing yourself and then begin to apply the principles to your relationships.

Y oga poses to restore balance:

  1. Sufi Grind: This deep rhythmic movement of circulating the hips, glutes and low back is wonderful to connect with Svadhisthana’s water element.
  2. Lunge Pose/ Anjaneyasana: Gently pressing in and out with the hip in sync with the breath.
  3. Pigeon Pose/ Eka Pada Rajakapotasana: Imagine the breath can reach right into the tension within the body and as you exhale carry that tension up and out.

The second chakra is the prime mover of energy. As the energy moves upwards, the soul is carried on the currents of emotions and desires toward growth. Through the solid base of our first chakra we are able to surrender to the prana and follow its natural course without losing our center.

Image Credit: Leslie Prentice



The Sacral Chakra: Foods to Enhance Creativity

This is the chakra that keeps our energy dynamic and flowing. It is connected to emotions and creativity and is known as the sacral or svadisthana chakra. The sacral chakra, located in the lower belly, is supported by the water element and is in an eternal state of movement and change. A healthy sacral chakra translates into being able to “go with the flow” of life and the ability to move without judgment as your creative expression calls you. When this chakra is balanced, it is easier to express yourself and to be in tune with her emotions, creativity, senses and dreams.

Eating properly can help this chakra to thrive and, in return, help you to be more in tune with what you want most in life. A healthy sacral chakra vibrates at a frequency similar to the color orange. Orange foods provide the vibration needed to help balance this chakra. Nutritionally speaking, orange foods usually contain relatively high levels of carotenoids: a nutrient that can protect against free radicals. To assist this chakra, and help it spin, here is a Mexican Pumpkin Soup recipe that has that vibrant orange color, uses herbs that assist the chakra and leaves room for you to be creative in the kitchen while making it.

Mexican Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 bunch of green onions

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon of Old Bay Seasoning

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

4 cloves of garlic, minced

4 cups vegetable broth

1 15-oz. can pumpkin or squash

1 15-oz. can black beans

1 tablespoon fresh chopped cilantro

A drizzle agave

1 cup brown rice

Directions:

Heat the coconut oil in a soup pot and toss in the onions and spices. Add the garlic, slightly browning first, then add the rest of the ingredients into the pot and bring to a high simmer; cover, and lower the heat; simmer for twenty-five minutes until the rice is cooked. Top with vegan sour cream and vegan pepper jack cheese.

Enjoy!

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