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!
About the Author
Chakras: What They Don't Tell You at Yoga Class
Six blind men lived in a village. One day a villager said, “Wow, there’s an elephant here today!” The blind men had never experienced “elephant.” After conferring, they decided to go touch the elephant and find out what the excitement was about. They gathered around the beast and each took hold of a different part.
The blind man holding the elephant’s leg said, “Hey, this elephant is like a pillar.”
Another, holding the tail, said, “No no! It’s like a rope.”
The third, touching the elephant’s trunk, said, “You’re both wrong — the elephant is like a thick tree branch.”
Another, holding the elephant’s ear, said, “It’s like a big banana leaf.”
“No. It’s like a huge wall,” said the blind man touching the elephant’s side. At this point one can only wonder at the patience of this elephant.
The sixth blind man said, “You’re all wrong. An elephant is like a solid pipe.” He was touching the elephant’s tusk, perhaps just prior to the elephant using it to toss the him over its shoulder.
Aside from the ensuing arguments about who was “right,” each blind man was correct in his perception — there was truth in each experience. In the Jain tradition, it is said the truth can be stated in seven versions or points of view, and the lesson is to be tolerant of the experiences and perceptions of others.
Thus it is with chakras. We’re like blind men with an elephant — each with our own view of the chakra system based on experience, exposure, what we’ve seen, read, heard, or been told — but ironically, it is the cherished belief in our “rightness” (about virtually anything) that ultimately blocks the development and unfolding of the subtle body’s energy centers. Defending any position can launch us into a state of emotional reactivity — the kryptonite of spiritual evolution.
“In different traditions, one can find wheels, flowers, angels, animals, animal parts, geometric shapes, children, the seven dwarves, deities, buddhas, yantras, or mandalas. But in fact, across the board, believing in any judgements which give rise to emotional reactivity is the one sure way to ‘block’ the performance of a chakra,” said Lar C. Short, author of The Way of Radiance and co-author of The Body of Light. By referring to the “performance” of a chakra, Short distinguishes these centers as activities (verbs) rather than things (nouns).
So gentle seeker, or finder as the case may be, suspend disbelief for this exploration of the paradoxical human chakra energetic system.
