Our roles are affected by the programming in this area of fear of abandonment, financial security, social status, children, and creativity. You can be controlled by your fears, level of trust, control, blame, guilt and shame. This area is concerned with daily aspects of living, people to whom we relate, and quality of our relationships. It also relates to everything we own, money, relationships, and passion.
If you are feeling pain or discomfort in your any of these body locations, it may be an indication that there are some emotional issues that need clearing. Low back pain has a high association with money issues among other things. If you do not have a habit of safely expressing your emotions, it is likely that your lower body is holding onto these emotions until you are ready to process them. Unexpressed and unprocessed emotions do not go away, they take up residence in your energetic and physical bodies.
Ask yourself these questions to see if you have any stuck energy in your sacral chakra.
1. In what areas do you allow yourself to experience pleasure? Where do you not? 2. Do you feel creative and sensual? 3. How often do you do things that you don’t really enjoy? That you do enjoy? 4. When you do things for others is it from a genuine desire to be of service or are you really trying to win their approval or love? 5. Do you have co-dependent relationships? How do you contribute to them? 6. Do you experience jealousy? 7. Do you trust that life is abundant and there is always enough? 8. Do you allow life to be easy or do you believe you have to struggle and sacrifice and that everything is hard?
SIGNS OF A BALANCED SACRAL CHAKRA
Easy Going
Expressive
Passionate
Creative
Emotionally sound
Sense of love
Sexually Fulfilled
Joy
Warmth
SYMPTOMS OF AN IMBALANCED SACRAL CHAKRA
Obsessions
Addictions
Creative blocks
Impotence
Promiscuity
Guilt
Depression
Hormonal imbalances
Lower back pain
Kidney stones
Urinary problems
Gynecological issues
Prostate problems
Poor sense of taste
Self hate
Manipulative
Oversensitive
Frigid
Anger
BALANCING COMPONENTS OF THE SACRAL CHAKRA
Color: orangeSymbol: crescent moon
Element: water
Spice: cinnamon, vanilla, carob, sweet paprika, sesame seeds, caraway seeds
Food: sweet fruits
Mantra: VAM (pronounced VANG)
Sound: vowel sound O and musical note D
Gemstones: gold topaz, aventurine, coral, fire opal
Aromatic Oils: sandalwood, myrrh, bitter orange, vanilla
Bach flowers: oak, olive, pine
AFFIRMATIONS
I enjoy my life now.
I accept myself just as I am now.
I deserve to happiness.
I trust that I am loved.
6 Ways to Balance the Sacral Chakra
1. Hip-opening yoga postures.
If you’ve ever taken a yoga class, you’ve likely heard a teacher say
at least once that we store emotional and physical tension in our
hips—hence yoga’s many hip-opening postures. This directly connects to
your sacral chakra. If you doubt at all the validity of this, notice
where you grip or clench your muscles the next time you’re in a
stressful situation. It’s likely your throat area (another emotional
center) and your hips and lower abdomen. Remember also that your hips
move in many directions— even though many people think of hip-openers as
external rotation only. While it’s ideal to do a few postures that
stretch your hips through their full range of motion, holding one pose
and focusing on completely letting go is a great place to start. My
personal favorite is cow pose, but bound angle is another ideal asana to
hold and breathe into.
2. Dance like no one’s watching.
Dancing is one of the best—and easiest—ways to open your sacral chakra.
So close the door, turn on your favorite music, and move. For double
the cleansing effects, get out with friends as you move your hips to
your favorite rhythm.
3. Tone up. While
learning to let go of unnecessary muscular gripping and tension is ideal
for chakra health throughout your body, it’s also important to take
care of your body and keep your muscles strong and healthy. One of the
main reasons to have a physical yoga practice is to make the body a
fit—no pun intended—vehicle for the spirit and to prepare your body for
seated meditation (another reason for hip-opening postures), and the
lower abdominals are frequently an area that people let go. Some of my
favorites for strong lower abs are boat pose (really hug the knees in
towards the chest), pendant pose and yogic leg lifts.
4. Visualize orange. Orange
is the sacral chakra’s color. Imagine a bright, healing orange glow
filling up your entire lower abdomen—keeping in mind that we’re three
dimensional. I have SI joint problems and often focus specifically on
this region, so feel free to send your breath—and the color orange—to
any particular area of disease or tension.
5. Balance your other chakras.
A severe imbalance in one chakra almost always means imbalances in
other chakras as well. (They work as a system.) Your throat chakra in
particular has strong connections to your sacral chakra. The next time
you practice your deep hip-opening posture of choice, notice if you feel
a release in your throat area as well (double pigeon/fire log pose is
wonderful for this). You can also try working a pose like bridge that
allows you to connect with many of your chakras at one time; flowing
slowly in and out of the posture as you connect your breath and
movement.
6. Let go. You’ll see me write
this a lot in my blogs, but learning to let go—of unhealthy emotions,
people, and memories—is so important. When we learn to let go of the
baggage that we don’t need to carry, we create space and energy for new
and better opportunities.
In life, it’s all too
easy to become emotionally closed off or overly dependent on the people
around us. Learning to trust our intuition, yet not be ruled by our
emotions, is something that—like many worthwhile things—takes practice. I
hope these tips for sacral chakra balancing inspire you on your journey
to be your best—and healthiest—self.
