As I continued on my deep dive of the chakras the Sacral chakra was a challenge for me (who am I kidding they were all a challenge for me when I became fully conscious of each of them).
As I have been digging in I realize why this is the chakra that doesn’t naturally connect for me. It’s all about pleasure… yes sexuality but also pleasure in life, feeling light and free and creative!
All things I struggle with and I’m willing to bet, lots of women in middle America do too. Oh did I mention another sign of blocks in the sacral chakra is not receiving from others (gifts, support from family, friends or the universe.) Sound familiar?
Or maybe this is you.
Selflessly give of yourself to make sure others are supported and taken care of.
Maybe your sacral is blocked, but you experience the other end of the spectrum – very emotional or irritable. Yep that’s part of a sacral imbalance too. It’s not just hormones, I promise.
The sacral is the water chakra.
Which makes the connection to the moon an easy jump. Ebb and flow of emotions can be fluid with the moon cycles. Except if you don’t know that… you may not have noticed the correlation. You just think everyone drives you crazy ALL THE TIME.
The sacral is also where feminie energy is housed. (not depending on your sexuality or preference) we all have feminine energy. In many women the moon cycle can also connect to their hormone cycle.
I know for me personally when I learned the connection between the moon and my hormonal cycle I started paying more attention to my moods and the cycle of the moon we were in. It really is quite amazing!
I have learned when my husband REALLY is getting on my nerves, because he just is and when it will pass with the moon.
The light side of the sacral chakra is joy, pleasure and passion. The shadow side that we work to transcend is guilty, shame and grief.
I’ve said it before and will say it again — Chakra work is not a one and done thing.
It’s not about balancing your chakras, to me it’s about clearing them, unblocking them often so energy and experiences don’t clog and become stagnant in your body. It’s something we revisit and work through in cycles. Let’s call them life lessons. Something you can master once and revisit later realizing you still have so much to learn.
If you were to have a life lesson from the sacral chakra it is to learn to connect with others while being yourself. Expressing yourself emotionally and creatively without feeling guilty for being you.
Whew… that’s a lot to learn in one lifetime!
Let’s break this apart a little more.
Create.
The sacral chakra is centered in our reproductive organs and elimination organs. When the sacral is blocked we may be unable to eliminate the toxins from our body. I’m not a doctor so I won’t discuss physical issues, I’m here to discuss the more spiritual elements of our body. If you want to dive deeper into physical elements I recommend Louse Hays, I Can Heal My Life.
I prefer to look at our reproductive area as the root of creation, not just babies, but what we are creating in life, what we are creating for the world.
What life are you creating for yourself? How are you awakening to the creativity in the world and yourself?
If you’re not ready to go that deep yet, being creative doesn’t mean being able to execute all those great pins you have on pinterest or creating an amazing online program or presentation for work.
Being creative can be as simple as a new recipe for dinner, planting new flowers in your garden, or creating a yoga or meditation space for yourself. Creating can look however your soul wants it too. NO PRESSURE!
A great way to open and clear your sacral is to journal – it allows you to be creative while expressing yourself and your emotions.
Don’t put pressure on yourself to create, remember the sacral chakra is the pleasure center, do something that feels playful, brings you pleasure and makes you smile.
Be Playful
Enjoying life joyfully and pleasurable is a sign of an unblocked sacral chakra. When in flow with the universe we are often more able to look at things with true detachment – an understanding of looking at a situation without attachment to the outcome, not a lack of caring.
Allowing for fluidity
Make room for movement, the ebb and flow of life instead of spending all our energy pushing and pulling can be freeing.
Our energy is much more beneficial when we allow the universe to bring in and out of our lives what we need. When we trust in God. Trust is root chakra work, having strong roots and foundation allows us space to trust. That’s where doing full chakra work comes into play; having addressed your root before working on your sacral is important.
Sometimes that great new job you think you WANT isn’t what you actually need or that annoying neighbor doesn’t need to move, instead you should be open to the lesson they bring you.
Holding on to it will only make you more miserable for a longer time.
Connecting with others authentically and compassionately is hard in a society where we often focus on attracting (Ragas) what we like and repelling (Dvesa) what we do not desire.
The same with our emotions when we allow ourselves to see emotions for what they are, fleeting, instead of attaching to them, we are able to move through them with more ease and grace. (I just had to mention that emotions are fleeting because every sage will tell you that, me, I’m still working on that theory.)
Maybe you notice after a conversation (good or bad) you replay it over and over in your mind.
I should have said this. I can’t believe she said that. The nerve of him.
You guessed it. Your sacral chakra needs some attention.
Thoughts and emotions we hold onto instead of letting go become logs that create a dam of energy flow in our bodies.
Through yoga and movement our bodies are able to release stored emotions that we may not recall or understand. This is very true for the lower chakras. The lower part of our bodies starting with our root and moving into our sacral are much like the basement of our house. This is where we store everything we don’t know what else to do with.
Yoga poses and sequences that open up the hips and hip flexors are ways to clear and balance your sacral chakra. I’ll get a little more into those in a moment.
In my last post – Root Chakra I shared the root is our base, the foundation for our safety, security, it’s what keeps us grounded and able to survive.
Moving from root to sacral is where we go from surviving to thriving.
We move from focus on our family, roots and our tribe into learning who we are, how to express ourselves and be an individual while still connected to the collective of our ancestors. Leading into the solar plexus where we allow our light to shine. See each one builds upon and supports the next.
In practice to do the work of opening our hips and the sacral chakra we must be certain that we have strong legs and feet, a stable physical foundation is necessary, much like emotionally. It’s easier if we feel safe and secure before we attempt to connect with others and express ourselves authentically and confidently.
Have you ever been on your mat in deep practice or during meditation and felt a rush of emotions, maybe you cried, maybe you laughed out loud. You thought it was a sudden release? Sudden emotional release isn’t sudden, it took lots of time for you to learn to move deep into that pose or to quiet your mind during your meditation, chances are you weren’t aware of what was being held there.
If you haven’t ever cried on your mat, give it time, You’ll get there! I’ve cried many, many times and keep coming back.
The beauty of the process I’ve learned is not to analyze the thought or emotion that appears in that sudden moment. Instead I like to step outside of myself and watch the feeling move past me almost like I’m watching it on tv, instead of getting caught up in the moment. At least on my mat or in meditation I’ve been able to see emotions are fleeting, guess that’s some improvement.
Yin yoga is a great way to facilitate releases. Yin yoga is where you hold poses for 3, 5 or even 10 minutes. I know you are thinking there is NO WAY I can hold chair pose for that long.
In Yin yoga you focus on hip openers, long stretching poses and use props like blankets, bolsters or blocks. Holding the restorative poses allows for release of joints and connective tissue not just muscle work.
When you begin practicing holding restorative poses (or any pose) it is important to remember to breathe into the pose. With each exhale allowing your body to go a little deeper. Connecting with your breath is a way to fully experience the pose. Holding your breath because you’re uncomfortable or pushing yourself too far will cause tension in your muscles and defeat the purpose of your practice. If you find yourself holding your breath or not connected to your breath, back off, listen to your body. It’s a practice, you’ll get there in time.
If you’re interested to learn more about the color and energy of each chakra check out my podcast – Grounding Journey. I’ll continue the blog series here, be sure to subscribe to my email list below to keep learning. I’ve also created several products, kits and fun stuff to support your journey available on my etsy store.
I’m so glad you’re here. Thanks for being a part of my journey. I hope to be a part of yours!