The Sacral Chakra
The sacral chakra is the second chakra and is located a few inches below our naval in the centre of our belly, just above our root chakra. In Sanskrit it is known as the swadhisthana chakra - swa meaning self and adhistana meaning etablished - where your being is established. This chakra is associated to our relationships - towards ourselves, to others and to the world. It is where we feel our emotions and sexuality. It is the centre for our creativity. When our sacral chakra is out of balance we may feel fearful, closed, lacking creativity and overwhelmed or depressed. Don't worry we can bring balance and health back to this chakra! Here are some simple tips to try. The element the sacral chakra is associated with is water. The musical note it is aligned to is D. The colour it is associated to is orange. The seed sound mantra is Vam. So following what we learnt in our last blog.... Chanting the mantra Vam in the note of D will be beneficial and healing. Listening to music in the key of D will help heal and bring balance too. Eating orange foods and wearing orange clothing especially on the lower part of our body is good. Think Carrots, Squash, Pumpkin, Red Lentils, Oranges..... The element for this chakra is water, so spending time in or around water is recommended. Being around water balances the water element in our bodies which is connected to our emotions, so it will help to bring calm and cool to our emotions. Swimming, sitting by a lake or the ocean, or even simply placing glasses of water around you when you do your practice will have a positive energetic influence on this chakra. The sacral is our centre for feelings, emotions and creativity so finding exercises which have an outlet for these elements will help to bring balance too. Drawing, painting, writing a diary, dancing and getting creative positively benefits this chakra. If you practice yoga you may include hip opening exercises to keep this centre clear. Stones for this chakra include all orange stones. These could be Carnelian, Jasper, Tangerine Quartz and Amber. You can make an elixir which you can learn about here for greater healing benefits. All the chakras benefit from stillness and meditation. By finding stillness and peace at some point of each day we can create more space in our bodies. We are bombarded on a daily basis with so much information nowadays. Since the dawn of smart phones it seems we never switch off and our energy easily gets lost outside ourselves and this can be very depleting in itself. Daily sitting, even for five to ten minutes in peace and stillness, focusing in and on our breath just gives us some much needed time to return to ourselves and to listen to our body and soul desires. You can find our guide to a grounding and centering meditation here. The sacral chakra is the seat of the self. It is our relationship to ourself. This is where we make our own self-worth and self-love. Working with affirmations for this chakra is highly recommended. They anchor us in to ourselves and positively influence our state of mind. They are very useful towards reprogramming previous destructive thoughts and behaviours. Affirmations such as " I am that I am " " I am enough " " I am the soul " will all work towards strengthening our sense of self and our overall energy field. Use your intuition, find an affirmation or mantra that speaks to you and see how you feel working with it. Working energetically doesn't have to be a hard or long process. If you sit down to watch telly today....you can bring some health and light into your Sacral centre by just acknowledging it. You may sit with your hands on your belly and consciously give it some love and attention! We spend so much time running around in this world....remember to give some time for yourself....your body....your mind......your soul. You deserve it! xxx Wishing healing and health to all of you reading. xxx
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In this series we are going to take an in depth look at the chakras.
For a basic guide to the chakras and what they are you can read about them here. This series will go through each chakra individually. We will explain the best ways to balance and heal each chakra using gems, flowers, foods, mantras and exercises. The body has many chakras, in this guide we will focus on our seven major ones. Root Chakra The root chakra, also known as the base chakra, is located at the base of the spine. In Sanskrit it is referred to as Muladhara - Mula meaning root and Dhara meaning to sustain. This chakra is our survival instinct chakra. It is the place where we feel secure, grounded, emotionally fulfilled and rooted to the Earth. When we are out of balance with our root chakra we can feel disconnected, ungrounded and insecure. So what can we do to work on this chakra? Starting with the basics The element the root chakra is associated to is Earth. The musical note it is aligned to is C. The colour it is associated with is red, brown and black. The seed sound mantra is LAM. From this guide we can now work out how to eat, listen to music and meditate with our Root chakra as the focus. Balancing the Root chakra with foods. This chakra is balanced well with nourishing, wholesome and earthy foods. Root vegetables, brown lentils and legumes are all beneficial when working with this chakra. Choosing red and brown foods and root veggies will work the best....beetroots, strawberries, potatoes etc etc. Foods should be warming, heavy and nutritive. According to Ayurveda, this area is the Vata home. The attributes associated to Vata is lightness, dryness and cold. Eating foods that have these qualities aggravates this part of our body so we need to choose warming, heavy and oily foods. Salads, crisps and crackers and snacks such as popcorn are all best to be avoided when our Root chakra is out of balance. Herbal teas for this chakra include Dandelion, Hibiscus and Valerian. Working with sound. The sound for this chakra is the musical note C. In this way we can choose to listen to music in the key of C, or to sing ourselves in that key. The seed sound mantra is LAM so we can choose to use this mantra, in the note of C, for a daily chant for optimum benefits. The root chakra also enjoys primal beats. Drumming and dancing to drums is an excellent and extremely fun way to bring health to our base! Exercises for this Chakra. This chakra is well balanced by walking, dancing and calming, restorative yoga positions such as forward bends, child pose and squat pose. Lying flat on the floor with you arms by your side ( in Savasana ) is also extremely good. Connecting our feet to the Earth consciously and spending quiet time in nature are all activities to bring balance and peace to our Root chakra. Crystals and Gems for the Root Chakra. If feeling ungrounded go for Black Tourmaline, Smokey Quartz, Jet and Pyrite. If feeling insecure go for Tiger Eye, Pyrite and Red Jasper. If you are feeling low on energy and generally need a boost of health and vitality then go for Garnet, Coral and Ruby. Flowers and Plants for the Root Chakra. Choosing beautiful red plants and flowers for our home is another lovely way to keep working on our chakras in a subtle manner. Poinsettas, red roses and hibiscus plants are great choices for around the house! You can choose to wear red, black or brown, especially in a skirt or pant that sits over your Root Chakra. Whilst in meditation you may also visualise these colours to boost the energies you are working with. The meditation referred to in my last post for grounding is perfect for this chakra too. Take me there. It is important for us to keep this chakra as healthy as possible. This is our first chakra and the health and balance of this chakra affects all the rest of the chakras in our bodies. This is our base, our foundation and our connection to the Earth. From this place begins everything else, and this foundation needs to be strong and healthy for the rest of our bodies overall health and well-being. The next post will be focusing on our second Chakra - The Sacral Chakra. So stay tuned!!! |
x holly & tony x
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