Go with the Flow: Swadhisthana (Sacral) Chakra

by Beth

Waterfall by Arshille Gorky

This is part 3 in my series on the chakras. See Chakras: Guides on the Path to Healing to review the introduction to the series and Stand Your Ground with the Muladhara (Root) Chakra to read my post on Muladhara (Root) chakra. This post will cover Swadhisthana, the Sacral chakra. 

Traditionally, the chakra system is a meditation practice for nyāsa, which means ‘to place’ or take the mind to specific points in the body and then place a mantra, deity, or symbol at each energetic point. The science of tantra (about two thousand years ago) opened the door to viewing the chakras as a model of the human being and using the tools of hatha yoga to explore them. As 21st century yoga practitioners, we have a responsibility to honor the source of knowledge gifted to us from the Sanskrit texts and tantric traditions while making appropriate interpretations and modifications to fit our times, cultures and lifestyles. 

From this contemporary perspective, we can view the chakras as a map for our journey through life as we evolve from basic needs toward a more subtle and spiritual understanding of existence. Joseph LePage says:

“At each step of the journey, the chakras describe an area of our lives for exploration, integration and transformation.” 

The focus of the first chakra is on grounding, stability, safety, and security, which are qualities related to the earth element. The second chakra is associated with the water element and the focus is on feelings, movement, and sensation. 

The Sacral chakra is said to be located four fingers-width below the navel and be related to the lower abdomen, sexual organs, reproductive glands, hips, and pelvis. It is suggested that here is where we work to sense, feel, and recognize our desires, creativity, and emotions, along with our need for pleasure and healthy sexuality. A key lesson is to release control over others in favor of gaining control over ourselves. 

According to yoga tradition, imbalance in this energy may, like chronic stress, be a factor in low back, hip, and pelvic pain, sciatica, obstetrical and gynecological problems, sexual potency problems, or urinary problems. Stephen Levine in his book, Healing Into Life and Death, points out that grave injury and trauma in this area through sexual abuse, abandonment, or betrayal will take time and careful work to heal and may require professional help. So, our challenge is to embrace change, take personalized appropriate action, and manage life’s flow when it is pleasurable and when it brings difficult transitions, pain, and loss. It is important to understand that a total healing may not be possible. Anodea Judith makes this point in her book Eastern Body Western Mind: 

“The second chakra is essentially a movement chakra which is never fully healed as it is constantly in a state of change. If there were a touchstone for a healed second chakra, it might be the ability to embrace change without losing one’s core stability.”

That’s a tall order, since life, like water, sometimes flows gently and sometimes requires us to navigate some pretty rough and tumble rapids. 

Since there is no scientific way to understand the chakras, we will need to sharpen our ability to sense them with intuition and insight. According to Martha Graham, the mother of modern dance in America, “The body never lies.” Fortunately, we all have bodies and working with the body through yoga is an excellent way to become aware of the connection between our energetic and physical anatomies (see Chakras: Guides on the Path to Healing). 

When I consider my ongoing work with second chakra issues, I find that movement is a natural pleasurable go-to solution. If I’m sluggish, feeling blue, or creatively stuck, I can get clarity and shift my energy by dancing, walking, doing yoga, going for a drive, or working out at the gym. 

The lesson of releasing control over others in favor of gaining control over myself is another matter. My understanding of this issue came to fruition in my adult life as a reaction to difficult experiences with boyfriends, two husbands, and a few unfortunate work and social relationships. I experienced a lot of disappointment until I faced what I was doing wrong. 

That realization came about while I was studying chakravidya (knowledge of the chakras), as part of my yoga therapy training. At the same time I was working my way through the aftermath of an emergency hysterectomy while in the middle of a difficult marriage. That perfect storm of circumstance helped me come to grips with and better understand what I sensed as a connection between my physical issues and the energetic issues in my Sacral chakra. Even now, when I scan my chakras, I can sense an imbalance and blockage in this area so I know that as a recovering co-dependent perfectionist (see Yoga Therapy for Perfectionism) I have more healing to do. 

For a deep, user-friendly dive into the contemporary view of the chakras, I recommend Eastern Body, Western Mind by Anodea Judith. To work with your body and sense the energy of the sacral chakra, I recommend the following yoga practices. 

Asana: Dynamic Cobra (Bhujangasana) 

1. Come to the floor and take a hands and knees position, with your knees hips-width apart and your arms shoulder-width apart and outstretched. 

2. Exhale as you sit back onto your heels in Child’s pose (Balasana) to generate a feeling of safety, security and self-nourishment.

3. Inhale and move through hands and knees position to lower yourself into your comfortable version of Cobra pose. 

4. Exhale and push yourself up to your hands and knees and sit back into Child’s pose. 

5. Pick a pace and rhythm that is comfortable for your body as you move through the flow. 

6. Repeat at your chosen pace for 30 seconds to a minute or more.

Pranayama: Watching the Flow of the Breath 

This should take no more than 2 to 3 minutes and can be done several times throughout the day. 

1. Bring yourself to comfortable position, either seated or lying down. 

2. Bring your attention to your breath and the fact that you are breathing. 

3. Notice your breath and the flow of its four parts:

• Watch your inhalation 
• Notice the slight pause before your exhalation 
• Watch your exhalation 
• Notice the slight pause before the next inhalation

4. Let the four parts of the breath flow naturally while you simply witness. 

Mudra: Swadhisthana Mudra 

In Mudras for Healing and Transformation, by Joseph and Lilian Le Page, the Swadhisthana mudra is said to be helpful for balancing the energy of second chakra by cultivating self-nourishment, supporting the health of the reproductive and urinary systems, and releasing tension from the sacrum and lower back. There are no contraindications. 

1. Place your right hand over your lower abdomen, with your thumb resting just below your navel. 

2. Cup your left hand and hold it facing upward at the level of your navel and slightly angled to the left of your body, with your forearm parallel to the earth. 

3. Soften your shoulders and allow you spine to be naturally aligned.

4. As your hold the mudra, watch for sensations like pulsing, tingling, or feelings of movement within your body. 

5. Hold for 5 to 10 breaths or longer if you are comfortable.

Affirmation 

The following affirmation be repeated on its own at any time or while practicing Dynamic Cobra or holding Swadhisthana mudra:

“With awareness and balance I go with the flow of life.” 

Subscribe to Yoga for Healthy Aging by Email ° Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook and Twitter ° To order Yoga for Healthy Aging: A Guide to Lifelong Well-Being, go to Amazon, Shambhala, Indie Bound or your local bookstore.

For information on Beth Gibbs' classes and upcoming workshops, see Beth's Classes and Workshops and for information about Beth, ProYoga Therapeutics, and Beth's book and CD, see proyogatherapeutics.com.

Stand Your Ground with the Muladhara (Root) Chakra

By Beth

Roots by Jamie Wyeth

In part 1 of my series on chakras Chakras: Guides on the Path to Healing I offered an overview of the chakras. This post will cover Muladhara, the root chakra. 

First, let me give you some context. If you are interested in original sources and how different systems use the chakras, check out Christopher Wallis, Ph.D., at The Real Truth About the Chakras  for a deep dive into this complex and complicated topic. 

The traditional history is connected to the contemporary view by understanding that the chakras are, as Wallis informs us, prescriptive not descriptive: 

“The texts are prescriptive — they tell what you ought to do to achieve a specific goal by mystical means. When the literal Sanskrit reads, in its elliptical fashion, ‘four-petaled red lotus at the base of the body’ we are supposed to understand ‘The yogī ought to visualize a four-petaled lotus . . .” 

The specific goal can be optimal physical health, energetic balance, mental/emotional stability, or spiritual transformation. This context provides a blueprint for working with the energy of each chakra.

Muladhara Chakra 

The word Muladhara is loosely translated as “base of support.” It’s location in the body is described in various ways: 

• Between the perineum and the pelvic bone 
• Between the genitals and the anus 
• Coccygeal plexus beneath the sacrum 
• Base of the coccyx (tailbone) 

However, if we accept the purpose of the chakras as prescriptive not descriptive, then location becomes a suggestion of where our base of support can be sensed or felt. The energy of this chakra is related to the qualities of safety, security, survival, and the earth element. This chakra is generally associated with the eliminatory system, bones, legs feet, coccyx and the adrenals. An example of language that sharpens this association is the phrase “stand your ground.” 

Feeling at home in your body and in your own skin can be an indication that this energy is balanced. Feeling disconnected, stressed, and fearful can be an indication of the need to restore a sense of safety and security to enable you to stand your ground. This points to the connection with the adrenal glands, which mediate our stress response (see About Stress: Acute Versus Chronic). When we work with the energy of this chakra, our goal is to remain strong within our own process while interacting appropriately with others and our environment. 

Some physical and psychological issues that may challenge our ability to keep this energy in balance are: 

• Chronic lower back pain 
• Anxiety 
• Sciatica 
• Lethargy 
• Hemorrhoids 
• Constipation 

I’ve had personal experience with both constipation (see Yoga for Occasional Constipation) and hemorrhoids. I’ve used my growing self-awareness to notice that these conditions occur most often when I’m feeling disconnected, blocked, stuck, and dealing with financial insecurity, difficult relationships, or car problems. My yoga practice is always there to help me through. 

Here are three of my favorite practices for Muladhara chakra. See if they help you feel more safe, secure, and connected to your internal strength and wholeness. Although the focus is on Muladhara chakra, all the others are affected because everything is connected (I like rhyming words). You can also do these three practices together. I find myself smiling when I do. 

1. Physical Practice: Virabhadrasana 1 (Warrior 1)

Joseph LePage recommends standing poses, such as Mountain Pose (Tadasana), Goddess Pose (Utkata Konasana), and Warrior 1 and 2. Warrior 1 is my asana of choice because I am able to keep my pelvis, spine, and head in a more comfortable alignment. You’ll find instructions, modifications, and illustrations at Featured Pose: Warrior 1) and in the book Yoga for Healthy Aging: A Guide to Lifelong Well-Being. I practice with my hands on my hips to impart a deeper sense of resilience, strength, and grounding. Start with a 30 second hold and work up to 2 – 3 minutes per side. 

2. Energy Practice: Adhi Mudra 

The Sanskrit word “adhi” means primordial and refers to our natural state of being. The Adhi Mudra is said to bring the breath to the base of the body, help with anxiety, and instill a deep sense of grounding and stillness. 

1. Sit with your spine comfortably aligned. 

2. Soften your chest and shoulders. 

3. Close your eyes or keep them slightly open and gaze down at the floor. 

4. With both hands, form soft fists by placing your thumbs across your palms and folding your fingers around your thumbs. 

5. Rest your hands, knuckles down, on your knees or thighs. 

6. Hold the mudra and sit quietly for 2 - 5 minutes, as long as you are comfortable. 

7. Focus on your natural breathing process.

8. When you are ready to come out, release the mudra and stretch your body in any way that your body needs to stretch. 

In Mudras for Healing and Transformation, LePage, states that Adhi mudra should be practiced with caution if you have low blood pressure. I have low blood pressure but am able to practice Adhi mudra regularly with no problems. 

3. Mental Practice: Roots Visualization 

I learned this Roots Visualization years ago from a yoga buddy. I use it to stand my ground in stressful situations instead of giving in to my first impulse to flee or freeze. I also practice it when I’m alone and feeling spacey and ungrounded. 

Instructions: 

1. If possible, take off your shoes, connect your bare feet to the ground, and close your eyes. If you find yourself in a place or time where you cannot take off your shoes or close your eyes, direct your attention to your legs and feet to sense a deeper to the earth underneath you. 

2. Begin to visualize roots growing from your body, starting from the base of the spine. Feel roots reaching down through your legs through the bottoms of your feet to pierce through the earth’s crust.

3. Visualize your roots branching and spreading, growing stronger, and reaching deeper into the earth. Sense the strength, support, and the stability that your branching roots send back to fill your entire body. 

4. With each inhalation, begin to draw in strength, support, and stability and allow that feeling to deepen your connection to the physical world and your place in it. 

5. Draw these qualities through the bones of your feet and legs to the base of your spine and all the way up to the crown of your head. Feel your entire body safe, secure, stable, and connected to the physical world, allowing you to stand your ground and speak your truth.

As you do this you may feel some tingling or pulsing in your feet and legs. That’s a good thing because energy flows where intention goes. You can shorten or lengthen the visualization as needed. When you attune yourself physically, energetically, and mentally to your need in the moment, you can stand your ground assertively, appropriately, and confidently. 

Subscribe to Yoga for Healthy Aging by Email ° Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook and Twitter ° To order Yoga for Healthy Aging: A Guide to Lifelong Well-Being, go to Amazon, Shambhala, Indie Bound or your local bookstore.

For information on Beth Gibbs' classes and upcoming workshops, see Beth's Classes and Workshops and for information about Beth, ProYoga Therapeutics, and Beth's book and CD, see proyogatherapeutics.com.

Chakras: Guides on the Path to Healing

by Beth

Walking Maze by Heidi Santschi of Heidi Santschi Garden Design

Most of us have encountered the chakras at some point in our yoga journey. Some of us have solid knowledge of the origins and meanings. And many of us may be wondering if the chakras have relevance to our yoga practice and the issues we deal with every day.

My answer to that wondering is an unequivocal yes! Over my next several posts I’ll share what I’ve learned about the chakras as a useful model, or lens, through which to view ourselves and our lives. I’ve chosen the contemporary view because this is when and where we exist. 

Even so, it is important to understand the history of the chakras because history provides context, and context gives us a foundation on which to build a contemporary view that supports the yoga tools we use to work with the chakras. Reading Nina’s post Friday Q&A: Chakras That Are True to Yoga is a great first step. The next step is learning how to view the chakras as a useful model for healthy aging. 

We know we have a physical body (anamayakosha) because our five senses tell us that we are solid flesh and blood. We also have an energy body (pranamayakosha), which includes the nadis, pranavayus, auras and chakras. This can be harder to grasp because our energy anatomy is not physical. But while it is not solid flesh and blood, it does intersect with and impact our physical body and the mental, emotional and spiritual aspects that exist within it. Therefore, our mission, if we choose to accept it, is to deepen our understanding of the relationship between the physical and energetic systems (which are actually one in the same but we don’t need to get too wonky here) to inform, enhance and deepen our life experience and our yoga practice.

Are these chakras real? There is no hard scientific evidence. A pathologist can perform an autopsy to locate and dissect all of our physical parts but will not find or be able to dissect the chakras. Acceptance of the chakras will depend on your openness to the reality and relevance of a philosophical and psychological model that you cannot see, touch, smell, hear ,or taste (well, some people claim to be able to ‘see’ chakras but that’s subject for someone else to tackle). 

Christopher Wallis, PhD, in his article The Real Truth About the Chakras, writes that many different chakra systems come down to us from the texts of Tantra yoga:

“five-chakra systems, six-chakra systems, seven, nine, ten, fifteen, twenty-one, twenty-eight and more chakras are taught, depending on what text you’re looking at.” 

For the purpose of this series, I’ll be referring to the system that describes seven energy centers located at different points in the body along the spinal column. These chakras and their locations are said to be:

1. Muladhara (root chakra – between the perineum and the pelvic bone) 
2. Svadhisthana (sacral chakra - 4 fingers width below navel) 
3. Manipura (solar plexus chakra – in the abdomen above the navel) 
4. Anahata (heart chakra – center of the chest) 
5. Vishuddha (throat chakra – neck/throat) 
6. Ajna (third eye chakra – centered between the eyebrows) 
7. Sahasrara (crown chakra – top of the head) 

Anodea Judith, PhD, has written numerous books on the subject. My favorite is Eastern Body, Western Mind. In it, she offers a useful metaphor of human beings as biocomputers. In this metaphor, our body is the hardware, the chakras are software that hold vital programming (helpful and unhelpful), prana (life force energy) is what powers the entire system, and we are the users. In this view, each chakra contains a different program for issues such as survival, sexuality, self-actualization, love and compassion, communication, intuition, and awareness. 

To achieve optimal physical and spiritual health, when we have any issues, problems, or blocks in our life, we need to recognize, heal, and integrate them. I feel that when we recognize a problem, we can choose to use the chakras as guides to change how we perceive our issues, our beliefs, and our behavior. In other words, we can choose to debug and reprogram some of our software. 

These psychological aspects of the chakras are contemporary interpretations and are not found in the ancient texts. Does this make a difference? That depends on your willingness to consider a contemporary interpretation. I have found this interpretation to be relevant, helpful, and beneficial for myself and many of my students.

For example, in my post Enough I described that one element of my “programming” was an unhelpful core belief that I had to do more and be more in order to be accepted and valued. When I became aware of how that unhelpful “programming” was causing stress, I was able to use my knowledge of yoga to debug and reprogram that belief. In the chakra model that I will be discussing, this is seen as a heart chakra issue involving balance, compassion, and self-acceptance. At the time I was not consciously working with the chakras, but looking back I can see that my asana practice had an impact on my energy anatomy. After all, they are ultimately one in the same. And yes, I am getting better at accepting myself as I am, warts and all. 

The art and science of yoga offers us a wide variety of practices to work with the chakras:

• Yamas and niyamas (ethics and actions) 
• Asana 
• Pranayama 
• Guided imagery 
• Mudra 
• Meditation 
• Chanting and affirmations 

Over the next several posts, I will be exploring each of the chakras and their application to yoga practice and healthy aging.

Subscribe to Yoga for Healthy Aging by Email ° Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook and Twitter ° To order Yoga for Healthy Aging: A Guide to Lifelong Well-Being, go to Amazon, Shambhala, Indie Bound or your local bookstore.

For information on Beth Gibbs' classes and upcoming workshops, see Beth's Classes and Workshops and for information about Beth, ProYoga Therapeutics, and Beth's book and CD, see proyogatherapeutics.com.

Friday Q&A: Chakras That Are True to Yoga

Q: Can you write an in depth look at the chakras? What was the original intent in the ancient texts? And how has the understanding changed over time? What is true to yoga and what is New Age mysticism?

A: Well, to start, because I’m not qualified to write an in-depth look at the chakras, I asked someone on our staff who is, namely Beth Gibbs, to write one for our reader. She not only agreed to tackle this subject, but also has promised to write an entire series of the chakras, which will start in September. So, we can all look forward to learning more about the chakras, especially about how they can be employed in a modern yoga practice.

But today I thought I would take a look at the origins of chakras, in terms of how “ancient” the theories about them actually are and what their original meaning was. Although I tend to think of the chakras as being associated with Hatha Yoga, they actually do precede it. In The Yoga Tradition, Georg Feuerstein says:

“The Tantric literature is filled with descriptions of the “centers” (cakra) and “currents/pathways" (nadhi) that are the basic structures of the subtle body.”

According to Feuerstein, the Tantras made their appearance "in the opening centuries of the first millennium C.E." And Hatha Yoga is one of the schools that are offshoots of Tantrism So, this does make the original descriptions of the chakras arguably "ancient," depending on how you define that word. According to Feuerstein, chakras as defined during the Tantric era were:

“These are pools of life energy, vibrating at different rates. Each cakra is associated with specific psychosomatic functions, but these energy whirls must not be confused with the nerve plexuses of the physical body with which they are, however, correlated.” 

However, if by being “true to yoga” you mean Classical Yoga, the yoga of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, then you’re going to have to radically shift your ideas about chakras. That’s because Classical Yoga not only precedes Tantra Yoga, which is when the "subtle body" was fully described, but in The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Edwin Bryant clearly states the use of the word “cakras” in that text (it does appear in the third pada, for example) has nothing to do with the Tantra model of the "subtle body":

“Cakra here is not necessarily a reference to the cakra physiology most commonly associated with the cluster of siddha/tantra/sakta traditions. Tellingly, Patanjali makes not direct reference to this overall physiology.”

In the Yoga Sutras, the chakras are simply areas of the body on which to focus your meditation. Additionally, the Tantric practices that use the chakras are based on a goal of liberation that is at odds with the goal of yoga in The Yoga Sutras. According to Bryant:

“One might go on to note that the understanding of the goal in classical Yoga clearly differs from the siddha notion that the supreme goal of yoga is attained, and liberation occurs, when this kundalini reaches the thousand-petal sahasrara-cakra in the crown of the head.”

If you’d like to read his thorough comparison of those goals and why they’re opposed to each other, see page 358 of The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. 

But is there some other period, say, for example, the yoga described in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, that this reader would like to stay true to? Because you will have to start by identifying which source you consider to be the “true yoga” in terms of chakras. That’s not something I can do for you because there is no single authoritative text on this subject. For example, here is what Richard Rosen says about the way chakras are described in the Tantric texts:

“It is generally reported that there are six or seven of them located along the central channel (sushumna nadi) in the subtle body, but that’s just one particular model; other models include eight, nine, or twelve or more cakras. These numbers, however, are dwarfed by those noted in some sources, which number the cakras well into the tens of thousands; however, as with all yoga numbers of this magnitude, they’re not to be taken literally, they’re only meant to indicate that there are “lots and lots” of them.”

But if you’d like to see how Richard compares the original descriptions of the chakras with the way they are currently taught, see pages 138 to 141 of his book Yoga FAQ. It’s a bit snarky, I’m afraid. Here’s one quote:

“Anyway, as we can see from this overload of evidence, modern teachers have taken the cakra ball and run with it, so to speak. They’ll help you open your cakras, balance them, and heal them—though we know for sure from the old texts they’re closed, it’s not clear how they got unbalanced or ill—they offer cakra retreats, and if you’re curious about the condition of your cakras, there are any numbers of tests you can take to help you figure that out.”

He encourages you to first study the “primary sources,” such as “Investigation of Six Centers” by Purnananda (dated at 1525 CE, so not especially "ancient.")

Perhaps, reader, this was not exactly what you wanted to hear but I hope at least you learned some things that will lead you to the answer that’s right for you. I know for sure that I learned a lot writing about this topic! And we can both look forward to Beth’s series in the fall.

By the way, Richard, who has studied Sanskrit, also tells us that many of us mispronounce the word. It is “chuck-ruh” not “shock-ruh.”

—Nina

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For information about Nina's upcoming book signings and other activities, see Nina's Workshops, Book Signings, and Books.