Celebration Of Creativity: Swadishthan Cook your lunch or burn the entire forest

Anodea Judith beautifully explain that, "Chakra yoga seeks to define alignment from the inside, by feeling the flow of prana through the body and finding the best way to enhance that flow through the core and chakras. You could call it alignment of the subtle body." After making the ground/ base chakra sound, you become ready for the next level. This second chakra, called "Swadishthan Chakra".

Swadishthan is composed of two Sanskrit words, "Swa" meaning self, and "sthan" means place. Which means finding your place in the space. It is located between navel and pubic bone, which is the seat for genital organs. Balanced second chakra helps you to allow pleasure into your lives; be more creative and expressive, have high level of integrity, very ethical and honour relationships. In a way this chakra is about true alignment within.

To open this chakra you need to understand its element- water. Water flows without any inhibition or fear. And if it is stopped, the land ahead become stressed and forms nicks and cracks. Similarly, when you try to stop your true instincts you are bound to take wrong decisions, you will stress yourself.

There are many physical indicators of an underactive second chakra; one of the key indicator is pain and stiffness in the sacral and hip region or sciatica pain, pelvic pain etc. To prevent or cure these you can exercise some Yogasanas like badh konasana, bhujangasana and Trikonasana.

For sciatica pain one can practice waist- to- heel movements taken from Odissi dance form. Body of an odissi dancer can be divided into 3 parts- neck, waist and knee. In one of such movements you stand straight hold your index finger in your other hand and place it over your head, now take a good round by bending your waist and making a half circle. 

It loosens and helps you open your hips. Similarly there are other waist- to- foot movements in Bharatnatyam and Kuchipudi dance forms. You can also practise foot work of kuchipudi in which you press your heel on the floor. It relieves any pain in sciatic nerve.

Over activity in the sacral chakra can lead to being emotionally imbalanced with the tendency to fantasize, sexual addictions and manipulative behaviour and also other addictions like alcohol, drug or smoking. 

As this chakra deals with pleasure, of all kinds of addiction happens here. People suffering from addiction should focus all the energy to balance this chakra through physical activity as well as meditation. You can either use Crystal Meditation through orange coloured crystal like orange calcite or you may also try the simple lying down meditation. 

Lie down on your back and take a few breath in and out. Once you settle down, just have a quick scan of all your chakras by focussing on each chakra. You may feel heat or coolness or maybe nothing, that's all fine. 

If you feel nothing it just means that chakra is blocked and you need to focus on that. But don't get too caught up on that. After the quick scan now focus only on your first chakra, if you are feeling some sensation you may then move on to the second chakra. You may start this with minimum of 5 mins, just before sleeping.

A blocked or under active sacral chakra will also lead to emotional instability but this is mainly focusing on the over-sensitive, insecure type of emotions or feeling of dejection. Such is direct manifestation of imbalance in endocrine system. 

The person with a blocked sacral chakra is usually very hard on themselves, with feelings of guilt and blame for no reason, which can also lead to feelings of isolation and withdrawing from life. In order to take out that guilt and frustration you should start by picking up any kind sport or any creative hobby. 

A word of caution from the writer of a mantra yoga therapy, "The energy of the second chakra is extremely powerful. It can be harnessed and developed for extraordinary healing purposes. Or it can be used to inflict insidious psychic damage to others. It is similar to fire in that respect. Fire can be used to cook your lunch or burn the entire forest. It is all your choice."