E89: Sexuality & The Sacral Chakra
E89: Sexuality & The Sacral Chakra
Today we’re continuing with our chakra series, and we’ll be diving deeper into our second chakra...
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[00:56] Before we take a closer look at the sacral chakra, here is a quick review of the seven main chakras, also known as energy centres, in the body:
Chakra One: Is the root chakra located at the base of the spine/tailbone
Episode 64: Reclaim Your Roots with the First Chakra
Chakra Two: Is the sacral chakra, located at the reproductive organs, below the belly button
Episode 89: Sexuality & The Sacral Chakra
Chakra Three: Is the core or solar plexus chakra, located in the abdomen above the belly button
Episode 79: Confidence & The Core Chakra
Chakra Four: is the heart chakra, at the centre of the chest
Episode 96: Harmony & the Heart Chakra
Chakra Five: is the throat chakra, located at the throat
Episode 58: Speak Your Truth with the Fifth Chakra
Chakra Six: Is called the third eye chakra located at the forehead, between the eyebrows
Episode 71: Intuition & The Third Eye Chakra
And lastly, Chakra Seven: the crown chakra, located at the top of the head.
Episode 105: Divine Connection with the Crown Chakra
[1:42] Not only do the chakras correspond with a specific location in the physical body, they also serve emotional, mental, and spiritual purposes. The second chakra, also called the sacral chakra, is a very fluid, emotional, and sexual energy centre. The meaning of this chakra; or the purpose is movement and connection. In Sanskrit the name for the Sacral Chakra is “Svadhisthana” which translates to “sweetness.”
[2:11] The chakras also have colours, issues, identity, demons, characteristics, and much more.
The themes around the second chakra will be centred around emotions, movement, sexuality, pleasure, flow, sensation, duality, and desire. This chakra is represented by the colour orange.
As a very emotional energy centre in the body, it might not come as a surprise that the element of this chakra is water. We are moving away from the solid foundation of the first chakra, into the changing and shape shifting liquid of the second chakra.
You can think of the first chakra as the cup or container, and the second chakra as the contents of that container. Without the container, the water element flows out leaving the cup to be empty and dry, but with a container that is too tight, there is nowhere for the water to flow. The water becomes stale and stagnant.
[3:14] Change and flow become important pieces to this energy centre, because through change our consciousness finds expansion. As we grow, we also change. We are now learning to let go, and flow!
In the physical world this means literally getting up and moving our bodies. Shake what your mama gave you! Through physical movement we change the appearance of our bodies, we build muscles, increase flexibility, release endorphins, and more. In play there is movement, and there is pleasure in play.
We can also practice observing our movements, as our body language gives us information about emotions, and feelings. Even subtle changes in facial expressions can reveal different types of feelings.
As I mentioned before, movement and connection are the essential functions of the second chakra. There are several different ways we can move, and there are also many ways we can connect and make contact.
[4:15] For instance through sensation. Our senses can be seen as a gateway between the internal and external world. Take a moment to notice the sights, and sounds around you. As I am making my podcast notes I can hear the buzzing cicadas. I can see the words form on my computer screen. What about your sense of touch? What can you touch, what can you taste? When we sense something new, or bring awareness to a sense, our inner world changes. We take in the senses like data being uploaded to our overall system. Sensations help us connect and give meaning to our experiences. Senses can be seen as information, not only from the outside world, but also from our own bodies. It is a language other than English, which I am speaking to you right now. Understanding the sensations we feel, see, hear, taste, and smell allows us to communicate with our own bodies.
[5:44] Pleasure is another form of contact and connection. Once you’ve accomplished your daily tasks or to-do list, what’s your next move? It’s probably going to be drawing a bubble bath, or lounging on the coach. Maybe it means coming home from a long day at work and taking off your bra as soon as you walk through the door. In her book, Eastern Body Western Mind, Anodea Judithwrites, “Pleasure invites us to extend, expand, and tune in to our senses.” She continues later to say, “Our culture equates maturity with the ability to deny pleasure. We are often told to put our pleasures away as we grow older – to sit still, work hard, deny or control our feelings”
This denial results in the constriction I talked about before. When movement, emotions, energy, water, is constricted, we limit ourselves and build up the charge that has no way of flowing or letting go. Which then leads to rigidity, disconnection, and discomfort; a lack of pleasure.
[6:58] Emotions are a huge part of this chakra. The senses are bringing in the information, where our feelings are sending us information from our unconscious. Our emotions also influence our reactions, so even though our feelings have a mind of their own, we can still choose to respond to our emotions. This becomes more difficult when we bottle them up, or when there is an imbalance in the sacral chakra and the energy/emotions cannot flow!
Allowing this flow, this releasing of emotions, frees the body, and we can do this through movement. Last summer I was healing and grieving a loss. Any time I experienced emotions starting to bubble up to the surface, any time I felt discomfort, anger, sadness, or grief, I would grab my yoga mat and intuitively move my body. I did this almost every single day for the entire summer. It was so great to get on my mat outside in the fresh air. Sometimes in the scorching heat. But every time my body moved, and I was able to breathe deeper, move further, and release the feelings that moved through me. Coincidentally I was also practicing beside a pool, and even close to the ocean when I visited California last summer. Lots of healing through movement, and connecting to the element water, and the sacral chakra.
[9:23] Another expression of the second chakra is sexuality. Sexuality goes beyond our self connection, or the connection to experiences, and connects us with another. It is also the basic force of attraction, uniting desire and grounding us for our next chakra: power. To embrace the essence and energy of sexuality, we must also have the capacity to surrender, the ability to flow with nature, and the emotional body. In our culture, like play and pleasure, sexuality is greatly misunderstood. We’ll discuss this more in a moment when we get into the deficiencies of the second chakra, however guilt locks the gateway to transformation and pleasure. This results in sexuality being rejected and hiding in a shadow where it takes on a dark form that desperately seeks connection.
[10:35] Reclaiming our second chakra means reclaiming our own right feel, and our right to healthy sexuality. This means connecting to our senses, allowing our emotions to flow, experiencing pleasure unapologetically, being passionate about what we desire, and a healthy expression of sexuality.
When a chakra is balanced, it is healthy. A healthy sacral chakra can be seen through:
Grateful movements
Emotional intelligence
The ability to experience pleasures
Nurturing self and nurturing others
The ability to change and
Healthy boundaries
Sacral chakra deficiencies include:
Rigidity in the body and attitudes
Frigidity and/or fear of sex
Poor social skills
Denial of pleasure
Excessive boundaries
Fear of change
Sacral chakra excess include:
Sexual acting out, sexual addiction
Pleasure addiction
Excessively strong emotions
Oversensitive
Poor boundaries, invasion of others
Seductive manipulation
Emotional dependency
[12:04] The climate of our culture is stormy in regards to conversations, attitudes, and healing the sacral chakra. It’s difficult to understand or distinguish what a healthy sexuality is, how to do “emotional work,” how to set and respect healthy boundaries.
The best way that I approach my own chakra healing is encouraging balance. Consider your chakras as sphere’s of energy swirling around and around. Sit in silence, stillness, and meditation to determine whether your second chakra is excess or deficient.
As you connect with yourself, consider the other parts of the sacral chakra: emotions, pleasure, sensation, movement, sexuality, desire, and guilt. Notice where your energy fits along the spectrum and you will know whether to release your sensations and excitement or whether to contain your emotions and energy.
When you are practicing any type of healing, it’s important to provide a safe space. This will help promote the healing. A safe space means allowing the energy to move, flow, and restore balance in the body. Remember that feelings of shame and guilt lock the gateway to transformation and pleasure. For emotions to flow, we need to remove locks. This can take time as trauma and ongoing stress interrupt and upset the flow of energy. Healing also requires permission to feel and release, and transform.
[14:09] Movement and emotions are essential to healing the second chakra. I think this is why my grief healing went so smoothly last year, because I allowed myself to feel the emotions, and I moved through them, breathed through them. I also believe that sitting and holding your emotions can be an important part to honouring your feelings. As if to say, “I see you, I hear you, I feel your pain.” This can be helpful to the beginning of the healing process, however it’s very important to let them go and let love flow through.
As I mentioned, the healing process takes time. Think of it as thawing an ice cube. The emotions are cold, constricted, hard. With time and warmth the ice cube begins to melt, taking the shape of water and slowly flowing.
Someone once told me, “When you cry, your heart is healing.” and I think of it as the ice cold pain in my heart melting and releasing the suffering. Allowing that pain to move and flow.
[17:37] The opposite form of healing would be for an excessive second chakra to create containment of the emotions and excitement. Anodea Judith writes, “Containment means not acting immediately upon a feeling, urge, desire, or energy before it can come fully into consciousness, where it might be too threatening. Without containment, there is no storage of energy and virtually no power.”
It’s not about denying or ignoring experiences, it’s about responding instead of reacting. Ultimately it’s about becoming emotionally intelligent. We can recognize our level of emotional intelligence based on how we habitually respond to certain situations. We will notice it the most under stress, pressure, or when we’re feeling anger or anxiety. We can learn what we do, and also learn about other tools and ways to resolve this poor reaction to something more constructive.
For example: when I am feeling anxious I typically start to feel panicked and hold my breath. Sometimes this leads to overwhelm and crying. Since I know this about myself, I chose to learn about alternative tools to coping with these anxious feelings. Before I get anywhere near feelings of panic, I take several deep breaths and start to slow my breathing down. Big belly breaths help calm the nervous system. Then I can step into a more focused mindset, and understand the situation more clearly: What is the issue? What is in my control? Who can I reach out to for guidance or support?
When I’m feeling angry I tend to lash out and speak – or raise my voice – and say things without thinking first. Knowing this, I now connect to my breath, and count to 10 in my head. It sounds very elementary, and it’s because it is. The difference between a child counting to 10 when they’re angry, and how I’m doing it, is that while I’m counting I am also using the THINK method. Also elementary for some:
T.H.I.N.K. stands for:
T is it true?
H is it helpful?
I is it inspiring?
N is it necessary?
K is it kind?
More often than not, when I am angry, what I want to say is none of these things, so I breathe and let the not-so-positive thought go so that I can move onto something more constructive.
[21:04] When it comes to sexual healing, this is an area that our culture tries to separate or hide from important conversations. But sexual healing can not be done in isolation because it involves many levels of consciousness. It requires all parts of the sacral chakra: desire, emotion, movement, sensation, pleasure, as they all need to work together to heal our sexuality. This begins within ourselves and our connection to ourselves. Understand our desires, emotions, movements, sensations, and pleasures. Learning how to balance them, and how to heal.
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Podcast Host
Valerie LaVigne
Valerie is the creator and founder of Valerie LaVigne Life and the Women's Empowerment Show. She helps busy and empowered women create healthy habits so that they can become the best version of themselves and transform their lives. Learn more about Valerie here!
