Your good health, happiness, and inner peace all depend on a smooth flow of energy—the harmonious balance and clarity of your seven chakra energy centers.
When any of your chakras are distorted by an upsetting event, they can become deficient or excessive. What are the chances that an upsetting event or trauma, remembered or unremembered, has happened in your life? Where should you look for the imbalance that may still be causing you pain? Here’s something startling to consider: Just about everybody on the planet has second chakra issues! The reason? Everybody wants to feel pleasure, not pain, making it is easy to get trapped in an unbalanced second chakra.
The second chakra is located about halfway between your first chakra, at the base of your spine, and your navel. It corresponds to the sacral plexus nerve ganglion, which is why it is also called the sacral chakra. This chakra is all about you in relationship to other people. Here, you have the fluidity of your feelings and interaction with others. The governing principle for the second chakra is movement and connection.
The realm of the second chakra is the fluid world of the element water. It’s a slippery and complex arena, since it involves connecting with others, with your desires and your emotions. Second chakra balance requires you to let go so your creativity can flow. As the foundation of your emotional body, it allows you to feel your emotions, your sexuality and sensuality, to be open and friendly with other people, and it’s the source of all of your creativity.
When I say that second chakra issues are nearly universal, I’m speaking of my own life as well as observations from my decades of spiritual study and teaching.
To gauge the state of your second chakra, here are some questions to ask:
Are you prone to negative attitudes, like “I’m never considered for promotions” or “I’ll never lose this weight”?
Have you sold out on occasion for money, or power, or sex?
Do you chronically feel lonely or abandoned?
Do you give of yourself excessively, and then get angry when people aren’t appreciative enough?
Do you sacrifice your own dreams and goals to get someone else’s approval?
Do you sometimes lack ethics?
Do you do the right thing for everybody except yourself?
A Balanced Second Chakra
People with integrated sacral chakras are comfortable giving and receiving enjoyment, love, money, and material goods. They know how and when to say no and have a sense of internal balance between their masculine and feminine qualities. Touch is vitally important for balancing the second chakra. A hug, a massage, holding your pet—any type of gentle touch takes us into harmonious relationship with the other.
A healthy second chakra is a fertile place—an engine of creative possibility that allows inspiration to flow through the body. As the seat of the inner child and emotions, this center hosts your creative and generative impulse. Creativity is not limited to the arts and can be expressed through your entire energy field and body/mind in a host of ways every day.
Healing the Second Chakra
The biggest challenge of the second chakra is getting trapped in feelings of guilt and shame. It’s difficult for many people to allow themselves to receive pleasure without being consumed by guilt. This often leads to shutting down the ability to recognize and feel your emotions. Part of healing the second chakra is reclaiming your right to feel—your emotions, your senses, your passion and your pleasures—without guilt or shame. Addiction also comes from the second chakra, as you become addicted to whatever gives you relief from your problems or blinds you to the truth of your emotions.
Simple ways of clearing this chakra include: finding an activity you enjoy that allows you to express your creativity; surrounding yourself with beauty; swimming or doing bodywork in the water like Watsu; and repeating affirmations such as “I give myself permission to fully enjoy my sexuality,” “My life is graceful and pleasurable,” and “I allow my emotions to flow through me in a healthy way.”
Water is joy for the second chakra, so cultivate a habit of self-nurture by immersing yourself in saltwater for twenty minutes—in the ocean or a clearing bath with sea salt and baking soda. Use water sounds to calm your body. Walking in the moonlight also helps to clear and charge the second chakra. Be aware and your second chakra energy center can become a flowing fountain of creativity and joy.
