Second Chakra Balancing for Creativity
Creativity and yoga go hand in hand. Our yoga practice can nurture and inspire our creative expression, and creativity and personal expression have an important place in our yoga practice.
Our creativity stems from our second chakra, called the Sacral Chakra, or in Sanksrit, Svadhisthana, which literally translates to “sweetness.” This chakra, located in the area between the pubic bone and the navel – where our womb resides – is also associated with our emotions, sensuality, pleasure, ability to embrace change, nurturance, duality, and relationships. The color associated with this chakra is ORANGE, the earth element is water, and the seed sound is VAM (pronounced “vum”).
How do we know if this chakra is unbalanced? We may experience difficulty with change, difficulty feeling and expressing emotions, unstable relationships, fear of intimacy, or experience blockages to our creative expression, like “writers block.” Physically, it can manifest as dis-ease with the reproductive organs, kidneys, and bladder. Even if we don’t directly experience these things, we may desire to increase our creativity or just want to keep the creative river flowing.
Besides yoga practice, how can we tap in to and keep this chakra balanced?
Spend time near a body of water! Listen to it, smell it, see it, get into it if you can! Allow all your senses to fill with the experience of water.
Take a hot bath or shower. Go swimming!
Wear or surround yourself with the color orange.
Use essential oils. Sandalwood, Ylang Ylang, Clary Sage, Jasmine, Orange, Bergamot, Black Pepper, Fennel, Rosewood, and Neroli are all nourishing to the second chakra.
When strong emotions begin to arise, find ways to healthily express them in whatever way feels right. Dance, sing, laugh, cry, yell, ask for a hug, journal. Be in the direct experience of them as much as you can.
Look at and admire artwork done by others. Listen to music.
Take an art, music, or otherwise creative workshop.
When you feel inspired, create art or music yourself in whatever way feels accessible.
Physical contact with others. Hug, hold hands, be intimate, have meaningful conversation. Allow yourself to touch and be touched in ways that feel safe.
Spend time with family and friends – foster close relationships.
Liquids nourish this chakra. Choose water, herbal teas, juices/smoothies, kombucha, and coconut water to stay hydrated and keep the water element balanced in your body.
Use the sound “VAM” for a seated meditation. Set a phone alarm – start with 5 minutes – and repeat this sound with every breath cycle. You can also listen to this sound: try this song.
Now, on to a second chakra balancing yoga practice! The focus is on the hip area, as our emotions often are stored in this part of our body. Opening our physical hip area can help us to begin to release and move through “stuck” emotions. We also focus on flowing, circular movements to help us tap in to our inner water quality. Props you may like include firm pillows/blankets, two blocks if you have them (a firm, fat book such as a dictionary can be subbed out!). While I do not include them in this practice, Sun Salutations can be a wonderful addition as they themselves are a flowing, unified movement. And here is a great playlist to accompany your practice!
Before we begin practice, always take a moment to close your eyes and find gratitude for all it took to bring you to your mat. Also take a moment to set an intention for your practice and your day: perhaps, “creativity,” or something else that speaks to you.
Begin lying down on your back with the soles of your feet together and the knees spread wide to the sides. Feel free to support your head with a pillow or blanket here. Allow the hips to gently open while you familiarize yourself with your breath cycle. Also, begin to draw your awareness to the lower abdomen, between the navel and the pubic bone. Feel how the breath affects this area. Play with expanding it, and gently contracting it. Imagine it glowing orange. Stay here for at least 10 breaths.
Staying in this position, begin to find some movement. Exhale and draw the knees together. Inhale and drop them back out to the side. Imagine your legs like butterfly wings, floating in and out with the breath. Repeat this flow for 10 breaths.
End with the knees together, and begin to play with gentle pelvic rocks. Exhale and gently contract the lower abdomen, drawing your pubic bone up to your navel. You may feel your tailbone lift gently off the floor. Inhale and release back down. Repeat for 10 breaths.
From here, keep the knees and inner legs together and bring your knees up to the sky so that the legs are at a 90 degree angle. Keep the toes flexed back toward your face. Again, become aware of your lower abdomen and gently contract it to keep your low back on the floor.
Stay here, or if you’re feeling feisty, begin some mindful core work. Keeping the lower abdomen pulled in, the low back on the floor, and the legs together, begin to paint some figure 8 shapes with your knees, while keeping them towards 90 degrees and the feet lifted. They can be big or small. Keep in tune with your breath. Repeat 5 breath cycles, then change directions.
From here, come to a comfortable cross legged seat. Use a blanket or other props to create enough lift to your hips that you are comfortable. Root down into the sit bones, draw your lower abdomen in, and lift out the crown of your head. Your spine is long.
Warm up here with some torso circles. Imagine that you are drawing a circle with your heart. Inhale as you come forward, exhale as you pull back. Keep your head tall and your chest open.
Seated side stretch: Come back up to neutral, and place your right hand next to you on the mat (or a block, if the floor feels far away). Inhale, lift your left hand to the sky, exhale and hinge towards the right. Keep the left sit bone rooted down, the lower abdomen drawn in, and spin your bottom ribs forward, your top ribs back, so that your heart shines towards the sky. Feel the entire left side open, stay for 5 breaths, and come back up. Repeat on the other side.
Seated twist: Come back to center. Draw your lower abdomen in. Inhale, raise the fingers to the sky. Keeping the navel pulled in, exhale and gently twist to the right. Rest your right behind the hips, left hand on the right thigh. Keep the spine long and only look over the back shoulder if the neck agrees. In seated twists, we never pull with our hands to “torque” ourselves into the posture. Use only the strength of the abdominal muscles. To test this out, lift the hands into the air. You shouldn’t need them here, they’re simply gentle anchors. Stay for 5 breaths, inhale to center, and repeat on other side.
Cat/Cow: Make your way to all fours. Feel free to pad your knees here. Stack the wrists under the shoulders, and the knees under the hips. Spread your fingers and toes wide and draw in the lower abdomen. Find the breath cycle. On an inhale, drop the lower abdomen to the floor, reach your tailbone back and up, and the crown of your head forward and up – we keep a long spine here. Exhale, draw the navel in, round the shoulders and drop the tailbone and crown of the head to the floor. Continue for 5-10 breaths. Feel free to invite free movements! Rib rolls, hip circles – what does your body crave?
Childs pose: End cat/cows on an inhale, coming back to a neutral spine. Bring the knees as wide as comfortable, move the big toes toward each other, and exhale to a wide-legged childs pose. Reach out through long fingertips, and visualize length from crown to tail. Sink the hips to the heels and again draw the awareness to the breath flowing through the lower abdomen. Stay 5-10 breaths.
Low lunge: Coming back through all fours, bring your right foot forward and your left toes back into a low lunge. Again, your knee may ask for support here – offer it. Stack your front knee over your front ankle and spread the toes wide on both feet. Sink into the hips to feel opening, but make sure you’re still breathing! Keep the hands on the floor, on blocks, or on an inhale sweep the fingertips to the sky. If you take this variation, it becomes uber important to keep your low belly drawing in to protect your low back. Shine your heart forward, keep the shoulders away from the ears, and gaze up as much as your neck allows. Stay for 5-10 breaths, and repeat on second side.
Warrior 2: Come to a stand however feels accessible. Step your feet wide – approximately a leg length is a good starting point. Point your right toes forward and keep your left toes pointing directly toward the long edge of your mat, or slightly in. Bring your fingers to the horizon, keep your low abdomen drawing in, and on an exhale sink your right knee towards 90 degrees. Front knee stacks over front ankle (or slightly behind it – NOT in front!) and draws towards the pinky toe side of the foot. Stack your ribs over your hips and draw your shoulders down the back. Gaze over your front fingers if neck agrees. Stay 5-10 breaths.
From here, we invite movement. Keep the feet exactly as they are. Inhale, root into the feet and straighten the front leg, simultaneously raising the fingers to the sky. Exhale back to Warrior 2, and repeat this flow 5-10 breaths. Then repeat both the static pose and the flow on other side.
Triangle: Come back to the foot alignment for Warrior 2 on the right side, with the right toes pointed forward. Place a block to the outside of your right ankle. Bring the fingers back to the horizon, stay rooted in the feet and firm up both legs. Inhale, slide the right fingers towards the front of your mat, tipping the torso forward over your front hip, and exhale to place the right hand on the block. Roll your right ribs forward, and your left ribs back, to keep the heart shining forward. Gaze at the top fingers if the neck agrees. Stay 5-10 breaths, then root into the feet to come back up on an inhale and repeat on other side.
Supported Bridge: Come down to lay one your back, however feels accessible. Bring the block close by on its medium height. Bend your knees, and bring your heels in towards your hips until you can reach down and feel them with your fingertips. Now bring your feet directly under your knees. – when you look down past each hip, you should be able to see just the edge of each foot. Keep a slight engagement of the lower abdomen, shoulders down the back, and the back of the head on the floor. Inhale to lift the hips toward the sky as you lengthen the tailbone toward the heels – imagine the low back spacious. Slide the block under your hips – NOT the spine, but below it – at the tops of the glute muscles. Rest the hips down. If the low back feels pinched, lower the block to the lowest setting, or feel free to use a blanket instead. We are looking for a very small inversion that feels restful and calming. Imagine the body sinking down and surrendering. The lower abdomen and hips release fully and again notice how the breath flows. Stay at least 10 breaths, or as long as feels good to you.
One legged forward fold: Come back up to a seat. Like we did at the beginning, props can be used under the sit bones here to help us sit up tall. Bring both legs wide and gently engage your low abdomen. Bend the left knee, bringing the sole of the foot into the inner right thigh. Keep the right toes flexed back toward the face and root into the sit bones. Inhale, rise the fingers to the sky. Use the abdominal muscles to gently rotate your torso over the extended leg, and exhale to fold over the leg. NO caving in of the chest here. If you feel the back rounding, walk the fingers in closer to the hip or use the blocks to bring the floor closer. Stay 10 breaths and then repeat on other side.
Figure 4 stretch: Come back down to the back and set up as if you’re going back into bridge pose. This time, keep your left foot on the floor as you bring the outer right ankle to the left thigh. Keep the right toes flexed back and the right knee pressing away from you in space. If you feel a stretch to the outer right hip, stay here. Otherwise, to deepen, exhale and reach through to grab on to the back of your left thigh or left shin – but only as long as you can keep the shoulders and back of the head on the floor, AND you’re still breathing fully and deeply. Stay for 10 breaths.
Reclined twist: Release the legs and bring both feet to the floor. Bring the inner legs together and arms out to the side with the palms face up. Inhale here, exhale and drop both legs over to the left to come to a gentle twist. The right shoulder blade keeps dropping heavy into the floor. Option to use pillows, blankets, or blocks to support your right shoulder and/or outer left leg if they are hovering above the floor. Feel the twist to the lower abdominal area, and find the breath here. Stay for 10 breaths, and come back to center on an inhale. Repeat figure 4 and reclined twist on other side.
Supported Goddess: This is the same pose as the very first one of practice, but with support. Create an incline for yourself here, using blocks, blankets, pillows, or all three! It will support the entire length of your spine and the back of the skull. Lay back to make sure you are comfortable and can fully release into the support of the props. The hips remain on the floor. From here, draw the soles of the feet together and the knees out to the side. Another option to make the pose more gentle is to bring prop support under the outer thighs. Feel the breath move through the lower abdominal area and feel the softness and release of the second chakra area. Imagine the area glowing an even brighter orange. This can be a nice time to draw in the sound “VAM” to further harmonize into the sacral chakra area. Stay as long as you like.
Option to close practice in this pose, or if you desire, take a traditional Savasana. Remove all props from your mat and come to lay on your back, legs and arms spread wide and all muscles released. Continue with the VAM mantra, and your color meditation, or simply feel the breath flow in and out of the body. When the mind feels pulled away from the yoga mat, draw it back to the mantra or breath flow and treat yourself to this place of rest and relaxation as long as you can.
Once your Savasana is over, come back to a comfortable seat and seal your practice the same way you started. Draw in gratitude – to yourself, to your body, and to your practice. Remind yourself of your intention, so that you can hold this in your heart as you step off your mat and go into your day.
“You are water – the essence of all forms, yet formless. You are the point from which each direction flows, and you are the flow. You are the one that feels, you are the one that moves. You are the one that embraces the other. Shall we flow together and join our soils in this journey down the river of life? Shall we flow together to the sea?” (Anodea Judith, “Wheels of Life”)
Peace,love&flowing creativity.