Sacral Chakra

 Water Chakra

“We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves. “  ~Dalai Lama~

"To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was you."  ~Lewis B. Smedes

The Water Chakra is also known as the Sacral Chakra and is located in the pelvic area. This chakra deals with connection and pleasure: emotional, physical and spiritual. This chakra’s color is orange and the corresponding stones are Onyx, Tiger’s Eye, and Carnelian. 

The sacral chakra is blocked by guilt and is opened by forgiving yourself. The definition of forgiveness is: To stop feeling angry or resentful for an offense, flaw, or mistake. 

Many of us have difficulty discerning between guilt and shame. This chakra is about guilt. The third chakra deals with shame. It may be hard but we need to try to focus on the guilt; specifically the actions that caused us to feel the guilt. For example:  "I lied to my boss about being sick when really I was just tired and wanted to spend the day watching TV." That is guilt over a specific and tangible event. Shame however is when you feel badly about who you are. When we talk in generalizations, for example "I am a liar." (for calling out sick when I was just tired), then that is shame. In doing your journal work you need to try to keep your focus on guilt. And remember, if you are calling yourself names then that is shame.

When the sacral chakra is blocked you may feel that you are not connected to other people. There is a bland quality to your life and an inability to cope with daily emotions. You may feel detached from others and yourself. You may find it difficult to laugh and to enjoy the things that used to make you happy. A general low-level sense of depression may be felt in the mind and body. You may find that your self-worth and self-esteem are lower. You may no longer like touching others or being touched by others. The physical symptoms include constipation, infertility, impotence, abdominal pain, prostate issues, and abnormal menstruation. You may have a lack of interest in sex or find it not as pleasurable as you once did. Or you may be having difficulty conceiving.

The goal of this work is for you to forgive YOU; a deep and true forgiveness. This is not about beating yourself up or bringing up your past to just remind you of your flaws and mistakes. This is about looking at the truth of your life and your actions, owning your actions, and then honestly letting go and forgiving yourself. Think of someone in your life that you love with all of your heart and that you would forgive him or her no matter what terrible thing they told you that they did. Now give yourself that exact same respect and love because you deserve it. You do not need to hold on to the burden of guilt any longer. You do not need to punish yourself. You need to free yourself of guilt and be gentle and kind to yourself. Forgive YOU.

Being honest and authentic with ourself is the key to this work.

When the sacral chakra is open you will begin to enjoy the simple things in life again. You will wake up happier and life’s daily dramas will just roll off of your back. You feel a sense of being lighter both physically and mentally. You will laugh more. The depression will start lift. You will feel more creative. Food tastes better. Your libido is returning. And, you will feel closer to others. You will start to remember what it feels like to feel good; or if guilt has been with you a very long time you will find a brand new sense of joy in your life.

Journal work:  

Ask Yourself:  What specific actions do I feel guilty about? Use the same principals from your work with the first chakra. This is a free write. Do not worry about how it sounds because you are the only one who will ever read it. Just be honest with yourself. You already know what you have done, or not done, it is ok to write it down. Writing it down does not make it any more real. If it is there in your mind or on the tip of your pencil then write it down. Get it out. This is the time to accept the reality that these things happened but no action or event defines who you are. They are simply moments in a lifetime.

You may find yourself drifting into shame while doing your journal entry. That is natural. But when you find it happening you need to try to draw your focus back in. Be specific and list specific events and actions.

Next, you need to journal about forgiving yourself. Accepting what you have done and realizing that there are no perfect people. We have all made mistakes. We have all made BIG mistakes. Remind yourself that you did the best that you could at the time. We can only live as skillfully as we have been taught. Life if about improvement and being able to learn from our mistakes; it is ok to forgive yourself. Holding on to our grudges against ourselves serves no one, not even the people that we feel we have wronged. Your guilt only hurts you. 

Yoga:  Goddess Pose (standing or laying)

Meditation: Chant in Sanskrit is VAM. Chant in English is I FORGIVE.

Body Work: The Sacral Chakra is connected to the reproductive organs. Continue to stay hydrated. Foods that support the female reproductive system are: raspberries, salmon, kale, asparagus, lentils, and foods that contain iron. Foods that support the male reproductive system are: oysters, bananas, fatty fish, broccoli, Brazil nuts, and bell peppers. Herbs that support the female reproductive system are: Ashwangandha, Maca Root, Dong Quai, and raspberry leaf tea. Herbs that support the male reproductive system are:  Yohimbe, Maca Root, Saw Palmetto, Siberian Ginseng and Licorice.

Life Projects: These projects will help you forgive and will support and balance your sacral chakra.  Before the month is over all of these items should be checked off of your list of things to do. Try to plan in advance and try to go in order. Plan for two to three items per week. Do more when you feel strong. Take time off when you need to rest. If you feel extreme hesitance to do any of these items you need to go back to your journal and ask yourself, “What guilt am I hanging on to.  Is my guilt creating fear?” "Am I trying to punish myself?"

If you already do the items on this list then look for ways that you can do them better. Ask yourself, “How can I take another step forward in the right direction?”  For example: Do you already feel that your home is de-cluttered?  Walk through and at look at every object and item in your home and ask yourself, “Why do I have this? Is it making my life better? Does it remind me of someone or something that I would rather let go of?”  

See if there is any small or large items that could “emotionally” de-clutter your life if they were removed.  Remember this is about making you and your life better, happier, healthier, and more joyous.

• Find a beautiful and inspiring orange image and make it the screen saver on one or all of your technological devices. The mores devices you do this for, the better.
• Find a container.  It can be a jar, a glass, a bag, or whatever feels right to you. It only needs to be big enough to hold all 7 of the stones that you find for your chakras. Place this on your alter or in your meditation area. With a blessing put your stone or jewelry from the root chakra into it. (You can, of course, continue to wear it or carry it with you if your prefer, but this is a nice place to keep them when you are not wearing them)
• Find a piece of Onyx, Tiger’s Eye or Carnelian.  It can either be jewelry that you can wear or it can be a simple stone for your pocket.  Carry this with you while you are working on this chakra.  If you cannot find these stones then go for a walk and find any stone that calls you.
• Make yourself an affirmation card with the following words, “I FORGIVE” and hang it on your bathroom mirror.  
• Make a list of all of the people that you have harmed. In private, by yourself, apologize to each person. Say out loud, “I am sorry I have wronged you, ___________.  Please forgive me.” Repeat this activity as many times as you need to. Destroy your list when you are done. Say this even if you don’t feel it. There are some people that we have wronged that have also wronged us. It may feel odd to apologize to them when the wrongs done to you may feel so much larger than what you did. But remember this is about you. It has nothing to do with them or their actions. You are only focused on cleaning up your side of the street. Your resentments are hurting you far more than they are hurting the people that have harmed you.  
• Make a list of all of the people that have harmed you. In private, by yourself, forgive each person. Say out loud, “I forgive you, ___________.” Repeat this activity as many times as you need to. Destroy your list when you are done. Say this even if you don’t feel it. You do not need to know how to forgive the people on your list, you need only to be willing to try. Remember this is about you and your feelings and your chakras and your life. And, just because you are forgiving someone (or practiced forgiving someone) that does not mean that what they did to you was ok and it does not mean that you have to let them back into your life or speak to them at all. Focus on forgiving the person; not the actions. And remember that this is about YOU.
• De-clutter one room of your house. 
• Remove one unhealthy food from your diet and add one healthy food.
• Find a charity that is somehow related to your guilt and donate $10 (or more). For example: Did you forget to walk your neighbors dog when you told them that you would? Your local pet shelter would be a good place to donate.
• Research, find, and read on the Loving Kindness meditation. Practice it at least once. A shortened 5 minute version makes a great daily practice that you can do while you are commuting, waiting, or trying to relax.
• Go swimming or take bath or, even better, get out in nature and put your feet in the creek, river, lake, and/or ocean. Try to find some time to submerge at least a part of yourself in the water. Visualize the water healing every part of your body.
• Spend some time in nature. The more the better. Try sitting next to a body of water and meditating.
• Draw a picture of what having no guilt means to you.
• Dance! Alone or with others. Turn on your favorite song and dance. Dance every day.