A Complete Guide to Balance and Heal Your Sacral Chakra
A Complete Guide to Balance and Heal Your Sacral Chakra
In part two of this series, we continue our journey with the sacral chakra. The sacral chakra, known as Svadhisthana in Sanskrit, is associated with creativity, sexuality, and emotions — its core issue is creativity. This chakra has an association with the element of water. Problems with this chakra can manifest in several emotional and physical symptoms. Let’s look at some of the most obvious indications that your sacral chakra needs attention.
Emotional & Psychological States
Guilt: Guilt is the demon associated with the sacral chakra.
Self-esteem is non-existent or fluctuates wildly: You ignore your positive qualities, talents, and abilities. Your inner voice is stuck on repeat — you haven’t done enough to deserve to be happy, your work isn’t good enough, and everyone else is better than you. You may struggle to accept compliments, or you fly to the moon with the smallest amount of encouragement only to plummet back to earth within minutes.
Lack of Confidence: A chicken and egg scenario with low self-esteem — is your self-esteem low because you lack the confidence or can you not muster the confidence because your self-esteem is low?
Blocked Emotions or Emotional Instability: You may feel completely numb or you have more mood swings than a menopausal crackhead. Both extremes can be linked to a poorly sacral chakra.
Blocked Creativity: You struggle to write, paint, or create and just don’t seem to ever be inspired.
Fear of Physical Intimacy: You don’t want to be intimate at all, or if you are it’s all mechanical with no feeling and no flow. Sex without connection.
Physical Manifestations
Dysfunctional Relationships: You probably tell your friends you’re a dickhead magnet, but the truth is your bar is too low. Relationships with family and friends may be strained too — problems could arise from you either being overly dependent on others for validation or because you’re emotionally switched off.
Addictions: Sex, hard drugs such as heroin and ketamine. Over-reliance on prescription meds (to be clear, I’m not referring to essential meds here).
Avoidance of Change or Growth: Change and growth need stable flowing creative energy. You may actively resist change or just feel blocked from moving forward.
Stagnation: Fear of, or resistance to change results in stagnation. Boredom and frustration will be regular visitors.
Emotional Emptiness: Blocked emotions tend to leave us struggling to feel much of anything at all. Depression and low mood. The only thing you are sure to feel is stuck in a rut.
The Body: Problems within the body may involve reproductive health. Is everything flowing okay?
Balancing the sacral chakra can help rekindle your creative spark, and help you to feel more passionate and alive. It does not matter who or what caused the problem in the first place. It also doesn’t matter whether you think your chakra is blocked or too open — the following exercises focus on restoring balance.
A Simple Meditation
The Sacral Chakra Lotus
As with the root chakra, I want you to take the time to connect to your body. No tools are necessary here other than a pen and a piece of paper. If you need help to set the mood you can light an orange, white, or black candle, and burn some incense or oil. For some suggestions, see further down this post, or use something that you know you find enjoyable. You need to lie down on your back. If this is uncomfortable for you, grab yourself some pillows and cushions , or lay on the sofa to prop yourself up a little. Take a few deep breaths until you feel relaxed and able to focus — breathe in for a count of 6, and exhale for a count of 8. The goal here is to become aware of your body through your breathing. Once you feel calm, visualise the sacral chakra as a six-petaled orange lotus in your lower abdomen, just above your pubic bone. Ask the chakra to show you why it's unbalanced. You may see a symbol, a face, or an object. If you are sensitive you may see something more complicated. Don't analyse or judge what you see or feel; simply acknowledge the signs and refocus on your breathing. Once you feel you have brought yourself back to your centre, ask the chakra what you need to heal. Again, you may see a single object or something more complicated. And again, don’t analyse or judge what you see or feel. Stay in your body for another six breaths or longer if you are comfortable. When you feel ready, open your eyes and move slowly until you are upright. You can now write down any thoughts and feelings you experienced during your meditation.
The next bit is really important — you need to park that shit to one side until tomorrow or even the day after that. If you want further insight you can take the piece of paper to bed and put it under your pillow. Ask yourself to have a dream that tells you anything further you need to know — ‘give me a dream to help balance and heal my sacral chakra’ is perfectly adequate. The point is to set the intention. You may or may not remember it on waking. Write down anything you can recover from memory, including how you felt when you woke up.
You can now analyse any signs and symbols you were given. Whatever you see will most likely make sense to you and should at least give you a place to start. Try not to hold on to your insights too tightly — the goal in the upcoming weeks is to gradually open up to new feelings so you can heal and move forward.
Opening up will likely involve some discomfort if you’ve actively suppressed emotion after a traumatic incident. Because the the sacral chakra deals with sensuality and sexuality — if you have experienced repeatedly negative sexual encounters or sexual abuse, it can take a long time to heal and reclaim your body. Even simple meditations such as this can bring difficult emotions to the surface. Please be kind to yourself and seek support if you have yet to process events from your past. Energy work is often like fine-tuning, and sometimes we need something a little more substantial. I will mention that if you find yourself fixating on past traumas while doing this meditation, you need to stop. Gently remind yourself that you are okay now and that you need to know how to heal. If you can't break past the mental block, try again another day. If you haven't already done the root chakra healing, it may help to go through that one. Or you could try working with some of the root chakra crystals to increase your sense of protection.
Your Sacral Chakra Medicine Bag
As with the previous post, I’m recommending specific crystals, incense, and oils, but if you don’t have these and can’t afford them you can still use the other methods found under the Time & Energy Investment heading.
Lighting the Way
Candles have a seemingly magical way of helping to create a calm and peaceful atmosphere. They help to reduce stress and anxiety. Many rituals and spiritual and religious practices wouldn’t feel complete without them. Lighting a candle with intention can help us focus energy and gain a sense of control over an emotion or situation. Those of us with witchy ways see them as an essential tool and can barely go a day without lighting one for some reason or other — even if it’s just to power up the oil burner. As a relatively cheap item, they’re affordable to most people. For sacral chakra healing, the colour used is orange.
Scent
The strongest smells will generally come from burning incense. If you don’t like the smoke and ash it produces — candles anointed with oil or an open-flame oil burner offer a cleaner way to enjoy the benefits of scent-based healing. The newer electric wax melt burners are available as a lamp, and also as a plug-in. The electric mist diffusers are another great way to disperse aromatherapy oils. You can, of course, use a few drops of oil on a tissue, or create a scent pouch with herbs or crushed-up incense. Blending a personalised combination of essential oils into a base oil such as avocado oil or jojoba oil would mean you can apply the scent directly to your body.
Each of the following essential oils is said to be beneficial for the issues associated with the sacral chakra, and you can usually find them as incense sticks too:
Ylang Ylang: Ylang Ylang is an amazing oil known for its sedative and calming properties. It helps to lower blood pressure and reduces the effects of stress on the body. It’s commonly touted as an aphrodisiac due to its sensual aroma, and this is probably connected to its ability to harmonise and relax.
Sweet Orange: This oil can reduce feelings of stress and anxiety while also lifting your spirits. Calming and mood enhancing.
Neroli: Also known as orange blossom, this oil can help lift your mood when combined with other citrus scents, or relax you if blended with base notes such as frankincense or myrrh.
Bergamot: Another good stress reducer, but also lowers blood pressure, inflammation, and cholesterol. It helps calm anxiety, nervousness, and agitation. Bergamot is popular due to its ability to improve serotonin.
Clary Sage: Clary Sage is a fantastic oil for women as it can help reduce period cramps, and may aid in balancing hormones. This was my go-to oil during the more intense period of my perimenopause. A natural antidepressant that evokes feelings of calm while helping to lower blood pressure and cortisol levels.
Rose: Rose oil is a useful tool if you have a low-level depression — it stimulates the body to release dopamine. Can help lower feelings of anxiety and stress. It is commonly thought of as an aphrodisiac, but it works better on men than women for increasing sex drive. A lovely romantic scent that can help to soften the hard edges.
Other oils and scents worth mentioning are musk, jasmine, sandalwood, patchouli, vetiver, vanilla, and myrrh.
You can also use ready-made blends, whether incense or essential oil, that are created specifically for sensuality, creativity, or positivity.
L-R: Polished calcite, citrine, tiger’s eye, tumbled brecciated jasper, tumbled peach agate, tumbled peach and grey moonstone, tumbled carnelian, raw sunstone.
Crystals
For the crystals, it’s good to focus on those that are close to orange in colour. This includes peach, coral, and basically any other shade between red and yellow.
Calcite: There are a couple of calcite varieties that are suitable for the sacral chakra. All forms of calcite can be beneficial when removing blockages. Orchid calcite is said to help with improving sexual expression and creativity. Orange calcite is good for lifting the spirits and increasing joy. The pieces I have are possibly orchid calcite, but they’re almost a salmon colour. I’ve had them for over two decades and I honestly can’t remember. At that time in my life I had calcite in every colour I could get my hands on. I loved everything about it.
Citrine: Citrine has many uses, but for sacral chakra purposes, it helps bring creativity and joy to life.
Tiger’s Eye: A wonderfully earthy-looking stone that helps ground wayward emotions. Good for courage, willpower, and increasing resilience.
Brecciated Jasper: Some use this stone for strength and vitality, while others use it for emotional balance and creativity. A good stone to wear for its anchoring properties — the darker hues running through the stone help strengthen the connection between the sacral and root chakra.
Peach Agate: Peach agate is essential if your main goal is self-acceptance and healing. It balances and soothes unsettled emotions.
Peach Moonstone: I love all variations of moonstone — peach is great for increasing intuition and creativity. Its peachy softness is conducive to calming and soothing frazzled emotions.
Carnelian: An excellent stone for increasing passion, creativity, and self-confidence. Available in many shades, aim for the more orange or peachy-coloured varieties to improve resonance with the sacral chakra.
Sunstone: As might be expected, sunstone carries positive energy of joy and vitality. Great for self-confidence and self-esteem.
Other stones worth mentioning include amber — a strong protective stone that can absorb negative energy and transform it into light. It’s also said to draw negativity out of the body so that healing can occur more easily. Evokes feelings of joy and warmth with its colour reminding us of sunny days. And coral — I had a wonderful piece of this for a few years but flung it into the sea as an offering of gratitude when I left the northeast coast. Coral is an excellent choice because it’s very much connected to the element of water. It’s said to increase passion and creativity. Rowan’s Closet has a Chakra chip gemstone set — useful for adding to oil blends, using in pouches, or on altar displays. It includes chips for each of the chakras.
Take Control of Your Diet
Food is naturally influential for healing of any kind. On the physical level, orange foods (natural ones) help fight infection, reduce the risk of heart disease, and reduce inflammation. For sacral chakra healing and balance restoration, we look to orange food and those that make us feel better about ourselves. Include food commonly touted as an aphrodisiac such as oysters, bananas, figs, chocolate, and strawberries.
Here are some foods that can help balance your sacral chakra:
Orange Fruits: Oranges, tangerines and satsumas, apricots, peaches, papaya, mango, kumquats, and persimmon. Orange-coloured juice and smoothies also count!
Vegetables: Carrots, sweet potato, pumpkin, butternut squash, and orange peppers.
Fish: Salmon and trout.
Other Orange Foods: CHEESE! Eggs, red lentils, tomato and ricotta pesto, and tikka masala.
Spices: Add orange spices and seasoning mixes to food. Ginger, turmeric, and cumin. Curry powder, madras, cajun or fajita seasoning.
Fruit Teas: Try teas made from orange or mango. Herbal blends that increase passion.
Eating mindfully and with intention can help support the healing and balance of your sacral chakra. Do I need to directly state that even if eating foods to target your chakras, you’re supposed to eat other foods to maintain a balanced diet?
Time & Energy Investment
Yoga
Yoga for the sacral chakra will usually focus on opening up the energy in the hips.
Some of the beneficial poses include:
Squat (Malasana): A great pose for women as it can help with menstrual problems and improve the health of the uterus. Getting your heels on the floor can take time.
Butterfly Pose (Baddha Konasana): Good hip and groin opener to increase flexibility — great if you spend too much time sitting on a chair. This pose can also help stimulate abdominal organs and ease discomfort from menstruation.
Reclining Butterfly Pose (Supta Baddha Konasana): Like its upright version, the reclining butterfly helps free energy in the hips and groin. This can be a relaxing pose if done at bedtime because it promotes healthy sleep. Energetically speaking, it can help to open up the area if you’ve had it shut down for a while.
Pigeon Pose (originally known as Kapotasana): Helps to stimulate the reproductive organs and is another good hip opener. The pigeon pose stretches the muscles, major and minor, in the backside. Helps improve overall flexibility in the hip.
Goddess Pose (Utkata Konasana): This pose can improve balance. The Goddess pose will strengthen the legs, hips and pelvic floor. Opens up the hips and the chest.
Low Lunge (Anjaneyasana): This pose helps to open up the hips and chest while improving stability and strength in the lower body.
Seated Wide-Legged Forward Fold (Upavistha Konasana): Forward folds generally help to reduce stress and anxiety, and this one is no exception. It stretches the back and the inner thigh. Calms the mind.
Standing Wide-legged Forward Fold (Prasarita Padottanasana): The upright version of the previous pose. Opens the hips, improves balance, and strengthens the core.
Holding each pose for several breaths (between three and five minutes for a yin style approach) will encourage your inner body to slow and calm down. The first three videos focus on the sacral chakra and include many of the poses listed above. The fourth is more of a decent length flow that can help to get things moving in the root and sacral chakras to support your creativity. As with the root chakra — don’t worry too much about whether you’re getting everything right. And don’t think you have to do any of the poses exactly as shown if you can’t physically do so — all yoga needs practice, and plenty of it, to develop the flexibility and balance required for a pose.
Mantras, Affirmations, & Sound Baths
Mantras can be a single word or phrase and are believed to carry magical properties. The mantra ‘VAM’ is a one-syllable Sanskrit word used as the sacred sound for the sacral chakra. VAM is used to cleanse the chakra to improve passion and creativity. You can chant this however you like, but some say it needs to be done 108 times because that number is sacred in Hinduism. It represents the number of spiritual completion — or the distance between our body and the god within.
Affirmations can be used like mantras but differ in that what we are doing with an affirmation is vocalising what we need with the intention we can manifest what we are chanting. Some useful affirmations are already included in the yoga videos above. If you skipped over that part, the more common ones associated with the sacral chakra are:
I am confident and creative
I am open to receiving pleasure in all areas of my life
I am open to intimacy
My confidence and creativity flow freely
My creativity is endless
My sexuality is sacred
I allow myself to experience pleasure
I live my life with passion
I nurture my creativity and sensuality
You can create personalised versions, just make sure to keep them related to the theme of creativity, sensuality, or experiencing and allowing pleasure and joy. Being aware of how an affirmation makes us feel can be extremely helpful when they may identify an underlying issue. Experiencing discomfort or a feeling of desire to avoid the affirmation altogether are signs we should pay close attention to the words. Affirmations can also be written down and pinned somewhere as a reminder. Affirmations are also great to chant in your head if you find yourself spinning out emotionally.
Sound baths can be a great way to relax for an hour. If you are sensitive to sound, this method could work wonders for you. The best frequency for the sacral chakra is 288 Hz. The sacral chakra is associated with the D note. The first two videos are examples of contemporary sound produced for alternative healing. I have found using headphones helps enormously while listening to binaural beats and other sound therapies. This is a link to an 8-hour-long black screen version of the first video for use during sleep. A crystal singing bowl is used to create the sound. The second video is an hour long with a pure single tone. You can use the sound bath videos when meditating because they are not jarring and will not interfere with your inner journey. The third video is more like music, but very calming. If you prefer to download and listen offline, Binaural Beats Meditation has one available called Chakra Healing. I have a copy of this myself and have used it during sleep. Other products are available online and easy to find.
Is It Healed Now?
It’s important to remember that healing is a process, not an event. Along with the exercises in this post, you may find it helpful to keep some written notes. Whether you write it online in a blog or on scraps of paper thrown into a spare drawer, having a record serves as evidence of progress.
When our creative energy feels blocked or stifled, it can also be related to a lack of space or time. Actively engaging in a healing process is a way to begin to carve out time and space — don’t be surprised if your creativity seems to flow even without having to do half of the exercises in this post.
As mentioned earlier in this post, many with sacral chakra issues may have endured difficult or damaging sexual experiences. If you have unresolved trauma, you may need to talk it through with someone before trying to move forward into healing. If you don’t want to share your body for an extended period, this is entirely normal. This doesn’t have to be related to trauma, sometimes we need to reclaim our body as ours and ours alone. Health and hormones fluctuate, and you can assert boundaries as and when you feel it necessary.
