Monday, April 13, 2009

2nd Chakra and Tamasic Sattwa

This Week (3): The Second Chakra, The Swadisthana Chakra. The Creativity Chakra, Sexuality and Emotions Center
Location: Tailbone, reproductive organs, lower abdomen
Basic Right: The Right to Feel
Bija Mantra: VAM
Celestial Body: Moon
Color: Orange
Developmentally: 6 to 24 Months
Element: Water (that flows)
Goals: Fluidity, Pleasure, Relaxation
Guna: Tamas
Major Psychological Life Area: Sex
Malfunction: Stiffness, sexual problems, isolation, emotional instability or numbness
Plane: Sexuality, likes, desires, and enjoyment
Secondary Chakra: The Hands
Yantra: Orange petal with a silver crescent moon

Classically, 2nd chakra is all about getting energy moving-- the fluid motion of water; the passionate energy of sensuality; the dynamic freedom of the hips and low back through the movement of dance; the feeling of feelings; and the general upward movement of energy from the stability of the 1st chakra making its way up through the chakras to the crown.

Energetically, however, our goal at second chakra is to continue to cultivate tamasic sattwa -- stability and clarity -- so our focus will specifically be on bringing steadiness to the emotional body through skillfully shaping prana; cultivating a connection to the inner witness observer; and sequencing of the asanas.  In tantra, stability in the physical body at 1st chakra and steadiness at the 2nd chakra in the emotional body together create a foundation for greater freedom as awareness expands.  Feel the feelings, but don't be a slave to them.

The key piece to steadiness in the 2nd chakra is the ability to let go -- eliminate, non-attachment, the ability to move on -- to FORGIVE.  It is key to stop churning emotions, stop creating melodramas, and to stop patterns of behavior that mix up your life and take it off-course and keep it drifting.

While 1st chakra is about the individual, 2nd chakra is about duality -- our relationship to others, about polarity (sun/moon; light/dark; male/female).  

Hatha yoga asanas we'll focus on this week are chakra vakasana (the cat/cow pose on all 4's we frequently begin with which get the femurs back in the hips so we can open the pelvis); forward bends are very key to second chakra (janu sirsasana, paschimottanasana, malasana, upavista konasana); standing poses (parsvottanasana, prasarita padottanasana, utkatasana, and uttanasana (with one and two legs)); backbends (bhujangasana and ustrasana); and extensions (chataranga dandasana).  There's a lot of sanskrit here, but we'll use the english names in class, too.  Again, like with 1st chakra, there are no inversions here (other than possibly headstand). 

We'll continue to cultivate a relationship to the practices from last week:  1:2 breath with smooth circular breathing); hold on exhalation; kriya -- action or movement to move energy consciously and accelerate transformation -- (moving energy down the spine on inhale and to the earth on the exhale); mulabanda on exhale, and establish ourselves in helpful rhythms to create a sustained connections to the steady, restful energy of tamasic sattwa.

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