Yoga is many things. — it’s a balancing act of all the layers of your being; so physical, mental, emotional, energetic, and spiritual. In yoga, we call these layers the five sheaths, or Koshas. I reference all different practices that I feel fall under the umbrella of ‘Yoga’, but may come as a surprise to some because asana, or the physical practice, is more commonly practiced. Yoga can be so much more than simply asana, the third limb of eight, and I can’t stress that enough.
Anyways, moving on from my disclaimer, I wanted to focus on Svadhisthana, the sacral (or second) chakra, and how it relates to guilt. Guilt is most commonly the emotion, from my understanding, that blocks the sacral chakra energy flow. Similar to grief, guilt can manifest itself into an array of different emotional reactions. A warm, inviting friendliness is needed within a yoga and meditation practice to calm the nerves and alleviate self-destructive thoughts that lead to a feeling of inadequacy and guilt.
The sacral chakra is all about pleasure. — it’s an energy center stimulated by desires and movement. Guilt can cause this ‘stop-go’ way of operating that unconsciously manifests into feelings of uncertainty and a rigid personality. Picture when you feel uncertain and how this uncertainty can lead to a loss in direction and inability to move forward or create change. Often times, at least for me, it’s guilt that is causing me to pump-the-breaks. I am in-tune with my desires and yet I talk myself out of them due to feelings of guilt for not doing what I believe I ‘should’ do.
I’m sure we’ve all been there, but sometimes it’s hard to uncover why we’re feeling guilty. What’s the root cause or thought of this current state of guilt? — this would take time in contemplation (the seventh limb of Yoga, Dhyana, meaning contemplation, reflection, or profound meditation) to reveal the answer.
And it’s funny. — if a friend were to approach us and explain their feelings and origins of guilt, we would most likely nurture them. When it’s someone else’s guilt, especially someone we care about, it appears ludicrous, so we talk them out of it; but when it comes to ourselves, it’s a bit trickier than that.
The sacral chakra is the foundation for femininity. It opens us to embrace our intuition and nurturing qualities. As we open to the awareness of this energy center, we begin to nurture relationships and our own inner-dialogue. This heavily supports a healthy relationship with ourselves to trust our desires and move towards them without question.
Today, for example, is one of those days that I moved with my desires, which has resulted in a day that feels like an eternity. We have a responsibility to be active members in society, but balancing that duty with self-care rituals is a tremendous service to ourselves and the collective. I’m so grateful that I’ve paved a way for myself to find the art of structure within a flexible lifestyle because it’s the flexible lifestyle that supports my well-being.
I finally did it. — I finally honored the week of my cycle. This has been a long time coming! Years of theory and research went into this. I started by coming off of hormonal birth control, which it’s not for everyone, but coming-off greatly heightened my intuition and connection to my body. I’ve been monitoring my cycle and noticing the affects that different hormones have on my inner-state and behavior through out the month. It’s been my goal to honor the week of my cycle, particularly the few days before, by resting and turning inward.
I organized my theories and research into a training I offer in The Giving Network to utilize nature, hormonal cycles, and other patterns to create structure within a flexible work-life environment. I figured ‘teach to grow, grow to teach’, and it’s been so hard to get my plans in motion. I constantly kept putting work first and felt guilty if I didn’t.
So, I took a look at my calendar ( I use the Flo App but a planner will do if you’re more disciplined with tracking your cycle than I) and noticed that this week was my week to turn inward and rest. I have a couple projects scheduled and clients to onboard, but nothing major. Guilt would usually drive me to fill the empty spaces but I instead let them be. I’ve been sitting in solitude, reading books, listening to podcasts, sleeping-in, ordering-in, meeting with friends. — whatever my desires called for.
Today, I woke-up and tended to my daily meditation practice. I walked boo while listening to ambient, relaxing music and then met a friend in town for coffee. I suddenly became aware of my intense desire to go to the Episcopal Church on Church Street. I’ve been wanting to do this for weeks ever since I saw a sign outside the church that read, ‘Open for Silent Prayer and Spiritual Conversations — Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 12-1pm’. I’ve come up with every way to fill the space and not go: take on another meeting, write another email, work on a project, create new content, etc. For some reason, I felt too guilty to stop work to go sit in the church. I would come up with excuses of why it wasn’t important; but here was my subconscious mind trying to nudge me along, and I allowed guilt to block the flow of my sacral chakra energy.
Back story: I’ve been feeling especially fearful of death lately. This feeling comes and goes and I’ve never found a remedy or core value to settle the anxiety that ensues.
It takes slowing down to bring those desires to the forefront, so that they’re not just a quiet request from the back of your mind that you can ignore and get-on with your day. I took Boo to the park after coffee and sat with him in the sun for awhile on a bench. It was so nice to be affectionate with him curled up on my lap and no time constraint. We got our fill of love and connection and then it was noon. — time to go to church.
I went to church and had a lovely conversation with the Father there. He was so well-rounded in different spiritual practices and we shared our ideas freely. He offered we sit in silent contemplation as it neared 1pm to settle all that we stirred up. We sat for about 10-15 minutes and I reached a familiar place: Samadhi (the eighth limb of Yoga). I walked home in bliss and surprisingly drug-free. It was in that moment that my fear of death escaped me. — it actually felt completely foreign. I now understand this feeling as a warning that I’m craving spiritual connection.
We have all these layers to our being and it’s a full-time job to integrate and tend to them all. My sacral chakra energy was opening me to the awareness that I craved spiritual healing, but yours may be different! — it may be something physical, energetic, mental, or emotional.
Trust your desires.
What do you need?
Move towards them guilt-free. — knowing you’re doing yourself and the collective a divine service.
Thank you for tuning-in. Namaste.