The Ultimate Sacral Chakra Guide – Everything You Need to Know about Your Second Chakra

by Julia | Nov 8, 2022 | Chakra Series, Spirit, Spirituality | 0 comments

The Svadhisthana or sacral chakra is your sexual, creative, and emotional center. It relates to the Water element and everything to do with change. The consciousness of this chakra derives from flow, duality, and the attraction of opposites. As the second chakra to develop, it supports personal expansion and the formation of identity through relating to others and the world. Here is where you gain a degree of freedom and complexity.

The main themes of the Svadhisthana are your passions, your pleasure, your sexuality, your inspiration, and your creativity. Just like any other chakra, your sacral chakra can become imbalanced or blocked. If you’re experiencing issues with being present, trusting yourself and others, having children, expressing yourself creatively, and enjoying life, chances are that your Svadhisthana is imbalanced.

Continue reading to learn all about the sacral chakra, how to determine whether it is imbalanced, and how to support yourself to bring the Svadhisthana back into balance – and make sure it stays that way.

The sacral chakra within the chakra system

The chakra system consists of seven chakras ascending along the spine from the coccyx area to the top of the head. There is also an eighth chakra better known as the aura that expands all around your body. A chakra is an energy center that directs life energy for the purpose of physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing. The chakras influence the relationship between the conscious and the subconscious in all your behavior and tie together all aspects of being human – physical, mental, and spiritual. The second of these chakras is the sacral chakra.

Sacral chakra – Opening to the flow of life

Name:	Svadhisthana / Sacral Chakra
Physical location:	lower abdomen / sexual organs / sacral spine
Color:	orange
Element:	Water
Sense:	taste
Physiological system:	reproductive
Organ:	sexual organs, kidneys, bladder, prostate
Endocrine gland:	gonads/ovaries
Nervous plexus:	sacral
Purpose:	movement
Attribute:	pleasure
Shadow:	isolation / stagnancy
Descriptive verb:	I feel
Keywords:	creativity, patience, healthy sexual function and activity, sensuality, sexuality, harmony, pleasure, stamina, living in the moment, magnetism, healthy boundaries, connection, emotions, flow, change, sweetness, lust, relationships, fertility, desire, movement, satisfaction of emotional needs, the right to feel, intimacy, humility, rapture, surrender, appetite, empathy, generosity

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Every human being has creative powers. You were born to create. Appreciate your inborn potential. – Nita Leland

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The Sanskrit name of the second chakra, Svadhisthana, combines the words sva (=self) and adhisthana (=dwelling place). The Svadhisthana is the dwelling place of your self or the space where your being is established. Svadhisthana can also be translated with “sweetness”, relating to the sweetness and pleasure of life when you are fully connected to and expressed in your authentic self.

With pleasure being one of the essential features of the second chakra, it’s the driving force for your enjoyment of life through the senses. Opening your sacral chakra allows you to feel the world around you and in you. As such, it’s an important chakra at the foundation of your physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing.

You can find your second chakra about midway between the pubic and the navel. It includes the lower abdomen, genitals, and womb. Physically it relates to the kidneys, bladder, prostate, reproductive organs, sciatic nerve, lumbar spine, sacrum, and hips. Given its location in the body, it is often referred to as the sacral chakra.

In the spectrum of chakra colors, the sacral chakra is represented by the color orange. Just like the fruit, this bright and uplifting color relates to the sweetness of life that can be found in a balanced expression of the sacral chakra. Orange also represents the playful and fun qualities attributed to your inner child connected to the Svadhisthana.

The symbol of the sacral chakra is composed of a six-petaled lotus flower with a crescent moon. The moon symbolizes the constant change and motion of life. Just like the changing tides, your thoughts, your emotions, your whole experience are fluid and non-permanent. A strong and balanced Svadhisthana is instrumental in developing this flexibility in life and finding peace in trusting the flow of things.

How to recognize an imbalanced sacral chakra

When the second chakra is balanced, it helps you maintain a healthy yin-yang balance in life. Your relationship with the world around you is characterized by harmonious and nurturing exchanges. You experience pleasure, creativity, and inspiration in an open yet tempered way. You are able to surrender to and accept the flow of life, enjoying the sweetness and juiciness of this human journey.

However, the sacral chakra can become imbalanced and disturb the delicate balance of the chakra system. Commonly, this manifests as an imbalance in your ability to relax and experience pleasure in any form. This really is a double-edged sword. You may find yourself either avoiding pleasure and relaxation, being all work and no play, or indulging in it too much as part of an excessively hedonistic lifestyle. It is also not uncommon to swing from one extreme to the other and back. This imbalanced expression can result in frustration, feelings of being stuck, and anxious attachments.

Other characteristics of an imbalanced sacral chakra may be:

lack of energy, lethargy, no motivation for life in general and sex and exercise in particular, rigidity, frigidity, guilt, shallow and/or unhealthy relationships, reproductive problems and illnesses, infertility, impotency, kidney problems, urinary tract infections, jealousy, lacking boundaries, codependency, extreme mood swings, fear of betrayal, sadness, loneliness, living in a fantasy world, feelings of separation, neediness, lack of creativity/creative blocks, stagnancy, hip, pelvic and lower back pain, possessiveness, exhibitionism, feelings of inadequacy, feelings of shame regarding your body and/or sexuality, sexual disorders, unregular or dysfunctional menstrual cycles

If you recognize any of those characteristics in yourself and are unsure whether your sacral chakra is imbalanced, try asking yourself the following questions:

Are you able to express your emotions in acceptable ways at the right time?

Are you flexible: physically, emotionally, and mentally?

Are you able to let go of a feeling? Do you repress your feelings?

Are you able to nurture others? Are you able to accept nurturing?

Are you able to relax and seek pleasure? Do you allow time for play and relaxing? Are you comfortable doing nothing?

Fortunately, an imbalance of the Svadhisthana doesn’t need to be permanent. There are many ways in which you can support your chakra to come back into balance. However, for sustainable change to occur, you also have to look at and process the emotions at the root of your imbalance. By learning about the chakras and how to bring them back into alignment, you can heal physical ailments, dissolve negative emotions and live a more fulfilling life.

Bringing the sacral chakra back into balance

There are many ways to balance your sacral chakra. Bringing more joy, playfulness, and passion into your life can help stimulate the second chakra’s energy. Likewise, self-reflective, emotionally-expressive, and creative activities can also lead to a more balanced sacral chakra. Below you can find different ideas that can help restore balance in your second chakra. Incorporate as many of them as you like into your daily routines and see your life change.

Balancing foods:

fats, oils, tropical fruits, fish, seafood, nuts, seeds, fermented foods, orange foods, pure water and clear liquids

Balancing activities:

sexual expression, creative expression, connecting to the water element: swimming, bathing, showering, drinking enough water

Balancing yoga postures:

cobra pose, butterfly, cat-cow, frog pose, Sat Kriya, Maha Mudra, pelvic lifts

Balancing oils:

bergamot, jasmine, magnolia, clary sage, sandalwood, vanilla, ylang-ylang, cardamom, patchouli, orange

Balancing stones:

orange calcite and citrine, carnelian, aventurine, moonstone, fire opal, sunstone

Balancing affirmations:

I am open to receiving all the goodness that surrounds me.

I am creative and courageous. I am beyond capable.

I listen to my inner truth. I honor myself and all of my needs.

Life is pleasurable.

I absorb information from my feelings

I embrace and celebrate my sexuality.

My sexuality is sacred.

I move easily and effortlessly.

Balancing mantra:

VAM

Balancing frequency:

480 Hz

Or you can join me for a beautiful all-levels-welcome root chakra healing yoga class this Tuesday, November 8th at 6:30 PM CET. This is part of my limited 8-week online series “A Journey through the Chakras with Kundalini Yoga“. So if you’re feeling called to bring more ease and balance into your life by aligning body, mind, and spirit through the chakras, sign up here for the individual classes or bundle up and save 💸💸💸.

See you on the inside!

Written by Julia

Julia is a Kundalini Yoga Teacher and Holistic Self-Discovery Coach with a passion for spirituality, self-development, and life-long learning. With her years of knowledge as well as life and industry experience, Julia loves empowering others to create a life that not only looks good on the outside but feels amazingly fulfilling on the inside, too, through inspirational and practical content.