As the sun travels toward her yearly zenith point, her warmth and energy begin to permeate the earth, coaxing new life to emerge from its winter stasis. With each passing day, we begin to witness the perennial growth of abundant flowers and plants. The sunshine and warm temperatures also bring bears out of hibernation and the bees back to the business of making honey! Traditionally, the Incas worshiped the yellow color of the sun as a symbol of optimism, happiness, pleasure, and wealth.
If you live in a temperate climate that was quite cold this winter, the very advent of the spring like temperatures and the return of the warmth of the sun’s rays may be inspiring a new found hope and optimism for creative projects, both large and small. This energy of optimism is embodied by the resiliency of the sunflower. The sunflower is a classical symbol of the sun. The vermilion-tinged yellow of the sunflower is also symbolic of the Second Chakra, known in Tantric Yoga as the Svadisthana Chakra.
The Second Chakra is located a few inches above the Root Chakra and just below the navel area. It is strongly connected to one’s place in the world in terms of a sense of home and belonging. The Second Chakra is said to have six petals according to ancient Yogis. These petals resonate with the seed mantra “yam.” This chakra is also strongly correlated with the element water, which is depicted by the silver crescent moon. In the process of balancing the Second Chakra, we are asked to embrace the watery, emotional elements of life and to let life ebb and flow with the symbolic tides.
Although this ebb and flow of life experiences (and frequently the people in our lives) can be painful, allowing things to flow and change is critical to the health of the Svadisthana Chakra. The shadow aspect of the Second Chakra is a clamping down of one’s creativity and sexuality, as well as being mired in issues of jealousy and betrayal. Staying mired in these shadow emotions will ultimately close down one’s creativity and hamper a Yoga practitioner’s ability to sustain a nourishing home base. Symptoms of an unbalanced Second Chakra usually include an inability to experience pleasure, resistance to change and being out of touch with one’s own emotions. Second Chakra imbalances may also be manifest by discomfort in the hips, lower back and reproductive organs.
Healing a Second Chakra imbalance includes the ability to release deeply held physical and emotional tension in the pelvic and hip areas through Yoga postures. If you have a history of sexual abuse, you may want to seek the support of a professional therapist as you gently coax your Second Chakra back into a vibrant state of well-being. Along the path, you may become conscious of experiences that are best integrated with the help of a professional who can offer you therapeutic emotional support and perspective on your experiences.