“From cane reeds, sugar.
From a worm’s cocoon, silk.
Be patient if you can, and from sour
grapes will come something sweet.”
~Rumi
This past week I missed teaching my last 2nd chakra yoga class to be a witness to one of my best friend’s births. Her contractions began about 3 weeks before her son was actually born, so we spent a lot of time waiting, thinking that each time things picked up that things were moving forward and when they didn’t, returning to the waiting. As I sat with this experience, I began to realize that patience is truly one of the gifts of the 2nd chakra (or challenges as the case may be!). The 2nd chakra is all about this idea of “going with the flow” of being in the moment of emotions, of sexual expression and of creativity and it is not so much about planning ahead and thinking about the future. Pregnancy and birth are very 2nd chakra experiences in that the baby is carried in the organs of the 2nd chakra, in the element of water and that “letting go” is a 2nd chakra experience and CRUCIAL for the birth of any baby. So while I wasn’t teaching 2nd chakra yoga this past week, I was definitely experiencing the 2nd chakra in all its beauty through the birth of this little guy. And while we had much patience to learn and embrace, the wait was definitely worth it and I am so grateful to have had the experience of witnessing his birth and supporting the amazing woman who is his mother.
To round out some of our 2nd chakra practices, here are a few offerings to access the 2nd chakra:
The Color Orange
The color orange is associated with the 2nd chakra. I like to imagine the orange as a rust, pumpkin colored orange…deep and dark like leaves in fall. I often invite students to imagine this color filling the pelvis, sacrum and low belly.
The Sound VAM
The seed syllable of the 2nd chakra is “VAM”. Chant the tone of VAM three times to start a class or continuously as you flow through a practice. Direct the sound to the lower belly and fill up the bowl of the pelvis as you chant.
Hip Openers
Any kind of hip opening pose will access the second chakra. Poses such as pigeon, thread the needle, squats and bound angle will all access the hips and open up the flow of the 2nd chakra. It is amazing to me how often hip openers will bring me to tears, a release of bottled up emotions held in the body and in the 2nd chakra.