per se, though each occupies its own general physical region. A useful way to understand chakras is to think of them as centers of spiritual energy that distribute and balance prana, or life force, throughout your whole being. Like the physical areas in which they reside, chakras can be healthy or blocked, fluid or stiff, open or depleted.
Two of the seven main chakras are located in your hips and sacrum, where we will take the first steps on our healing journey ( illustration 7 ).
The first chakra is the Muladhara, or root, chakra, which exists between the base of your spine at your tailbone and your genitalia. The energy of the Muladhara chakra is the energy that grounds you to the earthâthe word muladhara can be translated as âfoundation.â The conceptof âgrounding to the earthâ might be starting to sound familiar at this point. If so, goodâthat means youâre understanding the theme of hips as a crucial center of health for your whole back, and in fact for your whole body.
When the Muladhara chakra is open and functioning at an optimal level, you feel secure and balanced within your body and mind; your roots are firmly connected to the earth, you feel secure that your basic needs will be met, and you feel confident in your ability to take action in your life. In yogic art renderings, this chakra is often represented by a yellow square surrounded by a vermilion-colored four-petaled lotus flower, a lovely reminder of your role as the âgardenerâ tending to your body.
Within this chakra lies the dormant energy called Kundalini (Sanskrit for âcoiled oneâ), which is thought of as a sleeping serpent, your source of transformative, fundamental spiritual power. Awakening this chakra symbolically uncoils the serpent, allowing your spiritual power to rise through the rest of your chakras and bring you to a place of deeper, higher consciousness and connection. Throughout this book, we will continue to explore the concept of your Kundalini energy as we bring health all along its path, from its root to the top of your spine.
Illustration 6. The 7 Chakras
The second chakra is the Svadhisthana Chakra, or sacral chakra, and it is one of the most important focal points of our work in this chapter and throughout this book. The Svadhisthana chakra resides above the root of the genitals and below the navel, somewhere in your lower pelvic area forward of your sacrum. We will explore this chakra more fully in chapter 3, but it is worth introducing now because it is such a close cousin to our current focus, the hips.
The Svadhisthana chakra is the symbolic home of water in your body, an image I love as a statement of purpose for our work together: to create physical, energetic, and emotional fluidity throughout your sacrum, hips, lower back, and by extension, your whole body. But this fluidity starts with hip health, and it cannot come without the earthiness of well-grounded hips. A strong anchor through the base of your hips provides a secure and firm point from which to take action, from which to build smooth flexibility, strength, and litheness.
Illustration 7. The Muladhara and Svadhisthana Chakras
With this understanding, we can view the sacral chakra as a place of open-mindedness, mental freedom, and fluid creativity. A common visual image of the sacral chakra is an ocean-blue sphere with a yellow-gold crescent moon within its center, surrounded by a red six-petaled lotus flower. The image of the moon is a metaphorical reinforcement of this chakraâs association with water; it is the source of what one writer calls âemotional tides.â 3
The relationship between the Muladhara and Svadhisthana chakras is a central one in your bodyâs journey toward health. Just as the ocean tides ebb and flow over the surface of the earth, the fluidity of Svadhisthana continually swirls through the hips and around the sacrum with the support of earthy Muladhara. The stability of
Two of the seven main chakras are located in your hips and sacrum, where we will take the first steps on our healing journey ( illustration 7 ).
The first chakra is the Muladhara, or root, chakra, which exists between the base of your spine at your tailbone and your genitalia. The energy of the Muladhara chakra is the energy that grounds you to the earthâthe word muladhara can be translated as âfoundation.â The conceptof âgrounding to the earthâ might be starting to sound familiar at this point. If so, goodâthat means youâre understanding the theme of hips as a crucial center of health for your whole back, and in fact for your whole body.
When the Muladhara chakra is open and functioning at an optimal level, you feel secure and balanced within your body and mind; your roots are firmly connected to the earth, you feel secure that your basic needs will be met, and you feel confident in your ability to take action in your life. In yogic art renderings, this chakra is often represented by a yellow square surrounded by a vermilion-colored four-petaled lotus flower, a lovely reminder of your role as the âgardenerâ tending to your body.
Within this chakra lies the dormant energy called Kundalini (Sanskrit for âcoiled oneâ), which is thought of as a sleeping serpent, your source of transformative, fundamental spiritual power. Awakening this chakra symbolically uncoils the serpent, allowing your spiritual power to rise through the rest of your chakras and bring you to a place of deeper, higher consciousness and connection. Throughout this book, we will continue to explore the concept of your Kundalini energy as we bring health all along its path, from its root to the top of your spine.
Illustration 6. The 7 Chakras
The second chakra is the Svadhisthana Chakra, or sacral chakra, and it is one of the most important focal points of our work in this chapter and throughout this book. The Svadhisthana chakra resides above the root of the genitals and below the navel, somewhere in your lower pelvic area forward of your sacrum. We will explore this chakra more fully in chapter 3, but it is worth introducing now because it is such a close cousin to our current focus, the hips.
The Svadhisthana chakra is the symbolic home of water in your body, an image I love as a statement of purpose for our work together: to create physical, energetic, and emotional fluidity throughout your sacrum, hips, lower back, and by extension, your whole body. But this fluidity starts with hip health, and it cannot come without the earthiness of well-grounded hips. A strong anchor through the base of your hips provides a secure and firm point from which to take action, from which to build smooth flexibility, strength, and litheness.
Illustration 7. The Muladhara and Svadhisthana Chakras
With this understanding, we can view the sacral chakra as a place of open-mindedness, mental freedom, and fluid creativity. A common visual image of the sacral chakra is an ocean-blue sphere with a yellow-gold crescent moon within its center, surrounded by a red six-petaled lotus flower. The image of the moon is a metaphorical reinforcement of this chakraâs association with water; it is the source of what one writer calls âemotional tides.â 3
The relationship between the Muladhara and Svadhisthana chakras is a central one in your bodyâs journey toward health. Just as the ocean tides ebb and flow over the surface of the earth, the fluidity of Svadhisthana continually swirls through the hips and around the sacrum with the support of earthy Muladhara. The stability of
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