The sacral chakra is located in the lower abdomen one to two inches below the navel. It is sometimes called the sexual chakra. The sacral chakra is the seat of desire; physical, emotional and spiritual desire.
The sacral chakra is the energy centre controlling our sexuality, desires, passions, feelings. This is where we balance our male/female energies. In this energy centre we are able to feel and experience both painful and negative emotions. This chakra is associated with our ability to achieve intimacy, with ourselves and with others.
Your sense of your own body image is centred in this chakra and can be associated with sexual shame or body shame established most often in early childhood. I am reminded of the old saying, "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me."
It is true that when an individual has a strong sense of self, critical, condemning words will never hurt him. They will simply be like drops of water rolling off a duck's back.
However in the vulnerability of childhood, particularly up until the age of reason which is approximately seven or eight years of age in the 'average' child, critical words can be like sharp knives cutting into the promise of a stable, well-adjusted adult.
Parents, teachers, authority figures in a young child's life are not always aware of the damage they are doing to the young child when they criticize the child as opposed to the child's behaviour.
For example, when a child hears the words "you are stupid" or "you are an ugly child!" the child will absorb these words like a sponge and feel stupid and ugly. By using such terms and attacking the child's very being, incredible damage is done to the child's sense of self. Too often these feelings of low-esteem are carried into adulthood accompanied by issues around body image.
There are many emotional issues associated with a blocked sacral chakra.
It is here in the sacral chakra that we discover our ability for melodrama. There are those of us who do not need to turn on the television to watch a soap opera. We merely need to observe our own lives and recognize the role we are playing in the drama, the comedy, the thriller, the tragedy.
When this ability is carried to the extreme one discovers that he cannot go from one day to the next without a crisis. An apt, if unflattering, term for this individual could be "Crisis Junkie".
In the extreme one's life is filled with crisis after crisis and the person experiencing this life is often unaware that he is using these crises as a method of avoiding looking within and discovering who he really is.
The following are a few of the many emotional issues associated with the sacral chakra.
NUMBING OUT: Numbing out takes place when an individual cannot allow himself to feel feelings. It is a defense mechanism which protects him from feeling emotional pain. However in succeeding in 'numbing out' a person not only feels no emotional pain, he also feels no emotional joy or happiness. He may be robotic in nature, simply living by rote, following safe routines, avoiding all possibility of pain but successfully blocking himself from personal freedom and growth to become a healthy, whole person.
REPRESSING/DENYING FEELINGS: Imagine, if you will, a bucket of water. Imagine a rubber ball floating on top of the water. Now imagine placing your hand on the ball, forcing it to the bottom of the bucket and not allowing it to surface. Now imagine how tired your arm will become after a little time has passed. Imagine how numb your arm will become after more time has passed. Imagine how useless your arm will become if it is always held in this position holding the ball at the bottom of the water-filled bucket.
When an individual represses feelings and, in a more extreme case, totally denies feelings, he is, in effect, tiring and perhaps emotionally and eventually physically exhausting himself in his efforts to keep these feelings repressed. Imagine how numb this person will feel if he continues on this path. Imagine how useless his life could become if he continues on this path.
The sacral chakra is the seat of all desire. By denying desire and its accompanying feelings one's sacra chakra will become blocked; one's potential for owning, feeling, expressing feelings is stymied, stuck.
In meditation if one were to focus on the sacral chakra it is possible to recognize this repression and denial in oneself. When this recognition is brought into the awareness it is possible for a person to make a decision for change.
Through psychospiritual therapy this same individual will be able to learn how to feel feelings safely; to understand the origin of the emotional shut-down and to take steps toward a more full and satisfying life experience.
FEAR OF INTIMACY: Fear of Intimacy is an emotional issue associated with the sacra chakra. It is likely that in early childhood an inividual who did not achieve a close, loving, safe relationship with a caretaking adult will have difficulty achieving a close, loving relationship with himself.
A person who has not achieved a close, loving, intimate relationship with himself will find it impossible to achieve this desired intimacy with another.
Keeping in mind that fear and love are opposite sides of the same coin, it is easier to understand how the fear of intimacy takes root in an individual.
Consider that unless a person discovers love within himself for himself he cannot share love with others.
By the same token, an individual who is afraid of knowing who he is, who has repressed or denied his feelings, who has perhaps totally numbed out, will not have an intimate relationship with himself.
Until a person achieves intimacy with self, he cannot be intimate with another.
When I speak of intimacy I am speaking of intimacy on all levels; physical, sexual, mental, emotional, spiritual intimacy.
This fear can be recognized during meditation which is focused on the sacra chakra. As with all issues, if this fear of intimacy is recognized, honoured and owned, it is possible through psychospiritual therapy to discover the origin of this issue and to work through the emotional pain associated with it in a safe environment.
It is possible to achieve an intimate relationship with self. Once this is achieved it is possible to achieve intimate relationships with others.
FEAR OF REJECTION: The fear of rejection, like all fears, has the potential to manifest in reality.
Fear of rejection is another emotional issue that can be associated with the sacra chakra which is the seat of desire.
Just to explain, imagine you have the desire to be hired in a new position. The desire is strong but the fear of rejection, introduced to you in early childhood, is even stronger than the desire.
What will you do? Perhaps you will cancel the appointment for a job interview, assuming you had the courage to make this appointment. Or if you find the courage to attend the interview you will take the fear of rejection along with you to the interview. This negative energy will be picked up one way or another by the person conducting the interview and your fear of rejection will be affirmed. You were afraid you would be rejected and lo and behold, your services were rejected; a self-fulfilling prophecy.
By getting in touch with your inner self during a meditation focused on the sacral chakra you allow yourself to get in touch with your fear of rejection. This recognition, if accepted, acknowledged and owned by you, will open new doors. Through psychospiritual therapy you can place your focus on this and other emotional issues of the sacral chakra and begin the transformational process that will lead to self-acceptance.
Once an individual accepts himself he will no longer reject himself. Once a person is able to stop rejecting himself he will lose the fear of rejection and enjoy the adventure of life, meeting life's experiences and challenges with love, confidence and good self-esteem.
The above emotional issues of numbing out, repressing/denying feelings, fear of intimacy and fear of rejection are some of the emotional issues associated with the sacral chakra.
Sometimes these issues are accompanied by addictions to sex, love, crisis, alcohol or drugs.
Sometimes these very same issues are unaccompanied by these addictions yet the individual with these issues will find himself being an enabler to another individual who has one or another or all of the above addictions.
Individuals with these emotional issues, if they allow themselves to be in a relationship at all, will most likely find themselves in co-dependent relationships. Their role will be that of either addict or enabler which are, of course, opposite sides of the same coin because in a relationship one can't have one without the other and still maintain a relationship, unhealthy as that relationship will, no doubt, be.
