Yoga Postures Just for HER

Postures that balance the Sacral Chakra – the seat of pleasure and creativity.

Woman’s History month is just about over and I’m still deep in connective thoughts about womanhood. Often, I try to align my yoga practice with my current emotional, environmental or societal condition and for the past 30 days my practice has been about aligning myself with my feminine energy. To help you, my fellow sisters align with your mystical energy I’ve put together simple yet effective postures that will guide you in exploring the sacral chakra or what I loving call the “female chakra.” Read about the sacral chakra and follow along with the corresponding postures below to create ease in the parts of the body where women often carry shame, trauma and emotional dis-ease.

Sacral Chakra

Svadhishthana or Sacral chakra is the second chakra which sits in the lower part of our abdomen and its energy flows to the pelvic region. I call this the “female chakra” because it is at the seat of life; our reproductive organs like the uterus and ovaries. This chakra is responsible for sensuality, pleasure and creativity. When the sacral chakra is blocked – energy is not flowing harmoniously similar to when we are congested and cannot breathe freely. This energy is not visible but neither is love. Yet, we feel it deeply. Read about Opening up to Love for more on this topic. Similarly, when this chakra is overactive the flow of energy is excessive. We can compare this to having a fever, when the body is working too hard and overheating. Both, the blocked and overactive states of the sacral chakra are an imbalance. To harmonize the chakra, mediation, specific yoga postures (below), color therapy (orange), crystal therapy-where the minerals in specific crystals can mildly alleviate certain conditions by being placed in direct contact with the skin (carnelian, in this case). Eating foods such as oranges, almonds, pumpkin are thought to balance the sacral chakra as well. And with any physical, emotional or mental condition please, seek the help of a medical professional first, to rule out other issues.

Signs your Sacral chakra may blocked

1. Feel insecure
2. Loss or lack of creativity
3. Lack of pleasure
4. Low to no sexual desire
5. Fear of intimacy
6. Disconnected or detached
7. At dis-ease with your body

Signs your Sacral chakra is overactive

1. Aggressive behavior
2. Overly emotional
3. Addictive behavior (drugs, food, sex)
4. Co-dependent behavior
5. Poor or harmful relationships (National Domestic Violence Hotline)
6. Anxiousness and over attachment

Squat pose (Malasana)

1. Start by standing tall and hinging at the waist to give yours legs a simple stretch.
2. Squat on the floor with both feet on the floor. If heels cannot rest on floor or is difficult, place a rolled-up towel or block under heels to give support. Ironically, the advanced version of this posture requires staying on toes (called fire toes) and balancing the body’s weight on toes alone as seen in the picture below. Here, you will need to engage the dorsal muscles (upper thighs) and abdomen to keep balance.
3. Gently bring your hands to hearts center-prayer pose.
4. Use elbows to gently push knees open.
5. Bring attention to the sacral chakra, your reproductive organs and appreciate the seat of your womanhood without inhibition. Bring attention to the balancing of energy in the region.

Side lunge (Skandasana)

1. From the same squat above, inhale and extend right leg out to side of body. Place right foot on floor or heel on floor parallel to the sky. Left foot or balls of left foot rest firmly on floor.
2. Bring hands to heart in prayer pose or simply place fingertips on floor until you can gain balance. Hold posture for 3-5 breaths.
3. Straighten back here. Inhale, exhale with intention.
4. Feel the stretch in the inner thigh. To keep balance, activate (mildly firm) abdominal muscles but continue to breathe.
5. Bring a deep smile to your face with an exhale. Feel grateful for being a powerful female.
6. Go back to the squat and extend left leg out to do posture on the opposite side (left).

Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II)

1. From downward facing dog, place right foot in between hands. Pivot left foot. Imagine an invisible line being drawn from the right heel to the left heel. Do they line up? Aim for a good stretch not perfection.
2. Raise the body up, bend right knee. Do not extend knee past the right toes. Can you see your toes? If so, you’re doing this posture safely.
3. You should feel a stretch in your back leg and an opening of your hip flexors. You may even have a feeling of strength in your pelvic floor muscles. This is energy flowing freely.
4. Extend right arm to the right and left arm to the left of the body behind you. Drop your shoulders and prevent shrugging here.
5. Gaze your sight over your right arm to the tips of your fingers. In this posture we are gazing into the future.
6. Again, recognize the strength and power of your body.
7. Do opposite side (left)

Crescent lunge (Anjaneyasana)

1. From downward dog, exhale and place right foot next to right hand. Bend knee.
2. Extend left leg out behind yourself as far as possible – both feet should be hip width apart. Left leg is straight and balancing on balls of the feet. If this is difficult, you may rest your left leg on the floor (see picture below).
3. Inhale and raise body up and center torso on hips. Try not to lean forward as this posture is designed for upward energy which extends from pelvic floor to the crown of the head.
4. Arms can be extended up (imagine reaching for the sky with both arms). Shoulders away from ears. OR arms can be behind the body and fingers interlocked to add a heart opening posture to this sacral balancing posture as seen in the above picture.
5. This posture is a great hip opener which increases hip mobility. Hold this posture for 5 breaths.

Figure four (Caturasana)

1. From standing tall. Inhale. Shift weight to right leg and bring/place right ankle to just above left knee. Inhale. Your body will naturally come into a chair pose but try to keep your spine and back as straight as possible (this is difficult for me). Exhale through nose deeply here.
2. The idea here is to feel a stretch in your right hip and an opening of the pelvic floor. Hold this posture for as long as it is comfortable. Make micro adjustments until you feel a good stretch of your hips and glutes. Alternatively, this posture can be performed lying down on your back and gently pulling the extended leg with the hands for a deep stretch.
3. Bring hands to hearts center in prayer pose and find a point to focus on.
4. Return to standing tall with both feet on floor before practicing on the opposite side (Left).

In order for us, women to continue to make strides towards our shared success we may need to continue to be individually introspective and create a balance between inhibitions and exhibitions. We may come to find this balance through body awareness in the form of yoga, meditation and other self-care. What has helped you be more comfortable in your feminine body?