Australian_Yoga_Journal_2016_08_09_downmagaz.com

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august/september 2016 yogajournal.com.au 52 Living YOUR dream BY CHRISTINE CHEN / TEACHING BY MARY BETH LARUE IMAGINE WADING THROUGH A RIVER choked with mud and fallen branches. For many of us, this is how reaching toward our life goals can feel. We get blocked by dead-end career paths, robotic daily routines, or too much drama in our relationships and we feel stranded, without the momentum to make change. That’s because we can’t flow toward the life we want until the debris is cleared. To demolish that dam you need creativity, the power to turn dormant, dusty thoughts and dreams into actions and realities, and to find clever solutions to relationships, work, and other life challenges. So how do you tap into that truly transformative, but often elusive, energy of creativity? Via the chakras, first mentioned thousands of years ago in sacred Hindu texts called the Upanishads. Described as interconnected nodes within the subtle-energy body, the chakras run along your spine and essentially map to your endocrine and hormonal systems. It is the second chakra, svadhisthana chakra, that holds the key to unlocking and harnessing the energy you need to be innovative and to make change. Energetically, the second chakra rules creativity, emotion, joy, enthusiasm, and sensuality. Physically, it’s located near your sacrum and hips, below your navel, and is said to be the seat of your reproductive organs. When svadhisthana energy is in balance – not too intense and not too laidback – you can access feelings of abundance, joy, and pleasure, and clear the way for creative energy to flow freely. However, when svadhisthana is blocked, by emotional trauma or chronic stress, for example, you are unable to connect with your passions. You also tend to try to control everything, and your life might lack zest. In addition to feeling like you’re in a rut, you might be unable to connect intimately or embrace deep self-love, explains Christiane Northrup, MD, a board-certified OB/ GYN and author of Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom, a woman-centred book about the unity of mind, body, emotions, and spirit. Physically, the body can manifest these shackled emotions as unexplained lower-back pain, tight hips, sexual-organ dysfunction, and reproductive challenges. “If your second chakra is balanced, it is much easier to go into the world and create the life of your dreams.” Unfortunately, our modern, predominantly desk- and car-bound lives can exacerbate imbalance in the second chakra. We sit more – and for longer periods – than ever, resulting in restricted (and sometimes weakened) hips that inhibit the second chakra’s creative energies. To that end, one of the most accessible ways to undo these restrictions and find second-chakra balance is through asana. Yoga’s physical postures allow prana (or life-giving breath) to flow, activating and directing energy appropriately, according to yogic philosophy. “A hip-focused yoga practice can release discomfort and help you look at everything as an opportunity,” says Mary Beth LaRue, a Los Angeles-based yoga teacher and co-founder of Rock Your Bliss, a yoga-inspired coaching business that helps people craft creative lives. “Ultimately, hip-opening asanas teach you to loosen your grip on life and let things ebb and flow. And finding a sense of fluidity in your dayto-day life transforms all of your relationships, including your relationship with yourself.” Try the hip-opening sequence on the following pages, designed to help you spark svadhisthana and tap into your creative potential. “If your second chakra is balanced, it is much easier to go into the world and create the life of your dreams,” says Northrup. 1. Virasana (Hero Pose), with a block Kneel and slide a block between your heels, so that the short edges of the block centre on your ankles; sit back and press the tops of your feet and toenails evenly into the ground. Now sit tall, lengthening the crown of your head upward. Make sure the block evenly supports both sitting bones. Place your hands on your thighs or over your belly as you roll your shoulder heads back, then make your belly round with each full inhale. After a few breaths, start to cultivate Ujjayi Pranayama (Victorious Breath) by sweeping your breath along the back of your throat as you inhale and exhale through the nose. Stay here for 2 to 3 minutes. By beginning in this posture, you set a grounding tone for your practice. 2. Hip circles From Virasana, walk your hands forward into Tabletop, with your knees under your hips, and your wrists under your shoulders. Make small circles with your hips, warming up the spine and inviting a sense of fluidity. As you grow warmer, you can expand your circles to the point of melting all the way back into Balasana (Child’s Pose) for a few breaths. Spend at least 1 minute circling in each direction. When you have finished, lift your hips back into Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog Pose). 3. Anjaneyasana (Low Lunge) From Down Dog, step your right foot toward your right thumb tip and set your back knee on the mat. Press the top of your foot firmly into the mat as you lengthen your tailbone toward your mat and draw your lower belly in. Make sure your front knee doesn’t drift past your front ankle. Extend your arms alongside your ears. Interlace all but your index fingers, and press up through your palms, drawing your shoulders away from your ears. Bring your drishti, or gaze, up as you lift from your sternum and breathe underneath your collarbones. Firmly draw your hips in toward your midline as you grow tall through the sides of your waist and up through your index fingers. Hold for 1 minute. PHOTOGRAPHY: LAURA AUSTIN
1 2 3 OPEN UP TO possibilities When the second chakra is balanced, you can meet challenges with curiosity and playfulness, rather than letting your emotions carry you away or, alternatively, experiencing a knee-jerk reaction of shutting down or becoming defensive. Because most of us suffer from tight hips, this practice focuses on opening the physical seat of the second chakra. LaRue warns that a hip-opening practice can make us feel vulnerable. If that applies to you, bring your awareness to your breath to find a grounding sense of stability as you practice. With the following 11 poses, LaRue creates a safe space for you to step into your potential. “Pay attention as you move through this sequence to see where you encounter resistance, then use your breath to soften that resistance,” says LaRue. Find a distraction-free space outdoors or in your home and set an intention for your practice, something that either reminds you of your life goals or inspires you to reach for them. Encourage yourself to move creatively or intuitively, which may bring about a more open-minded way of being. Then, see how this sense of fluidity travels with you off the mat. august/september 2016 yogajournal.com.au 53
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