Urban Tantra: Sacred Sex for the Twenty-First Century (9 page)

Weaknesses in this chakra will manifest physically in the lower back (sciatica, for example); in problems with the hips, legs (including varicose veins), knees, and feet;
and as colon cancer and immune system disorders. In addition to physical problems, there are emotional consequences when a chakra is stressed. In the first chakra, these are related to home and belonging. You may not feel safe at home or you may have a fear of being homeless. You may fear that you will lose your job; therefore your income; therefore your home. You may feel overly possessive of your lover, believing that if your lover leaves, you will die. Or you may have trouble making your ideas take physical form. Any of these may result in depression.

Some things you can do to nourish this center are

* Standing barefoot and having someone else stand on your feet

* Seeing your spine as a column of light rooting you to the center of the earth

* Learning and practicing tai chi or bioenergetics

* G-spot massage

* Prostate massage

Here are some affirmations to strengthen this chakra:

* I let life provide everything I need.

* I always have the perfect home and I am perfectly at home wherever I am.

* I am safe.

THE SECOND CHAKRA

Known as Svadhistana, the second chakra is located at the lower abdomen, just below the navel.

Color:
orange

Sound:
low in pitch, one step higher than the first chakra; D on the Western musical scale

Physical focal points:
pelvis, ovaries and uterus, testes and prostate, lower intestine, and bladder

Metaphysical aspects:
sexuality, relationships, creativity, and power

Although this is most commonly referred to as the sex center, issues of power and control also dominate this chakra, specifically power and control over the outside world. The most creative of the lower three chakras, this is the chakra that provides the impetus from which you conceive not only a child but also the plans, desires,
and dreams for all aspects of your life (which become more fully realized in the fifth chakra, the chakra of creative expression). Challenges to this chakra include rape, incest, and events energetically similar to those. For instance, not everyone has been raped, but everyone has experienced having their boundaries violated or felt a lack of privacy. It’s simply a matter of degree. Constant criticism of a person’s creative endeavors, accomplishments, or physical appearance is also a form of energetic rape or incest. People who grow up hearing that they will never amount to anything often suffer impotence, reproductive problems, and financial difficulties later in life.

Money is also a factor in the second chakra, but here the money issues are about relationships and power. Lower back pain—a first chakra issue because of its connection to security—is also a symptom of a financial imbalance in relationships, so it appears in this chakra as well as the first. Sex and money are also closely related. Have you ever noticed that many people feel more sexual when they make money and less sexual when they lose it? Making money makes most of us feel powerful; losing it makes us feel out of control.

Sexual shame is also a power issue. Our shame and embarrassment about sex comes from voices of authority scattered throughout our past. The sources are endless: parents, school, church, the legal system, and so on. All these authorities exert considerable control over us, or they have at one time. They were not to be disobeyed without serious consequence. The fear of being caught masturbating or reading some porn—even the fear of being caught doing
anything
sexual—can unconsciously persist throughout our lives and raise havoc with the natural expression of our sexual energy and desire.

Speaking of power, this is also the chakra concerned with the military. Not surprisingly, it’s also the chakra where people usually wear their guns.

Other physical problems in the second chakra include prostate cancer, impotence, ovarian and uterine cancer, vaginal problems, and urinary problems.

Some things you can do to nourish this center are

* Talking about sex with the intention of releasing shame

* Deep-tissue massage

* Belly dancing

* Exhilaration Meditation and Cathartic Meditation (see
chapter 4
)

* Reichian therapy

Here are some affirmations to strengthen this chakra:

* I rejoice in my divine sexuality.

* My income is constantly increasing.

* I only attract loving, positive, sensual people into my life.

THE THIRD CHAKRA

Also known as Manipura, the third chakra is located at the solar plexus.

Color:
yellow

Sound:
medium-low in pitch; E on the Western musical scale

Physical focal points:
stomach, pancreas, adrenals, gall bladder, liver, and upper intestines

Metaphysical aspects:
self-esteem, courage, and trust

The third chakra is associated with self-respect, self-confidence, and emotions. Fear and anger are the emotions we are most likely to hold in this chakra. When this chakra is healthy and balanced, we feel safe to express our emotions without dumping them onto others. We feel brave, but we do not bully people. We have the courage to face both our inner and outer worlds. We are able to both see and deal with issues beneath the emotions we feel.

As children, the adults around us modeled the expression of emotion. Did your parents or caretakers stuff their emotions? Did they scream about every little thing? Was there a lot of fear in your house, or were your parents self-assured and confident? How were you treated when you expressed your emotions? Were you told to shut up? Were you ignored? Whether you tend to be overly emotional today, or whether you tend to run from big expressions of emotion, you can use the knowledge of your past to gain insight about how and why you deal with emotion the way you do today. And then you will be able to change your behavior if you want to.

The third chakra is also the lower chakra of intuition. It’s not where we pick up the higher intuitive whisperings of our soul (that’s handled in the sixth chakra), but rather those gut feelings that tell us how to move through the physical world safely. This is also the chakra of self-esteem. When we feel strong, self-confident, and brave, we respect ourselves and listen to our “gut feelings.” We trust the process of life. When we aren’t feeling so good about ourselves, we tend to equate who we are with the amount of power we feel we
don’t
have. When we don’t trust that we are strong enough
or good enough to get what we want, we resort to manipulating behavior as defense. We may settle for less than we deserve in sexual relationships. We may feel afraid of the strong emotions that accompany sex.

The physical problems that manifest in this chakra are ulcers and other stomach and digestive disorders. Things “eat away” at you and you “can’t stomach” things. You have a “bad feeling in the pit of your stomach” when you contemplate change.

Some things you can do to nourish this center are

* Feeling the fear and doing it anyway

* Pounding a pillow

* Screaming underwater

* Laughing

* Rebirthing (a conscious breathing process designed to release stored stress, pain, and emotional trauma)

Here are some affirmations to strengthen this chakra:

* I trust my inner voice. I am strong, wise, and powerful.

* It is safe to express my emotions.

* I am brave, I am brave, I am brave.

THE FOURTH CHAKRA

The fourth chakra, or Anahata, is located at the center of the chest, above the breast. It is also known as the heart chakra.

Color:
green

Sound:
mid-range in pitch; F on the Western musical scale

Physical focal points:
chest, thymus, heart, lungs, breasts, arms, and hands

Metaphysical aspects:
compassion and love

This is the chakra of the heart, of forgiveness, and of compassion. It’s associated with following your heart, creating your heart’s desire, and coming from the heart. The fourth chakra sits right in the middle of the chakras—there are three above it and three below. It is the bridge between the physical and nonphysical worlds.

In this chakra, we move beyond ourselves—beyond even our tribe. We include others; we see the bigger picture. When this chakra is in balance, we care both about and for other people, but we do not sacrifice our own health and well-being to take care of others. We feel loving and connected to others, not used by them. We may feel hurt, abandoned, or betrayed, but we are able to find acceptance and forgiveness. Sexually, we feel balanced—we give and receive with equal ease.

The emotional challenges of the heart chakra are resentment, guilt, and grief. We spend our lives learning to love. Some of the lessons are more challenging than others. When we haven’t yet mastered a lesson in love, we either resent the person assigned to teach us the lesson, or feel guilty and/or sad because we can’t fill all the needs of someone we love. We usually interpret the latter as meaning we don’t love enough.

Heart problems—especially heart attacks—are physical challenges of the fourth chakra. Congestive heart failure is a physical manifestation of self-blame, guilt involving failures, and unexpressed sad emotions. Heart attacks are frequently the result of the type of mental/emotional conflict that can arise from a belief such as “compassionate people can’t make a profit.” Not surprisingly, heart problems have traditionally been the biggest killer of men, although women are catching up now that they are in the workplace dealing with the same pressures as men.

Breast cancer is another challenge in this chakra, all too common among women who feel guilty that they can never do enough for other people, while at the same time denying their own needs.

Lung problems including cancer, asthma, and pneumonia are often the result of unresolved grief.

Some things you can do to nourish this center are

* Selfloving, with a focus on bringing sexual energy up to the heart

* Yoga practices that focus on the breath

* Rebirthing

* Crying

Here are some affirmations to strengthen this chakra:

* Compassion and wise love fill all the rooms of my heart.