“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”
In the Bible, the book of Genesis begins with God creating the heavens and the earth. But what was present before that? The second verse states that “the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters”. (English Standard Version) There was Spirit and there was water.
Water is one of the most basic of all chemical compounds; two atoms of hydrogen, one atom of oxygen. H2O
Our human body is 60% water. Our skin, the largest organ of the body is 64% water. Water makes up 73% of our brain and heart and our lungs are 83% water. Water is a vital nutrient to every cell in our body. (The Water in You https://www.usgs.gov>science>water). Water is pretty darn important
The svadhistana chakra, also known as the sacral chakra, is represented by, you got it, water! The swirling, vibrating energy center is located in the sacral area of the body, down by the sacrum and the top of the pelvis. This chakra is the powerhouse of all that is free flowing and fluid. This is the chakra that allows us to weave grief into our life story while not letting grief define who we are.
Water that is free flowing brings forth life. It creates environments for growth and renewal. Stagnant water breeds all sorts of bacteria that creates disease and stink. Water is meant to flow. As is the energy in the svadhistana chakra. This energy is meant to ebb and flow, allowing us to ride the waves of life, the highs and the lows. Vibrating energy in this sacral chakra region affects the flow of energy in rest of our body, mind and spirit.
This free-flowing energy in the sacral chakra can become sluggish and blocked. Grief can be a prime contributor to a blocked chakra. When we are a grieving person, our normal flow of life becomes disrupted. Our sleep patterns are off, our eating habits are messed up, our brains are on overload, our emotions are escalated or buried, we are bombarded with advice, and we feel we have no control of anything. Grief creates much stress. This stress is harbored in the body and blocks the fluidity of life.
Creating an environment that allows our energy to flow freely will help us integrate grief into our lives. We will be able to see how grief can become a part of us, but doesn’t have to be the sole of our identity. We can be a grieving person and still enjoy the moments that warrant celebration. We can go to the dark depths of despair and come out able to enjoy the next day. We can be more alert to the sounds of nature one hour and then be deafened to laughter the next. Our favorite foods can taste delicious one minute but then be mindlessly consumed the next. We can allow our lives to ebb and flow as it was intended, embracing our grief as PART of who we are as a whole being.
Creating this environment begins with us allowing and fostering movement. When we feel the need to cry, allow the tears to flow. When we begin to have an emotion, allow that emotion to move through us, feeling it become intense and begin to wane. When we are anxious, bring deep breathing into our bodies, expanding our lungs to full capacity and slowly moving the air out of our bodies. Movement opens up the pathway and clears the way for newness, sustaining our lives as growing human beings.
When we allow movement into our lives, we are encouraging all of life to flow freely in, around and through us. We begin to create. Creating is fluid. It requires movement of ideas, thoughts, and energy. Creating can be artistic such as painting, drawing, singing, dancing, or writing. Creating can be rearranging furniture, arranging flowers, building a birdhouse. Creating can be cooking, baking or meal planning. Just as in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, we also create. I find it interesting that the svadisthana chakra, the water chakra, is the chakra for creation. Creation begins with water, like in the beginning, fluid, free flowing and life supporting.
The svadisthana chakra can be supported in different ways. Here are just a few suggestions to try.
1) Listen to waves either at the beach or any relaxation CD or app
2) Take a warm soothing bath
3) Concentrate on being mindful and practice it
4) Buy an adult coloring book and enjoy using crayons, colored pencils, markers or paints
5) Try an adult dot to dot book. With the first line inhale, with the next exhale. Continue like this
6) Focus on one sense at a time. Listening, looking, feeling, tasting or smelling
7) Do one creative thing each day
8) If you feel stuck and really want to get emotions and energy flowing practice pelvic rocking. Here is how it is done. Lie on your back on the floor. Bend your knees, keeping your feet planted on the floor. Place your heels close to your bum. Place your hands gently on your hip points, the area of your svadisthana chakra. Now push into the floor with your feet over and over again. Your body will begin to gently rock. Your chin will begin to bob up and down. Continue on. Once you get comfortable with the rocking sensation close your eyes. Relax your abdominal muscles so that you feel fluid. Feel as if you are in water, bobbing up and down, being rocked by the waves. You may want to experiment with gently rocking and more forceful rocking and a combination. However the water is flowing, ride the waves of your emotions. When you have finished rocking, extend your legs out straight and lie still. Ponder all that you are feeling and experiencing.
A healthy svadisthana chakra allows for all of life to be felt. Grief can be felt and embraced as it flows through us and around us. Free flowing, like the waves in an ocean, is a great example of how grief moves, powerful as they swell and crash, then lapping the shoreline as they move back out to sea. The sacral chakra can be the powerhouse for us to feel our grief and helping us to assimilate into our life without letting it define who we are. This is how we begin to live with Grief in Life.
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