Yoga poses for Chakra Healing — Sacral Chakra

We studied the Sacral Chakra, the signs of imbalance and, how to balance it. Today, let’s take a quick look at how yoga helps balance the chakra more evidently. These yoga poses help open and balance your Sacral Chakra.

Swadhisthana (Sacral Chakra)

Butterfly Pose / Bound Angle Pose / Cobbler’s Pose (Baddha Konasana)

Baddha -> Bound

Kona -> Angle

• Sit with your legs stretched out in front of you.
• Slowly bring the soles of your feet together and close your pelvis.
• Drop your knees out to the sides. Bring your heels as close to your pelvis as you comfortably can.
• Grasp the big toe with your first and second fingers and your thumb.
• Lengthen your spine and ground your sitting bones.
• If your body permits, lean forward while keeping your spine straight and spreading your collar bones.
• Stay in the pose for about 5 to 10 breaths.
• To come out of the pose, slowly loosen your body, sit up straight while keeping your spine straight. Lift your knees and straighten your legs.

Precautions:

• If you are a beginner, try using a cushion or a folded blanket to ease the tilting of your pelvis forward.
• Make sure you keep your spine straight and your collar bones stretched. While you taut your collar bones and your spine erect, make sure you lengthen and stretch your torso.
• Keep your breaths towards the stretched area.
• Remember not to force your knees downwards. Instead, release the heads of the thigh bones. Doing so automatically positions the knees downwards.
• As you inhale, lift your knees away from the floor. And as you exhale, extend the legs back to their original position.
• If you have a Groin or Knee injury, perform this pose with blanket roll support under the outer thighs. However, it’s always safe to talk with your doctor.

Wide-Angle Seated Forward Bend (Upavista Konasana)

Upavistha — Sitting

Kona — Angle

• Sitting in Dandasana (Staff Pose), stretch your legs wide apart, up to the point where you feel comfortable and a good stretch. Hold the pose while maintaining your spine posture without falling back.
• Flex your feet. Point your knees and toes upwards towards the ceiling.
• Press your legs and sitting bones on the floor. Lengthen your spine.
• With a straight spine, bend forward from your hips. Place your hands on your floor, between your legs.
• Slowly exhale as you walk your hands forwards.
• Maintain the length along the front of your body as you bend further.
• If you feel that your back starts to arch, don’t stretch further.
• Stay in this pose for 5 to 10 breaths.
• To come out of this pose, slowly come back and sit up straight, pressing your sitting bones, keeping your spine straight as you exhale.

Precautions:

• If you are a beginner, to help your pelvis tilt forward comfortably, use a folded blanket.
• If you do not feel the stretch in your hamstrings but the back of your knees, place a folded blanket under your knees.
• Since sitting up straight stretches your hamstrings enough, you can put your hands behind to support your back.
• If you feel like it, you can bend your knees a bit more to make some more room while keeping the spine straight.

Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward Bend)

• Sit down on a mat or a rolled-up blanket. Doing so will help elevate your pelvis slightly, preventing rounding in the lower back.
• Now, extend your legs in front of you and gently rock to either sideways to settle your ‘sitting bones’ and ground them in the mat or ground.
• Gently press your heels to keep your feet flexed and the toes soft.
• Raise your hands above your head with your palms facing each other.
• Inhale. And as you exhale, slowly begin to stretch forward keeping your spine strength lead by the heart. This will help avoid rounding in your lower back.
• As you bend forwards, hold the outer edges of your feet and lengthen your spine. Inhale to firm your legs and draw your torso forward.
• Exhale through the mouth to relax your arms beside your legs.
• Stay in this position for around 6–8 cycles of breath.
• You can repeat the inhale to lift and exhale to fold movement a couple of times.

Precautions:

• Keep your knees together
• Keep your back straight to avoid bending and injury.
• Do not do this yoga if you suffer from slip disc, asthma, or any back injury.
• Place a folded blanket if your hamstrings are tight.

Prasarita Padottanasana C (Wide Legged Forward Bend C)

• Stand with your feet wide apart keep your legs straight.
• Keep your toes pointing forwards.
• Intertwine your fingers behind your back and rest them on your Sacrum (a piece of bone at the base of your spine between the hip bones).
• Roll your shoulder heads back as you draw the shoulder blades down. Extend your arms downwards.
• Slowly hinge forwards from your hips as you lengthen the crown of your head towards the floor.
• Align your hips and your heels as you bring the weight a bit forward.
• Keep calm even if you feel like you are about to topple, don’t worry. Your body knows how to balance, however, do not force against it.
• Stay in the pose for a couple of breaths.
• To come out of the pose, slowly lift lengthening through the crown of your head.

Precautions:

• Avoid practicing this pose if you are recovering from any internal organs surgery or have injuries in the hips, knees, ankles, arms, shoulders, neck or back.
• Since there is pressure towards the head in this pose, you should avoid practicing it if you have migraine or blood pressure issues. It can cause dizziness and difficulty in breathing (affecting the functions of heart).
• This pose requires body balance awareness. Senior Citizens, Pregnant women, those with weak body structure or similar critical body ailments.
• Irrespective of your age, if you have arthritis or fibromyalgia , you should avoid this yoga.

These are some of the major yoga poses that will associate you with balancing your Sacral Chakra. While it’s all right for you to try complicated yoga poses (they are not actually as they seem), if you have minor joint or physical issues, consider getting a consultation from your doctor or physician.

Up next: Balancing Solar Plexus Chakra (Manipura)