Day 2 · Beginner journey
Sacral Chakra (Swadhisthana)
Day 2 moves up to the Swadhisthana, the Sacral chakra in the pelvic area. Traditionally linked to openness, feeling and acceptance, it can feel restricted when we're shy or closed off. Today's hip-opening poses — like Butterfly — invite a softer, more open quality.
The Sacral chakra sits in the pelvic area and is traditionally associated with openness, feeling and the ability to accept and flow with things. When it feels blocked, there can be a sense of shyness or being closed in.
Follow the video into gentle hip openers such as Butterfly (Baddha Konasana), keeping the back straight and the chest open so the breath moves freely. Let the hips soften without forcing — the theme today is openness and ease.
Today’s practice
- Settle into a comfortable seat with a tall spine
- Follow the video's hip-opening poses, including Butterfly
- Keep the chest open so the breath flows easily
- Let the hips release gradually, without forcing
Reflection
Where might you allow yourself to be a little more open today?
Video transcriptIn this session, the teacher explains the sacral (Swadhisthana) chakra and demonstrates Titli Asana and Eka Pada Rajakapotasana to help open it.
Om Namaste bhai, welcome to Yoga & You. We are at 136.1 Yoga Studio.
So in the last session we covered the Muladhara Chakra, and now we are going to the Swadhisthana Chakra, which is in the pelvic area. This chakra is associated with sensuality and openness, an accepting feeling. So restriction of this causes a lot of shyness and inability to actually be open about things. It's very restrictive, a very confined kind of feeling. So to open up this chakra we have a few asanas. I'll show you some basic asanas.
We'll start with the Titli Asana, where you bring the soles of the feet together. You need to keep your back straight so that your chest is open and you can breathe properly. And then you need to flap up and down. Don't hold your breath, continue breathing. Rise a little higher, and the going down should be nice and slow. Breathe. We usually do this for around 100 counts, and doing this every day is extremely beneficial, especially for women. If you don't have time, even 30 is good.
We'll do the Eka Pada Rajakapotasana, which is the one-legged pigeon pose. So in this you need to bend your right leg. The heel will be near your pelvic area, so almost like it's pressing into the pelvic area. Your left leg will be back straight, stretch back only as much as you can. Keep your hands up and then bend forward. Keep going. Try to relax in this position. Breathe.
So here what happens is there's a bending from the hips, as you can see, and there's a stretching in the back. The same thing we do on the left side, and we can hold it for a minute. It's excellent. Never hold your breath, always keep breathing, and make sure to slowly come up. Okay, good. Slowly bring the leg forward and relax.
These two are primarily for the Swadhisthana Chakra. There are three, four more, but at least practicing these, especially for women, is essential.