They have a strong sexual urge, they live in fantasies all the time, and they find joy and peace only when their urges are fulfilled: the people of the second chakra.

If there is one chakra that we can say is active for the vast majority of humanity, it is the second chakra, the sexual chakra, named in Sanskrit “Svadhisthana.”

Ines Hofi art

The second chakra is situated a few centimeters above the sexual organs. On the physical level, this chakra is in charge of the sexual function. On the psycho-mental plane, this chakra runs our social life and self esteem. A good activation of this chakra makes the person spontaneous, pleasant, charismatic, with an electrifying sex appeal. When there is a lack at the chakra, a person becomes dry, predictable, boring, lacking social sexual powers and having no sense of humor.

The Sanskrit name Svadhisthana literally means “the seat of the ego.” Indeed, this chakra is the seat of the lower ego, and it’s continuously occupied with fulfilling the selfish needs of man. The sexual satisfaction, satisfying the needs of the body and pleasure, and the satisfaction of the social status may in certain cases put this chakra in ecstasy.

At the level of consciousness of the second chakra, the ego sees himself as a consumer who is in the center of the world, trying to arrange the entire world around him, in order to fulfil all his needs and fantasies.

A person with a developed and harmonious second chakra is normally very beautiful and charismatic, having a sweet tongue that can also sting, is a pleasant, social person, creative, likeable, and he likes a lot of people, but we cannot say that at this level, people have a real mature capacity to love. Such a person would have a developed sense of taste and enjoy good meals and sweets. Sexually, one would be very active.

Women with a developed sexual chakra are very nicely proportioned and have a bright and watery spark in their eyes, soft lips, tender skin and very measured, feminine body language. They are sure in themselves and their sex appeal, and they have a capacity to ask for things in an almost hypnotic way that guarantees almost always that people, mostly men, will give them exactly what they want. The actress and singer, Marilyn Monroe, is an example of a woman with a colossal sexual chakra.

Men who have a very developed and harmonious sexual chakra have a balanced body, strong but not exaggeratedly muscular, they have a pleasant face, and a clear masculine, yet not forceful, facade. They talk in a witty and fluid way, their body movements are very relaxed and light, and their gaze is deep and watery. Leonardo DiCaprio is a good example of a man who has developed a strong and harmonious second chakra.

Second Chakra Balancing Meditation here >

Satellite people lacking centers live their lives around others

What happens when the second chakra is too weak? The body gets very weak, the sexual potential decreases, the sexual glands don’t produce enough hormones, frigidity and impotence can occur. Man becomes isolated and life appears worthless, like an oasis that has gone dry. When the weakness and the passivity of this energy grows to an extreme, depression appears.

Another extreme state is when this chakra is excessively active. This is the more common case, where the sexual glands work excessively and create sexual frustration, sexual obsessions and restlessness. When you try to focus on something and your thoughts are wandering to sexual fantasies, to the social world, thinking of your self image, this is a clear sign that this chakra is excessively active.

Apas Tattva

The sexual chakra is related to the alchemical element of water, named in Sanskrit “apas tattva.” The direction of the water element is going downwards, as we know water tends to flow to the lowest place. Together with this, water tends to find a perfect balance with the rest of the water it comes in contact with.

Water cleanses and nourishes, but it might also flood and drown. Water is clean when it flows, yet swampy when stagnant. In the same way, the sexual and social energies are harmonious when they are fluid but become poisonous when we are stuck and obsessed with social or sexual issues. Heat evaporates water and brings it up to the sky, and in the same way, real ambition, harmonious spiritual aspiration takes the creative potential of the water and lifts it, sublimes it, to a much higher creativity.

Water is, as you know, approximately 70% of the body of man and covers more than 70% of the earth. That is why water dictates—more than any other alchemical element—the condition of man and the condition of life on earth. And, therefore, the sexual chakra, being related to the water element, is the center of human life.

Dwelling next to natural water sources and bathing in them activates this chakra and purifies it. Even a good shower, when it’s done with a certain awareness, regenerates the energy of this chakra system. Every sexual desire and sexual arousal directs more energy to this chakra. When the sexual arousal is full of affection, fluid, pleasant and radiant, it makes this chakra stronger and more harmonious. When the sexual arousal is gross, tight, selfish and aggressive, this chakra is closed and our balance is hurt.

The animal which symbolizes this chakra is called in Sanskrit “Makara,” a mythological Indian animal that lives in swamps and water, and it is a combination of an alligator and a whale. The character of this animal is sneaky, heartless and cunning.

The color which is most characteristic to this chakra is silver white, the color of the moon. Whereas the first chakra is related to the earth and it spins around its own axis, the second chakra is related to the moon and it needs an outer axis to orbit around like a satellite. It is not by chance that the waters are so influenced by the moon.

People who live life through the second chakra are also lacking a center, and they live their lives around other people, be it their family, their leaders, their bosses, their idols. They search for meaning in orbiting others. Someone at this level is like a satellite, needing an external center to give meaning to life.

The western consumption culture which revolves around money, pleasure and comfort, is a civilization which revolves around this chakra. The Zen and Samurai traditions of Japan value honor and spirit before fulfilling the needs of pleasure, and we can say about these Japanese traditions that they are already at the level of the third chakra.

People at the level of consciousness of the second chakra find happiness and peace only when their urges are satisfied. When their desires are not satisfied, they are frustrated and restless. For the person who is active on the higher chakras, happiness can appear very profound and full, even when some of the desires and urges are not fulfilled.

How to Balance Svadhisthana

The catch at Svadhisthana Chakra is the short duration of the satisfaction in comparison to the long period of craving. At the level of consciousness of the second chakra, success gives short satisfaction, after which the restless imagination wakes up, invents a new goal, charges a new object of desire, and enslaves man until it reaches it, to receive again but a short satisfaction, until another childish desire awakens and tortures him again.

When the level of consciousness doesn’t rise above Svadhisthana Chakra, the situation is almost inevitable, and it is the sad destiny of so many people who sit in front of the marvelous, abundant table of life, which is overloaded with delicacies for the soul and nevertheless, they choose to eat only the napkin; that is they avoid to taste the richness of their own soul and choose to enjoy only superficial satisfactions that arise in their head, satisfactions that have a flat taste, lacking any real nutritious value.

There are two main ways to heal Svadhisthana Chakra. The first path is purification. The path of purification deals with healing the psychic tensions by observing them and creating a state of catharsis of releasing the excessive tensions. Psychoanalysis, for example, is such a method of purification, in which the patient allows the subconscious tension to rise, releasing the stressful trauma and balancing, thus, the different elements of his inner world. Psychotherapy normally leaves the energy at the level of the sexual, only that now this level is more balanced and peaceful.

Another path is by channeling, subliming and transmuting the sexual creative energy to the higher levels of the being. In this way, the same annoying urges become a nourishing source of energy. We can find ways of channeling the creative sexual potential in Western alchemy, in Taoism, and in Tantra Yoga.

Tantra offers a number of efficient exercises that transmute and sublime the energies from the lower chakras to the higher chakras. One of the most effective exercises is no other than the well-known shoulder stand. When the body is reversed, the sexual fluids, together with the hormones, the blood and the lymph, rise from the pelvic area to the head area. Staying for a long time in these positions—under the surveillance of a certified yoga teacher—influences not only the body but also the mind. The sexual tension passes a process of sublimation in which it turns from social, sexual energies into mental and even spiritual energies.

For Tantric men, such positions can help to obtain sexual continence and to refrain from involuntary ejaculation. For the women, they are able to experience much deeper orgasms using these exercises. Together with this, the methods of transmutation and sublimation create a bridge between the sexual and spiritual aspect of man.

The ones practicing these methods seriously testify that with the same intensity in which they desire sex, they are now occupied with other creative activities: studying, reading, art, or practicing spirituality with great enthusiasm. The secret is that when the same power (that is expressed in the sexual chakra as desires) rises to the higher chakras, it leads to a desire to unite with the divine and facilitates the power to create such a union.