Finding Balance: Session Two - Our Creativity

Finding Balance

A series of suggestions to help balance our energies

and our sense of self

There are seven main energy centres throughout our bodies, known in some philosophies as chakras. These energy centres align with the spine, from its base to the crown of the head. They have been described as swirling wheels of our vital life force, where matter and consciousness meet, and they correspond to significant nerve centres in the body. It's important for our mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being that these energy centres stay open, unblocked, and balanced. Each of the seven sessions focuses on a different energy centre. They can be used by individuals or by groups. 

The workshops offered on this blog are the result of my thoughts, reflections, and experiences, woven together using my own words and sometimes adapting the words others have used: I am indebted to their wisdom. Please use these workshops freely, adapting them as suits your own context. I am always pleased to hear from people who have used them.

Session Two : Our Creativity

The second work-shop is to do with the energy centre for our creative expression

and sexual passion. For this session you will need:

• a rug or mat, an orange stone or moonstone, and an orange for each person present (remember to have some extras for unexpected attendees)
• five large candles, and enough small candles or night-lights for each person present
• something that chimes (a bell or a tuning fork, for example)
• sandalwood or patchouli incense (if no-one has any problems with the vapour) and matches
• some bowls of water and a sparge – something to flick the water with (or you can just use your fingers)

You may also wish to play music during the meditation, in which case choose

something quiet, calm, and unobtrusive.

The Welcome and Introduction:

Welcome to you all, as we gather together again to continue learning some ways

that may help us to achieve greater balance within our selves. Balance is about

having neither too little nor too much. Today we will focus on the second energy

centre, which is to do with our creativity.

Reflecting on Our Creativity:

The second energy centre has been described as the dwelling place of the self. Located just below the navel, it's associated with our emotions, our sense of taste, our reproductive functions, our search for pleasure, and our creativity: 'I enjoy life fully' could be this chakra's motto!

When it's open and in balance, we experience feelings of well-being, abundance, pleasure, and joy, and we're capable of intimacy, of loving freely and fully, of being honest and non-judgmental about our desires, and of living as our authentic selves without fear.

When it's blocked or out of balance we may experience emotional turmoil, and react rather than respond; we may be excessively needy in our relationships, we may have sexual or urinary dysfunction, and abdominal cramps; we may feel pessimistic, disempowered, vulnerable to depression, lacking in creativity and fearing change; we may doubt and sabotage our selves, either becoming afraid of happiness or pleasure, or seeking it at all costs, and becoming prey to addiction.

Take a moment now to recall some particular time of your life when you felt especially well and happy...

Was it also a time when you were being creative in some way - when you were expressing your self, and enjoying your self, by making something – and not just babies! - activities such as cooking, baking, gardening, arts and crafts, carpentry,

singing, dancing, writing, problem-solving, inventing something...

It's part of human nature to create, and when that's frustrated in some way, our selves are diminished. So take a moment now to think about a time when you felt down, less than your best, perhaps over-dependent on other people, or conversely, not trusting other people with the real you, trying to maintain a facade of who you thought they wanted you to be...

Was that also perhaps a time when you felt unable to be creative, unable to express your self, just surviving, without joy, perhaps actively discouraged from some form of creativity that you needed, encouraged to conform rather than to have fun, to do what's supposed to be right and proper, rather than be true to your unique self...

The Thanksgiving and Lighting of Candles:

As the first candle is lit,

we offer thanks for our human lives, so full of possibility and potential,

for our own strengths and vulnerabilities,

and all we have experienced thus far:

       We offer thanks!

As the second candle is lit,

we offer thanks for the delights and passions of our senses –

sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch -

and for our passionate unions which are grounded in real love:

       We offer thanks!

As the third candle is lit, we offer thanks for the passions and talents

that bring us music and art and science and literature,

and for all the ways our spirits are lifted and united:

       We offer thanks!

As the fourth candle is lit,

we offer thanks that we can be healed of old wounds,

and re-discover fertile soil within our selves

for new ideas and new possibilities:

       We offer thanks!

As the fifth candle is lit,

we offer thanks for our abilities to adapt, change, grow,

and transform times of darkness into times of light:

       We offer thanks!

Strengthening Our Creativity:

We may feel open and creative in some aspects of life, but self-conscious and

lacking in others. Ask me to sing a song, and I feel confident I can do it; ask me to 

paint a picture, and I'm much less able or willing! Sometimes the reason that we've

stopped being creative, or stopped taking risks creatively, is because someone told

us that we weren’t good enough, or that we couldn’t do it; we've become afraid of

failing' according to other people's standards.

In opening our second chakra energy, we learn that it's ok to take risks, and that we don't need to be afraid of failure – simply willing to try again. Play is a great way to begin this re-opening, playing like children can, not afraid to start over again, simply enjoying them-selves. It's good to adopt a similar care-free attitude;

and if things don't quite work out, there's no shame in having another go. When's the last time we each just played?..

Besides being open to creativity in our daily life, and being less fearful, we can also balance the second chakra in other ways: we can honor and respect our bodies, and look after them well; we can welcome life's many and varied pleasures, neither grasping possessively at their sources, nor feeling ashamed of enjoyment; we can enter into relationships open-heartedly, without manipulating others, or allowing them to use us; and we can be mindful of our own thoughts, emotions, memories, and intentions, making a positive commitment to letting go of, and moving on from, anything that is holding us back.

Beginning to Balance:

As in our first session, there are various steps we can take to begin to open and rebalance our creative centre.

Step one – Breathing

Left nostril breathing helps to open up the second chakra.

Simply close your right nostril with the first two fingers of your right hand

and inhale and exhale through the left nostril, just for 8 to 10 breaths...

Step two – Chanting

As we learned last time, chanting helps bring us back to balance because sound enables the cells to work together, literally in harmony. For the creative chakra we chant the word 'VAM' and as we breathe in, we imagine we're breathing in orange energy, and letting it flow throughout our bodies. As we breathe out, on the word VAM, we imagine that outward flow of orange energy is expelling all our impurities we're ready to release. The chime will give us the note for the chant...

Step three - Dancing

Last time we learnt some quiet, still, stretching postures.

This time we're going to increase our energies as we join in a circle dance!

Part 1: Holding hands with your neighbours, sidestep left for 8 steps, then sidestep right for 8 steps. Repeat once

Part 2: Run four steps forwards, swinging arms up; release hands, and clap with hands high, then join hands again; take four steps backwards bringing arms back down. Repeat once

Part 3: Repeat parts 1 & 2 once; then release your neighbours hands, and begin a chain, stepping or skipping, as you interweave all the way round the circle.

Step four - Meditation

As you know, meditation serves to ground us and to connect us to our deeper

selves and to the Universal Energy, God, Gaia, Spirit. Before we begin, please take

one of these stones, either an orange one or a moon-stone, and hold it just below

your navel. The meditation will take about five minutes. Please make yourself

comfortable....

Suggested script for Guided Meditation

Close your eyes, and take a long and deep breath...

As you exhale, move your attention to the lower part of your abdomen,

just below the navel, and imagine a glowing orange chakra...

Imagine that the orange glow of the chakra is spreading

to the rest of your body, like ripples on the surface of water...

Imagine that you are feeling it on our body like gentle waves,

ebbing and flowing on a shoreline...

And now imagine standing on that shore-line,

on a pristine, white-sand beach, and it is just before dawn.

The sky is streaked with orange in eager anticipation of the sun.

Watch the sky...

Now look down

at the expanse of gentle surf and calm water in front of you.

Imagine stepping forward and dipping your toes

into the warm water of the ocean...

Notice how it slowly approaches, laps around your feet,

and then returns to its source...

You move forward into the waves, and you see through the clear water

the white sandy floor under your feet.

Imagine diving into the water and starting to swim effortlessly...

and now turning onto your back

and starting to float like a weightless leaf...

You gaze at the orange sky while moving and flowing with the waves...

And now, as you float,

you see your second chakra spinning and gaining strength,

and an an orange light washes over you, pervading every cell of your body.

Breathe deeply and feel the energy funneling down your spine

to the second chakra... and rest in this awareness...

Now imagine that you gently start swimming again.

You realize that the sea has safely carried you back to the shore

so your feet find the sand and you start walking out of the water...

Look back at the sea and feel one with it...

Look at the orange sun in the sky, and feel cherished by it...

Feel the earth beneath you, and know that you are safe and secure...

Gradually bring your awareness back to your breathing...

and back to your body...

and when you are ready, open your eyes...

The Refreshment:

Taste and the tongue are related to the second energy centre, 

so to help us to come fully out of the meditation, 

we share these oranges, to refresh us...

and here are some bowls of water, for our sticky fingers!..

Incorporating the Creativity Chakra:

As we come towards the completion of this session, 

let's summarise what we've done together today: 

We've shared a little of how we were affected by the first session about our root chakra; we've reflected on our creativity, identifying some of the symptoms of imbalance, and the benefits of seeking balance - of having neither too little nor too much; we've given thanks for the passions, the playfulness, and the possibilities within us; we have begun, with beathing, chants, dancing, and imaginative meditation, to open our selves to change and renewal.

There are various things we can do until we meet again, that may serve as reminders and

prompts of the balance we are seeking to achieve, and the creativity that can flourish

from the good soil we're rooted in.

First of all, keep the orange stone or the moon stone, and use it with the red one

every day as you practice deep breathing and relaxation, and to focus on the

creative energy that enhances our lives.

Secondly, there are some yoga poses you may wish to try, and there's a sheet with

instructions and diagrams on.

Thirdly, you can incorporate the colour orange into every day - maybe with flowers, or

with what you choose to wear or to eat - oranges, melons, and cinnamon are said to be

good healing foods - and it's good to drink plenty of water.

And fourthly, next time we meet please bring with you something original that you've

created since today - it could be something you cook or write or paint or sew or hammer

together - and we'll have a little 'show and tell', not as a competition, but as a chance to

share and enjoy each other's creations.

The Closing:

We've already used water to wash off the orange juice, and water is connected to the second energy centre, so washing, bathing, showering, paddling, and swimming are all good to help us relax and to keep our emotions flowing healthily. But water, of course, can change from a solid to a liquid, and from a liquid to a vapour... and vice versa! So as we are now seeking change and growth in our selves, the replenishing of our creativity, and the better balancing of our energies, may this water bless and renew us:

Water is (gently!) sprinkled on everyone using a sparge. Make sure the person leading the ceremony is also sprinkled by someone else. Everyone then says:

       May this water bless and renew our senses

       and our sense of self;

       May we delight in who we are,

       who we may become,

       and in one another!

Three simple yoga postures which help to open the pelvic region:

1. Seated pelvic circles: sitting cross-legged, with hands on knees, make circles with the torso, going round in one direction 5 or 6 times, and then the same in the other direction.

1. Butterfly pose with forward fold: in a seated position, bring the bottoms of the feet together, letting the knees drop to the sides and bringing the heels towards the pelvis; lengthen the torso and fold forwards.

3. Cobra pose: lie on stomach with feet flat on the floor; place hands under shoulders and slowly lift head, chest and abdomen, while keeping navel on the floor, and pressing down through the pubic bone towards the mat.