Color: Orange

Bija Mantra: Vam

Yantra: Silver Crescent Moon

Element: Water

Key Principles:

Svadhisthana: One's place, shape, movement, essence

polarities create movement

Sensation, desire, longing, need, and sensuality reside here.

The "feeling function"- becomes compromised for many of us as we grow up and are told what to do.

Take time to feel. Slow down.

Emotion means moving energy out

The developmental stage is associated with babies crawling, moving, and exploring the world with the senses.

Emotional language is developed

It's OK to feel (embrace emotional releases and outbursts)

If we deny ourselves healthy pleasure, we turn to unhealthy pleasure (overeating, over-drinking, binging)

Deficiency: Avoidance of emotions, rigid, inflexibility, leads to addictions, reactive

Excess: Highly emotional, one extreme to the next, sloppy, indulgent, stuck there, repeating the same pattern.

Note: Pockets of emotional energy are stored in the body over years of mini and severe traumas. As they begin to release through the practice of yoga, the body will also make space for emotional outbursts. This is normal.

Lifework:

• What are you denying yourself (or delaying) pleasure? Do you tend to overindulge?

• Do you consider yourself excessive or deficient in Svadhisthana?

• What are some ways you can grant yourself more pleasure?