Chakra Foods for the Sacral Chakra

I talked about how certain foods were linked to the chakra's way back in November. I spent a lot of time on ginger recipes for the root chakra. I'm ready to move on now to the second or sacral chakra!

The Sacral Chakra is linked to emotional balance, sexuality, and creativity. The life lesson from this chakra is to uncover the motivations that influence our choices. A Sacral Chakra that is too open or spins to fast can result in emotional imbalances that can lead to addictions and manipulative characteristics. When the chakra is blocked you can feel oversensitive, full of guilt, frigid, or impotent. A balanced second or sacral chakra is expressed in a trusting expressive person that is attuned to their own feelings and has a sense of creativity. The color that resonates with this Chakra is orange- a difficult color for a lot of people to wear interestingly. This chakra usually becomes developed around the age range of 8 to 14 and explains why a lot of kids in this age group are really drawn to the color. Since "Melvin's Balloons" came out I have heard from a LOT of parents that were dismayed and puzzled when their teenager wanted to paint their room orange. Now they (and I) understand!

Turns out some of the spices that resonate with the second chakra are vanilla, cardamom and pepper.

Vanilla certainly makes sense. The first people to cultivate vanilla, the Totonac, lived in what is now Mexico. They believed that Princess Xanat, forbidden by her father from marrying a mortal, fled to the forest with her lover. The lovers were captured and killed. Where their blood touched the ground, the vine grew. Vanilla flowers are hermaphroditic which means they carry both male and female organs. Apparently this made artificial pollination difficult so for years( 300 hundred!), Mexico was the only place where vanilla grew and it was the highest priced spice next to saffron. They have it figured out now and also make artificial vanilla both of which have brought the price down such that it is one of the more common spices.

Vanilla is mildly addictive because it increases adrenaline- hence the appeal perhaps to the second chakra that likes addictions! It was considered an aphrodisiac and used to cure impotence long before Viagra came on the scene. Vanilla is even used as a perfume- apparently it was what Scarlet O'Hara used to entice Rhett Butler!

So if your second chakra needs comfort- try vanilla. If you don't like vanilla, pepper is another choice. And if your dosha is predominately pitta you might prefer pepper. You can put Cayenne pepper in hot chocolate for instance and make a wonderful Mexican hot chocolate (seems the Mexicans may have a particular market for the second chaka!). Vanilla and black pepper can actually be added to oatmeal. I know this doesn't sound right but it's really good! If none of that works, try cardamom. It's a spice common to Indian dishes but is also used as an alternative to cinnamon- it's a sweet spice. I have found a vanilla bean cardamom pudding that just may make it into the book on chakras I'm working on.