Keeping the Light on Saturday: Crohn's Disease & Your 2nd Chakra

Dear Yin Weaver,

I want to share with you the definition for Crohn's disease I found at Nutriage. Crohn's disease is a chronic form of inflammatory bowel disease. Crohn's disease causes severe irritation in the gastrointestinal tract. It usually affects the lower small intestine (called the ileum) or the colon, but it can affect the entire gastrointestinal tract. Also called regional enteritis and ileitis.

Let me draw your attention to the word ileum. The ileum is the lower end of the small intestine. The iliocecal valve is a small sphincter muscle found between the ileum and the large intestine. Its function is to prevent colonic material from backing up into the ileum, where it could cause inflammation. When the valve gets stuck open, it can cause more than just a waste management problem. In fact, it can imitate a variety of seemingly unrelated symptoms. It's known as Ileocecal Valve Syndrome. I call it the "who knew?" syndrome, because who knew a rusty ileocecal valve could cause pain in the right shoulder, right side of the pelvis, the low back and around the heart? Who knew it could cause flu-like symptoms, tinnitus and nausea?

If you have Crohn's Disease, or any inflammatory bowel syndrome, or any of these symptoms, and you can't seem to get relief from all the normal routes, it's possible you have Ileocecal Valve Syndrome. In addition to practicing the Usha mudra this week, I also recommend resetting the Ileocecal and Houston Valves (the Houston Valve is another sphincter muscle that is responsible for pushing waste from the large intestine into the anus).

Here's how: Take a look at the picture on the left taken from Donna Eden's book Energy Medicine. Place both hands inside the hipbones, fingers pointing down towards the groin. Push your fingers in deeply and pull up towards the waist line. Shake off your hands and repeat two more times. After the third time, smooth your hands down over your pelvis towards the groin.

Feel free to leave any questions or comments regarding this exercise. Let me know if it works for you...or doesn't!

Blessings,
Rose

The Seven Day Chakra Challenge--Keeping the Light in Your Second Chakra

Dear Yin Weaver,

Last week I shared with you how to balance the left and right brain hemispheres using the Alternate Nostril Breathing exercise. I also wrote about the root chakra. On reflection, I’m not sure I made the connection between the two as clear as I’d hoped. I wrote about how ANB improves creativity and problem solving. But I forgot to mention it also affects the subtle energy flowing through the etheric spine. So, the point of the exercise was not only to balance your brain, but to generally tonify all the chakras, including root. This way, moving forward into the next six exercises, you’ll be able to draw upon energies moving freely through the root to the rest of the chakras.

On to week two of the Seven Day Chakra Challenge series! This week let’s focus on the second chakra. In Sanskrit it is called Swadhisthana (swah-dis-tana). Some people call it the sacral or womb chakra because of its location. This chakra is associated with the color orange and the water element (did I mention the root is associated with the earth element?), and sits half way between your belly button and your pubic bone (the root sits at the very tip of your tail bone). It represents your sexuality, creativity, finances, relationships, sensuality and pleasure. It is associated with the health of the sexual organs, large intestine, lower back, pelvis, appendix and bladder. If you are having “second chakra” issues, you may be having trouble with sex, money and relationships, establishing boundaries, expressing your creativity, overcoming fear and hopelessness, or physical problems such as lower back pain, impotency, infertility, menstrual and menopause issues endometriosis, prolapsed uterus an bladder, bladder infections, constipation, Chrones disease, ulcerative colitis, and appendicitis.

So what’s the Challenge? This week I’m going to ask you to balance your second chakra with a Mudra. Mudras are simple hand positions, also known as yoga for the hands. According to an ancient yogic understanding of the body, each finger represents the energy of a planet which in turn represents a specific quality and emotion. Mudras redirect the unique energy of each finger to a specific part of the brain. In addition, according to Traditional Chinese Medicine, each finger is the end or starting point of a different meridian. These meridians deliver vital life force to specific organs and also have an emotional polarity. I've listed below a brief overview of each finger.  Hopefully it will deepen your appreciation for the Mudra you'll be practicing this week.

• Finger     Planet      Quality/Emotion       TCM Meridians
• Thumb    Mars       Willpower, eog         Lung; grief, acceptance
• Index     Jupiter       Knowledge, justice  Large Intestine; holding on, letting go
• Middle   Saturn       Patience, control      Circulation/Sex; panic, joy
• Ring       Sun           Vitality, health,         Triple Warmer; fight or flight, safety
• Pinky      Mercury    Communication        Heart & Small Intestine; Love, indecisive, decisive

I’ve said it before and I’ll again. We often practice energy medicine on ourselves without realizing it. For instance, right now I would like you to fold your hands in your lap as you seen in the picture to your left. Congratulations. You are now doing the Usha Mudra, also known as the Venus Lock Mudra. I will make only one small point of clarification. If you are a man, your right thumb should be on top. If you are a woman, your left thumb should be on top. However, feel free to experiment. Close your eyes and inhale, imagine you are directing the energy stimulated by this Mudra directly into the second chakra. Do this one or twice every day for three minutes. The Amit Online Yoga Center says this Mudra concentrates the sexual energy of our second chakra and directs it into the energy centers above it. It gives us mental alertness, pleasure, and new impulses. In addition, it harmonizes our hormonal system.

I’ll be practicing along with you this week. Don’t forget to watch for updates on my Facebook Fan page and here. Please share your experiences with me! I love getting comments.

Blessings,
Rose