Free Urban Tantra: Sacred Sex for the Twenty-First Century by Barbara Carrellas

parents, school, church, the legal system, and so on. All these authorities exert considerable control over us, or they have at one time. They were not to be disobeyed without serious consequence. The fear of being caught masturbating or reading some porn—even the fear of being caught doing anything sexual—can unconsciously persist throughout our lives and raise havoc with the natural expression of our sexual energy and desire.
    Speaking of power, this is also the chakra concerned with the military. Not surprisingly, it’s also the chakra where people usually wear their guns.
    Other physical problems in the second chakra include prostate cancer, impotence, ovarian and uterine cancer, vaginal problems, and urinary problems.
    Some things you can do to nourish this center are
* Talking about sex with the intention of releasing shame
* Deep-tissue massage
* Belly dancing
* Exhilaration Meditation and Cathartic Meditation (see chapter 4 )
* Reichian therapy
    Here are some affirmations to strengthen this chakra:
* I rejoice in my divine sexuality.
* My income is constantly increasing.
* I only attract loving, positive, sensual people into my life.
    THE THIRD CHAKRA
    Also known as Manipura, the third chakra is located at the solar plexus.

Color: yellow
Sound: medium-low in pitch; E on the Western musical scale
Physical focal points: stomach, pancreas, adrenals, gall bladder, liver, and upper intestines
Metaphysical aspects: self-esteem, courage, and trust
    The third chakra is associated with self-respect, self-confidence, and emotions. Fear and anger are the emotions we are most likely to hold in this chakra. When this chakra is healthy and balanced, we feel safe to express our emotions without dumping them onto others. We feel brave, but we do not bully people. We have the courage to face both our inner and outer worlds. We are able to both see and deal with issues beneath the emotions we feel.
    As children, the adults around us modeled the expression of emotion. Did your parents or caretakers stuff their emotions? Did they scream about every little thing? Was there a lot of fear in your house, or were your parents self-assured and confident? How were you treated when you expressed your emotions? Were you told to shut up? Were you ignored? Whether you tend to be overly emotional today, or whether you tend to run from big expressions of emotion, you can use the knowledge of your past to gain insight about how and why you deal with emotion the way you do today. And then you will be able to change your behavior if you want to.
    The third chakra is also the lower chakra of intuition. It’s not where we pick up the higher intuitive whisperings of our soul (that’s handled in the sixth chakra), but rather those gut feelings that tell us how to move through the physical world safely. This is also the chakra of self-esteem. When we feel strong, self-confident, and brave, we respect ourselves and listen to our “gut feelings.” We trust the process of life. When we aren’t feeling so good about ourselves, we tend to equate who we are with the amount of power we feel we don’t have. When we don’t trust that we are strong enoughor good enough to get what we want, we resort to manipulating behavior as defense. We may settle for less than we deserve in sexual relationships. We may feel afraid of the strong emotions that accompany sex.
    The physical problems that manifest in this chakra are ulcers and other stomach and digestive disorders. Things “eat away” at you and you “can’t stomach” things. You have a “bad feeling in the pit of your stomach” when you contemplate change.
    Some things you can do to nourish this center are
* Feeling the fear and doing it anyway
* Pounding a pillow
* Screaming underwater
* Laughing
* Rebirthing (a conscious breathing process designed to release stored stress, pain, and emotional trauma)
    Here are some affirmations to strengthen this chakra:
* I trust my inner voice. I am strong, wise,