If you are familiar with chakras, then you can tell from my logo that I love chakras. The rainbow-colored spheres within my logo are representative of the chakra system within the body.
If you are unfamiliar, here’s a quick lesson: There are seven energy centers called chakras (literally “wheels”) that store energy/life force/prana. They are along the spinal column and correlate to major nerve ganglia branching forth from the spinal column. Each has a different relationship to a gland in the body’s endocrine system. Each stimulates different organs and systems in the body. Hatha Yoga activates these energy centers releasing the energy that flows through the spine. Yoga helps these energy centers/nerve bundles to function correctly clearing blocks that may be there. Each chakra also is associated with a mental/emotional focus. In each newsletter I’ll highlight how you can work with a particular chakra to correspond with the season.
We’ve been talking about applying discipline to our lives, analyzing where our resistances come from and deciding if they’re habits we want to keep or kick to the curb. That smacks of willpower doesn’t it? We hold our power in our solar plexus chakra! You get to determine what is important and meaningful in your life. You determine your boundaries. You determine what to get rid of in your life. That is the power of the solar plexus chakra! Would you like to have more of that?
I often remind my students to keep their ribs in as they hold the various poses reminding them the solar plexus area is where they hold their power. If you let your ribs pop out you let your power spill out. Keep your ribs in and your power stays within you. Just practicing that in mountain pose you can feel a difference in the energy of your body.
The element of this chakra is the fire element. Fire burns away what you don’t want. Fire makes way for the new in your life. The theme for this month continues! Make way for those new habits you are forming! Expand your horizons to facilitate the change you are looking for! You have the power within for the growth you desire. You just need to use it! That’s solar plexus chakra energy at work.
Fire can evoke feelings of fear—Fear of the unknown when fire comes into your life and burns away the old. Remember my sentiment in the opening—all change is good! It means you are alive! Use the power of your will to achieve the results you want. Fear of the unknown? What do you want? Make it happen. No more fear because you decide what you create in your life so no more “unknown”. No more fear of failure. Decide that you are the source of your reality. And why wouldn’t you be? Expect to succeed because you’ve decided that you won’t give up. That’s willpower. That’s solar plexus chakra power! As Dale Carnegie said earlier, “First ask yourself: What is the worst that can happen? Then prepare to accept it. Then proceed to improve on the worst.” ~ Dale Carnegie.
The solar plexus chakra helps us create our world. It helps us decide what’s important and meaningful. This is why I suggested in the opening section the importance of analyzing your habits and your resistance to situations so that you know exactly why you have them. If you don’t know why you are resistant or afraid or doing something out of habit, you’ve lost your power. Figuring out why you label something “fear” may actually weaken that fear. You may find that you’ve falsely identified something as fear. The solar plexus chakra controls the ability to identify a problem and find the solution to it through your total understanding of it. If you don’t understand your habits, your personality traits, you lose that ability. Your solar plexus chakra weakens.
How cool would it be to regain your power over some habitual fears? That’s solar plexus energy at work.
Once you get to know why you do the things you do when you do them, you can then use your willpower to work with your personality traits. I tend to be a worrier. I know like I know like I know there is a habitual response involved here. One of my personal affirmations is “The idea that something is wrong is easily lifted from me” because I have this tendency to always think there is something wrong! I’ve been using that affirmation whenever I start up with the worrying. I think about whatever it is I’ve decided I should fester upon that moment, and I say “the idea that something is wrong is easily lifted from me”.
You immediately know when you aren’t feeling optimistic. Your body is like a meter telling you; no that’s not the right direction; no—too far in the other direction. Ahh! Now you’re cooking with gas! Use your internal meter to alert you to when you just took a turn in the wrong direction. Use your willpower. Solar plexus energy is the power to do something. Use your solar plexus chakra!
Getting to know yourself is the realm of the solar plexus chakra. “It is not possible to define who you are unless you can also identify who and what you are not. When you know who you are, you can start to understand your place in the world.” Healing with Crystals and Chakra Energies, Sue and Simon Lilly. Developing your sense of your own self lets you shine your light brightly—finally! Don’t you want more of that? Determine that you are the source of your manifestations. Determine that you are the cause of your reality. How do you do that?—by constantly catching yourself being small. At first your baby steps will start with noticing that you’ve caught yourself. That’s a huge start! We’ve all heard that defining the problem is more than half of solving the problem. So pat yourself on the back for noticing. The gift of yoga (and the self-study Niyama mentioned in the opening section) is that it teaches you to be the observer. Observe first, and then take action with what you’ve observed. All in due time—we are in no hurry to get to know the self. It lasts your whole lifetime and isn’t that great?
Getting to know yourself will also help you find out where your talents and gifts lie so that you develop a sense of your own person. Letting your “real self” out means you are not limiting yourself. Know that you are worthy of the life you want. As you develop a sense of who you are, your level of inner joy increases. Inner joy creates inner healing—physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Let you define who you are, not the outer world. Choose what and who you are. “Be who you are. Otherwise you will miss your life.” ~ Buddha.
As mentioned in the opening section, you never really know what you are capable of unless you place yourself in challenging situations. Overcome your fear to try new things. Overcome your habit to avoid change. That’s using your solar plexus power.
Laughter helps the energy in the solar plexus chakra to be responsive and to flow freely—another continuing theme of trying comic relief to move through the energy of resistance. So as you work your solar plexus chakra remember not to take yourself too seriously! Laugh more to keep your solar plexus chakra healthy! Enjoy!
Breathwork and Visualization:
Visualizing the Sun
“Use this visualization exercise to invite warmth and joy into your life. This is a good exercise to do if you have feelings of unease or fear that you want to dispel. Using the positive aspects and strength of the sun you will create a feeling of security and contentment.
1. Sit or lie down comfortably. Wrap a blanket around you if the day is cool. Breathe in, and as you breathe out, allow yourself to relax. Imagine this sphere of golden light beginning to form between your navel and the bottom of your ribcage. Imagine this sphere is also giving off a comfortable warmth. Allow the sphere to grow until it enfolds the whole of your body.
2. Stay still for a few minutes, slowing the light and warmth to fill every part of your body. Imagine the sphere shrinking back until it is the size of a tennis ball. Allow the small sphere to sink into your abdomen, before shrinking down to the size of a pea. Let the imagery dissolve. Bring your attention back to everyday awareness.”
Source: Healing with Crystals and Chakra Energies by Sue and Simon Lilly.
Affirmations:
- The idea that something is wrong is easily lifted from me
- I embrace the habit of living large in everything I do, knowing that I am helping Spirit to more fully express Itself as me.
- I decide what is important and meaningful
- I am the cause of this reflection
- I am in control of what I see
- My world is a reflection of what is inside of me
- I create my reality
- I am willing to let “that” belief go
- I am challenging a thought
- I deserve my good
- I have the power to cause the results I desire
- I am worth my weight in gold
- I am worthy of the life I say I want
- I am worthy of the best
- I am confident in my ability to make my life work
- I am confident in the goodness of life itself to see me through.
- I accept the power of my being to produce health, love and joy into my life
- I choose the power of life
- I choose health, healing, and happiness
- I choose the best for myself
- The idea that something is wrong is easily lifted from me
Sources:
Science of Mind, July issue
Universal Laws of Conscious Creation Deck, by Solara, Da Ponte and Chapman
The Book of Chakras, Ambika Wauters.
Diet and the Solar Plexus Chakra: Spices build your inner fire—black pepper, cayenne, cloves, and ginger. Seeds cool excess fire—fennel, anise, cumin, flax seed, and sunflower seeds. Other foods include complex carbohydrates to aid in digestion: rice, oats, millet, pasta, bread, muesli.
Aromatherapy and the Solar Plexus Chakra: Clary sage, juniper, geranium (my absolute favorite!), bergamot, chamomile, peppermint, among others.
If aromatherapy interests you, I use Young Living Essential Oils™ which are therapeutic, food-grade oils. Please inquire if you are interested in purchasing a favorite scent and I can add your request to my personal monthly order. Essential oils raise the vibrational frequency of the body. When the vibrational frequency of the body drops, we become more receptive to ill health: http://justalist.blogspot.com/2008/03/vibrational-frequency-list.html. Therapeutic-grade essential oils are great to have in your arsenal of health promoting natural products.
Gem therapy and the Solar Plexus Chakra: Gemstones amplify the energy when placed in contact with your chakras. For those of you unsure on this subject, consider that it’s scientifically proven that everything is energy. Nothing is really solid. Why wouldn’t the energy of a stone work effectively with the energy in our bodies just as some research speculates that the energy of computers, cell phones, and microwaves may affect our bodies? At the very least, I find that holding a favorite stone is like a talisman for me, or a “worry stone”. As my favorite author, Wayne Dyer, likes to say, “If it’s a placebo effect, I’ll take two”.
Some Solar Plexus Chakra gems are:
Topaz, amber, yellow tourmaline, yellow citrine, aventurine quartz, among others.
If gem therapy interests you, you can find a great selection at www.crystallinelight.com. I’ve known Jennifer, the owner, for many years and love her products!
Yoga poses for stimulating the Solar Plexus Chakra:
All yoga poses are essentially grounding and activate the chakras. This month’s highlighted pose, Side-reclining lift, stimulates solar plexus chakra. Other solar plexus chakra poses include all types of twists since this chakra influences the digestive organs, camel pose, revolved triangle pose, among others.
