Why Not Stepping Into Your Power May Be Hazardous To Your Health (The Solar Plexus Chakra)

Have you ever said, “I just can’t digest that” or “that makes me sick to my stomach”? That knot in your belly may be telling you a lot more than you realize!

In a previous post, I wrote, “Why Not Speaking Your Truth Can Be Hazardous To Your Health”, which was all about the Throat/5th Chakra, and what can manifest in the physical body when it’s imbalanced. By the number of readers who checked out that post, I could tell that the topic had hit a nerve. It was clear to me that people want to know how what we do/think/feel affects our physical health, and vice versa.

So, I wrote a follow up article, “Why Not Trusting Your Intuition Can Be Hazardous To Your Health”, which explored the Third Eye/6th Chakra, and its physical imbalances. I got some helpful feedback from one of my patients last week, who told me that these recent blog posts were helpful to her, since it seemed to talk about metaphysical things in an accessible way, and she was looking forward to learning more in this series. Thank you, E., for your encouragement!

I love that what my writing hits home for my readers. And, I love hearing about topic suggestions. So, please feel free to drop me a line in the future if you’d like to see a certain health/wellness/Acupuncture/Reiki issue explored!

This week’s installment in the chakra series delves into the Solar Plexus, or Third, Chakra. It’s located 1-2″ above your navel, and the color of this chakra is yellow. This is our power center, where we are connected to our self-esteem and self-protection. It’s where our gut instinct resides.

When we feel scattered, and we are directing our energies outwards, that is usually a sign when we’ve given our power away. The reason we feels scattered when we give our power away is because, instead of consolidating our personal power in the solar plexus area, we have (often unconsciously) given our power away in various areas in our life. Sometimes when this happens, we can feel an uncomfortable whirling in our Third Chakra.

For example, we give our power away when we engage in situations, or with people, that anger us. Or, should I say, in situations we allow ourselves to anger us.

New York City is an excellent petri dish when we want to study human behavior, including our own. So many situations present themselves to us, or we attract them. Either way, when we allow others to control our behavior, whether consciously or unconsciously (or even subconsciously!), we give a bit of our power away.

There are many situations where Solar Plexus Chakra issues pop up: at work, in our love life, at the grocery store, etc. – where an irate coworker/lover/customer, who obviously woke up on the wrong side of the bed, is taking it out on you. We may engage with them, obsess about it, and let it ruin our whole day. Then, later on, we wonder why we feel too weak or paralyzed to take any action to address it, whatsoever.

Let me clarify this by saying that there is a difference with engaging with someone who may be temporarily, or permanently, toxic, in a way to make your needs known, and to establish healthy boundaries. It is necessary to display some sass once and a while, especially when it comes to your energetic/emotional/physical health!

There is healthy sass, and there is sass that leaves your sapped.

I’m talking about the kind of interaction that leaves you feeling scattered, powerless, weak, closed off, depressed, and/or weakens your self-esteem. That’s a totally different animal altogether! And, that is the domain of the Solar Plexus Chakra.

The following are reasons why not stepping into your power may be hazardous to your health, and what happens when our Solar Plexus Chakra is blocked:

• We may be afraid to step into our power; or, conversely, we may be afraid to let go of being overly controlling or dominating.
• Physical imbalances may manifest as anorexia or bulimia, liver or adrenal dysfunction, fatigue, stomach ulcers, diabetes, or indigestion.
• Emotionally, we may have issues around self-confidence and self-respect, and feel easily intimidated, weak, closed, depressed, or unable to take action.
• We may find it difficult to trust the natural flow, and be more obsessed with material goods for the purpose of status.
• We may find it difficult to protect ourselves, or find that we have difficulty feeling like we deserve self-protection.

When I am treating Reiki patients during a session, and they are dealing with issues of insecurity and low self-worth, this is one of the prime areas where I can feel it. I say it’s one of them; because, as you know, all things are connected, which includes the microcosm of our bodies. An imbalance in an organ or meridian in Chinese Medicine, for instance, can affect another organ or meridian. The same holds true for chakras – an imbalance in one chakra can affect others.

For instance, a person may have experienced sexual abuse in the past. The chakra that may have originally dealt with the trauma could have been the Sacral/Second Chakra (which I’ll explore in a future post). But, over the years, if the trauma hasn’t been healed and release, it may affect our power center of the Solar Plexus Chakra, as well as our ability to speak our truth (the Throat Chakra). Everything is related. Which is why whole health healing is so important now!

What if you identify with any, or all, of the above symptoms of a blocked Solar Plexus? Don’t despair. As with everything in life, there is hope in healing what seems unhealable.

Things that you can do to step into the power of your Solar Plexus Chakra:

1. Take a martial arts, boxing, or kickboxing class. I may be a bit partial in this, since I enjoy Filipino Weapon Fighting, boxing, and kickboxing! But, this is particularly helpful for those of us who have difficulty feeling like we deserve self-protection. It is also helpful for building self-esteem. There is something so totally satisfying with punching, forms, and kicking towards your own self-preservation. It becomes a self-declaration of your worth. Back in the day, due to verbal and physical street harassment I was experiencing on a regular basis as a young woman, I started taking Filipino Weapon Fighting. I do not doubt for a second that it was helpful in getting my Solar Plexus Chakra more balanced! It also releases any Liver Qi Stagnation, which comes in handy for New Yorkers, who often experience its symptoms of irritability, short temper, headaches, trapezius muscle pain, and the like.
2. Get your crystal on. Citrine, amber, yellow jasper, and golden calcite are excellent stones to work with when you want to strengthen your Solar Plexus Chakra. You can wear it on your body as a pendant, bracelet, necklace, or as a smooth tumbled stone in your pocket. Place it in the vicinity where it might best serve you. For instance, if your personal power is challenged moreso at the office, put some citrine on your desk. Coworkers will think you’ve just added a pretty decoration; but, in reality, you are giving your Solar Plexus Chakra some assistance to call your power back to you! A great aside to that, is that citrine also enhances the Sacral Plexus/2nd Chakra’s abundance, and is even called a “Merchant’s Stone”, since people used to place a small citrine stone in their cash box to help increase business.
3. Meditate on your Solar Plexus Chakra. As mentioned before, the color of this chakra is yellow. When you meditate on this chakra, you can envision a yellow sphere of light right under your diaphragm, and below your navel, rotating (clockwise if you’re male, and counter-clockwise if you’re female), and growing larger. Try this for at least 5 minutes a day, and see if you see and feel a difference after a few days. To be a truly balanced individual, it is good to cultivate your physical groundedness, as well as cultivate a spiritual connection for/to yourself.
4. A little dab (of essential oils) will do ya. Essential oils are not only pleasant to the nose, but they also have powerful energetic properties that can be used for our advantage. Chamomile, Lemon, Thyme, and Ylang Ylang all correspond with the Third Chakra. It’s best to apply 4-6 drops of these oils to this chakra with a carrier oil, such as jojoba.
5. Practice the Breath of Fire. Breath of Fire is one of the foundational breath techniques used in the practice of Kundalini Yoga. Although I don’t practice Kundalini Yoga, this is a technique that I sometimes practice to strengthen my Solar Plexus Chakra. It is done by pumping the navel point in and out while breathing rapidly through the nose. It is always practiced through the nostrils with the mouth closed. It releases toxins and deposits from the lungs, mucous linings, blood vessel and other cells, and expands the lung capacity and increases vital strength. Try this for a count of 20 breaths to start, and eventually increase it to 30 breaths.

What are your favorite techniques for increasing your Solar Plexus Chakra power center?
I’d love to hear about them in the comments, below!

In power,

 

 

 

 

 

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