Solar Plexus: Accessing Our Inner Power
/It’s time to explore our own inner power and there’s no better place to look than the solar plexus chakra.
*To get an overview on the seven chakras, you can visit my earlier post here: Chakra Crash Course
The Solar Plexus
This chakra is located right in the stomach area below the sternum. This is the home of our self identity, the ego, and energetic vitality. The solar plexus governs liver, pancreas, digestive system, spleen, and gallbladder.
FAST FACTS:
- Color: Yellow
- Essential Oils: Lemon, grapefruit, and other citrus scents
- Music Note: E
- Element: Fire
Lessons from the Solar Plexus
The solar plexus is in the chakra of the Self, our: esteem, worth, identity, and instinct. Individuals who have a healthy solar plexus walk the planet with the ability to generate personal power and confidence from within. This is an inner reservoir of strength and vitality, propelling will and intentions into actionable reality.
The solar plexus is where the ego resides. Often there can be a misconstrued beliefs about the ego. Some might think that the ego is harmful and needs to be destroyed. I myself have found, corroborated by a few respected mentors, that the ego has a purpose to serve.
Think about it, our ego essentially differentiates our energy from the energy of others.
When we discern what is our energy, our body, or our thoughts we’re at the same time taking responsibility for our health, our energy, thoughts, actions, and outcomes. In many ways the ego helps us to take ownership over our lives.
Imagine a great garden without ownership:
Who would make sure the seeds were put in the ground in this area?
Who would do the weeding on the south quadrant?
The ego helps us to establish what part of the great garden is ours to plant, care for, and reap harvest. A healthy ego is much the same: we accept the areas of life where we can use our personal power to create change.
If our ego is underdeveloped, we’re often in other people’s gardens, pulling up weeds, while our own garden is malnourished and unattended.
If we’re too much in our ego, then we’re harvesting fruit from gardens that are not ours and that we did not help to plant or maintain.
Patterns of Imbalance
The solar plexus governs our digestion, our ability to receive and process vital nutrition. This chakra also governs mental thought. Scientific studies have found that young people in school perform better when they have access to healthy, nutritious lunches. Proper nutrition impacts our ability to absorb nutrition and new information. When we are not nurturing ourselves, we are not learning or growing. The stomach and the brain are connected.
The following can be indicators of a solar plexus imbalance:
- Low vitality / sluggish
- Pessimism / moodiness / depression
- Digestive issues and food sensitivities
- Liver issues
- Excessive worry and nervousness
- Mental confusion / “clouded thinking”
As we have explored in other chakras, patterns of imbalance happens on a continuum. Sometimes this center is under energized, and at other times we are in excess of energy, holding onto and stagnating the center.
As an a facilitator, here are some of the emotional imbalances commonly seen in the solar plexus.
If we have an over-exercised solar plexus you may notice the following in yourself or others:
- Unhealthy competition
- Deep entrenchment in right or wrong, black or white, all-or-nothing thinking
- Close-mindedness, singular thinking
- Perfectionism, inflexibility
- Judgement and criticism
- Exaggerated sense of self-esteem; excessive focus on self
- Using power to control others
- Shape-shifting, wearing social masks
When we do not have enough energy in this center, you might notice in yourself or others:
- Lack of personal responsibility, low willpower
- Victimhood / self victimization
- Damsel in distress energy
- Low energy, feeling incapable or weak
- Low self-esteem
- Indecision / compulsive distraction
- Lack of energetic boundaries
- Loss of personal identity
Healing the Solar Plexus
In an emotional healing session, we are clearing old belief systems and games (patterns of control) that no longer serve us. This clears out emotional blockages in our chakra system, including in the solar plexus.
When healing this chakra with my clients we are often visiting teenage years when our identities are being formed and expressed in the world. The decisions we make about ourselves at this time play out in our 20’s, 30’s, 50’s and beyond. If we decided at a young age that we are not good enough, we repeat this cycle of belief in our actions and the circumstances we create in our lives.
In addition to emotional healing session work, there are a few practices I often recommend to help boost the solar plexus, and consequently our personal power and vitality:
Nurturing the Body
Nurturing our bodies creates clarity of mind and is a practice in self-love. Consistent, small changes can create dramatic results. Begin to pay attention to how you feel with what you eat and drink.
Do you feel heavy and lethargic after eating a certain food?
Or flighty and chaotic?
What does your body need more of?
I have found Ayurvedic medicine to be an enlightening place to learn about a holistic approach to eating well. Deepak Chopra’s “Perfect Health,” is a great place to start. An even simpler method is to bring awareness to diet and self-nurturing. Asking the question: “What best serves my body and spirit today?” and making eating choices from this perspective can create tremendous healing.
Nurturing the Mind
Another way to nurture ourselves is to bring awareness to how we feed our minds. We are absorbing millions of bits of information every second of every day. Often we do this unconsciously. We spend time on social media, watching the news, or absorbed in the same conversations with the same people.
When we feel stagnation, frustration, and uninspired, I typically recommend my clients take a look at the information they’re taking in. Simply be aware.
How do you feel streaming social media sites or watching the news?
What’s the last book you read? Was it inspirational or in a new area of study?
Who do you spend your time with? Big-thinkers or complainers?
I challenge my clients to nurture their minds as well as their bodies. Surround yourself with big-thinking people, read books that inspire growth, and put your attention on the good and growing in the world. After all, when we feel good we do good.
The solar plexus teaches us that the way to experience light, vitality, and strength in the world around us is through the nourishment of our own bodies, minds, and spirit. Our only responsibility is to live in the full power and expression of our own inner light.
Resources:
A great intro to nutrition through Ayurveda:
