Shining Solar Plexus
When you think about courage, you may think about a ‘stiff upper lip,’ a ‘stout heart,’ or ‘growing a pair,’ but your bravery doesn’t come from any of these body parts. Your inner strength lies in your Solar Plexus Chakra (‘Maripura’ in Sanskrit). Located just beneath your sternum, in line with your diaphragm, resides your Manipura (Solar Plexus Chakra). The primal statement from this energy wheel is, ‘I am strong’ and is the source of your inner power.
I have been writing about each Chakra in previous posts (you can click here for the Root Chakra and here for the Sacral Chakra), The Chakras inside our bodies are seven energy points that line up with our spinal cord and connect to some of our major nerve centres. The Root Chakra resides at our coccyx (tailbone) and is the first Chakra. The second Chakra is the Sacral Chakra (Swadhithana in Sanskrit) and is located just below our navel. The Manipura is the third Chakra in our system and is where our ego lives. The Solar Plexus Chakra impacts our self-confidence, our ability to make decisions, our sense of responsibility and discipline. Our Solar Plexus Chakra is where we find the will to make changes and transform our lives. Our ego finds it essential for us to have a purpose in life; the Solar Plexus Chakra provides us with the drive and energy to fulfill our goals.
If you ever feel less than confident, have low self-esteem, are fatigued even after sleeping, or have digestive issues, your Manipura may either be blocked or over-stressed. Other signs of a Solar Plexus Chakra imbalance might be if others easily influence you, or you are passively led to behave in a way that isn't supportive to you or your life goals. Self-sabotage stems from a compromised Solar Plexus Chakra because your natural willpower seems diminished. When our self-confidence feels challenged, we can lose our temper. When our self-esteem is low, we look outside of ourselves and blame others or our situation and for our problems. Denying responsibility for our behaviour is an indication that our ego feels fragile and doesn't want the burden of accountability. We all go through phases where our self-confidence takes a blow. We feel unmotivated to finish a project that has become more difficult than we anticipated, or no longer feels exciting or inspiring. All of these things identify an ego that is feeling challenged. The good news is that if you are aware of these issues, you can try a few things to re-balance yourself,
“‘Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.’”
Tips for your Solar Plexus Chakra:
The Solar Plexus Chakra correlates with the element of fire, so spending time in the sun can boost your energy. (Sunscreen is still a good idea though, just saying.)
To increase your confidence, try new experiences. Get out of your comfort zone.
Stand tall and keep your shoulders open.
Make decisions for yourself without seeking the advice of others.
Create smaller goals to help you accomplish your ultimate objective. Performing smaller tasks will encourage you to keep going. This action can start a positive cycle of meeting your goals: accomplish the task and feel encouraged and inspired to keep going, which boosts your confidence, which gives you the courage to try another new thing, which means you finish another task… Rinse and repeat!
Work through your anger and release it. Buddha said, ‘Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.’ Do the work that helps you to move forward and out of the trap of recycling old grievances.
Yoga Moves:
Navasana (Boat Pose) - Come to a seat with your feet planted on your mat. Hold your hands beneath your knees and slowly lean back, keeping your back straight balancing on your sit bones. From here, you can try several variations. You can hold this position and try releasing your hands, reaching your arms out in front of you at shoulder height. If this feels okay, try lifting your legs, keeping them bent at a ninety-degree angle. If you feel like even more of a challenge, you can try straightening your legs and lifting your arms slightly higher to keep them in-line with your legs. In all variations, focus on using your core to hold yourself in positions for three to five breaths. To release, lower your legs and arms, then draw your knees together into your chest and lower your head to your knees. Repeat two times.
Kumbhakasana (Plank Pose) - Starting on your hands and knees, curl your toes under your feet, then inhale and lift your knees from the ground, straightening your legs. Keep the arms perpendicular to the floor, shoulders stacked over the wrists, and the whole body parallel to the floor. Press your outer arms inward. Spread your fingers wide and firm the bases of your fingers into the mat. Press your shoulders away from your hands and spread your collarbones wide. Let your gaze be soft and keep breathing normally. Stay in the pose for five to ten breaths. If holding this position is too difficult, you may drop your knees back to the floor, but keep your legs and back in a straight line.
Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose) - Laying on your stomach, place your hands under your shoulders. Hug your elbows into the sides of your body. Press down through the tops of your feet and pelvis and spread your toes. Lift your head and chest off the mat. Keep your lower ribs on the mat. Draw shoulders back and reach your chest forward, but do not crunch your neck. Keep shoulders dropped away from your ears. Begin to straighten your arms, lifting your chest off the floor. Think about keeping very little weight on your hands as you lift from the spine. You can stay here.
If you want a deeper backbend, continue to straighten your arms more. Ensure that you maintain a connection of the front of your pelvis and legs with the floor. Press shoulder blades down into your upper back and your elbows hugged to your sides. Broaden across your collarbone and lift your chest. Keep your shoulders away from your ears. HOLD for three to five breaths and repeat two times. To release, lower chest and forehead to the mat. Turn your head to the right resting left ear on mat and relax your arms along the sides your body
Ardha Matsyendrasana (Seated Twist) - Sit erect with your legs stretched out in front of you. Bend your left leg such that the heel lies next to the right hip then place the right leg next to the left knee by crossing over the knee. Sitting very tall and straight, start twisting from your waist, then shoulder, and finally your neck towards the right. Set your gaze over your right shoulder. Place the right hand behind you, and the left hand on the right knee to deepen into the stretch. Hold the pose for five to ten breaths. Exhale and release the right hand, and then the waist, chest, and finally the neck. Relax as you sit tall for a few moments to settle your spine. Switch on the other side, and repeat the steps. If crossing your legs in this fashion is too intense for your hips, you may want to try sitting on a block to raise your hips, or you may want to keep the bottom leg straight while folding the top leg as directed.
Savasana (Corpse Pose) - Lie comfortably on your back. Close your eyes. Bring your legs wide and allow your feet to flop open. Bring your arms by your sides and away from your body. Turn your palms toward the sky. Tuck your shoulder blades underneath you. Tuck your chin slightly into your chest. Make any small movements you need so that you are very comfortable and then become still. Take relaxed, natural breaths through your nose. Remind yourself as you breathe, "I am confident. I am powerful and kind. I make my own choices. I trust my intuition."
We are in a time of transition with a lot of opinions bandying about anything and everything. Now is a necessary time to check in with yourself and make sure that you can determine what opinions are truly in-line with your values. We are spending more time alone and are accountable only to ourselves. You can take the time to reconnect with your strength of character, and maintain a level of self-discipline to ensure that you are supporting a level of self-care and balance between work, rest, and creation in your life. Your perspective and uniqueness is a gift, and I can't wait to see how you continue to share it with confidence.