A Complete Guide to Balance and Heal Your Solar Plexus Chakra
A Complete Guide to Balance and Heal Your Solar Plexus Chakra
In part three of this series, we continue our journey with the solar plexus chakra. The solar plexus chakra, known as Manipura in Sanskrit, is associated with willpower, vitality, and autonomy — its core issue is personal power. Confidence and self-esteem are often central or at the root of any solar plexus issues. This chakra has an association with the element of fire. Problems with this chakra can manifest in several emotional and physical symptoms. Let’s look at some of the most obvious indications that your solar plexus chakra needs attention.
Emotional & Psychological States
Shame: Shame is the demon associated with the sacral chakra.
No stamina or Low Vitality: You struggle to get out of bed despite getting plenty of sleep. Your sense of get up and go is non-existent. Your eyes no longer shine.
Lack of willpower: Life is unsatisfying; you know you can achieve more, but you can’t muster the necessary willpower to make your long-standing goals a reality.
No sense of purpose: You feel there is no purpose behind anything you do. Nothing in your life feels meaningful.
Poor sense of self: You are unsure of who you are and what you’re about. You often feel invisible.
Inwardly Recoil when you have to take control or take centre stage: A poor sense of self can lead to avoidance of situations where your identity is prominent — the impact is most noticeable when meeting new people or going for job interviews.
Physical Manifestations
Lack of Engagement with Your Own Life: Others see you as half-arsed about life, and you rarely show enthusiasm about anything you’re doing.
Addictions: Cocaine, caffeine, and amphetamines. Anodea Judith also notes that anger is an addiction related to the solar plexus chakra.
Victim Mentality: Your blame game is strong. There is always someone or something else responsible for your problems. Taken to extremes, you say life never goes right, or that you are destined to fail.
Anger & Aggression: The only time you have any energy is when you are angry. You may even use your anger as a means to control others.
Blocked Transformation: Self-sabotage underlies your ability to make changes and move forward, although you are more likely to blame it on circumstances or other people.
The Body: Problems within the body may involve your stomach.
Balancing the solar plexus chakra can help increase your vitality, and ensure you feel more empowered and confident. It does not matter who or what caused the problem in the first place. It also doesn’t matter whether you think your chakra is blocked or too open — the following exercises focus on restoring balance.
A Simple Meditation
The Solar Plexus Chakra Lotus
The only tools necessary here are a pen and a piece of paper. If you need help to set the mood you can light a yellow, white, or black candle, and burn some incense or oil. For some suggestions, see further down this post, or use something that you know you find enjoyable. You need to lie down on your back. If this is uncomfortable for you, grab some pillows and cushions, or lay on the sofa to prop yourself up. Take a few deep breaths until you feel relaxed and able to focus — breathe in for a count of 6, and exhale for a count of 8. The goal here is to become aware of your body through your breathing. Once you feel calm, visualise the solar plexus chakra as a ten-petaled yellow lotus between your navel and the bottom of your sternum. Ask the chakra to show you why it’s unbalanced. You may see a symbol, a face, or an object. If you are sensitive you may see something more complicated. Don't analyse or judge what you see or feel; acknowledge the signs and refocus on your breathing. Once you feel you have brought yourself back to your centre, ask the chakra what you need to heal. Again, you may see a single object or something more complicated. And again, don’t analyse or judge what you see or feel. Stay in your body for another six breaths or longer if you are comfortable. When you feel ready, open your eyes and move slowly until you are upright. You can now write down any thoughts and feelings you experienced during meditation.
The next bit is crucial — you need to park that shit to one side until tomorrow or even the day after that. If you want further insight you can take the piece of paper to bed and put it under your pillow. Ask yourself to have a dream that tells you anything further you need to know — ‘give me a dream to help balance and heal my solar plexus chakra’ is perfectly adequate. The point is to set the intention. You may or may not remember it on waking. Write down anything you can recover from memory, including how you felt when you woke up.
You can now analyse any signs and symbols you were given. Whatever you see will most likely make sense to you and should at least give you a place to start. Try not to hold on to your insights too tightly — the goal in the upcoming weeks is to gradually open up to new feelings so you can heal and move forward.
Because the solar plexus chakra is where we feel shame, insights could bring up memories we find acutely embarrassing. Try to stay with the feeling until it passes. Shame is one of the worst negative emotions and often results in devaluation of the self, despair, and an intense desire to hide either our flaws or our entire existence. Shame can trigger uncomfortable levels of vulnerability and make us feel unworthy of love and success. Dysfunctional ways of relating often lurk in the shadows, and meditation may bring this to light. Abuse and neglect, whether experienced as a child or an adult, can also feature strongly.
Your Solar Plexus Chakra Medicine Bag
As with previous posts, I’m recommending specific crystals, incense, and oils, but if you don’t have these and can’t afford them you can still use the other methods found under the Time & Energy Investment heading.
Lighting the Way
Candles are great for creating a healing atmosphere. They’re also useful if you want a focal point to set intentions. Candles can be used as a visual representation of whatever you are trying to manifest or change in your life. For solar plexus chakra healing, the colour used is yellow. The ones I bought the other day are a little brighter than I would ordinarily use. They look like they came out of a factory handling something radioactive. Interestingly, Uranium is yellow — I hadn’t realised that until writing this post.
Scent
If you don’t like the smoke and ash that incense produces — candles anointed with oil or an open-flame oil burner offer a cleaner way to enjoy the benefits of scent-based healing. The newer electric wax melt burners are available as a lamp, and also as a plug-in. The electric mist diffusers are another great way to disperse aromatherapy oils. You can, of course, use a few drops of oil on a tissue, or create a scent pouch with herbs or crushed-up incense. Blending a personalised combination of essential oils into a base oil such as avocado oil or jojoba oil would mean you can apply the scent directly to your body.
Each of the following essential oils is said to be beneficial for the issues associated with the solar plexus chakra, and you can usually find them as incense sticks too:
Lemongrass: This oil can reduce stress and anxiety while lifting your spirits. Calming and mood enhancing.
Ginger: An invigorating and warming oil that can help increase your confidence and energy levels. Additionally, ginger can be great for your mind as it enhances concentration and improves memory. It could also help with insomnia.
Bergamot: A good stress reducer, but it also lowers blood pressure, inflammation, and cholesterol. It helps calm anxiety, nervousness, and agitation. Bergamot is popular due to its ability to improve serotonin.
Lemon: This is an oil to help you feel clean on the inside. Lemon essential oil is known to be good for cleansing the air of germs and bad smells. Emotionally, it will give your mood a lift.
Cardamom: A sweet and spicy oil that can help to release negative emotions and clear your head.
Peppermint: A useful oil if you tend to hold stress in your stomach. Like the other oils, peppermint can be great when you need to clear your head and refocus.
Other oils and scents worth mentioning are black pepper, cedarwood, spearmint, sandalwood, and rosemary. You can also use ready-made blends, whether incense or essential oil, that are created to aid sensuality, creativity, or positivity.
L-R: Polished calcite, tumbled yellow aventurine, yellow jasper, bumblebee jasper, jar of golden quartz.
Crystals
For the crystals, it’s good to focus on those that are yellow or gold in colour.
Calcite: I love calcite in any colour, and the yellow variety is fantastic for increasing confidence, optimism, and self-esteem.
Yellow aventurine: I find aventurine to give off a wonderfully gentle but persistent energy. It can help you during times of change to stay strong and confident. Some say this stone can attract luck and increase abundance.
Yellow jasper: All jasper is grounding, but here we have the additional benefit of protecting against negative energy. If the stone is a solid yellow rather than patterned, it's more likely to be yellow chalcedony. Either stone is good for self-confidence and increasing energy. Additionally, yellow chalcedony is said to help with interpersonal communication.
Bumblebee jasper: I was unsure whether to mention this stone because of the controversy. The yellow and orange streaks are actually arsenic sulphide. This means those who mine it and work with it are exposing themselves to toxicity. If you do own a piece and it breaks, it's probably best to chuck it in the bin. In case it needs to be said, don't ever use this stone to charge your drinking water. Ethics aside, as with other stones of this hue it is said to increase vitality, courage, and optimism. Energetically speaking, I can see the appeal of working with a piece of volcanic debris.
Golden Quartz: This crystal is said to encourage clear thinking, and alleviate anger. Golden quartz may also help if your internal dialogue is particularly negative.
Citrine: I couldn’t find mine to include in the picture and didn’t want to use the heat-treated amethyst that I have. Citrine is a good stone for improving communication, promoting self-confidence, and attracting wealth.
Other stones worth mentioning are lemon topaz, amber, and Tiger’s eye with plenty of golden hues running through it. Kyanite, kunzite, lepidolite, labradorite, obsidian, jade, opal and onyx all have yellow varieties.
Take Control of Your Diet
Food is naturally influential for healing of any kind. On the physical level, yellow foods (natural ones) help fight infection, reduce the risk of heart disease, and reduce inflammation. For solar plexus chakra healing and balance restoration, we look to yellow foods and those that make us feel vibrant and energised. Include foods that make you feel good about yourself — but if they’re high in bad fats and sugar, use sparingly.
Here are some foods that can help balance your solar plexus chakra:
Yellow Fruits: Bananas, pineapples, lemons, grapefruit, honeydew melon, starfruit, passionfruit, jackfruit.
Vegetables: Yellow peppers, sweetcorn and baby corn, yellow carrots, yellow courgette and squash, yellow tomatoes,
Fish: Smoked kippers, smoked cod or haddock,
Other Yellow Foods: CHEESE! Eggs, yellow split peas, yellow lentils, butter, tortilla chips, Thai yellow curry.
Herbs & Spices: English mustard, ginger, mustard seeds, cardamom. Add some turmeric to basmati rice.
Fruit Teas: Add lemon to teas. Try herbal blends that promote vitality.
Eating mindfully and with intention can help support the healing and balance of your solar plexus chakra. Do I need to directly state that even if eating foods to target your chakras, you’re supposed to eat other foods to maintain a balanced diet?
Time & Energy Investment
Yoga
Yoga for the solar plexus chakra will focus on opening up the energy running through the core, strengthening the core, and boosting your sense of personal power. Some of the beneficial poses include:
Boat Pose (Navasana): A great pose for strengthening the core muscles. Improves balance and can help with lower back pain.
Warrior I (Virabhadrasana I): Strengthens the whole body. Increases flexibility in the hips and tones the legs.
Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II): A great pose for opening up the chest. Strengthens the whole body, especially the legs and core.
Triangle Pose (Trikonasana or Utthita Trikonasana): There's a whole heap of benefits for this pose; it improves balance, and strengthens the hips, legs, back, chest, and shoulders. Triangle pose helps improve focus and concentration, decreases stress and anxiety, and can help to reduce the symptoms of menopause.
Bow Pose (Dhanurasana): This gives a good stretch to the front body, and improves flexibility and strength in the back.
Camel Pose (Ustrasana): This pose helps to open up the hips and chest while improving stability and strength in the lower body. Great for improving balance.
Plank Pose (Phalakasana, also known as Kumbhakasana): Strengthens the arms, shoulders, and core. The plank pose is useful for improving balance and posture.
Holding each pose for several breaths (between three and five minutes for a yin style approach) will encourage your inner body to slow and calm down. As with the other chakras — don’t worry too much about whether you’re getting everything right. And don’t think you have to do any of the poses exactly as shown if you can’t physically do so — all yoga needs practice, and plenty of it, to develop the flexibility and balance required for a pose. The Yin yoga video will be the calmest out of the bunch. If you’re not confident in your body, try the Yoga With Adriene Third Chakra Yoga video.
Mantras, Affirmations, & Sound Baths
Mantras can be a single word or phrase and are believed to carry magical properties. The mantra ‘RAM’ is a one-syllable Sanskrit word used as the sacred sound for the solar plexus chakra. RAM is used to cleanse the chakra to increase self-esteem, strengthen willpower, and bring stability to your life. You can chant this however you like, but some say it needs to be done 108 times because that number is sacred in Hinduism. It represents the number of spiritual completion — or the distance between our body and the god within.
Affirmations can be used like mantras but differ in that what we are doing with an affirmation is vocalising what we need with the intention we can manifest what we are chanting. Some useful affirmations are already included in the yoga videos above. If you skipped over that part, the more common ones associated with the solar plexus chakra are:
I am confident and powerful
I am stronger than my fears
I have the power to create change
I am strong
I make my own decisions
I deserve to be seen and heard
My confidence inspires others
I am empowered and empower others
I am comfortable standing up for myself
Sound baths can be a great way to relax for an hour. If you are sensitive to sound, this method could work wonders for you. The best frequency for the solar plexus chakra is 320 Hz. The solar plexus chakra is associated with the E note. The first two videos are examples of contemporary sound produced for alternative healing. I have found using headphones helps enormously while listening to binaural beats and other sound therapies. This is a link to an 8-hour-long black screen version of the first video for use during sleep. A crystal singing bowl is used to create the sound. The second video is an hour long with a pure single tone. You can use the sound bath videos when meditating because they are not jarring and will not interfere with your inner journey. The third video “Boost Positive Energy and Self Confidence with 320Hz Solar Plexus Chakra Alignment” is more like music, but with little variation in the sound. It’s very calming, and like the other two, it won’t be jarring on your psyche or disturb you during meditation. As it’s just over an hour long, it’ll get you to sleep, but use one of the other videos if you want something playing through the night.
Is It Healed Now?
As always, it’s important to remember that healing is a process, not an event. Along with the exercises in this post, you may find it helpful to keep some written notes. Whether you write it online in a blog or on scraps of paper thrown into a spare drawer, having a record serves as evidence of progress.
Doing the suggested meditation early in this post will usually give a good starting point for your healing journey. The solar plexus often gets wrecked after feeling shame one too many times. Shame is an incredibly toxic emotion, and you can't always block it before it emerges from that inner place where you truly believe there is something fundamentally wrong with you. It would be too easy to sit here and blame the words and actions of others, which it usually is where shame is concerned. But, that'd be neither helpful nor completely true. As adults, we need to be the ones to take responsibility for who we allow in our orbit. We don't have power over others, so we have to use discernment and only be around those who want to see us reach our best potential.
Putting the needs of others before your own can sometimes be necessary, but it can also be a defence mechanism to keep yourself on the sidelines of your own life. Depending on your disposition, you may never feel comfortable being the centre of attention or asserting yourself. Those with a heavy presence of Neptune in the birth chart or a big Neptune transit to a personal planet may be happier blending into the background. What I'm trying to say is that it's important to remember that everyone is different, and we all go through phases. You may not necessarily have a problem with your solar plexus chakra. It's important to discern to what extent your lack of assertion or hiding away affects your quality of life. But I guess you wouldn't be reading this if you were happy with your life.
You may need to overcome temporary feelings of fear, panic and anxiety — it may well be a case of faking it til you make it. Being assertive and having the courage to live your best life can feel terrifying, but you must find the courage to be yourself and show yourself when needed. It may be as simple as getting out of your own way, or it could be months of working on your internal dialogue. Whatever the case may be, the old saying feel the fear and do it anyway is probably the best motto to live by for the foreseeable.
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