Hi readers! Today we are talking POWER. And by power I mean the solar plexus chakra because that’s what this one is all about! As I’m sure you can tell by now, each of the seven chakras has a “theme” so to speak. The root chakra’s theme is grounding, the sacral chakra is sex (remember the dirty “S” word?) and the solar plexus is power.
The sanskrit word for solar plexus is “manipura” which translates to “city of jewels” and it is associated with the element of fire. This totally makes sense because this chakra is what gives you the fire to live your life and make decisions for yourself. The solar plexus takes all those thoughts you have throughout the day and turns them into actions.
Located about 6 inches above the belly button (right at the ribs and breastbone), it regulates our willpower, self esteem, action, intention, identity and vitality. Can you guess what color is associated with the solar plexus chakra? Right y’all. It’s yellow, like fire. It’s mantra is RAM.
I realize that these mantra things seem silly. I mean they are just words that rhyme with each other. But I promise you they actually do work! I’m going to give you a little exercise to prove this. What I want you to do is sit in a cross leg position on the floor or in a chair with your feet flat on the floor. Zip-up your spine up so you are sitting as perfectly straight as you can and close your eyes. Now you are going to take some deep breaths and focus all your attention to your solar plexus chakra, so right to the spot where your ribs meet your breastbone. We are going to do a mini-meditation here.
Visualize a bright, yellow ball of energy in this spot. This is going to represent the solar plexus chakra. Imagine that everytime you breathe in, this ball gets bigger and everytime you breathe out, a little bit of the negative energy you are holding onto is released from this area. Now, after you have practiced this for a few moments, I want you to start saying the mantra, RAM, to yourself. How long you say this is totally up to you. You can just say the word or you can draw it out or you can sort of hum it to yourself. Just do whatever feels right. Say this to yourself 3 times.
You might feel nothing at all OR you might start to feel your body tingle or vibrate. This is the mantra working it’s magic! If you don’t feel anything, don’t be discouraged. Everyone experiences something different whether in a mediation session or a reiki session but regardless, when you finish your mini-meditation practice, you should feel much more clear headed and energized!
Okay, now let’s get back to talking about the solar plexus. When this chakra is overactive we tend to feel an excessive need for control. This includes control over people, things, the environment, you name it. When it’s underactive, we feel just the opposite; a feeling of helplessness and irresponsibility or procrastination. People with an out of whack solar plexus can’t see the big picture. They are literally stuck on all the small details and can’t let them go. But the thing is, they are stuck on the small little things but still get nothing done!
That’s where the power part of this chakra comes into play. As I mentioned earlier, the solar plexus helps us to take our thoughts and turn them into action. But when this chakra is out of balance, whether over or under-active, we are constantly thinking of the million things we need to do but we can’t muster up the energy to actually get any of those millions of things done.
In our physical body, the manipura controls the adrenals and pancreas, digestive system, liver and bladder so when it’s not in balance we feel tired and cranky. We might be super hungry all the time or have no desire to eat at all.
I have an interesting story to share with you about the solar plexus chakra. Alexis and I regularly perform reiki on each other. We get together once a month to spend the whole day going over things for the blog and reiki business but we also make time to catch up and give each other sessions. So in January when we had our business day, while Alexis was giving me a session she mentioned that my solar plexus just felt “turned off.” There was no energy coming out of it at all. Nothing positive, nothing nevagive, just… a whole lot of nothing.
For weeks before that session I had been feeling off. I was tired all the time and I was never hungry. I couldn’t find the spark or the energy to write articles, which I LOVE to do by the way. I felt so disinterested in life. My husband and I had just gotten back from vacation to celebrate our (2 year late) honeymoon, so I had pretty much chalked it up to being depressed that I had to come back to cold, yucky Pennsylvania, and was having tropical blues. I never even thought to put two and two together that one of my chakras was off! I mean duh, I am a reiki practitioner, right?
So after the session I put all of my attention into my solar plexus chakra. I performed reiki treatments on it as part of my self care routine before bed, I used all the oils and crystals. You name it, I did it. And guess what? Within a week I was back to my normal self. I was actually BETTER than my normal self. I got my spark back and started writing this chakra series for you guys. And to be honest, this is some of the best writing I’ve ever done! It might not seem like much and I am by no means a professional writer but this is a BIG deal for me. I’ve always been the person who talks and talks about their dreams but never actually goes out and lives them. Or maybe I do but the second I fail or am not perfect right from the start, I give up and move on to something else. But for the first time, I’m not moving on to something else. I’m sticking with this and I 100% know that we are going to fail at some things and I know that it’s going to take us a while to perfect the system but you know what? I’m excited for those failures because I know we are going to get better from each hard time we go through. I’m looking forward to those failures. And if you know me at all, who even is this person?
The point I’m trying to make here is actually not just about the solar plexus chakra. It’s about all of them. The chakras control so much more than just our feelings and they all work together intricately. They control our physical, emotional and spiritual selves. If even one chakra is off it can affect all of the chakras and if even one chakra is off it can affect parts of you that you never even thought of or realized. This is why Alexis and I do what we do and why we feel it’s so important to reach as many people as possible to teach them about this, especially since it isn’t such a mainstream thing.
Let’s talk about how to balance your manipura. Of course there are the normal things like affirmations and essential oils which I’ve listed below but there is also a really important way that I want to take a moment to talk about. I believe that out of all the chakras, the solar plexus and sacral chakra are the most closely related to each other, probably because they are so close to one another. As you remember, one of the fun parts we talked about with the sacral chakra was letting go. This ties in with the fun part of the solar plexus chakra which is cutting ties. These are ties to anything negative in your life meaning people, relationships, habits, entities ect.
Just like with the sacral chakra, by cutting these ties you are creating more space in your life for the good people, the meaningful relationships, and the better habits that make you the best version of yourself. It’s not easy, I know it’s not. It’s hard walking away from the people in your life even if they are negative but you are freeing yourself up for someone even BETTER than that negative person. It’s an interesting fact to note that as you walk along the path of your spiritual journey and your vibrations get higher and higher, people who are not on the same level as you tend to fall away. And the crazy thing is that you don’t usually realize it; you just stop thinking about them. God and the Universe never give you more than you can handle but they do place people in your life just at the perfect time. I promise if you let go of that negative friend (that you know you don’t even like!) someone new will walk into that person’s spot and you will learn SO much from them!
Cutting ties doesn’t have to be a physical or verbal thing either. You can perform a cord-cutting ceremony. You picture yourself and that person or thing that you want to let go of, with an actual cord connecting the two of you. Now imagine yourself cutting that cord that holds you together and watch that person or thing float away into the distance. Try doing this before you go confronting anyone about not being friends with them anymore. It might not happen immediately, but you will wake up and realize one day that they are just… not a part of your life anymore. It’s incredibly liberating. The only person with control over you, is YOU!
Okay friends, take a peek below at the list of other ways you can balance out your solar plexus chakra. Let me know in the comments how you made out with our mini-meditation practice and if you felt the vibrations. I’m dying to know!
As always, thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings. I appreciate you all more than you know.
Namaste!
Nutrition: Eat whole grains. And wear more yellow!
Essential Oils: Black pepper, cinnamon, rosemary, cypress, clove, sandalwood
Crystals: Amber, topaz, citrine, tiger’s eye, and yellow calcite
Yoga: Bow pose, upward dog, full wheel, breath of fire
Affirmations:
- I have the right to act
- My third chakra is clear
- I take charge of my life
- I easily manifest my desires
- I do not feel victimized or controlled by others
- I embrace my life with passion
- I can, I will, I do
- I am worthy of love, kindness, and respect
