Do you often feel disempowered? Do you often feel a lack of willpower? Do you want to get your life in order, but often feel a lack of motivation or energy to do so? Chances are, you have a blocked solar plexus chakra.
The solar plexus is the third of the seven main chakras, located at the solar plexus region as the name would suggest and associated with the color yellow.
The solar plexus isn’t a chakra that we hear about often, but it’s one of the most important and unappreciated in day to day life. This is because the solar plexus is all about how we direct our personal power and will,.
In this post I want to go over some of the ways you can begin to heal, balance and open the solar plexus with simple exercizes and lifestyle shifts.
What is the solar plexus chakra?
Chakras are energetic centers in the body which are associated with different aspects of our spiritual consciousness and physical functioning. Chakra is the Sankrit means “wheel” referring to wheels of light or wheels of energy.
The solar plexus chakra’s Sankrit name is Maṇipūra which translates to “city of jewels” or “lustrous gem”. This charka is associated with the element of fire as it brings forth a transformative energy in our lives.
On a physical level, this chakra governs our metabolic and digestive functions. When this chakra is blocked we are likely to experience symptoms such as a bloated stomach, stomachache, and other digestive issues.
Location: the solar plexus; from the navel to the rib cage.
Color: Yellow.
Purpose: Personal power & will.
Signs of a blocked solar plexus chakra
- You have low self-esteem
- Your life feels out of your control
- It feels uncomfortable to take up space
- It’s difficult to speak up and express yourself
- You are easily influenced (manipulated) by others
- It’s difficult to follow your intuition consistently
- You battle with anger or control issues
I think acknowledging a blocked/unhealthy solar plexus chakra is one of the more difficult ones, because it ties in with our sense of self-worth, it can be a blow to the ego.
However, everyone has blockages in this area. Each person will find they have different strengths and weaknesses here. Zone in on the areas that are relevant to you and find the right exercizes to work on them.
7 ways to heal the solar plexus chakra
There are countless ways to start healing the solar plexus. Whenever we have an opportunity to tap into our personal power we can heal the solar plexus, here are eight ways that have worked for me and might be helpful for you.
1. Recite empowering affirmations
Recite affirmations that affirm your personal power & will, use sentence starters such as ‘I can’ and ‘I am’.
- I am capable of achieving what I focus my energy on
- I am ambitious and motivated
- I can let go of the things that aren’t serving me
- I make decisions from an empowered place
- I can speak up on the things that bother me
- I am divinely guided
Reciting affirmations on their own can be helpful, but to make them more powerful focus on how you feel when you are affirming them. Do you say the affirmation strongly? Does it feel honest or as if you are putting an act on?
Noticing the emotions underneath the affirmation allows us to identify our specific strengths and resistances. Where it feels as if you are lying or the affirmation simply doesn’t fit, you can go deeper and examine what the root of that emotion is or adjust things accordingly.
2. Set small goals
One of the ways our solar plexus becomes blocked is through self-betrayal and people-pleasing. We are disempowered in our day to day lives, and things tend to take on a cyclical pattern. It feels like we cannot make the forward progress we would like to/feel we have the potential to.
We make promises to ourselves (and others) but aren’t able to fulfil them more times than not. This leaves us feeling as if we simply aren’t capable of consistency, this is just the way we are.
We can begin to shift this pattern by setting smaller goals. Rather than trying to read an entire book in one day, committing to read one page. Rather than trying to change every dynamic in our lives all at once, setting the bar lower.
Focus on the smallest goal possible at first. Drinking a cup of water in the mornings, writing a few pages in your journal, meditating for five minutes. Make the goal as welcoming as possible. As we practice keeping these small promises to ourselves, we can extend this energy outwards.
3. Release attachments/cut cords
Solar plexus healing often involves looking at our relationship dynamics and identifying where we are consistently giving our power away. What this really means is handing our power over to someone else, rather than pointing them to their own power or distancing ourselves when they are trying to take our power.
Each relationship we have, past and present, comes with an energetic cord or attachment. The stronger the connection is, the tighter and more intricately wound this cord will be.
Where certain connections are consistently draining us, bringing us away from our power, or are a re-enactment of past patterns, we will have to release this cord many times.
How to identify energy cords
- Find a quiet space where you will not be disturbed for ten minutes
- Get into a comfortable position
- Take a moment to close your eyes and take a few deep stomach breaths
- Place on hand on your heart
- Hold an image of the specific person in your mind
- Carefully observe how your body and mind responds
- Observe what words and phrases pop to mind
- See where you feel more resistance in the body
- Breathe for a few more minutes and reflect
With this information you can identify what part of your body the cord is most attached to (which part holds the most tension) and what sort of connection you are dealing with. This will give you insight into what needs to be released.
4. Set stronger boundaries
One of the ways the solar plexus becomes blocked is through the practical attachments we build. When we have to be around certain people day to day, through work or in living situations with people we would rather not be, consistently connecting in a way that disempowers us.
To begin setting better boundaries ask yourself ‘Where do I feel most drained at the moment?’
Think about the boundaries that you’ve set half-heartedly most recently. When have you said ‘no’ to someone but eventually folded, where have you said ‘yes’ to an obligation and later regretted it? Where can you strengthen your conviction in these areas?
When you are around people who are draining you but you have a certain obligation towards, how can you continue to center your energy. When you feel too much of your energy being pulled away from yourself in an interaction, take a deep breath in and pull your energy back into your own space, specifically back to the solar plexus chakra.
5. Explore your anger
Anger is often seen as a wholly negative emotion, but it also contains positive insight. Where we feel angry is where we feel defensive. Our defence mechanisms highlight what we are holding onto/where we are projecting the past, but also where we might want to set stronger boundaries.
Practice inner child healing or shadow work, identify what your triggers are. Our triggers are any stimulus that brings us out of ourselves and prompt us to act in a way that is out of character. They represent an over-reaction to the present moment through past associations; they bring up unconscious material.
The next time you feel triggered (acting out the past through the present) try to respond in a new way. Take a deep breath and sit with the emotion you are feeling, affirm your safety and ask yourself where this emotion actually stems from.
6. Prioritize self care
Self care encompasses many different practices that tune us into our personal power. Although ‘self care’ has become somewhat of a cliche term in recent years, it is still important for all types of people living in all types of environment.
With how the idea of self care has progressed, especially with how it is marketed, it conjures up images of bubbles baths, fancy candles and lazing around all day (all of these things can be self-care) but there is more to it.
Self care is a commitment to build rest/restoration into our everyday lives, and this will look differently for everyone. For some people this can be more time-heavy and involve lengthy rituals, for others self-care can be incorporated into any small pocket of time or alongside other activities.
- Taking five minutes to breathe deeply before you get out of bed
- Meditating before getting out of the car for work
- Incorporating mindfulness into mundane/repetitive activities
- Reciting a prayer before bed
Self care is a commitment to look after yourself in the small ways, even when (especially when) your body is exhausted and mind is chaotic. Not to take you away from all of your responsibilities, but to make fulfilling those obligations that little bit easier.
7. Practice breathwork
When we have a blocked solar plexus chakra a lot of energy will accumulate in the stomach area, leading to stomachaches and digestive issues.
We might find that when we are in tense social situations we place a hand on the solar plexus area, as a way to unconsciously protect ourselves.
When we aren’t expressing energy from the solar plexus (our power, our will) then we will unconsciously take on energy from others in this area, it becomes like a kind of sponge. It becomes heavy and imbalanced, and we cannot direct this energy with focus ourselves.
Breathwork helps with releasing stagnant energy from this area, and also helps us remain centered in situations where someone is trying to take our power or we feel disempowered.
- Get into a seated meditative position.
- Place a hand on the solar plexus or stomach area.
- Take a deep breath in for 4 seconds, hold for 7 and release for 8.
Feel this area filling up with bright yellow light as you do this breathing exercize. Call your energy back from situations that disempowered you. Forgive yourself for the times you unintentionally gave your energy away. Most of all, sit with the emotions or sensations that come up.
Opening the solar plexus chakra
Sound healing for the solar plexus: Sound is a great way to open the chakras, because sounds carry a specific frequency which can aid us in opening up different aspects of our being.
Chant the manta “RANG” or “RAM.” Listen to solar plexus binaural beats with a frequency such as 528 Hz.
When you are chanting or listening, bring your awareness to the solar plexus area and allow the emotions/impressions to come up naturally, what comes up and what needs to be released?
Foods for the solar plexus: yellow foods such as bananas, yellow curry, corn, lemons are good for the solar plexus; along with foods that provide long-lasting energy such as wholegrains such as brown rice, oats and grains.
Essential oils for the solar plexus: incorporate sandalwood, lemongrass, lavender (for calming an overactive solar plexus), ginger and rosemary through an oil diffuser, in a bath or through food intake where it is safe to do so.
Yoga poses for the solar plexus: Dhanurasana (bow pose), Paripurna Navasana (boat pose), breath of fire.
The solar plexus chakra & personal power
I think one of the biggest blockages in this age is feeling a lack of personal power. We have so many different options (a seemingly unlimited amount) available to us, but these options don’t always represents real power.
We have a plethora of options for career paths, politicians to vote for, people to date, products to buy. However with this wide array of choice actually represents an illusion of power. Over time we can begin to feel disillusioned and apathetic – we have so many choices but so little direction.
When we heal the solar plexus we experience a newfound sense of personal power. This doesn’t mean we can control every situation, get everything we want or have power over other people; it is a power that is grown within. Resilience, peace and connection, these are the real powers.
Healing the solar plexus brings up a lot of heavy emotion because many of us grew up in environments where we had no power, even as adults, we often have less power than we are led to believe.
Signs of a balanced solar plexus chakra
- You feel motivated and have direction
- You are connected to your intuition
- You focus on what you can control vs what is beyond your control
- You are aware of your anger, control issues and tendency for power
- You are conscious of your shadow & inner child
- You feel deeper peace in tense situations
A person with a ‘healed’ or healing solar plexus chakra might not have complete control over their lives (none of us really do) but they do feel a deeper peace and acceptance towards things that are beyond their control.
They feel directed by their intuition and the Universe at large and aren’t afraid to put these intuitive insights to the test and into action.
In summary
Healing the solar plexus chakra (any chakra) is not something that is done overnight, instead it is a life-long journey. There will be times where you feel most disempowered and blocked in the solar plexus area, and other times where you are taking control over your life.
Even in times where you feel disempowered, you can bring through an energy of perseverance. A state of non-judgement towards your disempowerment (which we all experience) which in turn transforms that into power.
Pick a few of the activities/ideas from the lists above and try to implement them consistently. Some times you’ll want to focus heavily on the solar plexus and other times it won’t feel as pertinent. Follow your intuition!