The Complexities of the Solar Plexus!

Solar Plexus

What a bundle of complexity this chakra can be! 

It is located just beneath the rib cage or sternum and above the navel. Like the sacral centre beneath it, it has openings to the front and back.

When all is well in this centre of energy, it can be likened to a centre of peaceful joy, when we feel balanced and at one with who we are, but humble at the same time. Content in our own life and happy for others. Gently assertive without making others feel uncomfortable. Unafraid and accepting of others and the way they feel and live. Quietly empowering and able to make decisions from a place of peaceful but purposeful inner wisdom. We can face life challenges with wisdom, without engaging our personal desire regarding the outcome, knowing that whatever happens, it is for the greater good.

In essence, it is the seat of our ego or personality, some writings even place it as the seat of our soul. Whatever we believe, it is certainly from that centre that we express our identity.

A few points to ponder:

• When our personality or ideas are being threatened or criticised, think about how we tend to fold our arms for self-protection.

• We might put our hand over our solar plexus when we are fighting our corner and exclaiming “But ­I think ...”

• Where about do we feel our most fierce emotion while defending something we strongly believe in?

• When we feel strongly motivated and confident we might say, “I feel the fire in my belly!” or “I’m all fired up!” (The solar plexus is associated with the element of fire).

As with the other chakras, we seem to understand its presence intuitively.

Another thing we might think about is how often we might say ‘I’ or ‘my’ when we speak to others. It can potentially reveal how strongly we are linked to our egoic personality. The more often we express ‘I’ or ‘my’ in certain situations, the more we may potentially suffer when we feel our personality being challenged.

The other end of the scale is when we are too afraid to express ourselves, our needs or ideas.

It is all about our sense of self-esteem, is it lacking or too strong? Both ends of the scale may leave us out of balance.

Do we hold onto our identity and feel that it is the most important aspect of ourselves?

Do we find it hard to forgive and let go?

Let's think about our identity: how would we describe ourselves if we were to introduce ourselves or write a CV?

• Some people will say things like: they are a parent, a sibling, a manager, they are tall, dark, confident, they like fast cars, going to the gym. Maybe describing their interests as ‘I go sailing’ or ‘I am a writer’, ‘I do yoga’. Or even ‘I have a disability’, ‘I am diabetic’, ‘I have M.E.’ ‘I am gay’, ‘I am neurodivergent’.    

• Do you notice how we often speak as though we ‘own’ our hobbies, our identity, our appearance, our illness etc?  

• Have you also noticed over the years that our personality changes? We would certainly describe ourselves differently as a child, a teenager, a young twenty-something, to ourselves in middle age and older.

• Our personality can be influenced by our culture, upbringing, schooling, career choice, even the neighbourhood we live in and the people we mix with.

• It is rare for any of us to go through life without trying to impress others at some stage, as a child we run home to report back any praise received at school, at work we try to impress the boss, when we meet someone that we are attracted to, we try hard to make ourselves appealing, interesting and maybe just a bit nicer than we actually are!

So, who are we? Are we something more than the flesh and blood that supports us? Are we who or what we think we are? If we believe in reincarnation, are we a combination of all the personalities we have been? If we believe that we are all connected, are we a part of each other, part of a greater conscious existence? Big questions!

Like all of our chakras, the solar plexus is a huge emotional regulator, and like all our other energy centres, blockages and imbalances can also manifest as symptoms in our physical body and our emotions.

Potential symptoms associated with solar plexus imbalance:

• Digestive problems (indigestion, ulcers, gall bladder issues, liver problems etc)

• Diabetes

• Eating disorders

• Fatigue

• Low self-esteem or confidence

• Lack of direction – feeling stagnant in life

• Fear and anger or irritation – reactions linked with the base chakra, but with a slightly different emotion

• Over-analysis – overthinking situations

• Insecurity

• Overly controlling or needing to feel in control or the opposite, lacking personal boundaries

• Victim mentality

• Unhealthy attachment to situations or people

• Inability to let go of emotions related to situations that are long in the past

• Owning illness as part of our identity

 It would be lovely if we all felt the calm and peaceful joy of a balanced Solar Plexus, but most of us wriggle and squirm when we feel that we have made an idiot of ourselves, especially if others point it out to us. It is a rare person who feels wholly confident and comfortable in their own skin at all times, or if we do, do we remember not to make others feel insecure because of it? It is a fine balancing act to feel confidence and humility at the same time.

Ways to balance our Solar Plexus Centre:

N.B. Please always consult your G.P. in the first instance regarding any of the above problems affecting your health, it is always imperative to have a correct diagnosis and appropriate medical treatment prescribed before you seek the additional support of a trained therapist.

Complementary Therapies for Chakra Work:

• Healing therapies such as Reiki, Spiritual Healing and Energy Healing

• Sound Healing

• Crystal Healing (yellow coloured crystals are said to be helpful, such as Citrine, Amber, Tigers Eye – consult a crystal therapist for advice regarding the best ones to use)

• Colour or Light Therapy – Yellow is the colour associated with the Solar Plexus

• Journaling

• Meditation and Breathwork

• Being in nature, especially in the sunshine

• Affirmations (e.g. “I honour the power within me” - “I am calm and confident” – “I face the world with joy”) See the root chakra post for more information about affirmations.

• Exercise, such as Yoga

• Flower Remedies

• Hypnotherapy, Psychology, N.L.P., E.F.T. etc

• Nutrition – looking after the gut biome

I invite you to contact me for ideas regarding breathwork,

meditation, affirmations, journaling, flower therapies etc. (no charge!).

I am happy to help over the phone, by email or in person if you are able to visit me.

Or see www.aya-healing.world for more useful information.