Solar Plexus Chakra #3
Fire - Power - Will - Energy - Metabolism - Technology - Transformation - Magic - Humour
Sanskrit Name: Manipura
Meaning: Lustrous Gem
Location: Navel to solar plexus
Element: Fire
Function: Will Power
Inner State: Laughter, Joy, Anger
Glands: Pancreas, adrenals
Other Body Parts: Digestive system, muscles
Malfunction: Ulcers, diabetes, hypoglycemia
Colour: Yellow
Sense: Sight
Planets: Mars, Sun
Metal: Iron
Incense: Cinnamon, marigold, carnation
Chief Operating Force: Combustion
MEDITATION
Your power peaks and returns, feeding the fire within
a molten core
feeding your own body, silently charging, ready to expand again
when your next purpose calls
The Fire has burned high, and the coals now glow with warmth.
Exhilarated, your body relaxes.
A smile upon your lips, your hands are at peace with the strength they have carried,
and you again return to the gentle breathing....
In the body, the third chakra is located in the solar plexus, over the adrenal glands. This is where we get those "butterfly" feelings when we're nervous - when the third chakra isn't feeling confident and powerful. It's a lightly feeling that brings our energy up instead of down, yet stimulates and awakens us to heightened sensitivity. With grounding, the stimulation can be empowered and vitalizing. Without it we get a flurry of undirected energy.
"As I sit down to write this section, I feel my own butterflies in my chakra.
Power is a profound topic, and I ask myself what I, a young female and single mother, know about power in a world so devastatingly potent. As a woman, I was trained to a certain kind of powerlessness, and Manipura is, without a doubt, my weakest chakra.
So I call upon my meditations. I straighten my back in my chair, ground myself, and do a few rounds of "breath of fire" - a rapid diaphragmatic breathing. I imagine myself bathed in a yellow light, golden like the sun, warming me, relaxing me, bringing me joy. I light a yellow candle for the element of fire and call to Ganesha, Lord of Obstacles. I mumble the seed sound "ram" several times, and as it "rambles" in my belly, I remember that true power is effortless, joyful, even fun. I think of how much I worry, how much I tighten my belly and I laugh at myself, becoming amused at how deadly serious I let things become - how much I want perfection. As I laugh, my belly releases. In my enjoyment, I feel a sense of power, a sense of ease with my own will, a relaxing of struggle. I remember that I am a channel, not the source of power, and I open to the forces running through me. I am no longer in the dark, emotional center of Svadisthana, but rising with ease into the light and radiance of Manipura." Anodea Judith
Affirmations
I am Fire
I am filled with Joy
I AM