THE SOLAR PLEXUS CHAKRA (MANIPURA) AND THE RELEASE CHAKRA (MUKTA)
Manipura, the Solar Plexus Chakra
• Function: I-consciousness
• Attributes: ego, intellect, structure, logic, reasoning, reality testing, will, drive, determination, duality, direction, orientation in time and place, courage, clarity, ease, flexibility, decision-making, problem-solving, calm, engagement, justice, fairness, balance, self-control, open mind, vitality, going with the flow, ability to focus
• Attribute paradox: “My thoughts define me.”
• Common issues in manipura: too much thinking, fear, worry, sense of isolation, disengaged, distracted
The solar plexus chakra governs the thinking faculty and the ego, enabling logical, analytic, and rational thinking as well as the ability to plan. Some authors locate it at or near the navel and others place it at the solar plexus. I have found it to be definitely at the diaphragm in front of the solar plexus. When we locate the thinking process in our bodies, we often point to our brains, but the mechanism that supports and balances the thinking faculty is actually located in manipura at the solar plexus. The ancient Greeks agree, and our language also supports this perspective:
The Greek in Homeric times located his thinking a bit below the heart, in the diaphragm. Another word for diaphragm is phren, the Greek word for mind; and the same root is in the name of the mental disease schizophrenia, which means a splitting of the mind. So in the Homeric days, the physical localization of the mind was in the region of the diaphragm.10
The solar plexus chakra is analogous with what we have come to think of as the “left brain”—the part of the mind that imposes a structure on our world, creating the subject/object distance and attempting to understand the world through the intellect by labeling and categorizing. For example, the tendency of humans to look at the natural world in terms of types and categories of animals and plants—flora, fauna, and the numerous species and subspecies is a solar plexus chakra attribute. It is the cognitive processor and tends to use logic and reason to define reality.
This chakra has many attributes and tends to dominate the mind. Descartes said, “I think, therefore I am.” This is a pure manipurism—we identify with our thoughts, opinions, ego, aversion, etc., and think that this is who we are.
When you think of the solar plexus chakra, think “separation and limitation.” We make a sense of self out of our thoughts and wants and this separates us from others. Since the subjective self and the objective self are both illusions—that is, the true nature of reality is non-dual, subjectivity is always present in objectivity and vice versa— there is no contradiction in them both residing in the same chakra.
There is a saying in Spanish that points to this self-centrality. En cada cabeza es un mundo. In each head is a world. Samskaras here tend to increase the separating aspects and produce disengagement. The world shrinks because the mind becomes “tight” and grasping and we become overly self-conscious. Thus, the health of the solar plexus chakra determines how engaged we are with self, others, and life.
Thinking is an abstraction that separates from experience. The experience is the reality not the thought about the experience. When input from the physical senses (touching a hot surface, for example,)is turned into the thought (“This is hot!”) that is a solar plexus chakra attribute. The experience of hot is in the body, but the thought of hot rises from the solar plexus chakra. It then wants to understand hot intellectually so it categorizes it in degrees and makes opposites. Hot is now not only a sensation reaction to an experience but also the opposite of cold. This process continues to: “How does something become hot? How can I heat something?” etc.
Although I discuss the negative aspects of the solar plexus chakra in this chapter, note that on the positive side, the strength aspects of a healthy solar plexus chakra are will, drive, courage, control, determination, and grit.
Orientation in Place and Time
This perspective placing the self as the center of everything enables us to orient ourselves in the world—me as separate from you and to be able to find our direction in the physical sense. “I am the center of the universe and every orientation point of the ten directions (the eight compass points plus up and down) is east, west, north, south, etc., of me. I am here and everything else is over there.” Our viewpoint is always self-centered.
It is believed that animals that migrate, such as turtles and birds, use the magnetic poles as an orienting guide. Humans use this chakra in order to orient physically as well as orient us to our direction in life. We then use the other positive aspects such as drive and will to help get us there.
When this energy is “off,” it will often manifest on both the psychological and physical levels. Not only can one become “lost in thought,” but I often note that people who feel “lost” in the career or relationship areas sometimes have a difficult time orienting in the physical world. Donna, for example, is both confused about her direction in life and afraid to drive because she often gets lost. There is a general sense of being lost in one or another area of life
Abigail has said, “I am still trying to navigate relationships. It feels like a foreign land and I don’t have the map that others do.”
Linear thinking is just a method of orientation that helps us function on a day-to-day basis. The solar plexus chakra likes to use ideas to make things and then become attached to them. It makes past, present, and future and then, not satisfied with that, imposes a structure on it. Time is broken down into millenniums, centuries, decades, years, months, days, hours, minutes, and seconds. We say it is twelve o’clock, but there really is no twelve o’clock, there is only just now. In New York our three o’clock is California’s twelve o’clock. If two people speak on the telephone in different time zones, they are both sharing the same moment even though their clocks differ. At every point on the face of the clock, it is only this moment. There is no past or future but only the present. Time is not linear and our circular-faced clocks clue us to that.
Like the subject/object duality, time is a construct used by the solar plexus chakra to help us function in life. We then use it to make schedules and plans. It is so useful to us that we fail to see that time is a construct and instead live in the illusion, thinking that it is real. The turn of the century and millennium in the year 2000 in the West is an example of how we come to believe the solar plexus chakra time illusion and make a big deal of something that is not real. Many anticipated a big positive or negative shift at the turn of the millennium. Many said, “Oh, something terrible is going to happen.” But in reality there is no turn of the millennium; it is only an idea about time. In the Western world at the turn of the millennium we said it was the year 2000, in the Middle East they were up to 5760, in China they were up to 4698.
When there are significant samskaras here, one can be trapped in thoughts about the past or the future, usually with fear associated with it. Specifically, fear that something painful that happened in the past will happen again in the future. Paradoxically, those who fear the future the most often fail to plan for it. Time gets jumbled and one doesn’t take the necessary steps such as putting money aside to secure a safe future. This is a good example of how samskaras produce difficult situations as one will have good reason to fear the future if there are no resources put aside.
Engagement
Many samskaras here create a shield of crystallized ego, fear, and rigid concepts—one becomes trapped in the thinking mind and disengaged from experience. There is an important point to be made about Traya and why it works. The psyche demands recognition of our experiences and their impact—not just thinking about them or talking about them from the surface mind or even with added emotion. Traya works because it moves one out of the thinking mind into the “experience mind” by reconnecting with the deep mind and the energy of the past experience. Traya moves us out of abstraction into reality.
The health of the solar plexus chakra determines how engaged we are with self, others, and life. Samskaras here actually contribute to an important coping mechanism in dealing with trauma by helping us control our emotions in difficult situations by distancing from them. Often so-called resilient people are operating from an overactive solar plexus chakra enabling them to control (or distance from) their feelings and environment in order to cope. Willpower is used to bear painful feelings. This is the “shutting down” of people out of touch with feelings and it becomes difficult to relate to them. Unfortunately, we cannot just decide to let go of a coping mechanism once the situation changes. When we live in uncomfortable situations growing up and feel we must be self-reliant, we retreat into the ego and it becomes unbalanced. Muriel saw this clearly while exploring the solar plexus chakra:
… I found myself in a home with tons of emotional turmoil, so I detached.
If we distance from ourselves, we distance from everything. Even our children with whom we want to be close will pick up on the distancing energy. If you are not in touch with your feelings, how can you be in touch with anyone else’s? This feeling of separation moves us to spend too much time alone. It produces a sense of never really belonging and of being different and not able to “figure out” how to be happy.
Sara, while doing Traya, sees:
… I can’t see what would fulfill me. I am still on the outside.
… Never really had actual feelings for a guy—that part of me doesn’t work. It is all going on in my head not my heart.
… I have never inhabited my own life. Always reacting and never acting.
She realizes that she keeps a safe distance from people and will isolate at home many weekends, curling up with her books, because it feels easier than engaging with others. This fortifies her sense of isolation. She feels anxious and expresses the fear that if she lets her guard down, “there won’t be anything there.” We explored her anxious feelings and were led to the solar plexus chakra, where the following memory came up:
… In seventh grade there was a boy who was very attractive. I was passed a note ostensibly from him that said, “Do you like me? I like you.” I wrote yes and sent it back. He was football gorgeous and I was the fat girl with the glasses. He shared it and everyone laughed. I am afraid to open up and be vulnerable because I will be humiliated again.
I am ashamed of being so naïve and falling for it. I built a wall—a crystalline artificial structure. I hold myself and my humor back. I am afraid to show myself.
Sara’s “crystalline” wall allowed her to numb her painful feelings. Human beings are very sensitive (not some but all) and situations like this, especially as a child, are shattering to the ego. Sara’s feelings are pushed down and her trust in others is damaged. She asks me, “Why did this affect me so much?” I tell her that there are two big lies we tell both ourselves and others. One is “I didn’t let it bother me,” and the other is “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” As we have seen in our discussion of samskaras, we have no control over what bothers us or not. Is the situation out of resonance with the chakra? Yes, period. We can use our will to distance from the reaction, but that doesn’t change the energetic impact. Her distancing wall helped her control her intense negative feelings when growing up. Now the wall itself is a problem preventing her from engaging fully with people, self, and life.
Distant significant others and not “fitting in” are some of the common causes of distancing energy. When we disengage from our feelings, we are not really alive. A sense of belonging is so important to healthy development. Katarina was ostracized in middle school and still feels like an “outsider”:
… I never worked at a job where I felt I belonged. I was not part of the office culture. I feel that I don’t belong anywhere. I don’t fit in.
Ellen too has had social fear issues and has always struggled with not belonging:
… In college I did things that I didn’t want to do in order to belong. I dated a guy in college that I didn’t really like so I wouldn’t be alone any longer and would belong. He mistreated me and then avoided me.
This last one is at least a quintuple solar plexus chakra whammy. First, she used willpower to push herself to do what she didn’t want to. Second, she used alcohol to smooth the way. Third, she had to distance from herself to date him as a part of her knew he wasn’t good for her. Fourth, she regrets these bad decisions. And even fifth, she was trying to relieve her isolation by taking action to “make” herself fit in more—control.
In summary, an unhealthy solar plexus chakra produces fear and tendencies to make self an end in itself. Since modern society values this over-intellectualized energy, it can be difficult to see the trap. The type A personality—self-sufficient, intellectual, willful, controlling, self-centered, selfish, and stressed—is becoming the common man or woman, a valued employee. Carl Jung, in describing the philosopher Nietzsche in the following quotation, provides a perfect example of a dissonant solar plexus chakra and the over-intellectualized disengaged person:
Nietzsche had lost the ground under his feet because he possessed nothing more than the inner world of his thoughts—which, incidentally, possessed him more than he it. He was uprooted and hovered above the earth, and, therefore, he succumbed to exaggeration and irreality. For me, such irreality was the quintessence of horror, for I aimed, after all, at this world and this life. 11
When full engagement is absent from your life, it is impossible to imagine what it is like to have it. When this attribute is healed with Traya, fear and disengagement disappear and there is a profound shift to a better quality of life.
Control
Controlling feelings and hiding them from others for fear of embarrassment is a solar plexus chakra skill. It also helps us to remain in control in stressful situations by favoring the intellectual, problem-solving aspects of our minds. If we felt either overly controlled or a lack of control when growing up, we may try to control others and/or exhibit a lack of self-control. A child needs to feel that someone is in control but this must be balanced.
We are taught that in order to be successful, “you have to make it happen.” Yes, we need drive, focus, and determination to get ahead, but we also must be able to read the subtle signs and realize when something has no energy—and not go in that direction. Fear leads one to want control. The rigidity of this stance also creates poor social skills. This tendency to be “in control” can become so entrenched that one develops compulsive thoughts or actions in order to feel in control. Lorna can’t leave the house without checking the stove and faucets at least three times. Traya revealed:
… I am trying to prevent a disaster.
The flip side of control is overwhelmingness. She had been overwhelmed by several disasters in her home life growing up, including the death of a sibling. She often feels overwhelmed by the amount of work that she has to do every week. Her “control energy” is off and she flips back and forth between over control and overwhelm.
Focus
When unbalanced, one is distracted instead of focused. Too much thinking and worry interferes with focus and impacts the ability to learn. When there is lack of focus and distraction, there is also usually fear energy. Those with substantial fear as children report that it interfered with their ability to learn. Ellen reports that her anxiety interfered with her ability to learn in college:
… I would read words and not compute what I read.
… I was barely making it through classes. I felt pushed to the side because of my difficulty with focus. I felt trapped.
… I was an English major and I had three books to read a week. It was overwhelming. I never figured out how to balance my time.
(Note the four solar plexus chakra issues in one sentence—overwhelming, figure out, balance, and time). Her inability to focus and learn increased her stress, contributing to more samskaras being deposited and worsening her anxiety—like Lego blocks, building the fear level higher and higher.
Lack of focus is not always this dramatic or clear. June never realized she lacked focus, but after working with the solar plexus chakra, she saw that she was better able to focus on what she was doing. She reported that she watched an old movie she had seen before but was able to take it in as never before. Harry noticed that he always had a “vague consciousness on the edge of the music.” He never really knew who was singing or what the song was about. Now he is more aware and hears the lyrics when songs are playing.
There is a pleasure in complete focus. When there are samskaras, we seek distraction to escape our problems or negative thoughts in our heads. We play video games or go to the movies and that helps get us “out of ourselves,” and fear and worry fade temporarily.
Trust and Decision-Making
The solar plexus chakra’s digestion of ideas, reality testing, and rational thinking all contribute to sound decision-making. The tendency in this chakra is to overvalue these aspects of decision-making and ignore our intuition. If there are more pros, we do “this,” or if more cons, we do “that” instead.
Frank: … I think I can control things by thinking them through—I am always in my head.
Making good life decisions is crucial. If we go down a path that is not good for us in relationships or work, we will suffer, pile on more samskaras, and may never find our correct way. Some are stuck in jobs and careers they don’t like because they were influenced by others or by “what made sense at the time.” There is a tendency to try to “figure out” how to “make” things work out in the future. Sometimes we only feel the attraction or inclination to go in a certain direction but because we don’t have a clear road map with all of the twists and turns to come clearly outlined and can’t see how we can “make” it happen, we abandon the idea. Ana was in this predicament. “I am of two minds,” she said, “so I don’t know what to do.”
The truth is that life doesn’t work by pros and cons and clear road maps. We can’t figure out the future, we can only proceed decision by decision. We can never know the opportunities that will appear if we go down a certain path. We do know, however, that it is likely no opportunities will appear in the field or area that we are attracted to if we don’t start on that path.
Most of us are familiar with the regret of looking back at a period in our lives when we made a bad choice or decision and we can acknowledge that “something didn’t feel right” about that choice at that time and wish that we had trusted that feeling. So there is something in us that tells us when something is not “right.” The ability to connect with this and trust it is the secret to an authentic life. However, for so many, an unbalanced solar plexus chakra gets in the way of heeding these messages and instead we second guess ourselves.
Sara once said, “With my previous relationship, I went into my head and disconnected from my heart. I was analyzing everything.”
Now when she starts a new relationship, she doesn’t trust her own feelings: “How do I know I am not just infatuated?”
Lack of structure, or too much structure, growing up can lead to difficulties with decision-making. If there is no structure then one is “hanging out there” on one’s own and often making poor decisions. Or when there is too much structure and decisions are made for us, we don’t trust ourselves to make decisions either. Both are fear provoking. A history of bad decisions creates a fear of repeating them. A history of being controlled leads to a lack of self-trust, fear of making a mistake, and trying to control the future. A history of peer rejection and/or bullying leads to a shattered ego and lack of self-trust.
Clarity and Reality Testing
It is paradoxical that reality testing is in the solar plexus chakra—the great illusion maker that “makes” duality. If someone says that there are aliens in the bedroom, your knowledge about that person, reason, memory, intellect, and common sense kick in and you don’t assume that it is true. All kinds of crazy information comes over the airwaves and online, but if we have good reality testing, we can say, most likely, that isn’t true. The solar plexus chakra fear and imbalance can get in the way of reality testing and one will think the worst when there is no evidence for it. One overreacts and lacks objectivity. “I did bad on one test; therefore, I am never going to be able to achieve my goals in life.”
The rational approach of the solar plexus chakra doesn’t usually work when interpersonal relations are concerned because relationships don’t operate on that plane. Other solar plexus chakra aspects such as the tendency to grasp and cling can interfere with living in relationship reality. You may know on a rational level that things are not working for you, but on the emotional level it is hard to let go and move on. Or you may not be able to “put two and two together” and see the picture of the impossibility of the relationship clearly.
Confusing messages when growing up create lingering confusion in the mind.
Matt often complains that it is hard for him to “figure things out.” “I am not sure of what is real.” Traya revealed:
… I was confused because with my father I couldn’t do anything right and with my mother I couldn’t do anything wrong. There was no realistic input so I can’t feel that I have confidence in what I am doing. I am left with confusion about my direction.
If, when growing up, your sense of reality is questioned or dismissed, then these attributes will be compromised. Helen had difficulty seeing the reality in her romantic relationship in which her boyfriend was undependable and never put her first. She had a tendency to focus on what she was doing wrong (exploding with rage) rather than her boyfriend’s dysfunctional behavior that set her off. She brought in a letter her mother sent to her when she was sixteen years old. Some excerpts:
— …how deeply you hurt me …
—You are not there when I need your help the most.
—Your main interest is yourself .
Her mother turned reality upside down as it was Helen who was hurt and abandoned and it is her mother who is the responsible selfish one. Now Helen cannot perceive the reality of her current situation either—she keeps the focus on her reaction to her boyfriend’s selfish behavior and feels wrong.
When the solar plexus chakra is healthy, one is able to process situations at the moment and understand them clearly and intelligently.
Note: The solar plexus chakra is not involved with significant disconnects from reality such as delusions, paranoia, and hallucinations, and that is why evidence, logic, and reason do not work in convincing someone of something obvious to everyone else, e.g., the television news anchor you never met is not in love with you.
Judgment
Good judgment is a positive trait of the solar plexus chakra. If exposed to judgment and criticism from others when growing up, an “inner critic” will develop and we may judge others and ourselves just as harshly. This voice can feel like it is part of us rather than the pain body and we then feel guilty for having this tendency. Judgment often involves comparison.
Ania: “I don’t like competition because I always lose.”
… I was compared to everyone as a child by my mother. You are not social like so and so. My mother wasn’t either and I get it from her but I was blamed.
… In college looks were so important. Now I feel as though people like me because of external things.
Indeed, although she is very attractive, she often mentions that she will never get a guy because she has gained a few pounds or she is not bubbly enough.
A tendency to judge is another limiting and isolating force. Our likes and dislikes narrow our world. Sammy was new in town, unemployed, and feeling isolated. I suggested that he volunteer at the LGBT community center. He said, “Oh, only lost people go there.” He says of his boyfriend’s friends, “Roy’s friends are slouches. I can’t relate to them.” This example shows clearly how this solar plexus chakra tendency contributes to isolation. One of the beauties of Traya is that you don’t have to be told you are judgmental and feel judged. When we explored the solar plexus chakra, Sammy received his education directly from the deep mind:
… Judgment and criticism keep me separate.
After we worked with this judgment energy, he opened up and went to the LGBT center and made friends and connections there. Later, he was also able to enjoy the company of his boyfriend’s friends.
Opposite to being judgmental is not trusting one’s own judgment. Sara said, “My experiences have eroded my trust in my judgment. I spent the first half of my life doing the wrong moves. I opened up at the wrong time. I stood up for myself at the wrong time and didn’t stand up for myself at the right time. I had no compass. No north star.”
Willpower
Willpower is one of the “driving forces” of the solar plexus chakra. This chakra produces a healthy drive toward accomplishment of goals by keeping us interested in our goals and determined to achieve them. An overuse of willpower such as “surviving by willpower alone,” as Millie put it, can produce a tendency to engage in “battles of the wills.”
Millie has lots of “fighting relationships” with coworkers, family members, and romantic partners. She vehemently relates her conversations with them—they didn’t do this, or they did that. Her chakra is so “tight” it is physically uncomfortable and she feels a constant knot in her stomach. She is in a perpetual “battle of the wills” with the people around her. She says she wants to be free of it and to bring into her life an engaged and dependable man. You can guess what we found when we did Traya here.
… My father is always picking fights. He is resentful toward my mother.
She speaks about her father with the same vehemence she displays when talking about the people in her life who provoke her. When she describes her long-term relationship with a man that ended, it sounds like it was a constant battle of the wills and let downs. She says she doesn’t want men to fight with yet she somehow finds the ones who also want to battle.
The opposite of willfulness is too much “surrender energy.” Remember that an unbalanced chakra can have too much of an attribute or not enough of it. Judith complains of always giving in to others—paying for shoddy work and giving in to her husband too much. Traya revealed:
… My older brother was so wrong, but you couldn’t reason with him. You have to do what he wants or noisy violence doesn’t stop.
… You cannot make him wrong—no choice but to surrender.
Willpower is also an important aspect of delayed gratification and choice. When it is out of balance, too much or too little, there often is impulsivity, compulsive behaviors and/or a lack of drive.
Courage
Fearlessness is the prize of a healthy solar plexus chakra. The generic definition of courage is “firmness of spirit that meets danger without fear.” A common issue here is fear of the future. This makes sense since the solar plexus chakra creates our sense of time, and if there is fear energy present, it will sometimes take that form as the solar plexus chakra pulls us into the past or future. One may say that all fear is fear of the future as one is consciously or unconsciously anticipating that something bad is going to happen. Ellen was fearful she would not find a satisfying career. The following surfaced when we explored this “fear energy” at the solar plexus chakra:
… My grandfather always said, “Work gets in the way of life.” Most people that I know hate their jobs and are unhappy. I don’t want my work life to be like that.
Financial fear is one of the most debilitating fears. There is a sense of always living on the edge of disaster. Judith, who grew up in a single-parent family in the South, is fearful of her online clothing business failing as it has been slow of late:
… Once as a teenager, the family was so broke. My mother took out the chest where she kept the cash and showed me that there was no money in it. I was afraid that the family would split up and I could not think of losing her.
… My mother tried to start different businesses but they all failed. She was devastated and I felt helpless.
Now she is back in this situation again (inside/outside maxim), only she is the business owner. While abundance is a heart chakra attribute, financial fear appears here too because it is also connected to several solar plexus issues—focus on future (not having enough in the immediate future), fear, lack of control, dependence on problem-solving (how can I make it different), and imbalance (living on the edge is an extreme situation).
Other chakras can also have fear energy—for example, the fear of rejection in the heart chakra or the fear of being seen in the throat chakra—but the bulk of material producing fear will be in the solar plexus chakra.
Myra said, “But isn’t everyone living in fear? This is a dangerous world. How can you not be anxious all of the time?” I explained the difference between “genuine” fear and “mind” fear. Genuine fear is based on real external situations occurring in the moment or are clearly about to occur that are dangerous in some way. It is a tool for keeping ourselves safe. Mind fear is an internalized sense of fear and worry that occurs even when there is no impending danger. It is caused by an imbalanced solar plexus chakra resulting from exposure to fearful situations in the past. The “fight-or-flight switch” is stuck in the on position. When one is stuck in this mode, there is no space for self-reflection; there is just reaction. Yes, there is danger in the world, but it is not constantly on the mind. It will rise up and it will also recede. If I am driving and am cut off and almost crash into another car, I get really scared. After it is over and everyone is safe, I calm down and the fear recedes and I move on with my day. With mind fear the fear is always present regardless of the absence of a dangerous situation—receding only slightly and also getting worse at times.
Fairness and Justice
A good symbol for this chakra is the blind justice statue with the balanced scales, as it creates our sensitivity to fairness and justice. If you want to see this in action, just spend time around children whose antennas always seem to be up around this issue. Alice said:
… Children know injustice, and not to be able to respond to it is hard.
Ellen feels a sense of injustice because the things that she liked were never encouraged:
… Academics were a struggle, but creative things were easy—I have a self that is brushed aside. I am put down for things that I can’t do and the things that I can are not recognized.
Balance
The justice symbol with the balanced scales is appropriate also because the solar plexus chakra also governs the balance of the mind. When there is extreme excitement or fear, the balance is thrown off and there can be an “addiction” to excitement or fear. For example, Marion experienced extreme emotions in her tumultuous relationship with her father. Now, in relationships with men, she believes they are not satisfactory because they lack intensity. She has a secret crush on her boss who is married. He pays her a lot of attention and she interprets this as him feeling the same way about her. Secret relationships provide a thrill and the intensity she is looking for. His unavailability also keeps her safe from an actual romantic relationship with genuine closeness that she is not ready to allow into her life. Living in fantasy is a solar plexus chakra condition that consists of supplying thrills that are not available in ordinary life.
Violet feels a sudden sick feeling in her stomach, “a frustrated, doomed feeling,” when her husband starts to loudly argue with her. The moment beforehand, everything is fine. When we worked with this, the following came up:
… One little thing can turn the tables.
… I was sitting with my friends on the porch when I was eight, and we had one of those magic eight balls and were having fun with it. My teenaged brother came out and I said, “Jack, try this; you can see your future.” He took it and threw it to the sidewalk and it smashed. He did things like that often.
… Unexpected hostility that comes out of nowhere. I can’t let down my guard.
This type of memory often arises in an unbalanced solar plexus chakra. Hostile energy coming at you from out of nowhere when people’s reactions are extreme and not congruent with the situation.
An unbalanced solar plexus chakra inflates the ego and produces self-importance. One may fantasize about future achievements and have grandiose ideas about success or flip between self-aggrandizement and self-debasement. Both are isolating and uncomfortable mind states.
We all deride the narcissistic person but we fail to realize that they are trapped in this mind state—it is not a personality defect but a samskaric state of mind. Retreating into the safety of the ego (a “normal” reaction in stressful circumstances) for self-protection, the ego becomes inflated and egotistic consciousness dominates. Sheila said, “I am the most important person in the world because no one made me important in their world.”
Another person said, “I don’t want to ride a monorail above everyone else.”
Ania often overreacts when upset:
… Mother exaggerated little things—almost out of gas, she was hysterical.
This imbalance energy in the solar plexus chakra leads to the tendency to look at life through a “black or white” filter with little or no hues. One fails to see the nuances: e.g., everything is OK or it is a catastrophe, or I need to be apologizing or I am obnoxious. Black and white thinking also leads to intolerance and an imbalance in the problem-solving tendency of this chakra. Simplistic and extreme solutions are embraced.
Drive and Vitality
In a healthy solar plexus chakra, drive helps us to move forward toward the achievement of our goal or goals. On the other hand, one can become compulsively driven, fiercely competitive, and willing to do anything regardless of the impact on self or others. Or if underactive, one may tend to drift. The black and white thinking described earlier was one of the factors affecting Steve’s drive:
… Difficult to find direction—no options. Can only see big and little picture. Everything in between is left out.
Ego-centered drive is a symptom of a samskaric solar plexus chakra. “I want to be president of the company so people will see how great I am.” This is different than the more authentic drive that is involved with efforts toward self-actualization. Authentic drive has strength and vitality yet is not egocentric and one doesn’t need to push or make things happen.
Responsibility
The solar plexus chakra’s attribute of control and decision-making contribute to a healthy sense of responsibility. This too can become imbalanced, and over-responsibility or irresponsibility can appear with either grandiosity and/or guilt usually present.
Sheila cannot understand why she feels so responsible for her adult son and her difficulty in letting go of taking care of him financially although he is approaching thirty. Traya revealed:
… I feel guilty because I wasn’t the best parent when he was young. So busy with work and being a single parent and not providing him with a good father figure. My stuff just got in the way.
On the other hand, many have difficulty taking responsibility for their behaviors and failing to understand their impact on others. Ryan found many reasons to place blame for his difficulties on others in his daily life. He could only see how he was being wronged. Again, when one is blind to their own shortcomings, Traya can gently highlight these defects without one feeling judged or misunderstood. Traya revealed:
… My mother was always talking about who was wronging her.
He saw how he picked up this lack of responsibility and this blaming of others’ energy from his relatives.
Calm, Ease, and Flexibility
When the solar plexus chakra is healthy and balanced, there is a sense of calm, ease, and flexibility. One can readily “go with the flow” without needing to control or direct. All of the positive aspects of this chakra combine to make one feel confident about the future and navigate life without stress. Emotions flow freely, when good things happen one can be happy. When bad things happen one can be sad. Emotions are balanced and one does not become excessively excited about ideas and plans nor does one encounter extreme situations in one’s life. Life itself becomes a flow without fear or the need to “make” things happen.
Release Chakra (Mukta)
• Location: pit of stomach
• Function: release
Mukta and abhaya (the secondary chakra that lies below mukta) are unique in that they border each other instead of lie between two primary chakras, as the other secondary chakras do. Mukta lies between the fearless chakra (abhaya) and the solar plexus chakra. The release chakra provides the ability to completely let go and relax into experience. A helpful image when contemplating it is either an open hand (healthy) or closed (unhealthy) fist. This chakra holds the tension in the body created by a fearful solar plexus chakra. Once when working with Sheila and the release chakra, the following appeared:
… I need to let go of being in charge.
This is a scary thing to her as she has already let go of so much control energy from the solar plexus chakra. This requires a lot of trust. We found a memory preventing release:
… I always felt as though there was no one in charge at home growing up. I needed to hold on.
A lot of negative energy comes out and she realizes how she has been holding this energy back and her entire body relaxes. The positive imprint brings in “freedom.”
When this chakra relaxes from the Traya work, the result is palpable. I do not recommend approaching the release chakra directly, but rather wait to be led there in the Traya process. In the example prior, Sheila had years of Traya work behind her and was ready to completely let go and be fully present. This cannot be forced.
••• Exercise: Traya Practice at the •••
Solar Plexus Chakra (Manipura)
Grounding
Ground by sitting up straight, focusing on the soles of your feet, and breathing in and out of the tertiary chakras in the feet.
Following Memories Technique
This is another deep mind–guided technique, but instead of thinking of an issue in your current life, you are going to think of a negative memory that you are already aware of. Let’s say you were criticized by a teacher and embarrassed in front of your classmates, for example. This incident stands out in your mind. Focus on your body and ask, “Where in me is the energy related to this?” You feel a sensation at the solar plexus chakra. You then continue with the Traya steps.
Step 1: Focus—Keep your attention on the solar plexus chakra and breathe in and out gently.
Step 2: Surface—You already have the memory so you don’t need to surface it. After you begin the release process with this memory, you can then ask, “What other memories are here?”
Step 3: Release—Continuously add to the outflow of negative energy memory by memory. After you are finished surfacing memories for this session, let all of the negative energy go out and wait until the outflow stops.
Step 4: Replace and Imprint—Visualize positive energy coming in (rays from the sun) and taking up the space that was taken up by the negative energy that went out. Ask, “What is this positive energy bringing in with it?” Note the words that appear in your mind.
Step 5: Scene from Nature (Optional)—Breathe in and out while focusing attention on the solar plexus chakra and let a scene from nature appear in your mind. Note if the fire element is strong. (See the list of chakra elements in Chapter 2.)
Finish by grounding again.
••• Exercise: Traya Practice at the ••• Release chakra (Mukta)
You use the following memories technique we just reviewed. You remember your father giving one of your toys away that you weren’t ready to let go of, for example, and you are led to mukta, located right in the pit of your stomach between abhaya (fearless) and the solar plexus chakra. Next is to continue with the Traya practice. You ground by breathing in and out of the soles of your feet.
Step 1: Focus—Keep your attention on mukta and breathe in and out gently.
Step 2: Surface—You already have the memory so you don’t need to surface it. After you begin the release process with this memory, you can then ask, “What other memories are here?”
Step 3: Release—Keep adding to the chain of negative energy going out. When it stops, proceed to step 4.
Step 4: Replace and Imprint—Visualize positive energy coming in (rays from the sun) and taking up the space that was taken up by the negative energy that went out. Ask, “What is this positive energy bringing in with it?” Note the words that appear in your mind.
There is no scene from nature step with the secondary chakras. Finish by grounding.