Solar Plexus Chakra Healing for Increased Personal Power and Self-Acceptance

The solar plexus chakra is the third of the seven chakras in chakra tradition: the yellow, fire-element centre associated with personal power, willpower and self-esteem. This guide explains what it stands for, what it is said to look like when it feels "wounded", and which yellow chakra stones people pair with it, plus self-acceptance practices you can try. It sits next to the root and sacral chakras.

If you feel that you need to make important changes in your life, are struggling with self-acceptance, or lacking in self-confidence, you might need to tap into the power of your solar plexus chakra.

What Is the Solar Plexus Chakra?

The third of the 7 chakras, the solar plexus chakra runs from the upper abdomen (2 inches above the navel) and up to the sternum. It is called manipura in Sanskrit which translates to shining gem. Manipura precedes the heart chakra (anahata).

Among all the energy vortices, this chakra holds the essence of your identity and personality which should shine brightly and illuminate all aspects of your life. Hence, the allusion to a lustrous gem.

The solar plexus chakra is associated with the fire element and represents the colour yellow. It is associated with willpower, determination, self-esteem and self-discipline, and with the spirit and enthusiasm to live life to the fullest.

You can also refer to your solar plexus as the seat of your personal power. In chakra tradition, a balanced third chakra is linked with living without fear, a productive mindset and mindful choices.

In this view, you are in sync with your authentic self, and your thoughts, actions and decisions are guided by your purpose.

What Are the Characteristics of the Solar Plexus Chakra?

Rocky Mountain Oils sums up the salient characteristics of the solar plexus chakra as the following:

• Identity - Being the centre of your identity and personality, a balanced solar plexus chakra is linked with becoming your genuine self.
• Willpower - This chakra is associated with pursuing your goals, with grit and with the self-discipline to act on your plans.
• Confidence - Out of your solar plexus chakra flows your self-esteem and your concept of yourself. It's where you draw your trust in your abilities from.
• Personal power - A balanced solar plexus chakra is linked with control over your thoughts, emotions and actions in a way that supports your growth. Intention and action - Your solar plexus chakra is associated with turning ideas into action and plans into reality.

However, chakra tradition holds that some situations can leave a chakra blocked, imbalanced or, as some practitioners call it, wounded.

In this view, such imbalances keep you from experiencing the positive characteristics of your solar plexus chakra.

What Causes the Solar Plexus Chakra to Be Wounded?

While the chakras don't have a physical form, they can still be wounded and dysfunctional, says Erica Matluck, a holistic coach. This means the energy of the chakra is chaotic or discordant (usually described as underactive or overactive).

Matluck writes:

[Wounding] results from a negative or traumatic event during the developmental phase of life associated with that particular chakra. Other times, the wounding results from a prolonged imbalance (excess or deficiency) in the energy related to that particular chakra.

Regardless of the source, chakra tradition says wounding shapes how we experience ourselves and the world.

When a chakra is wounded, we live in the shadow frequency of that affected chakra. The shadow of the solar plexus chakra is shame.

Matluck says that shame traces back to our teen years, the critical period when we form our identity. As we discover and express ourselves, the world gives us positive feedback for the things we do well and discourages the habits, behaviours, ideas, etc. that show our weaknesses.

This makes us focus on projecting the qualities that others validate for and hide our flaws, imperfections, and vulnerabilities. However, this results in a fragmented identity. Meaning, we define our confidence by the things we are positively acknowledged for, but excluding our insecurities.

As we nurture those qualities that make us worthy in the eyes of others, we develop perfectionism, criticism, and self-judgment over time. And the driving force behind these attitudes is shame. Shame pushes us to aim for perfection without necessarily making space for acceptance of who we truly are and what we are not.

Shame is the inner critic in our heads telling us we are not enough and that we can't achieve our desires and ambitions.

Below are signs of a wounded solar plexus chakra:

• Holding yourself to impossibly high standards
• Setting unrealistic expectations for yourself or others
• Little tolerance for failure
• Low self-esteem
• Aggression
• Being overly dominating over others
• Indecisiveness
• Lack of purpose
• Excessive desire for control
• Stubbornness

The shadow of shame can obstruct your growth and affect your relationship with others. In chakra tradition, working through the shadow of shame is a path toward letting go of self-limiting beliefs and building stronger relationships.

How to Work With Your Solar Plexus Chakra

The key to working through shame is self-acceptance.

According to Matluck, self-acceptance begins by acknowledging our weaknesses and refraining from judging ourselves harshly for having them. It's also about acknowledging that the things we use to judge others are reflections of what we dislike in ourselves.

Only when we accept ourselves do we become worthy of receiving what we desire out of life.

Here are some practices to grow more in self-acceptance:

1. List all the things you want to change about yourself. or some areas you want to improve on. Then review your list and pay attention to the things you criticize yourself for (or you think make you unworthy/unloveable). Review the list again and consider whether you believe any of these things or not.

2. Reframe and discover your gifts. Using the list you made, reflect on how each item on the list has served you. What are the qualities that protected you? Are these things related to the parts you like about yourself? Has any of these things helped others or made others feel valued?

3. Confront your inner critic. Identify one you've been wanting to do or change in your life but have not yet pursued because you think you don't have the talent or skills to succeed in it.

Notice the dialogue that goes on in your mind that prevents you from acting on it. Then do it anyway. Do it even if you'll fail! The goal is not perfection but to allow yourself to discover how freeing it is to just try and to live imperfectly.

4. Use positive affirmations. - Choose affirmations that remind you of your worth and power. Say these affirmations out loud or in your mind as you meditate:

• I am authentic.
• I am free to choose in any situation.
• I direct my own life.
• I feel my own powers.
• I am worthy of love, respect, and acceptance.

5 Crystals People Pair With the Solar Plexus Chakra

These five yellow crystals are the ones most often paired with the third chakra. Wear them as jewellery, hold them while meditating, or place them around your home as a reminder of your intentions.

1. Citrine - Also known as the stone of success, citrine is linked in crystal lore with positive energy, confidence, personal power and abundance.

2. Yellow jasper - One of the most common stones paired with the solar plexus chakra. It is said to carry the energy of the sun and is linked with happiness, enthusiasm, optimism and confidence in social settings.

3. Tiger's eye - In crystal lore, this stone stands for strength, courage and self-confidence, and for taking action in spite of fear. It is also called a protective stone.

4. Golden healer quartz - This yellow quartz variety is linked in chakra tradition with raised vibrations and cleared blockages. People reach for it at the start of a self-acceptance journey as a symbol of positive change, and of shining a light on parts of life they want to embrace or change.

5. Carnelian - A go-to stone for courage and self-confidence in crystal lore. It is linked with personal power, motivation toward your goals, and with joy, energy and warmth to share with others.

Final Word

Our identity and personal power are the only things we carry with us wherever we go. We grow stronger and we become more grounded in our inner strengths when we learn to accept ourselves (flaws and all), value ourselves, and allow ourselves the room to grow each day.

When we accept ourselves for who we truly are and learn to reclaim our personal power, we shine bright like the sun on a one fine day.

If you stock crystals for customers who are exploring chakras, Stonebridge Imports is a Canadian wholesaler of the yellow stones above, with no minimum order.

READ NEXT:

• Chakras 101: What Happens When Your Chakras Are ‘Imbalanced’?
• Demotivated? Your Root Chakra May Be Blocked. Here's How to Work With It.
• Creative Slump? Dry Sex Life? It's Not You”It's Your Blocked Sacral Chakra
• Open Up Your Heart Chakra to Release Love and Forgiveness
• How to Work With Your Throat Chakra and Be a Better Communicator
• How to Open Your Third Eye and Boost Your Psychic Abilities
• Crown Chakra: The Seat of Higher Consciousness and Spiritual Growth