C.J.H.S. - Solar Plexus/Svadishthana

Hello (middle of) August!!  

This chakra has giving me quite a learning experience these last couple of months.  The Manipura,3rd chakra which means filled with gems, is the essence of your personality and willpower.  It is associated with one's identity and self-esteem.  It is known as the Power Center, the area of assertiveness, intuition, and inner drive.  The Solar Plexus controls digestion, processing energy and giving us the spark to conquer inertia.  This chakra connects you to the world of your emotions. It is responsible for our personal power and owning it, following our instincts, including risk, and making decision.  When balanced we have a strong sense of self and self-respect.  We are more capable of persevering.  We are able to hear and listen to our gut instincts and we feel a sense of belonging.  An imbalanced Manipura manifests itself as anger, rage, dominance, hypersensitivity to criticism, overly critical of others, fear of rejection, compulsiveness, low self-esteem, resentment, digestive problems, food allergies, gallstones, ulcers and liver problems. 

 Color:  Golden Yellow

Location: Abdomen

Element: Fire
Aromatherapy: Goldenrod, Black Pepper, Pink Yarrow, Lavender, Lemon, Anise, ChamomileGemstone:  Citrine, Tiger Eye, Amber, Yellow Jasper

Food:  Complex Carbohydrates

Healing Plant: Fennel, Chamomile, Juniper

Mantra/Meditation:  I Am Powerful, Brave, and Focused.

Asanas: I am currently doing a Pitta reducing practice to combat this intense heat we are having right now.  In general it's good to practice this during summer.  Try and do twists, and poses on your stomach, such as Boat pose and Bow pose.


Art Prompt: This is an open prompt.  Follow your gut instincts.   

Here is my finished piece.  You can find the background to this piece here.

I added stickers first to see where the words led me.  I found many bright and positive words which was great.  I don't really have an extensive amount of stickers so it was perfect.  The gold pieces are from a doily I bought at the ninety-nine cent store.  I tore it apart and added it with gel medium.  I punched out some circles from gold paper I had and added them as well.



I then added the shell.  I love that shell.  It reminds me of math, and that life is a spiral not a circle.  I can either spiral up, or down.  I always have a choice.  I added some small gold brads to highlight the 7 words.



Here's a close up of the stickers which sort of represent all 7 chakras.


This one is very different and very simple compared to the others, and I feel it has to do with all the internal cleaning I've been doing.  I feel much lighter, less baggage, and more open to possibilities.  I have been practicing non-judgement of life and people and situations and it has made life simple.  Easy.  Yes, challenges occur, and I remember to focus on the internal expansion that is occurring at these times.  Makes it a little easier to make my way through it.  I hope you are also tearing down road blocks you have put up for yourself.  I wish you expansion and lots of joy.

xo