Wheels of Life: Solar Plexus

Here the element of fire ignites the light of consciousness, and we emerge from the unconscious, somatic levels to the exciting combination of psyche and soma that creates willed action. As we activate our power, we direct our activities toward a higher purpose.

This is our third chakra. Its purpose is transformation. Just as fire transforms matter into heat and light, the third chakra transforms the passive elements of earth (first chakra) and water (second chakra) into dynamic energy and power. Earth and water are passive. They flow downward, subject to gravity, and follow the path of least resistance. Fire, by contrast, moves upward, destroying form, and takes the raw energy of matter to a new dimension – to heat and light.

As the name solar plexus implies, this is a fiery, solar chakra, bringing us light, warmth, energy and power. It represents our “get up and go,” our action, our will, our vitality.

You can also analyze yourself in terms of the element of fire. Are you frequently cold? Do you prefer cold or hot drinks? Do you crave or avoid hot, spicy foods? Do you sweat easily, have fevers or chills? Is your temperament quick and energetic or slow and lethargic? These things give us an indication of whether we have excessive or deficient fire in our bodies.

Fire is radiant, so the third chakra is yang and active. When afraid or feeling powerless, we withdraw, and become passive and yin. We hold our movements in check and use one part of ourselves to control another. When we block our own power and expression, we withdraw and appear cold and controlled.

This control takes energy to maintain, yet it does not produce energy. Eventually, we become depleted. Our natural enthusiasm for activities dwindles, and instead we have to “manufacture” energy for our projects, reaching for stimulants, such as coffee or sweets, which temporarily energize, but eventually deplete our vitality.

When we withdraw from life, we become a closed system. Our expression turns in on itself, often in anger and self-criticism, which wears us down further. Fire takes fuel to burn, and in a closed system, the fuel eventually burns up. Only in a dynamic state of interaction with the world can we keep up the movement and contact that feeds our fire and zest for life.

To break the cycle of fear and withdrawal takes a reconnection with the self in a loving and accepting way. If we are not in touch with the first two chakras – with our body and ground, our passions and pleasures – we have little fuel for our fire. Desire gives our will enthusiasm and makes it more dynamic.

If we are not loving with ourselves, giving ourselves room to breathe, to explore, to make mistakes, then we have no air for the fire to burn. If we are not connected to spirit, we have no spark for the fire, and all the fuel in the world is useless. If we are not centered within ourselves, we see the power as outside ourselves, rather than feeling it from within.

We have stated that power is directed energy. What about personal power? How do we develop and maintain this power within a culture and education system that teaches powerlessness as a way of fostering social cooperation? What happens when creative thinkers are seen as deviants to be ostracized from society while conformity is reinforced? Many parents train their children to be docile and well-behaved, but even obedience requires cooperation from our own will.

In order to pass through this chakra into the heart, we need to refine our concept of power to become one that enhances, empowers, and strengthens. Our power structures must ensure, rather than threaten, the continuation of our species, of our natural resources, and of our trust and ability to cooperate with each other. We need to see power that strengthens individuals and cultures simultaneously, rather than supporting one at the expense of the other. How can we change this?

Our dominant worldview today is one that emphasizes separateness. Our sciences have looked at nature in reductionist terms – dissecting matter into smaller and smaller units. Western medicine treats the body as a collection of separate ailing units rather than seeing the mind/body as a whole. We look at people, countries, land, cultures, and races as separate, isolated building blocks to be counted and carried, coordinated through control, rather than natural order.

“Power over” takes constant effort and vigilance. People are forced into submission, constantly intimidated and, thereafter, must be carefully guarded. Positions are never secure, but require greater and greater defenses. We overstep our bounds, depleting inner resources to steal wealth from some other place that we consider separate. In our diseased view, we see this as increasing power – by increasing our dominion, increasing what we have “power over.”

Through the lens of the Chakra System, power results from combining and integrating, rather than fighting and dominating. Each chakra level emerges, first of all, from the combination of the levels below it. Instead of finding our power through separation, power can come from unity and wholeness.

When our world is ruled by strangers, we see only through machines; when our voice seems too small to be heard, estrangement is reinforced. It makes individuals easy to control, easily manipulated into serving some larger body that promises to return elements of our lost power to us piecemeal. Through participation in an alienating job, we receive a stipend of freedom known as slavery. The more thoroughly we participate, the greater the promise of reward; yet in reality, we often become further estranged.

In a “submissive paradigm” the power of placed outside ourselves. If we look for power outside, we look to others for direction, and find ourselves at their mercy, setting ourselves up for possible victimization. With an absence of power within, we may constantly seek stimulation, excitement, and activity, afraid to slow down, to feel the emptiness inside. We engage in activity as a way of getting acknowledged by others, a way of being seen, a way of having our ego strengthened. We may seek power for the sake of ego, rather than from the ability to better serve the larger whole. Power without purpose is mere whim, sometimes even dangerous.

Failure to recognize that we have will is common. How many times in a day do you look at your tasks, exude a tired sigh, and say (or whine), “I have to do this.” We tell ourselves we have to go to work, we have to do the dishes, we have to run this or that errand, or have to spend more time with our kids. It is disempowering to regard these circumstances as a dreary series of obligations, rather than choices we make actively. I don’t have to do my dishes, but I choose to because I like a clean kitchen. I don’t have to go to work, but I choose to because I like receiving a paycheck, or because I like to honor my agreements. This subtle change in attitude helps us befriend and realign with our will.

True will can be seen as an individual expression of a higher, divine will. It arises from our basic attunement with something larger. True will extends beyond the ego-self and embraces a higher higher purpose. It does not act for the sake of reward, but for the “rightness” of the action.

In order for our will to be engaged, we must also be in touch with our desires. How can we exert our will if we don’t know what we want? While undue attachment to our desires may keep us trapped in lower chakras, suppression only blocks the force of will. When a person feels deprived, unloved, or overworked, they are easier to manipulate. The will flourishes best when we are relaxed, happy, and in touch with ourselves.

If you are unclear about your purpose, then it’s hard to know just what our will is in a given situation. The task of consciousness is an accurate assessment of who we are, for within that mystery lies the purpose our will must address. Once we know our will, its strength increases through use.

The third chakra attributes of power, will, vitality, and self-discipline are ultimately based on self-esteem. When our self-esteem is high, we are confident, assertive, proactive, disciplined, and basically excited about life. When self-esteem is low, we are filled with doubts and self-recrimination that act like check dams for the psychic momentum needed to get something done. If there are too many check dams, we lose our momentum entirely, and end up in a state of inertia. Once we find ourselves in that puddle of inertia, the self-doubt and recrimination only get worse, and the cycle becomes paralyzing.

Then the demon of shame has entered the third chakra, and perhaps even taken over. Shame is the antithesis of self-esteem. It collapses the middle section of the body, depriving it of energy. Instead of moving outward, the energy turns against the self.

Self-esteem comes from a realistic sense of the self. Initially this comes from the body and the physical identity. This gives us our edges and boundaries. Next it comes from the second chakra and our emotional identity, which brings aliveness to our experience of self, and keeps us happy and in touch. Thirdly, self-esteem comes from trial and error as we reach out, take risks, succeed and fail, and in doing so gain a realistic sense of our own abilities. Through self-discipline, we hone our skills. These form the foundation of self-esteem.

Self-esteem forms a good foundation for opening the heart and maintaining successful relationships. If the lower chakras have done their job, then our partner doesn’t need to make us secure, interpret our feelings, or bolster our egos. We can then move completely into the delightful experience of love.