Digestion and Emotions are directly linked. Everybody already knows this… but do you reallllly understand it?
You know that sudden feeling when you are scared and you become instantly nauseous? You know that random bout of diarrhea before a job interview, big presentation, big test or a blind date? How about feeling like there’s a golf ball stuck in your throat when you have to have a difficult conversation with someone?
While we all *know* on some level that our digestive state and our bowels are connected to our emotions, but you may not know how. Well, my friends…
The answer to that is chakra number 3:
The Solar Plexus Chakra.
(Fun fact: it’s also called the Celiac Plexus.)
Hense why Celiac disease is called celiac disease.. It’s an issue of digestion and power being turned in on yourself in a negative way.
Dang, just typing up those situations for you has gotten my own gut in a knot and here’s why: I’m a solar plexus girl. Always have been…. It just took me a minute to figure it out.
I’ve had to always be consciously aware and work to balance out my solar plexus… and it seems that no matter how old I get or how much I understand about health and healing, it’s something I always am going to need to pay special attention to.
Growing up, for as far back as I can remember, I always felt like I had a knot in my stomach. I would “internalize” all of my stresses.
I woke up with it, hated eating breakfast, I would always be nauseous in the morning, yet hungry, but I could never really “stomach” much so I carried around this knot all the time, carried it around at school all day, carried it to ballet with me after school, home with me in the evenings, because of this, sometimes sleep was hard to come by.
Even more so, because of all of that, moving my bowels was even harder to come by as I got older… It felt like I was carrying around a 10lb rock in my gut. But you would have never known this from the outside looking in…This didn’t really keep me from cutting up with my friends, laughing until I cried, dancing my little heart out everyday. I was still loud a silly with my friends and family, but I had this thing…. This thing that kept things from moving through me, from sleeping deeply, eating well, relaxing and enjoying the moment. My mom would always tell me, Colleen, BREATHE!
When I was younger I had a constant worry that something was going to happen to my parents, my friends, the things I loved… I worried all the time. I internalized these things over and over again. I had chronic constipation from the time I can remember Because as I was constantly holding myself together in a tight little knot in the center of my gut, I never could just eat freely, process freely, and eliminate freely. I still sometimes struggle with worry about the people I love in my life, but every now and then is normal… Not every single day.
My solar plexus was trying to show me, or try to let me know that it wanted to be the boss…but really, is it really the boss? NOPE. It likes to think so, but it’s not! Think power trip…
The solar plexus chakra is the energetic space in your body that’s all about power, self-worth and feeling that you are enough JUST the way you are right now. It’s warrior energy, and the power of transformation is held here, it also controls metabolism and digestion.
Often times this chakra can have a wound, or become imbalanced. A wound in the solar plexus feels like you are never quite enough, you aren’t sure about your own power, and you want the security of your loved ones around you to feel centered and when they aren’t around you, you feel vulnerable and scared. It can also make you feel like you can never eat enough food, it can also make you feel super nauseous all the time.
For me, the solar plexus wound kept me constantly nauseous and hating food. Looking back on this now, this was a huge red flag that I missed when I had an eating disorder. I was so out of sorts in my own body, I was in a new place, I never felt quite good enough dancing for the ballet company that I was at the time. Solar Plexus wound can just as easily go the other way… keeping you constantly eating for security, constantly battling weight issues, and starving for your next dose of nourishment. A solar plexus imbalance doesn’t care if you have already eaten more then enough today. It either makes you nauseous with anxiety or it is literally ravenous for more food and it has nothing to do with what you have or haven’t eaten that day.
Do any of these symptoms sound like you?
- irritable bowel issues
- constipation
- weight struggles (either over or underweight)
- binge eating
- addictions
- diabetes
- self-worth issues
- stomach ulcers
- reflux issues
- hepatitis
- gallstones
- Pancreatitis
- Candida
These are all messages that your solar plexus is imbalanced.
So what does it feel like when your solar plexus is balanced? You feel empowered, strong, confident, effective, spontaneous and open to new things.
I know that my solar plexus is balanced when I am open to meeting new people, trying new things, open to traveling and allowing life to happen. I can also tell when it’s becoming imbalanced when I start to feel worried, nervous, nauseous, anxious, hungry, shy, hesitant and unsure of yourself.
Here is the first thing I notice though when it becomes imbalanced, it’s 100% connected to the way I nourish myself. When I start to become bored with food and eating in general, I really to dread cooking meals, when I wake up with a knot in my stomach, when I feel super shy and not wanting to go to any social engagements, and when I start to doubt my own path, my offerings, my work in the world. It’s time to check myself…
So if your solar plexus is imbalanced, how the heck do you rebalance it?
Here are 3 quick ways that you can begin to shift things…. Sometimes this takes some acute awareness and some support, but you can definitely start to shift things for you RIGHT NOW!
- Choice: You can feel empowered simply by the choices that you make. Instead of making rash, jump choices in the moment, which by the way if you letting fear take the steering wheel, take a step back, take a breath and really FEEL that you have a choice here. Ask yourself, what is going to make me feel empowered in this moment right now…. I learned and keep learning that when I make the choice based off the nauseating, knot in my belly, I’ll stay stuck…
- Solitude: Quiet. Timeout. Solitude is a great way to self soothe. To be quiet, to reflect to refuel. Often times, laying in the grass helps me get back to my center. If you know me personally, you know that when I’m feeling off and run down, I always say “I just need to go lay in the grass for a while”.
- Honor your gut feelings: The solar plexus IS where we feel our gut knowings, it’s the home of intuition and guidance through the belly… In retrospect, the reason I had such a solar plexus blockage growing up is because I was holding back some extremely powerful intuitive mojo — I just wasn’t ready to handle the power of my intuition yet. I was actually quite scared of it.
I needed to get through the conventional world of nutrition and clinical training before I could unleash and really process the good stuff, those intuitive knowings. If your solar plexus is blocked, there is a good chance you are very intuitive yourself. Honor your gut feelings for the factual and dependable and powerful information that they give you — never brush off your intuitive hits. To me, intuitive understanding is more reliable and more solid than any other factual or mental reasoning one can do.
Foods For Fueling Solar Plexus:
- Lemon
- Corn
- Melon
- Banana
- Eggs
- Olive Oil
- Grapefruit
Essential oils to diffuse:
- Lemon
- Rosemary
- Fennel
- Geranium
- Basil
- Ginger
- Bergamont
Affirmation to help re-balance:
- I am courageous. I am whole. I stand in my power. And so it is.
- I accept myself.
- I make my own choices.
If you are feeling like you would love some support in clearing this block and moving forward, stepping into your power, let’s chat!!
If you want to find out if you truly are a solar plexus person or not (I can tell just by connecting to your energy!) and have a detailed plan on how you would best release any imbalances and open up your gorgeous leadership potential and intuitive capabilities… Go here to schedule a private consultation
