# 3 yellow - the third chakra

The chakras develop from the root to the crown, one color spiralling into another. We have now arrived at yellow. But movement isn't only one way within this system. For example, we’ve seen how we can slip back to the energy of a lower chakra in times of stress. Also, at every second chakra issues that arose two chakras previous tend to be resolved. Thus, the third chakra, known as the solar plexus chakra, situated just above the bellybutton and under the breast bone, completes the root or base chakra.

The red fiery chakra, now a beautiful golden yellow, has come into its own power. No longer seeking mere survival needs, it now looks towards more complex demands; status, ego, personal fulfilment. It now seeks power.

This is the sun chakra. Often thought to be primarily masculine, this is not strictly the case. I think it’s more accurate to say that it brings balance between the feminine and masculine, or the Yin and Yang. To the left of the solar plexus resides the ‘feminine’ power centre, while the ‘masculine’ is strongest to the right. This is your point of power. It is the axial point, literally the middle of the body, where we move from, as any Yoga or Pilates teacher can tell you. Balance in the solar plexus can lead to a successful, affluent person. She is generally a confident, self assured person, well balanced in all areas of her life; work, family, hobby, relationship, money, and so on. This is the chakra now of independence. It is also the money centre, but not in the sense of survival anymore, nor even money as a means of ‘filling’ us. Here money is power. It is at this chakra that people get rich, or falter! If we have issues around money, if we think it’s not ‘spiritual’ to have money, or that we don’t deserve it, it will show at this chakra.

Material success is often accompanied by huge insecurities, not because there is anything wrong with material success, but because the person hasn’t ‘come into their own power’. Not realizing this, the belief that they don’t deserve their wealth or success arises. This can lead to shame, hidden fears, regression to the second, or brazen arrogance in an attempt to cover up at the third. The need to control those around us is a big affair at this chakra. Our relationships will reflect how well balanced we are. This can also be the point of manipulation, and force. Sex can be a weapon here, and a bargaining tool.

This is the location of the adrenalin glands, and the instinctual impulse of fight or flight. So much activity gets stirred up here. We need to be on high alert if there is genuine danger around. But most people live on emotional energy, feeding into all the dramas in their lives, most of which they’ve created. Plus other peoples’ dramas as well! Ulcers are common here, along with glandular ailments. This is also were we protect ourselves, hence many of us persist in keeping a ‘spare tyre’ or extra few layers of fat around this area. Even with regular exercise and good diet we wonder why we cant lose it! Could it be an unconscious belief that we need protection from something? In ancient times when knights fought duels, they would run a spear through their opponent’s middle. Hence extra armour in that area. Today we protect ourselves with fat.

We all hold a lot of fear at this point. This can be a culmination of fears brought up from the first two chakras, as well as new ones added. For example, unresolved issues around survival, unconscious fear of death, of falling, of failure, of being made to look stupid, combined with how we negotiated relationships. All these can resurface in the solar plexus and are played out in a more aggressive manner. Confidence turned to arrogance becomes greed, an excessive ‘swallowing up’, redolent of a lack of any balance. Disappointment can surface here again too. If power is sought and not fulfilled, regression to the second chakra, seeking fulfilment in satiating the appetites, may occur. This is a way of numbing ones sense of failure and frustration.

The physical experience of fear at this point is the ‘butterflies’, we’ve all had them at some time. This is nothing more than the belief that we are not up to our power, that someone has more than us and can defeat us. It’s the memory of the knights spear, and in a sense it’s very similar to the stabbing fear of the first chakra. There is a subtle difference though, and, of course, the location is different. We experience it higher up, often accompanied with a sense of inadequacy. There is a strong pull to go into our emotions, get the adrenals working on our side (the fight or flight remember). If you ever wished the ground would open and swallow you that’s it. Aggression and violence are also expressions of disguised fear.

The third chakra completes the first three chakras, collectively known as the kundalini, where we come into our core strengths and abilities. This is the chakra of the warrior. In the modern world it can be the preserve of the millionaire, the self-made person, accomplished artisan. In Tai Chi and Qi Gong they call this the power centre, the Hara. However, the third chakra is not solely about material gain. The fully developed ‘warrior’, as understood by the Toltec peoples was not interested in accruing wealth at all, but saw power as gaining mastery over himself. Also some Yogis believe that real spiritual power resides at the bottom of the spine, where it lies dormant until awakened, a process known as ‘opening’ the kundalini. The yellow chakra plays an important role in that.

Enquiry:

Do you see your wealth, job, as in extension of yourself?

What insecurities are you aware of currently in your life?

How do you get a ‘fix’ every day?

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