How Healing The Solar Plexus Chakra Could Lead To Radical Self-Acceptance

We've already covered the shadow of the root chakra and sacral chakra, and today we're discussing the wounds of the solar plexus and how to move through them to unlock the chakra's unique gifts.

The more the world around us validates this identity, the more we are driven by perfectionism, self-judgment, and criticism. Every time we want to pursue something that makes us feel insecure, our critical mind raises its voice and keeps us small. Shame keeps us small. It's a protective mechanism, and it served us well earlier in life, but it comes with huge limitations. Shame keeps us incomplete yet tells us we are not enough. Shame drives our pursuit of perfection yet says we are not worthy. Shame tells us the things we really want in life are not possible (and they aren't, when we are driven by the voice of shame because we are not whole). And the only way to expand what is possible for yourself is to expand yourself in pursuit of wholeness (aka healing). This requires you to welcome all the parts of yourself in hiding back so you can integrate them into your psyche. 

If you hold yourself to impossibly high standards, set unreasonable expectations for yourself or others, or have little tolerance for failure, you are likely driven by a solar plexus wound. Somewhere in your unconscious, shame is alive and it's obstructing your unlimited potential. When you heal this wound, your limiting belief systems dissolve and you realize that your vulnerabilities and imperfections are the things that draw people and opportunities toward you. These are the parts of you that others love most—the roots of your worthiness. 

The more you accept yourself, the more worthy you become. You cannot create anything in your life that you do not believe you are worthy of, so this path is essential to growth. To receive love, you must be worthy of love. To create financial wealth or professional success, you must be worthy of it. To have a loving partnership, you must be worthy of it. So if you are trying to create something in your life and your momentum has plateaued, it may be time to heal your solar plexus chakra. Here are three exercises to help you get started:

Create a "fix it" list for yourself. List all the things about yourself you are trying to fix, change, or improve upon. Then review the list and note all the things on the list you judge yourself harshly for. Review the list again, and note whether you believe any of the things on the list make you unlovable.

Using the list above, identify how each thing on that list has served you. Have these qualities protected you? Are they connected to parts of yourself that you like? Can you find a gift in each one of the things on the list?

Identify one thing you want to do in your life that you have not yet pursued because you believe you don't have the talent or skills to be successful. Note the dialogue that prevents you from doing it, and do it anyway. Do it with the intention of failing. Let yourself fail and discover how liberating it is to live imperfectly.