Food rules are hurting your solar plexus chakra
Written by Delilah Bisase, RD
When I say food rules, I'm not just talking about food rules that come from fad diets and diet trends. Those are the more obvious, overt food rules that are easier to identify and kick to the curb. For this piece I’m focusing on the less obvious, covert, and often self imposed food rules. These little guys are sneaky, and they show up it’s lots of forms. Here are just a few examples
“I don’t eat anything after 8pm, that’s just so unhealthy”
“I have to eat at least 3 green salads a week”
“I have to drink lemon-water with apple cider vinegar first thing in the morning before eating anything”
“I can only eat raw food in the morning and cooked food in the evening”
“I can’t eat more than one starchy food in a meal”
Does any of this sound familiar to you? I’m not saying that these are inherently negative, rather it’s important to find out what is the source of all of this. That’s the key right there, and that’s where the solar plexus chakra comes into play. Excessive food rules are not good news for the solar plexus, and here is why.
Solar plexus chakra explained
The solar plexus chakra (in Sanskrit is ‘manipura’) is our center for personal power and transformation. This center provides us with the drive and determination to take the necessary action steps to accomplish our goals. The solar plexus is what allows us to manifest our dreams into reality. A healthy solar plexus is evident in a person who stands firm in their own opinion without being overly cocky or condescending. This person is decisive, exudes strength, and feels confident in the way they present themselves to the world. They are in this world, but not of this world. The element of this chakra is fire and that symbolism plays out both physically and spiritually because within fire contains the spirit of transformation. On a physical level the fire in our solar plexus allows us to extract and utilize the energy from the foods we eat, and then excrete waste products. On a spiritual level the fire in our solar plexus allows us to receive information from the outside world, with discernment, taking in only what we need and discarding the rest. The solar plexus helps us to set clear boundaries between ourselves and the world around us. When these clear boundaries are in place, our actions are guided by our intuition (because our intuition knows what’s best for us) and we’re not overrun by external forces (ex: societal standards of beauty, body image, accomplishment, etc). This chakra has a lot to do with our outward expression. Again, it helps us to be in this world but not of this world.
Food rules weaken the solar plexus chakra
Think back to the brief list of food rule examples I shared earlier. Now also think about the many food rules that come along with fad diets and diet trends (ex: whole 30, keto, paleo, alkaline, any type of cleanse). Often fad diets and diet trends lead us to developing our own self imposed food rules. By the way, I should slip in here that being vegan is a diet trend too nowadays. It’s just as trendy as gluten free and low FODMAP diets. Now, anytime you participate in any of the things described above, it’s important to ask yourself a few key questions: “Why am I doing this?”, “What is the purpose?”, “Is the end goal of this to achieve a certain type of standard set by society?”, “Is this in alignment with my true self?”
Whether it’s body image, beauty standards, or physical ability all of those motivating factors are external- meaning that the motivation is not coming from you. When the motivation doesn’t come from you, the end result can only do so much for you. Constantly inundating yourself with external motivation factors through food rules dictated by either yourself or external influences weakens your solar plexus. It dulls your sense of self because you’re too busy pleasing other things outside of yourself. When food rules run the show our solar plexus is weakened because we’re allowing something else to have more authority over us than it should have. On the other hand, there is what’s called intrinsic motivation. This type of motivation is all internal, and it comes from yup you guessed it- straight from the solar plexus chakra.
Underlying spiritual cause of digestive issues
The solar plexus is located in the abdomen area, and it is associated with certain organs of the digestive system; namely the stomach, small and large intestines, pancreas, and gallbladder. Imbalances in the solar plexus often manifest in disturbances in the digestive system. Stress wreaks havoc on both the solar plexus and our digestive processes. From a spiritual perspective, stress thwarts the solar plexus chakra’s ability to transform food into energy that the body will use. From a clinical standpoint, the stress response in our body decreases blood flow to our gastrointestinal tract (aka GI tract). Reduced blood flow to the GI tract can result in poor nutrient metabolism and absorption and other digestive disturbances such as indigestion, constipation, or gas. Hence, stress is a common trigger for IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) symptoms.
I think it is no coincidence that in the U.S., where working to the point of over exertion is so common, that digestive issues are also very common. Heartburn (aka acid reflux), indigestion, bloating, constipation, and IBS are all quite common ailments among Americans. Another factor common among Americans that I believe is a culprit for many dealing with these issues is how much of our own power we give away to society/the world around us. We are constantly chasing perfection, accolades, setting ourselves to unreasonably high standards, and trying to one-up the person next to us. All of these things might sound like a “go-getter” approach, but in reality it's an overworked, burnt out solar plexus that is struggling to keep it’s fire burning. That “go-getter” I described has a solar plexus chakra that is overly inundated with external stimuli and is unable to filter out what is needed for itself vs what should be discarded. As a result you end up with a person who is taking on way too much and simultaneously subjecting themselves to even more. This can cause a build up of stress, anger, and tension which will all reside in the stomach area if not properly dealt with.
Say “No” to food rules and “Yes” to yourself
I mentioned earlier that being vegan is a trend now too, so you might be wondering “well I’m vegan, so what do I now??” Don’t worry, I’m not saying you need to ditch the vegan diet. The bottom line is that no matter what you’re doing, make sure that it is in alignment with your true self, serving your greatest good, your highest purpose. Going back to the vegan diet example, for me following a vegan diet is in alignment with my true. Now, you need to pose that same question to yourself, however; not just in regard to a vegan diet, but about everything. Circling back to the examples of the food rules I shared earlier- they’re not inherently negative, it just depends on the source. Are you starting your mornings with lemon-water and raw food out of an instinct knowing that’s what your body needs? Or is it because you saw a super popular YouTuber do it, and now you want to do it because you want to have glowing skin, a flat tummy, and 800K subscribers just like them? Remember, you are in charge of you and no one else. Even me as a dietitian, I can only guide and advise you. However, you’re the only person who knows your truth and it’s your duty to always honor your truth. There’s no need to explain yourself to anyone else, nor contort yourself to fit the mold of someone else’s or society’s expectations of you. Here’s one of my favorite solar plexus chakra affirmations to wrap this up
My actions are guided by my highest self
If you want to dive more into this and see how one on one nutrition & reiki sessions could be of help to you, schedule a free 15 minute introduction call with me so that we can talk and explore the possibilities.