Solar Plexus Chakra governs our sense of self, our ego identity, and our power to determine the direction of our own lives. Out of balance, we tend to feel that others have power over us. When it comes to the parent/toddler relationship, an imbalance of power is obvious and necessary. Yet the trick is to learn how to allow your toddler to push boundaries in order to forge a strong, healthy ego identity while keeping him safely within his limits.
Babies’ basic survival needs—food, shelter, mothering—are associated with the Root Chakra. The third chakra, however, holds the energies that are developing in the toddler. Self-will, power, emotion, and control over our lives all dwell in the Sacral Chakra.
Our children are our mirrors, and when that kind of energy is unbalanced, things can get really distorted between parent and child.
As these qualities are emerging in your child, you may want to be clear about where you stand with your own third chakra energies. How comfortable are you expressing yourself, asserting your will? Are you in command of your own emotions when your two-year old is throwing a screaming fit?
The beauty of the third chakra is, because it is more connected to thought process (the higher chakras) than the basic survival issues of the lower chakras (root and sacral), you can have more confidence and imagination for interacting with and learning from your child when she is in the Sacral Chakra energy stage of development.
Of the numerous styles of parenting, from the more contemporary psycho-emotional based ‘passionate parenting’ and ‘connection parenting,’ to the more pragmatic and social based time-outs and rewards and punishments, to good old-fashioned yelling and screaming, and spanking, the positive discipline approach is most closely related to Solar Plexus Chakra.
Positive discipline acknowledges children’s hard-wired need for personal power and control over their world. It focuses on problem solving rather than punishment. Looking for solutions to negative behavior and seeking to understand your toddler’s behavior, experts believe, will produce confident, resilient and competent adults.
Guard against misplaced power struggles between you and your child. The challenge for the parent with a weak Solar Plexus Chakra is in keeping your own ego projections in check. Solar Plexus Chakra greatly influences how well we can maintain our sense of self when in a power struggle with another. When you were a child, the battle between your ego and your parent’s ego seemed impossible to win. This chakra holds all the energies of those power struggles we fought and lost with our parents, and other authority figures. Clearing your Solar Plexus Chakra will help you avoid taking out your past on your child.
If the third chakra is clear and bright, you’ll have the confidence to allow your child to teach you who she is and how best she learns from you, without you feeling inferior or inarticulate in your communication with her.
Here are two exercises for energizing your Solar Plexus Chakra:
Power Sun Bathing
You can do this indoors or outdoors under the sun with your toddler. Sit across from your child and each of your begin to rubs your hands together very fast, imagining your are creating heat as hot as the sun. When your palms are very warm, touch them to each other’s open palms, holding them at the solar plexus level. Look into your child’s eyes and repeat the mantra, “I am. I am.” It’s okay to giggle, sing or even shout. Do this for a few minutes. When you are finished, have your child and you wrap your arms around yourselves and say your own name quietly to yourself.
Solar Strengthening
This simple breathing exercise is used to strengthen the stomach area and loosen chest and shoulder muscles, creating joyful expansion and energizing qi in your Solar Plexus Chakra that will loosen energetic congestion.
Sit in half lotus position with your right leg on top and place your right hand on top of your right foot. Breathe in and raise your left arm skyward while looking at the back of your left hand. As you lower your hand, breathe out. Switch to your left foot on top and raise your right arm. Repeat for ten minutes. When you are finished, bring your palms facing each other in front of your solar plexus, holding your hands about three inches away. Create a small “energy ball” by bringing your hands closer and further apart, like an accordion, closing your eyes and breathing the light and warmth of the sun between your hands. Do this for a few moments then join your palms in prayer pose, exhaling with deep gratitude for the power that is you.