A holistic approach towards attaining a healthy lifestyle in connection with solar plexus:-
With the years passing by our approach towards life is changing drastically, where now we are packed in the hustle and bustle of life. Not just this, we have started taking our health for granted based on the excuses that life is fast-paced now, there is lack of time, erratic working hours are taking a toll, etc. However, have you ever wondered that our grandparents and generations before them had been relatively healthier, had more life span, were much stronger than us and aged at the right time. Ever wondered why we fail to achieve all this now? Though we have better technology in place, more eating options, more variety in terms of local and exotic food/ingredients, etc. This all boils down to the fact that our grandparents and their earlier generations toiled hard in more physical activities, ate well and on time, had a disciplined life and did everything possible under the sun to make their body and mind healthy.
Importance of Solar Plexus:-
- A brief about Solar Plexus
The solar plexus, which is also known as celiac plexus is a complex system of radiating nerves and ganglia. It is located in the upper belly at the diaphragm in front of the aorta. Also, it is a part of the sympathetic nervous system. It plays a vital role in the functioning of the stomach, kidneys, liver, and adrenal glands, etc. The solar plexus chakra, which is known as Manipura in the Sanskrit language is referred to as the “city of jewels”, which acts as the center of personal power. This chakra rules an individual’s personality, ego, identity, personal freedom, choice, authenticity, motivation, self-confidence, willpower, and purpose, which roots from one’s sense of personal efficacy. Furthermore, this chakra has strong control over the digestive system and its related organs. This results in creating an impact over both the gut’s emotional brain and stored emotions. The solar plexus chakra is symbolized by the colour yellow, is based on masculine energy and is presented in a downward-pointing triangle within a ten-petaled flower. Talking about it elementally, it is associated with fire as well as the sun and works on manifestation mantra i.e. ” can”, which connects with this chakra.
- When the Solar Chakra is blocked or unbalanced
When the solar plexus chakra’s energy turns out to be out of alignment, one tends to face common physiological ailments, which includes gastric/digestion issues viz. stomach pain, heartburn, acid reflux, nausea, ulcers, or a loss of appetite. It also leads an individual towards serious health conditions like diabetes, hypoglycemia, and even eating disorders that can also be linked back to the solar plexus chakra.
On an emotional level, the individual becomes anxious, irresponsible, traumatic, has an excessive need for control, gets a victim mentality, and has feelings of helplessness, insecurity/inauthenticity that can be again connected to this chakra.
Impact of lifestyle in connection with Solar Plexus:-
As soon as the sun rises (suryauday), the solar plexus in the body gets activated and the acidic levels in the body start to increase. So, if we feed our body with dry fruits/fruits or anything to cool down our stomach. This helps in improving the digestion process and prevents the acid from increasing. In addition, it also helps in balancing the sattva guna in the body. However, if we remain empty stomach in the morning, the body starts to crave, as the solar plexus starts to generate in the body and pancreas gets a negative impact by an increase of acid levels. It creates ailments like gastric issues, stomach bloating, hyperacidity, etc and also leads to an adverse effect on not only the physical body but also on the emotional strength. As excessive acid disturbs the parasympathetic nerve. Owing to the disturbance in that nerve an individual tends to suffer from anxiety, negative thoughts, gets frequently angry, palpitations occur, nervous extortion, etc. So, the best practice is to eat something healthy in the morning (ideally before 8:00 a.m.) and reduce the diet after sunset. As the sun goes down, the energies of the solar plexus start to slow down and reduce in the body (shuta avastha- i.e. in a sleeping mode). This is the reason why in Jainism, Jain people don’t eat after sunset because a lot of bacterial infections, allergies, etc prevail in the atmosphere. The sunlight destroys a lot of these negative energies, germs, allergies, bacteria, etc. However, not all the germs, allergies and bacteria get destroyed so they look for darkness below the surfaces that are dirty and don’t remain in the air because of the presence of sunlight. It is impossible to see these invisible microbes with the naked eye, which also get into our food. Hence, consuming this contaminated food will make us fall sick.
In short, as the sun rises the solar plexus starts to get activated and later gets into the sleeping mode/becomes inactive when the sun sets down. This is the reason that in Jainism it is mentioned that one should eat less during the night as the digestion process becomes weaker and slower by then. Talking about the power of the solar plexus, it strengthens the Kundalini shakti and makes our aura strong by controlling it. Whatever our body holds in terms of Tapasya or dhyan that we perform is made into a positive aura by the solar plexus.
Association of mind, body and soul with lifestyle:-
Our body follows a biological clock, which is set according to the sunrise and sunset. When it is dawn and bright sunrises, our digestive fire attains its peak.
Where the food that was eaten the earlier night doesn’t get properly digested owing to the fact that the digestive system had become slow/inactive during the night. The metabolism rate dips during this time as we don’t involve ourselves in any physical activity that could help in the digestion process. Due to these reasons, the undigested food from the earlier night and its putrefaction in the body cause harm to the health. This is another primary reason which makes an individual gain weight as the undigested food gets stored in the form of fats. Not just this yet it also leads to foul/smelly breath, putrefaction of teeth, constipation, pain in knee joints and several diseases associated with the throat occur.
“3 Gunas” associated with the lifestyle
The 3 Gunas have a deeper impact on consciousness functions. It is implied by the timing distributed all over the day that possesses subtle qualities influencing life, matter & mind.
- Satvik Guna duration: From the time of sunrise till 8:00 a.m is considered satvik guna in the atmosphere. It is associated with qualities like love, generosity, wisdom, knowledge, intelligence, forgiveness, etc.
- Rajasik Guna duration: Slowly the satvik guna turns to rajasik guna, which lasts from 8:00 a.m.-11:45 a.m. This transformation takes 15 minutes for the energy to turn from satvik to rajashik. It is associated with qualities like selfish desire, passion, violence, impulsiveness, aggression & competition. It causes imbalance & binds an individual with the materialistic world.
Tamasik Guna: Post rajasik guna the energy transforms into tamasik guna, which starts from 12:00 p.m. & lasts till 5:00 p.m. The tamasik energy prevails in the aforementioned duration & then slowly transforms itself into godibela during the evening i.e. sandhya. It is associated with qualities like an obstruction created towards understanding happiness & higher levels of wisdom. These include inertia, darkness, stability, ignorance & attachment etc.
- Impact on the “3 Doshas” in our body
Our body is made up of 5 five elements namely: space, air, fire, water and earth.
Physiologically, these elements function as 3 bio-dynamic forces, which are known as Vata, Pitta and Kapha. Each of these doshas possesses some specific traits. Like the Pitta dosha is composed of the fire and water element, where it primarily governs the digestion process. On the other hand, the Vata dosha is the air element and is responsible for all types of body movements. Lastly, the Kapha dosha is the earth element, which provides moisture to the skin and lubrication to the joints.
Usually in an individual, two of three doshas dominate. However, owing to the imbalance due to a bad lifestyle can create a negative effect on these doshas.
A healthy approach towards improving lifestyle:-
A lot of people suffering from anxiety, negative thoughts or any other health-related issues should practice a disciplined life. For this, an individual should consume something early in the morning that cools down the body (ideally before 8:00 a.m.).
One can have some dried fruits or apples or cucumbers or watermelons and kiwi or any other fruit that you have access to. However, those fruits should be cool in nature and the ones that can keep the body hydrated. Don’t consume any tea/coffee before having dried fruits/fruits as it will increase the acid levels in the body thereby giving away negative repercussions. You can have it after a few hours gap. Also, don’t remain empty stomach either as it will not only disturb the energy of the solar flexes but will also disturb the mind within. Talking about the implications include: it makes an individual extra sensitive, there will be an imbalance of sensitivity and sensibility. Eventually, the digestion becomes poor, the ageing process onsets early, hair greying issues take place and many other health-related issues start emerging.
Steps that you can follow on the road leading to an improved lifestyle:
- You can follow the above paragraph to start the day with.
- Drink plenty of water every day (at least 7-8 glasses).
- Exercise regularly as it will not just keep you fit and healthy but will also help you in preventing several diseases.
- De-stress yourself to the best possible extent. For which you can do breathing exercises like yoga, meditation, etc. This will help you remain anxiety-free while ensuring that your abdomen gets enough oxygen, which it needs.
- Get the appropriate amount of rest. This stands important especially after you do any physical activity and rest will help your body to heal.
- Never gobble or hog on food. Rather eat slowly by chewing the food at least 24 times so that the body can digest the food easily and prefer eating in multiple small meals instead of larger ones. As it will increase the body’s metabolic rate thereby helping in improving the digestion process. Not just this yet it can reduce bloating, gas, and stomach pain.
- Practice a habit of taking a walk after each meal to further aid digestion. And don’t sleep or lie down immediately after eating. As it will badly hamper the digestion process.
- Eating breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper stands absolutely true in maintaining a healthy life. Also, some scientists have mentioned that one should try to have an early dinner while eating less. This is in conjunction with the nighttime sleeping cycle where one should avoid having food at least 3-4 hours before sleeping.
- Before sleeping at night one should detach himself/herself from the electronic gadgets half an hour or 1 hour before. Instead, you can read a book or meditate to calm your mind. Post which, you should wash your feet before sleeping as the temperature of the body cools down, this way the nerves of the mind become relaxed and one can have a nice and deep sleep.
In Essence:-
These practices are enough to control various health problems, which these days people suffer from. Ailments like hypertension, diabetes and other serious problems can be controlled by practicing this. Certainly, one cannot change his/her destiny or stop anything from happening, if there is any disease or ailment already destined in your chart. However, one can definitely have ways to control that situation. Where these small changes themselves will impact in a greater way. Then it doesn’t matter wherever you are in this world/irrespective of your location, all one needs to do is to follow the sun and not the time ticked by the clock. As every country has a different time zone. Hence, the sun and its activities should only be one’s discipline.