How to open your and clear your solar plexus chakra

Chakra is a word from Indian classical Sanskrit It means wheel because a chakra spins. It is associated with both Hindu and Buddhist traditions. It is the name for the energy centres or portals in your body.

Your chakras need to stay balanced or in sync for the body-mind connection to function at its best. If a chakra is blocked or has depleted energy, you will have physical, emotional and psychological symptoms associated with that particular chakra.

There are 7 main chakras and they run along the spine. They start at the base and extend to the crown of the head. The names of these are the root chakra (Mūlādhāra), the sacral chakra (Svādhiṣṭhāna), the solar plexus chakra (Maṇipūra), the heart chakra (Anāhata), the throat chakra (Viśuddha), the third eye chakra (Ājñā) and the crown chakra (Sahasrāra). They work as energy vortices that regulate your body’s energy and the connection between your physical, spiritual, mental, and energetic bodies and your environment. Each chakra resonates with a specific colour and element.

When one or more of your chakra’s flow is compromised, it can lead to disease. Stress, adverse experiences, negative thoughts and emotions, grief and other significant changes can deplete chakra energy.

Opening the chakras

Opening your chakras can be done through a number of practices. These include meditation, breathing exercises, yoga, and affirmations. Or you can go for reiki clearing or other energy therapies to assist.

Meditation can help open up the chakras. Reciting mantras that relate to each of the seven chakras helps to activate and balance them. By using breathing exercises, inhaling deeply with intention, directing energy to the chakra, and then exhaling and relaxing awareness into it helps to restore your chakras to a harmonious state. If you do yoga, you will find that it can help to increase the flow of energy through your chakras. This in turn has a positive impact on your physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Affirmations are another useful practise. If you create affirmations for each of the chakra it can help, bring them back into balance. This clinic specialises in all forms of energy healing to assist with your chakra balance.

The Solar Plexus chakra

Your solar plexus chakra is an energy point located above your navel and below your rib cage. It is one of the central chakras. The other one being the heart chakra. The solar plexus chakra is where your solar energy resides. It is linked with your vitality, sense of self, will and personal power. This is where you digest and process your emotions, and experience those gut feelings. Your physical digestion also is affected by this. This chakra can also be the place where your empathically take in other people’s energies.

The chakra is associated with the element fire, the planet is the sun, and its colour is yellow. It can have effects on your stomach, liver, skin, kidneys, your large Intestine, adrenal glands, the muscular System, gall bladder, diaphragm and pancreas. If you have issues with any of these organs, give us a call to let us help you balance and restore them.

How can herbs help?

Plants can be great for helping with the chakras and your healing. Some of the plants and herbs that are good for opening your solar plexus includes, fennel to help digestion, cleansing old skin and induce courage, turmeric to stimulate your digestive system, chamomile to calm and gently support digestion, dandelion Leaves to support your kidneys, dandelion root for your liver and to clear anger, ginger for digestion, warming and boosting energy, lemon for detoxing, as well as pineapple, cinnamon, sunflower seeds and yellow peppers. In order to find out which herbal remedies you should be taking give us a call to book an appointment.

A simple tummy rub can help balance this chakra, assist with a sluggish digestive system and soothes stomach upsets. Blend these ingredients together and store in a bottle. Rub on the abdominal area when needed.

Remember to use only natural oils. One part cardamom essential oil, one part black pepper essential oil, one part fennel essential oil in a base oil of sweet almond or jojoba. So in about 10ml you can put one drop of the above oils and make it up fresh each time.

For more information on all your chakras and how to balance them give us a call and come for a healing at the clinic. Alternatively, we can assist you online. Contact us today on +61414680713 and check out our website on www.stressfreehealthmanagement.com.

 

 

Mental health assistance and the impact of nature

Mental health issues have been on the increase in our current social isolation environment. The whole act of distancing and staying indoors has made people that feel depressed and isolated even more so. City life is often great for work life and social life under normal circumstances but this may not always be good for your mental health either as it creates mental chatter for some. City life may mean being close to shops, schools, public transport and restaurants under usual circumstances but it also means there is a lot of noise, limited space and more air pollution. Nature also has its limits in these areas and the lack of greenery can mentally affect us. 

Most urban environments make room for some parks, grass areas, trees known as green areas and the landscape is often interspersed with ocean or lakes, and rivers known as blue spaces. It is known that urban environments with green and blue areas have less depression, stress and anxiety.  

Even though there is an association of better mental health around these blue and green spaces there are other specifics that need to be considered for mental health. Some of these include how many of these spaces are needed, how big they should be, are they spaced around so that you can access these areas easily no matter where you are and how much time should we spend in these environments.

Ways in which they improve mental health

There are different ways in which green and blue environments, namely those of nature, help to improve mental health. These areas tend to be healthier all round as it has been found they are cooler, less polluted and are quieter, they allow you the space needed to exercise freely in the outdoors with plenty of space, they provide a quiet place to meet socially and even just seeing this type of environment can help improve your health.

Being in and around nature has been linked to people reducing their stress. Stressing too much causes an excess in the hormone cortisol which is linked to people being in a bad mood. Nature can also be good for the immune system which is why advice in these times of Covid 19 to do some outdoor exercise daily is good advice. It will lift your spirits, increase your oxygen intake and help get you in shape.

If you are struggling with mental health

If you find that you are becoming increasingly stressed, anxious or are in a low mood, you should try to increase your time out in nature, go for a walk in the park, watch the wind blow the leaves on the trees and listen to the birds and other animals around. Although this isn’t a cure for your aches, pains and worries it is a small step towards relaxation and may help calm your mood and lift your spirits. Add to this some natural supplements to boost your immunity, meditation and yoga, perhaps writing your thoughts into a journal and exercising with a friend and some of that negativity will be released. If you find you are struggling with emotional difficulties or are unable to find a release from the negative moods, please seek help and speak with a counselor or therapist who will steer you in the right direction to help alleviate your issues.

Pic - Angelique Downing - Burst  

Sleep better - naturally

Sleep may be one of the things affected in these hard time of shutdown and constantly hearing about Corona virus on the news. The whole world is in a bit of turmoil. Is it any wonder your sleep patterns are disrupted? However it is important to get a good, restful night’s sleep to function properly next day. Lack of sleep will affect your focus and concentration and eventually your health. If you are someone that struggles to get to sleep, stay asleep or are restless at night there are many things you can do to help yourself.

Turn off what would keep you awake

Firstly blue light that comes from our TV, computers, phones and tablets causes sleep issues as it can reduce the melatonin production, which is the hormone that promotes deep sleep. So these things make it hard to fall asleep. Turning off these devices at least two hours before bed can help you to get a more restful night’s sleep. If you find that this is just not practical as you are overloaded with work you can try using some essential oils that will help to relax your mind and body.

Things to remember when using oils

Remember all oils should be mixed in a carrier oil if applied to the skin but if you are using a burner you put them in water. Also no carrier oil is needed for diffusers. Less is always best in the burner so just a drop or two is enough. Similar for a bath – 3 to 4 drops of each oil you want to use (depending on the size of the bath).

What oils do I use

Sandalwood is one that can help. By placing a drop under your nose and on your forehead between your eyebrows, where your 6th energy centre is (chakra) it corresponds with your psychological skills and mental abilities. So use it to help you relax. Also the pleasant smell of some of these oils helps as it’s something pampering before you go to bed.

Some other oils that can be helpful include Lavender which is a well-known calming oil and you can put a drop under your nose, on your big toes, or a drop on either side of the pillow (this is good for the elderly or children). If you have a diffuser a few drops is good to let it fill the room and the droplets in the air will help you to relax. Cedarwood is another good oil you can use with Lavender. You can rub both these oils on you if they are blended with a carrier oil and you only need a little.

Valerian is one of the major sleep assistance oils but it must be applied just before bed because if you put it on too early it may lose affect. RutaVaLA is a combination oil. It consists of Ruta, Valerian and lavender, it is a stronger blend than using the oils on their own. Roman Chamomile is a great oil for both adults and children as it is gentle.

If you have a diffuser you can set it to also use ‘Awaken’ oil just before you need to wake up or you can add it to your sleep oil but in smaller quantities to ensure you not only have a great night’s sleep but also wake up feeling refreshed and relaxed. However, when using awaken you should be careful as it is photosensitive meaning it must be in a carrier oil and you can be affected if you go out in the sun after applying it. Obviously if it’s in a burner once again you don’t need a carrier oil. Keep it away from the face.

So next time you are having trouble sleeping make sure you have a supply of these oils which you can obtain from myself or on the net if you know what you are buying. Always make sure your oils are pure and high grade as the cheap ones have chemicals in them and your body is simply becoming toxic if you use those. It’s good to have a few different oils as you feel differently on different days. If you use the same oil the effects may be less on a day you feel differently. Alternatively call me and I can make a special oil just for you, mixed according to sleep issues you have, and post it out to you. 

Knee replacements – are they worth it?

Knee replacements are often recommended for people suffering with osteoarthritis, joint disease or serious injuries from earlier in life. Knee issues can cause excruciating pain so often specialists recommend a replacement as a way to free up the patient from continually popping the pain killers.

Symptoms of arthritis, or a serious injury in the knee are swelling, pain, and deformity of the knee. This can seriously affect your quality of life and cause some restrictions on you day to day activities. It can cause problems doing tasks such as getting in and out of the car, climbing up the stairs, and sitting or walking for extended periods of time leading to frustration but not necessarily surgery.

There are other treatments that can be tried before resorting to surgery. Some of these treatments include physiotherapy, pain medications and anti-inflammatories, also weight loss helps as the risk of osteoarthritis is twice as high if you’re overweight.

The operation

If you do require surgery, the good news is that the replacements have continued to improve over the years. Not only in how they are made but also the way they are inserted into the knee which decreases the recovery time. The metal and plastic bits, the way they are fixed to the bone, the techniques used, the technology to put them in and even rehab afterwards has improved over the years. However if you can delay surgery for as long as possible that one expense and inconvenience will last you the rest of your life also saving you future pain.

The knee replacement procedure is done by making small cuts into the leg, allowing the surgeon to then either replace the whole knee with prostheses or only part of the knee. The procedure is performed under a general or local anaesthetic.

Recovery

Recovery from the operation can vary from person to person but can take anything from 6 weeks before you are feeling up to being up and about to 12months. Medication will be given to keep pain at a manageable level, and your pain should decrease in the first few days after surgery. Many doctors get patients up within 4–6 hours after the operation and within 3 or 4 days they can usually go home.

Other options

If you are feeling hesitant about having knee surgery why not try some natural options first? Reducing your inflammation with the help of a naturopath at our clinic, correct diet and supplements, losing weight, reiki or other energy healing and exercise. Quite often these can help you avoid an operation. Give us a call to find out how we can help.