The fire within.
The fire that is in all of us.
The solar plexus positioned in the Yushi Reiki for you and your animal companion.
Welcome everyone.
Come in.
Get comfortable.
And just let yourself arrive for a moment.
So today,
We're moving down from the heart,
Just below the sternum,
Over the diaphragm.
That soft,
Warm place where your breath begins.
We're going to place our hands here,
Flat and still,
And we're going to meet what lives in this part of the body.
We meet the gut.
The belly.
The deep center of you.
And I think most of you already know this place,
If you've ever had a gut feeling.
That moment where your body just knew something,
Before your mind had caught up,
Before you had any words for it.
Then you already understand,
On a very deep level,
Why this position matters so much in the Yushi tradition.
This position sits over the Manipura chakra,
The third of the seven major energy centers in Sanskrit.
Manipura means city of jewels,
Or lustrous gem.
And I always loved that.
That's the only chakra named for brilliance,
For radiance,
For light within,
And its element is fire.
It sits in the upper abdomen,
Near the diaphragm,
And just above the navel.
And what it governs is the process of turning intention into action.
Think about fire for a moment.
How it takes something raw and transforms it into energy.
And that's what this chakra does.
It takes our experiences,
Our emotions,
Even our hardest challenges,
And transforms them into strength,
Insight,
And purpose.
It often describes as your inner sun,
The source of your motivation,
Your warmth,
Your sense of personal authority.
On a physical level,
This chakra has a lot to look after.
So we're talking about the autonomic nervous system,
The stomach,
The gallbladder,
The large,
Large intestines,
The liver,
The pancreas,
The entire digestive and muscular system,
And even a cellular respiration.
This is a big,
Busy,
Vital center.
And here's something that I really find beautiful.
The solar plexus actually gets its name from the resemblance to the sun.
Where the nerves meet in the center,
The rays radiate outwards to the rest of the body,
Like sun,
Like a star inside you.
Energetically,
It's the center of personal power.
It's the place where you physically feel confidence and wisdom.
And it's deeply connected to the adrenaline gland,
Which means it's right at the heart of how we regulate fear,
How we hold our sense of power,
And yes,
Those gut feelings.
So your stomach is not just for digestion.
Well,
It really is,
Quite literally.
Your second brain.
So when we energize the solar plexus chakra,
We're going to gently clearing out what no longer belongs here.
The old fear,
The anxiety,
The grip of needing to control everything.
And in its place,
We start to feel something softer,
Stronger at the same time.
Acceptance,
Tolerance,
Patience,
And a quiet but very real inner strength.
So when the chakra is balanced,
You feel capable,
Energized,
Confident in your actions,
And you trust yourself and your choices.
And that trust feels easy,
Not forced.
But when it becomes blocked or imbalanced,
That's when the self-doubt creeps in.
People-pleasing,
Indecisions,
That constant second-guessing of yourself.
And there's a very real physiological reason for all of this.
The solar plexus is intimately connected to the sympathetic nervous system.
The one that triggers the fight-or-flight response.
When we're under chronic stress and anxiety,
That system stays switched on.
And the result?
Persistent tension in the gut.
Shallow breathing,
That fluttering unsettled sensation in the upper stomach that so many of us know far too well.
So many of us carry this,
Probably recognize it,
The tight belly before difficult conversation,
The clenched core in moments of uncertainty and that hollow feeling when our confidence has been stripped from us.
Or when we're never really given the space to build it in the first place.
So when we place our hands here,
In self-reiki,
We're not just touching an organ,
We're touching our capacity to trust ourself.
To stand fully in our own lives.
To say quietly,
But clearly,
I'm enough.
I have the right to be here.
So now let's talk about our animals.
Because our animal companions hold the same fire.
And they feel it,
Deeply,
When it flickers.
So when a dog has an open healthy solar plexus chakra,
You can see it in them.
They feel in control,
Confidence,
Their self-assurance,
But really in them.
They know their own mind,
They understand boundaries,
And they can make choices without dipping into fear or aggression,
Similar to cats.
But when it's depleted,
You might notice a dog who seems dejection,
Withdrawn,
Just lacking that spark of enthusiasm.
Or with a cat that loves and stays hidden in a box.
And when it's overactive,
That's when you see aggression,
Dominance.
That dog who just cannot settle.
The timid rescuer who shrinks from everything.
You see the cat swiping,
Having their nails out.
The controlling dog or cat that has to manage every situation,
Both of them,
In their very different ways,
May be expressing an imbalance in their solar plexus.
So a dog or cat who cowers on walks,
Who lacks confidence in the world,
That can point to that block.
And we're just not only talking about the behavior here.
The chakra governs self-esteem,
Digestion,
And the personal power.
So when that is blocked,
It's also bringing up digestive issues,
Food sensitivities,
Or that timid,
Fearful quality that breaks your heart a little.
But,
Here is what I find perhaps the most profound about the whole situation.
Animals are extraordinarily attuned to their human energy.
So ours.
And they don't have the filters or the defenses that we have developed over time.
So when we walk through it,
Through the door,
Or when we get visitors who are carrying this stress,
This anxiety,
Or the fear in your body or in their body,
In the chakras,
Your pet chakras are processing that energy too.
Healing yourself in this is a very real sense.
You can directly impact your animal's well-being.
Or protecting them from certain visitors that come into your space.
So the fear we carry in our gut,
The unprocessed anxiety,
That unexpressed anger,
The confidence that's being slowly worn away,
Our animals feel all of that.
They absorb it,
And they carry it in their bellies as well.
Which means that when you place your hands here,
Right now,
And let the right knee move through its center,
You are not only tending to your own inner fire,
But also to theirs.
So how do we actually do it?
Well,
We place one hand,
Or both,
Flat,
Just below our sternum,
Over the diaphragm.
It feels that natural rise and fall when we breathe against our palm.
There's nothing to do here but to be present,
And let your hands be warm and unhurried.
And hold the intention gently in your mind,
While holding your hands here.
I am returning to my own strength.
I trust my inner knowing,
And I am safe to be powerful.
And stay for 3-5 minutes,
And if you feel heat,
Or pulsing,
Or that familiar fluttering sensation beneath your hands,
Stay longer.
Sensei Takata taught us that when an area draws in more energy,
And it's asking for more attention,
Then trust that.
Trust what you feel.
And with your animal companion,
Offer reiki around their upper belly area.
Keep your focus on confidence and digestion.
And if it helps,
Visualize a warm,
Soft yellow light glowing in that center.
Keep the whole atmosphere calm and grounded for both of you.
And if they don't want to be touched,
That's completely fine.
And let your own solar plexus radiate its returning warmth outward.
They will feel it.
They always do.
Mikau Yoshu taught us that in the precepts.
That it's not only about our actions.
And these precepts are not only words.
They are medicine for the gut.
So the,
Just for today,
Do not anger.
And just for today,
Do not worry.
The anger and worry lives here,
In that fire center.
And every time we bring our hands to this place,
With reiki flowing through us,
We're making a choice.
Just for today,
To tend to the flame,
Rather than let it burn us.
A steady fire gives warmth.
A steady fire gives light.
And a steady fire gives courage.
So may yours,
And yours animals,
Burn bright.
Thank you.
And just know,
Reiki compliments.
It does not replace veterinary and medical care.
