Yoga for the solar plexus chakra in Tenerife
Build confidence from your center.
Solar plexus classes are themed around Manipura, the third chakra, which in this framework sits around the navel and is traditionally associated with fire. Expect core work, twists, heat and plenty of talk about will and confidence.
No classes scheduled in the next two weeks.
What Solar plexus does for you
You build heat from the middle of your body outward. Core work and strong standing poses leave you feeling solid through the center, and twists bring a wrung-out, fresh feeling afterward. Many people come for a sense of drive and self-trust, and leave standing a little taller. It is the chakra class most likely to make you work.
It suits you if
- you want a chakra class that feels like real effort
- you like core work and twists
- you are gearing up for something that takes nerve
- you tend to slump and want to feel upright
Read the full guide to Solar plexusWhat a class is like, your first time, history and the words you will hear
What a class is like
Expect 60 to 75 minutes at a brisk pace. A typical class warms up with sun salutations, then builds through warriors, chair pose, plank variations, boat pose and twists, with a few core drills on your back. Many include a fast breath practice such as kapalabhati (short, sharp exhales through the nose) and imagery of a yellow sun or fire at the belly. Some chant the seed syllable 'ram'. You will sweat, and the cool-down and final rest feel earned.
Your first time
- Eat lightly and at least two hours before, since core work and twists on a full stomach are unpleasant.
- Bring water and a small towel.
- Mention any back or abdominal issues to the facilitator when you arrive.
Good to know
- Fast breathing like kapalabhati or breath of fire is not for everyone: if you are pregnant or have epilepsy, a heart condition or high blood pressure, check with your doctor first and breathe normally in class.
- Strong core work and deep twists may need adapting during pregnancy, after giving birth or with a back injury, so check with your doctor, midwife or physiotherapist and tell the facilitator.
Where it comes from
Manipura means 'city of jewels', a name usually read as describing its brilliance. In the Sat-Cakra-Nirupana, written by the tantric Purnananda in 1577, it is a ten-petaled lotus at the navel, the color of a dark rain cloud, holding a red triangle, the sign of fire, with the seed syllable 'ram' and a ram as its animal. Later yoga and Ayurvedic teaching also tie the navel region to agni, the digestive fire.
'Solar plexus' is an English anatomical term for a network of nerves behind the stomach. Pairing it with Manipura comes from the late 19th and early 20th century habit of matching chakras to nerve plexuses. The older texts place this lotus at the navel and treat it as something to visualize in meditation, not as an organ.
The Sat-Cakra-Nirupana reached English readers in 1919, when Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe) published his translation in The Serpent Power. The Theosophist Charles Leadbeater's The Chakras followed in 1927. The yellow color and the themes of willpower, self-esteem and personal power belong to the modern Western system, put together over the 20th century by color therapists, Jungian writers, the human potential movement and later the New Age movement. Anodea Judith's Wheels of Life (1987) framed this center around power and will, the version most facilitators teach today.
In Berlin the theme turns up in chakra series, in stronger vinyasa classes and in workshops on confidence or boundaries, and it pairs naturally with fire-element classes.
Words you will hear
- Manipura
- Sanskrit for 'city of jewels', the name of the third chakra around the navel.
- Ram
- The seed syllable (bija) traditionally chanted for the solar plexus chakra.
- Navasana
- Boat pose: balancing on your sit bones with legs lifted, a classic core hold.
- Kapalabhati
- 'Skull shining' breath: quick, forceful exhales through the nose with passive inhales.
- Agni
- Sanskrit for fire, the element this chakra is traditionally linked to.
- Parivrtta
- 'Revolved', the word in the name of most twisting poses.