What is eclipsing your self-esteem?

For those of us here in the path of totality of the upcoming eclipse, things are getting pretty exciting. People are traveling from all over to get a better glimpse of the moon covering the sun, giving us a rare experience of a celestial expression of darkness covering the light. It occurred to me that, of course, we have a microcosm of this macrocosm right within us at the third chakra of Manipura. 

Your “inner sun,” the energy center surrounding your solar plexus, is your own fire of transformation and will. Just like the sun in the heavens affects the Earth, the energy of your inner sun gets you up and going, helping you make things happen that you feel good about doing. It’s your “master manifester” super power chakra!

But sometimes, it’s covered in a shadow…

Sometimes, it’s eclipsed…

The bright light of chakra three is a healthy self-esteem. When your inner sun is vibrant and shining, your world appears lit up and you feel it from the inside. But every chakra has a shadow side, and the shadow that envelopes the light of Manipura is shame. Shame takes us in a downward spiral that lowers our self-esteem, bit by bit, until our get up and go is lying on the floor, and the person in the mirror looks like a failure. 

It’s like a shadow creeps across our light and we grow dimmer and dimmer…

Everyone’s self esteem is somewhere on the spectrum of healthy to hurting, and it comes from past experiences (nurture) and personality type (nature), with a blend of the two planting you where you are today. And although our nature may be hard to shift, we can use experience to move the shadow to the side and get that light brighter! 

I talk about this at length in this week’s Jess on the Mountain Podcast Episode #37: Improve Your Self Esteem.  Listen to learn:

👉 Clues that you might have low self esteem.

👉 Ways to boost your chakra three vitality.

👉 My favorite yoga technique for chakra three.

As your eclipse season gift, I’ll give you this nugget of wisdom:

The best thing you can do to improve your self-esteem is show up for yourself. 

If you set a date for yourself, prioritize it. If you decide to change a habit, do one small thing each day to move you in that direction. If your habitat is a mess and bringing you down, put on some music and start cleaning it up. As long as it takes the moon to cover the sun, it will take that long to uncover it as well–be patient. 

Start small. Show up. Get your glow up. You got this.

Eclipses are great opportunities to leave something behind and step into something new, like a portal. I encourage you to consider where the darker feelings of shame are lurking in the corners of your Manipura, bring them to the light, and leave any remaining shadows on this side of the eclipse. (By the way–if you’re in Austin, you can join me Monday morning at 9am at the Circle C Community Center for some Eclipse Yoga! It’s like regular yoga, but with an eclipse theme and inspiration to get yourself ready ;) 

May you show up for yourself in little ways every day, may you brighten your sun and leave behind your shadows, and may you delight in the life that comes with a happy, healthy self esteem.

Much love