There’s a safety announcement played on every flight in the world.
You’ve heard it so many times it’s become background noise.
“In the event of a loss of cabin pressure, oxygen masks will drop from the panel above you. Please fit your own mask before assisting others.”
Every time I hear it, I think of the women I work with.
Not because they’re in danger.
But because almost every single one of them is trying to fit everyone else’s mask first.
The mother who skips her own lunch to make sure everyone else has eaten.
The executive who books her team’s wellness retreat and then doesn’t attend herself.
The grandmother who drives three hours every weekend to help her daughter and comes home depleted, not nourished.
The business owner who invests in every tool, team member and strategy except her own health.
These women are extraordinary.
They are capable, driven, fiercely determined.
They will do whatever it takes for everyone except themselves.
And in the language of ancient yogic philosophy, there’s a name for both the gift and the imbalance they carry.
The Solar Plexus Chakra.
What is the Solar Plexus Chakra?
In yogic philosophy, the Solar Plexus Chakra (Manipura) sits at the centre of the abdomen, just above the navel.
It governs:
- Personal power and self-determination
- Willpower and follow-through
- Confidence and self-worth
- Discipline and drive
- The capacity to take action aligned with your own needs and values
When balanced, a woman feels:
- Confident without needing to prove herself
- Purposeful and directed
- Able to set boundaries with ease
- Motivated from a place of desire, not obligation
- Equally able to give and to receive
Here’s what’s important to understand:
The Solar Plexus can be both overactive and underactive.
And often, what looks like strength from the outside is actually a sign of imbalance within.
Signs Of An Overactive Solar Plexus
An overactive Solar Plexus isn’t about being too powerful.
It’s about power that’s been channelled outward for so long it’s become compulsive.
- Over-training and under-recovering — pushing through workouts when the body is asking to rest
- Chronic over-restriction — using willpower to eat less and less, long past the point where it’s supporting your health
- Inability to slow down — rest feels uncomfortable, even suspicious
- Relentless high achievement — always doing, rarely being
- Difficulty receiving help — giving is easy; accepting support feels foreign
- Burnout disguised as discipline — keeping going because stopping feels like failure
- Control around food, body or exercise — when flexibility feels threatening
- Perfectionism that’s quietly exhausting — the bar is always one notch higher
Signs Of An Underactive Solar Plexus
At the other end, when personal power has been suppressed or depleted, a woman may experience:
- Difficulty making decisions — especially about her own needs
- Chronic people-pleasing — prioritising others’ comfort over her own wellbeing
- Low self-worth — a quiet sense of not deserving to be prioritised
- Fatigue and low motivation — when the will to look after herself just isn’t there
- Waiting for permission — to rest, to invest, to take up space
- Feeling invisible or overlooked — even in her own life
- Defaulting to everyone else’s needs — as if her own don’t count
Do you recognise yourself in either list?
Many women over 40 carry both.
They’re fiercely determined in every direction that serves others, and strangely powerless when it comes to claiming that same energy for themselves.
The Oxygen Mask Truth
The flight attendant isn’t giving you permission to be selfish.
She’s telling you a physiological truth.
If you lose consciousness, you cannot help anyone.
This applies to more than aircraft.
The woman who doesn’t eat enough cannot sustain the energy she’s giving to others.
The woman who never rests will eventually have rest forced upon her.
The woman who never invests in her own health will pay for it in a currency she didn’t choose.
Looking after yourself is not the opposite of looking after others.
It is the foundation of it.
And here is what I’ve seen over and over again in twenty years of working with women:
When a woman finally directs even a fraction of her considerable determination towards herself, everything changes.
Her energy returns.
Her patience deepens.
Her relationships improve.
Her body responds.
She becomes more, not less, available to the people she loves.
What The Research Shows
While science doesn’t measure chakras directly, the patterns described by an imbalanced Solar Plexus are well-documented in behavioural and physiological research.
Chronic stress and self-neglect have been shown to:
- Elevate cortisol, disrupting sleep, weight regulation and immune function
- Increase inflammation, a driver of fatigue, pain and cognitive decline
- Deplete dopamine and serotonin, affecting motivation and mood
- Accelerate hormonal imbalances already underway in midlife
- Reduce the brain’s capacity for clear decision-making and emotional regulation
Conversely, research on self-compassion, the practice of treating yourself with the same care you extend to others, shows:
- Greater emotional resilience
- Lower rates of anxiety and depression
- Better physical health outcomes
- Improved motivation (not reduced, as many fear)
- Higher relationship satisfaction
Self-care is not indulgence.
It is evidence-based strategy.
Practices To Balance The Solar Plexus
Do one thing today that is purely for you
Not productive. Not for anyone else. Just for you.
A walk. A long lunch. A conversation you’ve been putting off with a friend. An hour of reading without guilt.
Notice what comes up when you try.
The resistance itself is information.
Core-centredmovement
The solar plexus chakra is associated with the core and the diaphragm.
Practices that bring awareness to this area include:
- Breath of Fire (Kapalabhati) — a rhythmic, energising pranayama
- Boat pose (Navasana) and core activation sequences
- Twisting yoga poses, which stimulate the abdominal region
- Diaphragmatic breathing — slow, deep and deliberate
The boundary practice
Choose one thing this week that you have been saying yes to out of obligation rather than desire.
Say no.
Or ask for help.
Or do it differently.
This is Solar Plexus work. Small acts of self-determination practised consistently rebuild personal power.
The journalling prompt
If I applied the same determination I give to others to my own health and wellbeing, what would change?
Write without editing. See what surfaces.
Sunlight and warmth
The Solar Plexus chakra is associated with the fire element and the colour yellow.
Spending time in sunlight, warming the belly, and deliberately choosing environments that feel expansive and energising all support this chakra energetically.
Morning sunlight on the skin for 10–20 minutes also supports cortisol regulation and circadian rhythm, a win on every level.
The Strong Calm Lean Approach
Inside the Strong Calm Lean Method, we talk a lot about the woman who works hardest for everyone except herself.
Because she is one of the most common women we work with.
She is also one of the most transformative to work with.
Because when she finally turns that extraordinary determination inward even a little, the results are remarkable.
She discovers that eating enough isn’t weakness. It’s fuel.
That resting isn’t failure. It’s recovery.
That asking for help isn’t a burden on others. It’s an act of trust.
That investing in herself isn’t selfish. It’s the most strategic thing she’s ever done.
The Strong Calm Lean Method is built for this woman.
It’s built around the understanding that the strongest, most generous, most capable version of you lives on the other side of finally making yourself a priority.
Not a burden. A priority.
Inside the program, we explore:
- Why willpower alone isn’t the answer — and what actually creates lasting change
- How to nourish your body without restriction — fuelling performance and hormonal health
- Strength training that works with your body — not against it
- Mindset and subconscious work through PSYCH-K® — to shift the patterns that keep you at the back of the queue
- Practical boundaries and self-worth practices — because knowing and doing are very different things
You’ve been strong for everyone else long enough.
It might just be time to be strong for yourself.
If you recognised yourself in this article, whether in the overdrive or the depletion, I’d love to have a conversation.
In your complimentary 30-minute Roadmap Call, we’ll look at exactly what’s happening in your body, identify what’s been holding you back, and map out the most effective path forward for you.
And if I feel I can support your goals, I’ll share some options for working with me inside the Strong Calm Lean Method.
You’ve given so much of yourself to others. It’s time to give a little back to yourself.
Book Your Free Roadmap Call: www.karmabeing.com