When I was in high school, I used to have a huge issue with self-confidence. Sound familiar?
My self-talk was so Mean Girl. Even for being a natural extrovert, when self-doubt would creep up I would suddenly find myself slinking into a corner, wishing I could just disappear. I thought confidence something you were born with, something that the popular girls had.
Good thing high school is long over because guess what? That couldn’t be farther from the truth.
What do self-confidence, willpower, and discipline have in common? They are expressions of a well developed solar plexus chakra. Like a muscle, it is not just naturally super strong and well-defined at birth. Nope, it takes actively developing it through daily practice, lifestyle choices, and mental attitude to get ripped.
I have certainly come a long way since my high school days! Here are my top five warrior hacks to fire up your solar plexus chakra to develop self-discipline, exercise willpower, and feel more confident.
1.Strengthening your Core
Confidence and core strength go hand in hand.
Why is that? Well it is really about strengthening the muscle of your commitment to a daily practice just as much as it is about the actually core strength itself. Every time you choose to work-out, regardless of your excuses or objections, you are strengthening your discipline muscle, giving your determination definition. And every time you feel that burning in your abs after doing crunches or holding plank pose, you are building the courage to be able to conquer even greater challenges. Every time your minds say’s “Nope, not today,” and you choose to get on your yoga mat or hit the gym anyway, you are building the discipline muscle required to not just change your body, but to change the whole world.
2.Breath of Fire
This is a yogic practice of rapid diaphragmatic breathing where we breath only through the nose, emphasizing the exhalation by sucking in the tummy and blowing out the nose, and then relaxing to allow for a passive inhalation. This is repeated for about three cycles of 30 breaths to start. Breath of Fire is usually done rather quickly and is meant to build up fire in the abdomen.
Physically this is a workout for your core but energetically, practicing the Breath of Fire is really stimulating the solar plexus. It helps to raise your energy, increase you endurance, tune-up your nervous system, and clear out unwanted toxins. Doing this pranayama, or breathing practice, regularly will support your willpower and mental fortitude.
3.Life as Ceremony
This hack came from my recent plant medicine journey with Ayahuasca where I was told that to truly strengthen my solar plexus, I needed to shift my attitude about discipline and confidence. Instead of seeing working out or meditating daily as chore that needed to be checked off my list for me to be happy and healthy, I should approach it as a ceremony or sacramental ritual. That is how I would find the endurance that I needed to keep it up. Stepping onto your mat or preparing your daily green smoothie, or whatever other practice your are trying to commit to maintaining as part of a healthier lifestyle, if done with the reverence and presence of a sacred ceremony, will bless you will miraculous returns in terms of personal authority and poise.
This tactic applies to confidence as well. So instead of feeling nervous about having to give a lecture, or perform for a crowd, or something else that makes you feel nervous and sick to your stomach, flip it around. See that what you are really doing is sharing a sacred offering with the world. Seen as a gift, there is no place for judgement to creep in, nor perfection.
4.Doing Begets Confidence
“Confidence is a habit that can be developed by acting as if you already had the confidence you desire to have.” Brian Tracy
That is to say, fake it till you make it. But you’re not really faking it at all! You are stepping into a place of action even though you don’t have it all figured out yet, and trusting in your ability to learn what you need to know as you go. This tenacious attitude is what builds mastery. It requires facing fear of failure head on, and each time you do you add to the record of successful experiences behind you, strengthening your sense of personal power and firing up that solar chakra.
5.Step into a Leadership Role
This is really is an extension of the last hack. Find opportunities to level up in your life and take them. Think of an area in your life where you could increase your leadership. It could be work, it could be authoritatively writing about or speak on a subject you have been studying for ages, it could be taking the lead on a volunteer project. If it is something you’ve never done before, that is even better. To step into your power, you have to actually step up. Moving up the totem pole we go from timid follower to competent leader, radiating confidence and paving the way for others to follow.
These five hacks are not the only ones but are some reliable techniques to give your solar plexus chakra a hardcore workout and build that assuredness and inner authority to take your life to the next level. Use these hacks to conquer your fear, hesitation, and doubt and become the empowered, determined, and confident person you were meant to be.
