[Daily OM]: Gut feelings earn their name from
the place in the body where they make themselves known. A pang in your
gut when you may be doing the wrong thing, or a vibrant zing when your
body approves, can guide you reliably at times when logic fails.
Sometimes, when logic prevails, we ignore our gut and live to regret it,
understanding later that a rational approach is only one way of
determining what is going on in a situation and how we should react.
Our gut resides in the neighborhood of our solar plexus and the third
chakra just above your belly button. When it is functioning well, we can
trust its guidance and adjust our actions accordingly. Many of us have a
tendency to hold in this area of our bodies. We may take shallow
breaths that never reach this vital nexus that is the source of our
empowerment. It is in this place that we find the courage to act, to
reach out into the world and create change. When our power center is out
of balance, we are timid and out of sync, wishing we had said something
we were only able to phrase later when we were alone; wishing we had
acted on an opportunity we didn't see until it was past.
In order to utilize your power center, you may want to focus your
attention on it more regularly and make time to care for it. You can
begin right now by taking a deep breath into your belly. On the exhale,
pull your navel in toward your spine so as to empty out completely
before taking another deep breath into your belly. When you empty
completely, you release stagnant energy and create more space to be
filled with fresh, nourishing breath. The more you practice this simple,
cleansing exercise, the more clear and communicative your gut feelings
will be and the more comfortable you will feel acting on them.