I recently attended the Tampa I Can Do It Conference and it was amazing! For anyone who’s been wondering whether or not to go, I highly recommend any of the Hay House conferences.

In Tampa, I saw Caroline Myss speak live for the first time and I enjoyed her presentation (she was a keynote speaker).

Tonight, she is going to be on Hay House Radio (internet radio) talking about anorexia, bulimia and self esteem. Here are some of my thoughts on eating disorders and the Chakras AND how to listen in on Caroline Myss tonight (or later at your own pace):

Caroline Myss
Saturday, November 24, 2007
6:00 pm - 7 pm Pacific Time or 9:00 pm - 10:00 pm Eastern Time (USA)

Disorders of Self-Esteem: Anorexia and Bulimia
No one is born with healthy self-esteem. Rather, it’s a quality of self-respect and self-love that you must earn through how you handle yourself in day-to-day life. Physically, the power center of your body that bears the stress of issues with self-esteem is your solar plexus, which supports the stomach; thus, eating disorders are directly connected to self-esteem.

Tune into Hay House Radio for excellent programming on self-help, developing intuition and healing your life. It’s the kind of positive programming that will leave you feeling lighter in your day!

Solar Plexus Chakra (Abdominal area, just above your belly button) and Eating Disorders

In my studies, I’ve found some interesting relationships between the chakras (emotional energy centers in your body) and eating disorders.

Dr. Darren Weissman in his book, The Power of Infinite Love and Gratitude, explains how chakras come into play in our mind, body and spirit as follows:

(p. 134) The energy of nature enters our bodies via the micorcosmic orbit, otherwise known as the superconscious, which is the main driver of our biocomputer. It is the mind of the body. The microcosmic orbit is the circulating flow of energy that follows two acupuncture meridians (Central and Governing or Ren and Du) along the midline of your body.

• The microcosmic orbit acts as an attractor field for emotions that are stored in the subconscious mind (these are thoughts, beliefs and emotions you don’t even know you have, they are below consciousness). It’s the connection or liaison between the universe and the physical and emotional symptoms we experience.
• The microcosmic orbit is composed of 7 chakras (chakra is Sanskrit for “wheel” or “disk”).
• Each chakra moves with a spinning motion, forming a vortex. The vortices are the specific portals thoroughout the body by which energy enters and exits.
• Each chakra is associated with: the acupuncture meridians, various physiological functions of the body and certain beliefs.
• The chakras correspond to a specific vibratory frequency of the colors ranging from lower to higher along the specturm of the rainbow (ROY G BIV - red (1st, root chakra), orange (2nd, sacral chakra), yellow (3rd, solar plexus chakra), blue (5th, throat chakra), indigo (6th, 3rd eye chakra), violet (7th, crown chakra)).
• The chakras have tendrils that simultaneously reach inward to the body and outward to the universe. They serve as magnets, attracting and repelling experiences that represent the subconscious mind.

Chakras and Eating Disorders
All chakras are affected by eating disorders. I will write more specifically about this in another post, but for now, I’ll share the chakras that come up most often in my reading.

• Root Chakra - 1st chakra (color red) - has to do with safety and security as it relates to family, money, job, relationships. This often comes up as an important emotional center to work on for eating disorders recovery. Since it is the first chakra, it grounds the rest of them, so many who write about chakras suggest we work here first.
• Sacral Chakra - 2nd chakra (orange) - has to do with nurturing and happily moving through life. It also relates to sexuality. This chakra has been noted by Amadea Morningstar (an Ayurvedic expert) as one the chakras she sees most often in eating disorders along with the throat chakra (5th chakra).
• Solar Plexus Chakra - 3rd chakra (color yellow) - this has to do with self-esteem and self-empowerment. Many affected by eating disorders have gut-related issues. This is where I believe we first start to disconnect from our intution. In my experience working with clients who have or are recovering from eating disorders, there is a hightened sensitivity. I’ve noticed that it often relates to being highly sensitive to energy or highly intuitive. Since energy and intuition are not well understood and often undervalued in our left-brain-valuing society (needs to SEE it, see the evidence, prove it), we disconnect from the unseen (your knowing, what you feel, the gut feelings).

A disconnection from your knowing or your intuitive guidance (especially when it is so strong), can create a disconnect in all areas of your life. It is painful. It may manifest as feeling numb, digestive distress, low self-esteem because your guidance system has been cut off.

It can manifest as shame because you are being who you are NOT (a fraud, a fake, you don’t know who you are or you are ashamed of who you really are underneath).

For this reason, I have added energy work to my practice to work with clients on harnessing your energy and intuitive nature as part of eating disorders recovery. I’ve become certified in the LifeLine Technique ™ created by Dr. Darren Weissman, to get at the subconscious suppressed emotions that we don’t even know we have — and that keep us stuck in holding patterns of pain, illness and addiction.

I’ve also studied Energy Medicine with one of the foremeost leaders, Donna Eden. These have been excellent additions to the techniques that have always been successful, like EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques), Chakras, Chinese medicine and other forms of energy work to help balance out mind, body and spirit.

It’s amazing how once you learn to manage and harness your energy, you start to enjoy your life, accept yourself and heal.

There is so much great literature out there on energy work — explore it and see what you think! I’ll be writing more about this in my blog as well.

I’m not sure what Caroline Myss is going to talk about tonight, but I’m very interested to hear her views.

Just remember, you are perfect, whole and complete just as you are right now! There is an amazing, gifted being inside of you who is highly intuitive — get to know her, she’s beautiful! You don’t change who you are when you become more intuitive — you just free yourself to be MORE of who you TRULY are.