Covid Blog Day 91 – Dancing The Solar Plexus

This week I was challenged to dance the Solar Plexus Chakra. Moving up from the orange Sacral Chakra, we have the third energy cluster above the bellybutton but under the breast bone, the Yellow Solar Plexus Chakra aka “Manipura”. I have to say I feel very at home with this chakra because it represents a lot of Warrior Energy which suits my fiery flamenco temperament.

This chakra is the seat of your personal power, expression and responsible for your confidence, self-esteem, action, go-getter attitude, focus and purpose. Luckily for me with all the torso movement we do in flamenco, I would say this yellow chakra is humming along just fine. Flamenco with all of its bravado, footwork and upright posture is very well known to help students gain self-confidence and find their personal expression through the dance. No wonder!

“Chest Up!” “Chin Up!” “Spine straight!”

Read more about the Solar Plexus Chakra here, The Chopra Centre “Find Power & Warrior Energy”.

As a flamenco dancer who has had all shows cancelled for this year, I have some time now to study my interests and have embarked on a journey of discovery to find out more about the Chakra system. There are 7 chakras or balls of energy that align from the tailbone to the top of the head and have corresponding colours/vibrations: red/root, orange/sacral, yellow/solar plexus, green/heart, blue/throat, indigo/third eye and purple/crown.

Each are responsible for a specific aspect of our well-being and our emotions. The idea is that if a chakra is not balanced, we are ill-affected and our emotional growth is stunted. The yellow solar plexus chakra is important for taking action and our confidence.

Putting on the Chakradance music, it was upbeat, percussive and energizing. I danced the hard, thinking about all the cancelled shows in 2020. I guess I am still pretty mad. The dance made me jump up and down wildly, arms and torso swinging a wide circumference to the the beat in wide arcs and figure 8s. I stamped the floor hard. This is easily the sweatiest dance I have done so far.

The movement represents a tremendous amount of Torso but unlike the containment/discipline/dignity that flamenco has, this dance was wild with arms flinging and uncontained. It is no surprise that I identify with this energy a lot. People have often told me that my Warrior Energy is huge and I know that I draw the flamenco students that study with me also have this energy or need this energy from me or are personally challenged by it but want to meet it head-on.

I’m not the teacher that is going to emotionally coddle my students. No, that is someone else. But if someone wants to dance flamenco and has personal goals, I will be the teacher that sees that dream and desire through to the glorious or bitter end.

The spirit animal that came to my vision while dancing was Fire Tiger Warrior Cat. This gal has been in all my chakra dances so far and this time, I realize that Fire Tiger Warrior Cat is me and my mom. My mother died earlier this year after a 6 year battle with multiple myleloma, a cancer in the bone marrow. She was a tiny woman with a huge spirit, big laugh and a fighter till the end.

If I am Fire Tiger Warrior Cat, it’s because of her and all her Chinese-momming me all these years to strive and finish what I start. Now that she is gone, I hear myself in the same excited, shrill voice doing the same to my students. Well, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Back to my Solar Plexus chakra dance, the beat and percussion creates energy and I’m now dripping with sweat. I envision that I am dancing around a blazing campfire, wearing a tremendous amount of feathers on my head and waist (never actually done that before, so I don’t know why that came to mind).

In my dance fury, the feathers fly all around, reaching the sky, I create a huge tornado in my awesome turning spinning vortex and the feathers end up as a heap my floor. Lol.

At the end of the dance I was in a fit of giggles. That was satisfying.

Video: Me and Davide…sample of warrior energy in the moment.

Stay tuned for Heart Chakra Dance Blog.

“Dancing The Solar Plexus Chakra, Manipura”

North Vancouver, BC, Canada.
June 10, 2020

About The Author

Kasandra “La China”
Flamenco Dancer and Instructor, Director, Producer, Choreographer

Kasandra is one of Canada’s leading flamenco artists well-known for her unrelenting drive to push the artistic envelope. A tirelessly ambitious artistic director, soloist and prima bailaora, Kasandra is always hungry for new sources of inspiration and knowledge, constantly pushing her musical and choreographic mastery to its limits. She has been identified as “Vancouver’s flamenco star who has embodied flamenco with her dynamic, precise style” by Flamenco-World magazine. Read More