How the third chakra affects physical, emotional and mental health

By Lisa VanOstrand

With diabetes 2 at an epidemic level, our healthcare system faces unprecedented challenges related to gut function. At the Barbara Brennan School of Healing, we consider physical health issues, such as poor gut function, to be just one facet of a much more complex and comprehensive model of human existence.

Our model of human existence is based on four dimensions that lie on a spectrum, from the part of us that is one with the divine to the part of us that is a human being, living here on Earth. 

One of these dimensions is our human energy field, or aura, which is composed of seven levels. There are seven chakras extending through the seven levels of the human energy field. 

In our model, the gut corresponds to the third chakra, which is at the level of the solar plexus. Let’s explore how the gut, represented by the third chakra, functions in the first three levels of the human energy field, which correspond to our existence in the physical world. (You can see images of levels one through three below[A1] ). 

The Chakra-Gut Connection

Level 1 is associated with our physical well-being. On this level, the third chakra relates to our digestion and is supported by the foods we eat and the vitamins and minerals we take to have healthy gut function. Level 1 is composed of blue lines of light. Their brightness is a direct reflection of our physical health. 

Level 2 is associated with our feelings toward ourselves. The third chakra has an intimate connection with the brain. We hear this connection referenced today as the gut-brain axis—the direct and indirect pathways between our gastrointestinal system and the brain’s cognitive and emotional centers.

While Level 2 of the human energy field is a feeling level, the third chakra on Level 2 involves feelings with a more cognitive quality, such as worry, guilt and shame. Indeed, in Chinese medicine, the emotion associated with the spleen and stomach is worry and obsessive thinking.

When we are startled or surprised, we often feel that emotion directly in our stomach. (Hence the common saying “I feel like I’ve been punched in the gut.”) Some emotional events are so upsetting to our energy field that our third chakra becomes disfigured and needs restructuring.

Level 2, when healthy, is composed of beautiful, bright, multicolored clouds of energy.    

Level 3 of the human energy field is connected to our rational mind and mental clarity. When our thoughts are clear, Level 3 is composed of lemon-yellow lines of light. When we are unclear or confused, Level 3 is dull yellow. 

Finally, each chakra is associated with a certain high-sense perception. The third chakra is related to our intuition, a feeling or reaction based on an instinctive emotional response. The saying “I had a gut feeling that something was wrong” is indicative of the type of high-sense perception that is associated with the third chakra.

Barbara Brennan School of Healing

At the Barbara Brennan School of Healing, each year of its four-year training is dedicated to exploring one of the four dimensions of human existence. Students learn hands-on energy healing skills, engage in psych-spiritual explorations that support personal transformation, practice self-healing exercises to regulate the energy field, learn high-sense perception techniques and experience the joy of the creative process. The Barbara Brennan School of Healing has been in existence for over 35 years and is one of the premier schools focused on energy consciousness and personal transformation. 

Lisa VanOstrand is a senior faculty member at Barbara Brennan School of Healing. She is also senior editor of Barbara Brennan’s new book, Core Light Healing. For more information, visit BarbaraBrennan.com.

Barbara Brennan Year 1 Training in New York City

Joy Adler, senior faculty member at Barbara Brennan School of Healing, will lead Year 1 regional trainings in New York City October 2-6 and November 20-24, as well as in February, April and June of 2020, at Balance Arts Center in New York City. The school offers four-year programs in Florida and the United Kingdom and another Year 1 regional training in Berkeley, California. For more information, visit BarbaraBrennan.com.