Manipura Chakra — The Navel Chakra of Fire

The meaning of the name Maṇipūra

Maṇi means jewel and pūra means city or a place that is full, so Maṇipūra is the city of jewels. The name is explained in two ways: the lotus shines like a gem because it is the seat of fire, and it is full of the treasure of prāṇa, which is gathered and distributed from here to the whole body. Some texts call it Maṇipūraka or the nābhi cakra, the wheel of the navel. In English it is often called the solar plexus chakra or the navel chakra.

The Ṣaṭ-cakra-nirūpaṇa of Pūrṇānanda describes this lotus as the third of the six centres, after Mūlādhāra and Svādhiṣṭhāna. The Gorakṣa Śataka, the Śiva Saṃhitā and the Yoga Upaniṣads also name the navel as a chief centre of the body, and the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali speak of the navel wheel by name.

Where the Manipura chakra is located

The texts place Maṇipūra at the root of the navel, on suṣumnā, the central nāḍī, which runs through the spinal column. Many teachers therefore give two points for it: the navel itself on the front of the body, where attention is first gathered, and the point in the spine directly behind the navel, where the chakra is felt in deeper meditation.

Like every chakra, it belongs to the subtle body and not to anatomy. The physical region of the stomach and the upper abdomen is only the place where attention is gathered to find it. The modern name solar plexus comes from the network of nerves in that region, but the scriptures describe the chakra in the prāṇamaya kośa, the sheath of vital energy.

Manipura Chakra Symbol and Its Meaning

The symbol of the Manipura chakra is a picture for meditation, described piece by piece in the Ṣaṭ-cakra-nirūpaṇa. Each part points to something the yogi is meant to recognise within.

• The ten petals: a lotus the colour of heavy rain clouds, with one letter of the Sanskrit alphabet on each petal. The cloud that carries rain and lightning is itself a picture of stored power.
• The triangle: the red maṇḍala of fire, pointing downward, shining like the rising sun. Fire is the element that transforms; it turns food into strength and experience into understanding.
• The svastika marks: three on each side of the triangle, ancient signs of auspiciousness and of the fire's steady, turning motion.
• The ram: the bīja RAṂ is carried by a ram, the animal of Agni, the fire god. Its forward-pushing strength shows the drive and will that belong to this centre.
• Rudra and Lākinī: Rudra, pictured smeared with ash, is the power that dissolves; Lākinī, the śakti of this lotus, is said to rule the flesh of the body. Together they show the fire that both nourishes and destroys.

The colours are worth noticing. The common modern picture shows the whole chakra in yellow, but in the classical description the petals are dark blue and the triangle of fire is red. Both describe the same centre; the classical one is the picture meant for meditation.

The Manipura Chakra, the Digestive Fire and Samāna Vāyu

Ayurveda and yoga agree that health rests on agni, the fire that digests. The chief of these fires is jaṭharāgni, the fire of the stomach, and the yoga texts place it at the navel. When this fire burns evenly, food is digested, the body is nourished and the mind is clear. When it is too weak, food lies heavy and the body grows dull; when it is too strong, there is acidity, irritability and heat.

Of the five forms of prāṇa, samāna vāyu belongs to the navel. The Praśna Upaniṣad says that samāna dwells in the middle of the body and carries what is offered as food evenly to every part. It works like the bellows of a fire: it gathers, digests and distributes. For this reason the navel centre is called the storehouse of prāṇa.

The Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā speaks of the sun at the root of the navel and the moon at the root of the palate. The nectar that flows from the moon is consumed by the sun, and the inverted postures are taught so that the sun is placed above the moon and the nectar is preserved. Whatever one's reading of this image, it marks the navel as the place of the body's inner fire.

What the Manipura Chakra Governs

Because its element is fire, Maṇipūra governs everything in a person that transforms and gives energy: digestion and metabolism, body heat, the vigour of the muscles, the power of sight and the capacity to move forward in life. On the level of the mind it is the root of will, self-confidence, decision and the courage to act.

When the navel centre is steady, a person digests well, has warmth and energy through the day, makes decisions without long hesitation and keeps to a discipline once it is begun. Practice gains a quiet strength that does not depend on mood.

When it is unsettled, the signs fall into two kinds. A weak fire shows as poor appetite, sluggish digestion, tiredness, indecision and a sense of having no power over one's life. An excessive fire shows as acidity, impatience, anger, aggression and a need to control others. The tradition does not treat these as faults of a chakra to be repaired, but as signs that agni and prāṇa need to be brought back to an even flame.

Kuṇḍalinī, Uḍḍiyāna Bandha and the Manipura Chakra

In the haṭha yoga texts the navel is where the two great currents of prāṇa meet. Apāna, the downward-moving force, is drawn up by mūla bandha; prāṇa, the upward-moving force, is drawn down by jālandhara bandha. The Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā describes in its third chapter how, when apāna rises and reaches the region of fire, the flame grows long and bright, and in that heat the sleeping kuṇḍalinī is roused.

The bandha that belongs most to Maṇipūra is uḍḍiyāna, the upward-flying lock. After a full exhalation the abdomen is drawn in and up under the ribs. The Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā praises it as the lion that overcomes the elephant of death, and says that prāṇa flies up suṣumnā through it. Nauli, the churning of the abdominal muscles, and agnisāra, the cleansing by fire taught in the Gheraṇḍa Saṃhitā, work on the same centre and are said to kindle the digestive fire.

These practices are powerful and must be learnt step by step from a teacher. Done on a full stomach, with force, or by someone for whom they are unsuitable, they disturb the very fire they are meant to steady.

How to Balance the Manipura Chakra

In the Swara Yoga tradition the navel centre is steadied first through the life of the practitioner and the breath, and only then through concentration on the chakra itself. The practices below are taught in that order.

• Moderate eating: the Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā teaches mitāhāra, food that is pleasant and nourishing, taken in moderation and leaving a quarter of the stomach empty. Regular mealtimes are the first care of agni.
• Āsanas for the abdomen: bhujaṅgāsana, dhanurāsana, ardha matsyendrāsana and paścimottānāsana, and for advanced students mayūrāsana, which the Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā says kindles the digestive fire.
• Cleansing breath: kapālabhāti, practised gently and rhythmically, and later bhastrikā under guidance.
• Nāḍī śodhana: alternate-nostril breathing that balances iḍā and piṅgalā, so that the fire is neither cold nor scorching.
• Uḍḍiyāna bandha, agnisāra and nauli: practised on an empty stomach, in the morning, learnt from a teacher and never strained.
• Mantra: repetition of the bīja RAṂ, slowly and with attention resting at the navel.
• Tapas: the niyama of disciplined effort, whose very name means heat. Keeping a small daily vow strengthens the will in the same way that fuel strengthens a fire.

Practise gently and regularly. Uḍḍiyāna bandha, nauli, agnisāra and strong breathing practices should be avoided during pregnancy and menstruation, and by anyone with high blood pressure, heart disease, a hernia, a stomach ulcer, glaucoma or a recent abdominal operation; seek advice first. Chakra practice is a spiritual discipline and is not a substitute for medical care.

A Simple Manipura Chakra Meditation

This short meditation is suitable for beginners. It uses only attention, breath and the bīja, and can be practised for ten to fifteen minutes each morning before food.

1. Sit in a steady, comfortable posture with the spine upright and the hands resting on the knees.
2. Close the eyes and breathe slowly through the nose until the breath is calm and even.
3. Bring your attention to the navel and feel the abdomen rise and fall with each breath.
4. Let the attention travel back from the navel to the spine behind it and rest there.
5. Picture there a red triangle of fire, pointing downward, surrounded by ten dark blue petals.
6. Repeat the bīja RAṂ silently with each exhalation, and feel a gentle warmth spreading from the navel.
7. Let the image go, sit quietly for a few breaths, and open the eyes slowly.

The Manipura Chakra in Swara Yoga

The Śiva Svarodaya, the root text of Swara Yoga, teaches that the five elements are present in the breath as well as in the body, and that fire is the element of heat and transformation. Swara Yoga therefore approaches the navel centre through awareness of the breath, not through imagination alone.

A student of the Swara Yoga Peeth first learns to observe the breath, to know which nostril is flowing and to keep regular hours of food and practice. When the breath is calm and the digestion is steady, attention at Maṇipūra rests on a real foundation. How the elements are recognised in the breath is learnt in person from the teacher.

Common Misunderstandings about the Manipura Chakra

• The colour of the Manipura chakra is usually given as yellow. In the Ṣaṭ-cakra-nirūpaṇa its petals are dark blue and the triangle of fire at its heart is red.
• The solar plexus and the Manipura chakra are not the same thing. The nerve plexus is a modern comparison that can help study, but the scriptures describe the chakra in the subtle body.
• A strong navel centre does not mean a hard or aggressive personality. The fire of Maṇipūra is meant to burn evenly, giving warmth and will without anger.
• Abdominal practices such as nauli are not a shortcut to awakening. They prepare the body, and the scriptures place awakening at the end of a long sādhanā of purification, discipline and devotion.

The Manipura chakra among the seven

Maṇipūra stands above Mūlādhāra, the root of earth, and Svādhiṣṭhāna, the centre of water, and below Anāhata, the heart centre of air. Earth gives the practice its foundation and water its flow; fire gives it the strength to rise. Read the overview of all seven centres on the 7 Chakras page, and the root centre on the Muladhara chakra page.