Emotional Solar Plexus
Let's talk about the Emotional Solar Plexus Center! It is one of the 3 Awareness Centers in Human Design. The type of awareness it covers is emotional, spiritual, and relational/social awareness. If it wasn't for the Emotional Solar Plexus, you probably wouldn't be processing emotions properly! Not just that, but you probably wouldn't have the wide range of emotions that all humans tend to carry! The way you process your emotions (and the emotional lessons you tend to run into) are all stored here.
The Solar Plexus also happens to double as a Motor Center! Think of a motor like in a car or boat. Without a motor, the car/boat wouldn't be able to move. A Motor Center gives you energy for action. It gives you the energy to do things. The type of motorized energy the Solar Plexus gives is emotional. The way emotions work is that they work as a wave. There is a start and an end. There is a high and a low. That's why it's important to understand that emotions are all about CLARITY OVER TIME. If you are experiencing an emotion, you must understand there is no clarity in the moment you are experiencing it. The more intense the emotion, the easier it is to make the wrong decision. Making decisions based on an emotional high or low is a no no.
So when it comes to the Solar Plexus, you have to understand that it's all about letting things work out OVER TIME. The Solar Plexus is emotional/spiritual/relational energy that works as a wave, which means they work OVER TIME. These waves inspire action and awareness. There are cycles you have to go (and work) through. Clarity only ever happens at the end of a cycle/wave. Emotional awareness itself is all the highs and lows. It's the entire wave itself. Emotional awareness is a PROCESS. To be emotionally aware is to be aware of the emotional process(es) that you go through. It's not just one instance, it's every instance. It's a whole range of instances.
There are 3 types of Emotional Waves in Human Design. I am not going to cover them, but I am going to explain the idea. Emotional Waves usually work out as hope/pain cycles. There's a buildup of hope and then a crash of pain/sadness or whatever else. It gets worse when you bounce off the buildup of hope or the crash of pain/sadness. The point is to allow the waves to work themselves out until you find your clarity. And again, CLARITY DOESN'T HAPPEN IN THE MOMENT.
An emotional high or an emotional low can easily be misleading. That's why you let the cycle finish itself so you can properly recognize how you TRULY feel about things. It is when you've experienced both the high and the low that you have the most clarity about something. That's when your awareness is at its pique. That's when you ability to take ACTION is at its most clearest and powerful. The key is to remember that emotions are a REACTION/RESPONSE to something else.
For example, let's say you aren't sure if you like someone or not. A lot of times you would have to wait for an emotional high and an emotional low to come around before reaching clarity. Maybe they do something that makes you super happy and then later do something that makes you mad. It's at the end of this cycle that you should find clarity. Sometimes you have to experience several waves/cycles, but the point is to not make a serious decision based on a high/low.
You know how you TRULY feel after you've gone through feeling an emotional high and an emotional low. Because it's at that point where you aren't blinded by excessive emotion. But let's use an example of a Channel that defines the Solar Plexus!
Let's say you have just the Channel of Recognition (41/30) defining your Solar Plexus, so all you have is gate 30 in it. This is part of the Sensing Circuit & it's an Abstract Emotional Wave based on desire. So this wave has a steady climb up to the top & then a steep drop. The general basis of this Channel is all about desires and the recognition of them (hence the steady climb upwards and then a steep drop). This Channel is tied to a lot of hope and pain in many cases. This Channel is all about feeling depth & being driven by desire.
Gate 30 in particular is the Gate of Feelings. Much of your experiences are created as a result of desire (true for everybody but it's emphasized if you have this Channel/Gate). With it comes obsessive tendencies and even rose colored glasses. The main lesson of this Gate/Channel is realizing limitations and that it's OKAY to have these desires/fantasies. But you have to know when, where, and how to act on them. Otherwise you're just following your emotional wave and letting it drive you. You want to be a surfer, not someone caught up in a riptide.
As I said, it's a steady climb upwards because it's based on desire. You attach yourself to some kind of hope or fantasy and you let it build and build until you get to the top. Then suddenly everything crashes down. You'll experience a terrible crash if you let the wave drive you and take control of your life. You obsessively attached yourself to some kind of desire/hope/fantasy and let your feelings cloud your practicality. HOWEVER, it wouldn't be that bad if you just WAIT the wave out.
When you wait and stay as a diligent observer of your emotions instead of attaching yourself to the desire/wave, you begin to see the drop coming and/or you begin to realize what you were HOPING for isn't exactly what you WANT. When you wait for CLARITY (as in wait to feel/see the high AND the low of your emotional wave), you see everything clearly. You can make better decisions. The point is to not get caught up in the wave. You're supposed to be the driver, not the passenger.
Sometimes what you hope for is exactly what you want and it'll work out that way. But if you don't WAIT to see every side and ride out the wave, you will NEVER see the drop coming (if there is one). It works vice versa too. If you're pessimistic as fuck and full of doubt (and you get caught up in that), you may never see the high coming and you may completely miss it. So this is why you RIDE OUT YOUR WAVE and don't let it drive your whole life/cognition. Be an observer, not an active participant.
It's also interesting to note that the Emotional Solar Plexus Center is technically "fairly new" for humans. It's not even fully developed yet. It is a growing awareness/motor center. That's an ironic thing because A LOT OF PEOPLE have trouble with emotions/emotional waves and/or following their Spirit. A lot of people have trouble even understanding or processing their emotions. It's like we're rekindling our spiritual/emotional connection as a species through this center.
But let's talk about Defined vs Undefined Solar Plexus people. About 50% of the people in this world have it defined (colored in), and the other 50% have it Undefined (white/not colored in) or completely open (no gates defined).
Something Defined in a body graph is fixed/consistent. It is something you share with/give to the world and others. Something Undefined in a body graph is variable/inconsistent. It is something you tend to receive from the world/others. It is something you tend to store within you. You tend to hold on to it every time you interact with it. You feel it amplified. You learn about it and learn to process it properly through experience. This is something you are meant to become wise with.
So with anything Defined, it is something you are meant to use. So if you have a Defined Solar, it is important to become more AWARE of what starts an emotional wave and how you tend to move within it. More importantly, you need to be aware of it while you're experiencing it. Self Awareness is KEY here. The Solar Plexus is all about relationships, i.e. the ones with yourself AND others. These emotional waves are largely tied to other people and how you FEEL about certain things, so that's why it's more important than ever to really take the time to understand your own emotional waves and what causes them. You need to commit to being EMOTIONALLY AWARE.
The more aware of the Solar Plexus you become, you'll find you obtain a level of self-awareness that you didn't even think was possible to have. For Defined, you gain self mastery and understanding. For Undefined, you gain a huge capacity to understand others and empathize. You gain Emotional WISDOM.
As an Undefined Solar myself, I experience other people's waves intensely. And many of the Defined Solars I know have extreme trouble with being conscious of their waves. In my experience, the Undefined seem more conscious of the waves, it's just more "unbearable" for them. It's not even that the Defined won't/can't find it unbearable, it's just that they can get easily lost in their waves and trapped in certain cycles. It's just more "subconscious". Whereas the Undefined are more inclined to want to get away and calm down.
The Solar Plexus is literally all about your inner world and its relationship with your environment and other people (and even their inner worlds, too). That's why those who have it Defined have a mission to understand the cycles their inner world goes through. This is also why the Undefined has a mission to understand other people's inner worlds and their emotional processes. It brings them more empathy/compassion. Especially because in a lot of ways, the Undefined can feel emotional waves more strongly than the Defined can.
As a Defined Solar Plexus person, it will be your duty to understand your emotional effect on others/the world because you have a BIG ONE. You emotionally impact your environment/other people with your Defined Solar Plexus nature. If you're feeling low, the environment will feel it. Same when you're feeling high. Having an emotional effect on others is something pretty unique/special. This isn't to say Undefined Solar people don't have an emotional effect on others. It's just that you have a more CONSISTENT emotional effect.
Now for Undefined Solar Plexus people, understand that it's your MISSION to be emotionally wise! As an Undefined Solar myself, I experience other people's emotionally waves intensely. Many of the Defined Solars I know have extreme trouble with being conscious of their waves, too. In my experience, the Undefined seem more conscious of the waves, it's just more "unbearable" for them.
It's not even that the Defined won't/can't find it unbearable, it's just more that they can get easily lost in their waves and can get trapped in certain cycles. It's easier for a Defined Solar to be more subconscious about their waves/cycles. With the Undefined, they would just want to get away and calm down. Although, it's very easy for them to get very subconscious about their waves/cycles, too.
To me, most people don't consciously see the wave as they are experiencing it. This is what turns it into a thing/makes it a subconscious process. It is when you have awareness that it becomes more conscious. This is true whether or not you have conscious gates here. This is true whether or not it's a Defined Center.
But moving on, if you have an Undefined Emotional Solar Plexus, it doesn't mean you won't/cant experience emotions/emotional waves. In fact, they can make you even more uncomfortable with it than someone who has this center Defined. They feel it consistently, so it's like a norm for them. With an Undefined Solar person, it's easier to feel emotional energy in an amplified way. It can be too extreme. They're not used to having it internally, so it's kind of like getting drunk for the first time.
To be quite honest, an Undefined Solar may have the potential to recognize Emotional Waves a lot easier than those with a Defined one. The thing about the Solar Plexus is that it requires an EXTREME level of awareness, whether it's Defined or not. Emotional Waves are easy to get caught up in whether or not you have a Solar Definition. The Undefined may be more inclined to want "peace" though. They would tend to enjoy a more still way of living. The Defined may actually want/like the rush/motion that comes with having consistent emotional waves. Although it can be vice versa, too!
The main thing to remember about an Undefined Solar is that it may be easy for you to be an emotional dumping ground for those with it Defined. You may find yourself surrounded by Emotionally Defined people. People may find it very easy to talk to you and communicate their emotions. People may find you to be a calming presence, someone that can actually express their emotions with. This is why you need to be careful and remember to set BOUNDARIES. Always take care of yourself emotionally and give yourself space when you need it.
It's easy to hang on to other people's emotions and even their ways of dealing with them. Remember, the Solar Plexus isn't just about emotions, it's about relationships and being social, too. You WILL pick up and hold on to other people's ways of doing things when it comes to their emotions AND/OR their relationships with others. You will sample so many different emotional ways of being, you will be forced to become wise (or just really stupid) with it all.
Just remember, whether you have this Center Defined or Undefined, THERE IS NEVER CLARITY IN THE MOMENT when it comes to emotions. Always let a wave pass. Let yourself FEEL and EXPERIENCE the entirety of a wave. Let yourself feel hope. Let yourself feel pain. Let yourself FEEL. Emotions are meant to be felt and worked through, not controlled and/or subdued.
If you want to learn more about the centers, check out my Ebook! I go very in depth about how to read a Body Graph with them.
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