Small Erin In BRIGHT Yellow (Get Out Yer Shades, Gang!): The Solar Plexus Chakra

“That was my most favorite bike of all time, seafoam green and lavender with a matching purse.
To this day, I do not wear yellow…”

Erin, let me guess: Jesus wanted you for a sunbeam and your Mom took that literally, right?
But we are LOVING your big, huge floppy hair bow and your matching socks. Also, it’s killing me that your PURSE matches your BIKE. What a little fashionista!

But I also see a radiant, if somewhat shy, smile that manages to overcome all that YELLOW to communicate this little person’s sweetness to me across the years. I hope that the ensuing decades of life did nothing to dim that smile — in fact, I hope that Erin’s smile only became more confident and radiant as she grew and became the wonderful woman I’m sure she is today. Look at that gorgeous hair, too.

Hey Erin, we hope you’re still biking. It’s good for you and the Earth.
Thanks for submitting your photo. I think you should get yourself a fabulous patent leather purse in exactly that shade of yellow to celebrate your sunbean self. Yellow is a powerful color and while I refuse to wear it myself, I make sure to keep yellow in my life in the form of home decor, notebooks, accessories or kitchenware. Love the yellow!

CHAKRA MEDITATION FOR SPIRITUAL PROTECTION

Yellow is the color associated with the solar plexus chakra, the energy center that we often refer to as our “gut,” as in having a “gut feeling” about something. Before going in to a stressful meeting or counseling session, take several deep and slow breaths, drawing energy up from the Earth through your feet up into your solar plexus. Imagine a bright, beautiful yellow light glowing and spreading throughout your stomach area. Breathe until you feel calm, centered and confident, and before you enter the room, lace your fingers together over your stomach to protect your solar plexus chakra from draining or hostile energy. Keep your hands in that position throughout the meeting, while remembering to breathe slowly, quietly and deeply. If you like, repeat a calming phrase, prayer, Taize chant or mantra to yourself.

I like to use “Just You And Me” from Chicago’s Greatest Hits. I swear. The lyrics are awesome if you think of them as being about you and God or Jesus:

You are my love and my life
You are my inspiration
Just you n me
Simple and free
Baby you’re everything I’ve ever dreamed of
Yeah, yeah

Just you n me to carry on
Simple and free my lovely
To flow as one as loves reward
Lovin you (god) is so damn easy.

I once did a very hairy, very painful marriage counseling session for two people who had been in a really bad place. I had “Just You And Me” going through my head while we worked together and when we were getting ready to finish up, the couple said, “How do you hear all of this awful stuff and stay so calm?” I said, “Well, it’s hard to see you both in so much pain, but I’ve been singing this great Chicago song to myself the whole time we’re together as a kind of prayer.” They were like, “WHAT!?” I said, “Yea, I like to think of it as a song about how God feels about each of us.” They were like, “You are crazy. What is it? Is it ‘Color My World?'” So I told them, and then we all sang it together. And we all cried. And they walked out holding hands.

That’s why I don’t think it offends the Lord if we use pop music as prayers. But if God can’t get behind that kind of horn section and those vocals, I can’t worship that God, anyway.