Have you tried doing sit-ups, eliminating carbohydrates from your diet, aerobic exercise, and using tummy flattening home videos to flatten your stomach to no avail? Do you easily lose weight in your arms, legs, thighs, and buttocks—but for some reason—no matter how much weight you lose—the fat in your stomach will not go away? What if I told you that maybe the excessive fat in your belly could be related to an imbalance in your third chakra? Your third chakra is located in your solar plexus the area above your navel and right below your rib cage.

The third chakra is the conscious energy vortex that collects our awareness about our self-esteem, self-respect, self-worth, will -power, self-will, and self-discipline. Bright yellow and gold are the colors of the third chakra. When there is an imbalance with the third chakra a person may experience problems related to poor body image, anorexia nervosa, bulimia, low self esteem; fear of ageing, obesity, balding or negative views about their physical appearance in general.

Your stomach area is the location in the body that resonates with your gut instincts of making good and bad decisions. For example, you may be trying to limit candy, cookies, cakes and donuts from your diet; but your co-workers bring these items to works to share with everyone. Like most people, you can’t resist just taking at least a half of one donut. Instinctively, you know that this is a bad decision, but you rationalize with yourself that maybe you could make up the calories by walking an extra mile, eating a light lunch, or skipping dinner.

From a psychological standpoint, you believe that losing weight is about counting and burning calories which will result in short-term weight loss. From an emotional standpoint, there is a blockage in your ability to honor your will power, unique body image, and / or self-worth which in the long-term will affect your overall ability to lose weight and have a flat stomach—if it is in alignment with your unique beautiful body type and /or your divine destiny. Whenever there is a psychological and emotional tug-a-war with a commitment to a personal goal; one must step back and assess the authenticity and sincerity of the goal’s alignment with their overall sense of well being.

Here are questions that you should ask yourself about your desire to flatten your stomach:

1. Do you want to “be healthy” by eating nutritiously and exercising or do you want to “look healthy” no matter what the cost, so that you can look like the models, actors, and entertainers in the media?

2. Are you comparing your body shape or size to a friend, co-worker or family member whom you envy because of their wardrobe, social- life or career? Do you secretly believe that looking like them will some how lead to their lifestyle?

3. How often do you give your time away by doing favors for others that prevent you from properly taking care of yourself? Sometimes we must say no to others in order to say yes ourselves. Many women give away the time that they need to prepare a healthy lunch or go to the gym by doing favors for others. The third chakra is about honoring oneself.

4. Do you really want a flat stomach or do you want what you think having a flat stomach will improve in your life? For example, do you think that having a flat stomach will attract a perfect mate in your life, increase your self-esteem, or make you physically more attractive?

5. Are you exercising to get a flat stomach because you are getting married and you want to look good in your wedding dress? Or are you trying to flatten your stomach in order to wear your bikini on the beach? How real is the goal to flatten your stomach?

It is difficult to apply self-will, commitment and self-discipline to the goal of having a flat stomach that does not address the deepest desires of your need to be loved and respected as a beautiful human being just the way you are. It’s ironic that when surveyed about which body part that most women wish that they could change would be to have a flatter stomach. The stomach contains the third chakra which contains the core of how we view our bodies, eating disorders, self-respect and self-esteem. Maybe it’s not a flatter stomach that women really need but a balanced third chakra that is filled with self-acceptance and self-love.