Stomach

The stomach is the body's kitchen. Just as we put food in a pot to cook it and make it edible, we put food in the stomach where it is "cooked" and broken down into something beneficial for the body. (See also Consumption.) A transformation takes place that is good for us. In the yoga tradition, the third chakra is located in the stomach and is associated with fire and transformation.

The stomach is also the center of our feelings and intuitions. If you feel something is good or bad in your stomach, you know for sure that it is so. You don't need to know why or how, you just know. (Compare Heart.) If you are scared, stressed, or carrying other negative emotions, you get a stomach ache. If you're nervous, your stomach becomes unsettled. On the other hand, a person in love has "butterflies in his stomach." The stomach is the body's center, and the body is the center of all things. If the stomach feels good, everything feels good. It is an intimate, soft, and sensitive part of the body, associated with the soul.

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