Chakra 5: The Throat Chakra (Vishuddha)
The throat chakra lies just above the heart and represents the start of our upper chakra system. You can think of the throat chakra as the higher expression of our sacral chakra (the home to our inner child). When our throat chakra is balanced, it is the representation of the mature adult which has integrated the sacral chakra and refined it to express it's authentic self. When the inner child is in a healthy state and balanced with the help of a flowing heart chakra, our throat chakra will be vibrant and will be able to express its highest creative qualities. The throat chakra which is represented by the colour blue, plays a critical role of our ability to "speak" and "listen" and involves the organs of the throat, mouth and ears!
Together we will explore:
A few facts about the Throat Chakra
Common imbalances in the Throat Chakra
Tips on how to bring more balance to this energy centre
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Facts about the Throat Chakra
The throat chakra plays a role in our entire bodies self expression. Not only does it play a part in the way we speak (including the tone and quality of our voice), the words we speak and the truths or lies we speak but it also expresses itself in the ways we move our bodies through actions! This means, when we are exercising, dancing, walking, creating art, acting, singing, cooking and moving our bodies in any way that offers our self expression, we are using our throat chakra! The throat encapsulates everything we choose to do to express ourselves, through actions, which also includes our career choices etc. The throat works closely with the third eye chakra which we will be exploring in our next blog. Think of the eye chakra as being the creative thinking, which the throat chakra then chooses to express. Eye = creative through, Throat = creative action/expression.
When our lower chakras are healed by the heart, we can begin to express our higher self or authentic self which is the home of the throat chakra. Integrating our inner child is a crucial first step towards experiencing the self fulfilling life we dream of from the place of our balanced throat chakra. If imbalances are present, we will also express our throat chakra in an unbalanced way through negative habit patterns.
Our feelings towards our right to speak and our right to be heard are held within the throat chakra. This can be felt as a knot or lump in our throat when we suppress our words or when we have a hard time "spitting out our words".
Common imbalance of the Throat Chakra:
Over talking/sharing & dominate conversations
Domineering talkers who prefer to listen
Shyness
Being overly competitive
A "know it all" attitude
Arrogance & Self righteousness
Being sexually dominant
Being gossipy
Always needing the last word
Terrified of public speaking
Being sensitive to loud noises or having sensitive ears
Having an overfastidious attention to detail
Being too dependent on emotions & intuition
Suppressing any needs, thoughts or emotions
Speaking white lies or compulsive lying
Hearing problems or requiring hearing aids
Constant ear infections
Constant throat infections
Dental problems like cavities, gingivitis, gum disease, etc
Could you have an unbalanced Throat Chakra?
Answer the following questions to help you evaluate the health of your Throat Chakra. These questions can help you to determine potential imbalances in your throat chakra which we can address next.
Do you listen patiently when it's not your turn to speak?
Do people understand you when you speak or do they often ask you to repeat yourself?
Do you listen to music often or practice any musical instruments including singing?
Do you find it easy to speak your authentic truths with others?
Tips on bringing balance to the Throat Chakra
Colours: Blue is the colour of the throat chakra! Visualizing an orb of blue light in the centre of your throat can help you to activate this chakra. An easy way to work with the colour blue is to get your FREE Throat Chakra Wallpaper when you subscribe to my mailing list here. You can also try elevating your throat chakra by wearing more blue clothing or by painting certain parts of your home in a light or vibrant blue colour. Spending time around water or gazing up at the blue skies can also invigorate and help to cleanse this chakra.
Crystals: The best crystals to help bring balance to your throat chakra include:
Aquamarine
Lapis Lazuli
Amazonite
Sodalite
Angelite
Blue Apatite
Blue Chalcedony
Azurite
Larimar
Food: Like most of the chakras, eating specific foods representing the chakra colour can help encourage balance in the chakras. In this case, try to consume blue foods like: blueberries, blackberries, plums, grapes, raisins, purple cabbage, elderberries and currents. Foods that help to support the thyroid which is located in the throat chakra can also be beneficial. Sea vegetables like seaweed, kelp, nori, and wakame are rich in iodine which help to normalize thyroid functions. Dairy, fish and eggs can also contribute to a healthy functioning thyroid!
Herbs: Herbal medicines are helpful in balancing the body and help to relieve certain body ailments on a physical, emotional, mental and spiritual level. Try the following to help balance and heal any ailments in your throat chakra.
Marshmallow
Slippery Elm
Rosemery
Thyme
Sage
Lavender
WARNING: Be mindful and check with your doctor before you try any herbal medicine if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or if you are on any other pharmaceutical medicines!
Sound: Singing bowls played in the note "G" can help to stimulate the same resonance of the throat chakra. Try this singing bowl sound bath HERE and see what happens!
Singing: Chanting the throat chakra mantra "HAM" will help to create a resonance in this area of the body. Place your hands over your throat and take a deep belly breath in. You will feel your diaphragm engaging then hold this pushed out belly breath. On the exhale, keep your belly pushed out and sing HHAAA-AAAAM. Notice the energies moving through your throat chakra and sit in silence before taking your next breath in. You can sing this consecutively a couple of times to help activate your throat chakra.
Humming is another soothing therapy for your throat chakra. This action will help to nourish and soothe any tightening in the throat, tongue, jaw and roof of the mouth.
Essential Oils: My favourite essential oils to connect with the throat include:
Rosemary
Thyme
Lavender
Geranium
German Camomile
Grapefruit
Indian Champa
Mindfulness: Two exercises which I will share with you today are to help open and balance your throat chakra. As we've discussed, the throat encourages our ability to express ourselves (pingala channel) and listen (ida channel). In order to be balanced in the throat we must have a balance between our pingala and ida energy channels.
Active listening is a great exercise that can help activate and balance your throat chakra. This exercise will be done with a partner. Each of you will take turns speaking while the other listens quietly with an openness to receive whatever the speaker brings forward. As the speaker, you will open your heart and speak your truth- whatever comes up, feel free to share it with your listener. Notice if you experience any blocks or hesitations in your speaking time. You will share for 5 minutes. As the listener, be present with your speaker and do not make any noises, nods, or body movements that may distract your speaker. Just pay attention to what they are sharing with you. Once the time is up, the listener will re-affirm what the speaker has shared with them and the speaker will clarify with the listener any misinterpretations that may have come across. As the listener, notice if you habitually move your focus away from the present moment of simply listening. Notice any urges to speak, make mouth noises or move your body. Once this is completed, switch roles. At the end of the exercise, you can discuss which roles your prefer and new insights about what you learnt about yourselves and each other.
This is a useful exercise to practice as often as possible. Over time, you will become a better listener and hopefully feel more comfortable in sharing your truth and speaking out loud!
Yoga: The best yoga poses to help open and activate the throat chakra energies are:
Camel Pose
Plow Pose
Fish Pose
Bridge Pose
Lion Pose
Bow Pose
In my Yoga On DEMAND program I offer a wide variety of classes that target the Throat Chakra specifically. I've designed classes that work on the different throat chakra energies and provide helpful insights to help open, cleanse, and expand these chakra energies.
If you'd like to explore your Throat Chakra through yoga, consider joining Yoga On DEMAND. The photos bellow showcase a few of the classes available for developing your Throat Chakra! Join HERE.
I hope you have found this article inspiring and insightful! If you have any questions or success stories regarding your throat chakra, please share them in the comment section bellow. This can be encouraging wisdom for others along their spiritual journey! If you'd lik support on your self healing journey consider working with me one-on-one for an energy reading session HERE. Otherwise consider my Mindfulness Journals which provide you with a four week self study journey within yourself. These journals are designed to provide healing and new wisdom along your journey. Check out my journals HERE.
Love & Light to you All.
Renelle B
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