By: Erica Jago
If you read my previous blog posts on the lower four chakras then get ready to make some noise! The fifth chakra: Vishuddha, in English it is called the Throat Chakra.
Vishuddha bridges your feeling with your thinking through creative expression and speech.
The element of this energy centre is sound, providing you with the ability to listen and verbally express your needs, your desires, and your opinions, truthfully and authentically.
A tall order, don’t you think?
Especially for those who are holding back out of judgment or fear to speak up.
Here is a quote from Anodea Judith that exemplifies this beautifully:
“Sound, as vibration and a force inherent in all things, has a purifying nature. Sound can and does affect the cellular structure of matter. It also has the ability to harmonize otherwise dissonant frequencies both within and around us.”
Through the use of sound, this chakra teaches your voice how to penetrate into higher vibrations by means of attunement.
Attunement is the refinement of your awareness to perceive the subtle field of vibrations in and around your body. This awareness shifts the tone of your voice from harsh to eloquent.
To open your Throat Chakra is to place your focus at the base of your neck where your collarbones meet, then move up the cylinder of your throat to your mouth, chin, and ears.
When Vishuddha is in healthy alignment, you feel heard and able to communicate change and healing.
In other words, it is your listening that purifies your energy before speaking up.
Mastering what you want to say and how you say it requires balancing your lower energy centres of being, feeling, daring, and loving.
When your Throat Chakra is out of balance, it can warp your communication into blame and turn conversations into projections of insecurities. Your throat chakra is such a profound vibrator of energy that even by saying nothing, others feel your thoughts and emotions.
####Healing happens when you listen to your entire body before speaking, making you a masterful communicator of your needs and wants.
What you might experience after a refined practice of chanting or audible breathing is an ability to carefully orchestrate the sensations emerging from your body to align the tone of your voice with what you want to say.
With profound attunement to your throat, you learn to sort through your body’s emotions to leave conversations feeling heard. Rather than concealing and protecting what you think and feel, find alignment with your desired tone.
As you listen with focus and stay open in your throat, your embodied truths find a way to sound out.
Try this restorative Corpse pose with block and chanting to activate your Fifth Chakra.
Start by lying down in Corpse. Lift your hips and place a block or pillow under your sacrum. Rest your heart and feet on the earth with your palms facing up. Move your awareness from the base of your spine to the top of your head, focussing on one chakra at a time while chanting its Bija Mantra.
Bija means seed. The Bija Mantra consists of one or two-syllable seed sounds that, when chanted, hummed or sung, activate the energy of the chakras through vibration. Chant each seed sound slowly and once, or chant the seed sound repeatedly, spending a few minutes in each energy centre before moving to the next. Be sure to play with base and pitch as you move from the lower to the upper chakras. The seed sound for the First Chakra is deeper and slower than the higher-pitched seed sound for the Sixth Chakra.
Chant the mantra a few times: Lam with your attention at your feet, legs and hips, Vam while focussing on your lower belly, Ram while focussing on your solar plexus, Yam with your attention at your heart, Ham while focussing on your throat, Om while bringing your attention to the space between your eyebrows, and Silence with your attention at the crown of your head and beyond.
Attunement between your inner means and outer expression is reached by listening carefully to the inflections and nuances in your voice. With the seven vibrations, practice chanting with your whole body to cultivate gentleness, sympathy, and loving-kindness through the tone of your voice.
When chanted, the seed sounds of each chakra carry healing energy. Hold a nice quality of listening as you project out and ask:
Am I holding anything back?
Am I judging or fearful to be heard?
Is my throat locked?
Can I ease up a little more?
As you extend, clear your throat by putting more attention there. Notice where your insecurities are warping your communication? For example, the judgment held in your Throat Chakra could manifest as a timidness. If you don’t feel safe in your Root Chakra, your voice could come off as whiny. If you don’t feel loved in your Heart, harsh words could anticipate rejection. If you don’t feel satisfied in your Second Chakra, your tone could suspect mistrust.
Keep that awareness as you sound out and remember your words carry energy!
###Want to go deeper into the Chakras?
Take Erica's Classes: If you’d like to continue this work, or if you struggle with expressing your emotions appropriately and gracefully, spend time with me online from the comfort of your home. Wednesday and Saturdays I lead chakra studies through Delight’s weekly Zoom classes.
Join a Workshop: To further your explorations, join me for an online Wisdom Talk on Thursday, July 16th. A creative approach to chakra studies where each centre’s sacred transformation is discussed to see and feel your body’s wisdom.
Read, Explore, Discover: Vishuddha, can be found in Chapter Five of my latest book, ANGELUS, an experiential chakra workbook. This 7 chakra, 7 chapter book includes 21 yoga sequences, with 3 specifically for your throat; a mantra vinyasa practice called ATTUNE, a kundalini kriya to CONTRIBUTE, and an ecstatic dance practice for FREEDOM. The creativity found in this book is an excellent reminder to keep refining your voice through the feedback loop of aligning within before expressing out.
Xo,
Erica
Images from Angelus: experiential chakra workbook
Art direction by Roos van der Kamp
Photo by Sanja Maruisc
