“Speak in ways that people want to listen. Listen in ways that people want to speak” Anonymous
Howdy everyone!
I am so glad you could make it back today. At its core, this Chakra Journey is truly about believing in your ability to just take one step after another. You don’t know exactly what is coming, just like in life, but you are safe because you have yourself. Your beautiful self, full of physical ability, learned truths, and desirous potential.
Because you are BACK (!!), I know we can start out hot and with clarity today in a Yoga class. We are at the tipping point of growth as we have aligned and found personal truth in more chakras now, than we have left in this series. I encourage you to do “Lion’s Breath” as many times as possible in this session – let out noise!
Welcome back to your space, where you have a mat, water, and a journal. Maybe you have changed the scarf over the lamp to Blue.
As we give allowance to and space for the principle of change, I will continue to present these Chakra journeys in slightly different ways. Not the same way works for everybody, and sometimes you need to see something in a different perspective to actually want to do it.
The quoted readings and some exercises come from the book Wheels of Life by Anodea Judith, PhD. All other sources are noted. These posts will be written as both blog and journal; I have taken this journey to create it. My aim is simply to share information I have found useful. Any mistakes are my own.
How did you feel about that session? I loved building up flow again after being slow and thoughtful yesterday. Building up energy again feels necessary as we ascend into higher chakras, and develop the complexity of the system by adding more. I have noticed that with each Chakra Experience here, day by day the lower parts of my body are feeling lighter. It truly feels like I am shedding some weight by binding my cells together with my thoughts and actions after each chakra level. Maybe I’m feeling the freedom of self-love. How are you? Check in on yourself.
One of the animals of the Heart Chakra is a bird, and the Throat Chakra element is Sound; so we are going to tie in our experience from yesterday, as we head into the 5th Chakra. Sit comfortably for a few minutes and simply listen to the diversity of bird calls. Even if this seems a little odd, give it a chance. While you listen, massage the areas of your feet at the Throat Chakra; the “neck” of your toes. Also, where your fingers meet your palm.
“Visuddha” Sanskrit for “Purification”
Associated Weighty Words: Ether, Sound, Vibration, Communication, Mantras, Telepathy, Creativity
The Table below is a non-exhaustive list of physical and mental, we will call them “charms”, which you can work with for each Chakra. “Work with” would be to feel (location on body), visual imagination, do (activate body part), eat, smell, watch, listen, etc. – Well that just means, using all your senses! How very Tantra of us 😉
Visuddha | Purification |
Location | Throat, Neck, vertebrae C3-C7 |
Element | Ether + Sound |
Outer Manifestation | Vibration |
Function | Communication, Creativity |
Inner State | Synthesis of Ideas into Symbols |
Glands and Body Parts | Thyroid, Parathyroid, Neck, Shoulders, Arms, Hands |
Malfunction | Blindness, Headaches, Nightmares, Eyestrain, Blurred Vision |
Color | Bright Blue |
Seed Sound | HAM |
Celestial Body | Jupiter, Neptune |
Food | Fruits, Seaweed |
Verb | I Speak |
Herbs | Frankincense, Benzoin, Tea Tree, Rosemary |
Minerals | Turquoise, Aquamarine, Celestite |
Animals | Elephant, Bull, Lion |
Sense | Sight |
Chief Operating Force | Resonance |
Demon | Dishonesty |
The message of the Fifth Chakra is ultimately: sound is the first awakening. Sound and vibration is of utmost importance to civilization because it is how we communicate. That goes for the DNA in our body instructing our cells, to the letter we write to a friend; both are different forms of communication through the web of connection. We have the capacity to translate sounds and symbols into comprehensible substance, and there is also this unseen web of connection which we innately communicate through vibrations.
“Communication is the coordinating principle of all life. It is the means whereby consciousness extends itself from one place to another.” Anodea Judith
Anxiety Tool
In this Chakra it is relevant to discuss anxiety, as we have risen from the eartly chakras, into the air and mental vortexes. Anxiety is a state of being that originates in the brain and the brain sends signals to the physical body which effectively “wrap” mental energies around the physical, creating constriction which the bodysend signals back to the brain interpretting this as pain. The state of anxiety can also exacerbate the seperateness of the mind and the body, alienating the two, and often getting caught right here…the throat!
“The amygdala is an almond-shaped structure deep in the brain that is believed to be a communications hub between the parts of the brain that process incoming sensory signals and the parts that interpret these signals. It can alert the rest of the brain that a threat is present and trigger a fear or anxiety response. The emotional memories stored in the central part of the amygdala may play a role in anxiety disorders involving very distinct fears, such as fears of dogs, spiders, or flying. The hippocampus is the part of the brain that encodes threatening events into memories.” (National Institute of Mental Health).
If you’ve ever delt with anxiety, you know it takes so much concious work to alliviate the physical symptoms, and then gradually start talking to yourself, deconstructing why you begin to feel distressed and it’s connections. I thought this physical technique presented in the following video was a nice way to relax that “lump in throat” “globus hystericus” effect, and one you can do anywhere.
Journal Prompt
The video below is a visualization for seeing sounds and the effects of vibration. The experiment stems from the work of Ernst Chladni in the 1800s, demonstrating how vibration effects matter. The field of study developed into Cymatics by a Swiss scientist, Hans Jenny. He saw that vibrations “danced” and arranged themselves into patterns through coming into communication with frequencies.
Journal Prompt
What kind of music do I love to listen to? Can I attribute certain feelings to different genres?
“All vibrations are characterized by rhythm, a repeated, regular pattern of movement through time and space. These rhythmical patterns are deeply ingrained functions of our consciousness. The turning of the seasons, the diurnal rhythms of night and day, the cycles of the moon, women’s menstruation, the movement of breath, and the constant beating of our hearts are a few examples. No living thing escapes these rhythms. Rhythm, like change, is a fundamental aspect of all life and consciousness.” Anodea Judith
We all encounter dissonance daily – when our thoughts or actions don’t mesh with our ideals, and throws off our rhythm. “So in order to return to that place of harmony, you’ve got a choice: You can change your beliefs, change your actions, or change how you viewed your actions.” – Psychology World
Journal Prompt
Describe your style of communication. Do I get to the point or do I beat around the bush?
When I was growing up, how did my family communicate? How do I think that affects how I communicate today?
How do you express yourself best? Writing, Art, Clothing, Speaking?
Knowing my history and my desires, what are 3 ways I can express what lies in my heart?
Who is your favorite person to talk to? Why?
So we have discussed how vibration, sound, and resonance all weave into our construct of our physical and mental beings. Where we put our bodies in space matters; how we treat that body mentally and physically needs to be part of a rhythm that allows high vibrations in order to liberate and manifest your desires. Lastly we will discuss forms of communication.
Journal Prompt: What is the first step I need to take to express my goals?
The following video is a reminder of what is happening around us every moment of every day. A reminder of how much of society is trying to influence our minds, and why it is so important to have a firm grasp on your awareness as an individual.
Have you been curious what the “seed sounds” are in the daily charts? Today they are finally revealed.
Whenever you have the time, there is an inspired story by Roald Dahl, the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Matilda. This is from a book of his more adult stories, though if I remember right the story is suitable for children. It speaks to the great power of practicing to focus the mind.
I have 3 more activities for you today:
2. On your yoga mat: tip your body upside down, shake down any loose change, any feelings you need to see. Come into Shoulder Stand, repeating HAM until you are satisfied.
3. Teach someone else the Sushumna Breathing Activation. Teaching is the best way to cement the act into your subconscious! You got this! Drink from above like a straw, fill your cavities with blue/white light of oxygen, drink in till it is pouring down into the earth. Now fill up from below, breathing in the grounding energy, till it is suspended in the clouds above.Now with rotating breaths, in and out from the sky to the ground to the sky. Making sure you are filled in every dimension with energized light. Think HAM while you and your partner breathe silently together.
Okay ya’ll that wraps us up for Chakra 5: Throat Chakra
Take care of yourself out in the world. I know things are not getting any easier with the COVID19 crisis. We are in this for the long haul. Take this time you might have to keep developing yourself. You have so much to offer the world; please do yourself the justice of finding how you can make your life more resonant, and not add misinterpreted noise.
Conclusions for Throat Chakra: Speak, express, radiate harmonious vibrations to elevate personal and collective consciousness. Transform your inner desires into communicable actions.
A little bonus: Listen to this meditation frequency as you drift to sleep tonight. It definitely gelled with my subconscious…slipping away into the ether.
I truly am grateful for your curious energy in the world and I wish you nothing but success.
With Health and Happiness we go,
Kaitlin
4/23/2020
Resources:
https://www.everydayhealth.com/neurology/cognitive-dissonance/real-life-examples-how-we-react/
https://practical-balance.com/
https://www.neurocorecenters.com/blog/depression-anxiety-stresseffects-of-stress-anxiety-on-brain
I didn’t have a good place to put this video but it was so interesting to see this guy’s compilation of how to create a “choir harmony” in recrording music. I mean that software is beyond my comprehension, and so cool.