Weekly Tidbit: Opening the Throat Chakra

Chakras are centers for receiving, processing and transmitting the energies of life, often visualized as spinning vortexes. The throat chakra relates specifically to communication, to speaking and being heard. It is the energetic repository of all the messages we have ever heard about our rights and our abilities to communicate. "Children should be seen and not heard.... What a beautiful voice you have..... I really like talking to you...... You're just shy..... Don't talk back...... Don't say that...... Thank you for letting me know....... You don't know what you are talking about...". This fifth chakra also has on tape all the different styles of communication that we were exposed to growing up, from the grunts and raised voices to whispers and silence. You could look at it as a computer disk with the programs of your beliefs based on your experiences. Your consciousness would then be the operating system and your unconscious mind the central processing unit.

Between social constraints and models, family dynamics, lack of education, and fear, many of us struggle with communication. Where this is most evident is in our relationships, both with ourselves and with others. Keep in mind that the ability to self express to another implies that you either know something about yourself or are willing to know something about yourself, and that you are willing to share that perspective with another. Openness to discovery, the willingness to know and be known, is an important part of this. Our desire for safety and certainty and our need to be right can interfere with the freedom of energy flow needed for open communication.

When energy is inhibited, it tends to either find a way around the obstacle, push through it, or it becomes stagnant. Stuck energy starts to shut us down and can invite illness. Pushing through or forcing a path connects into our solar plexus chakra (our power source) and our ego gets involved. That can be really great, or it can get very complicated. Finding a way around (creative expression) frees the energy, engages the heart and brow (intuition) chakras and invites us to feel good, to enjoy.

So one way out of struggling with communication issues is to explore your creative voice in an activity that makes you vibrate with joy or contentment. Cultivate that joyful expression and that level of vibration will literally start to loosen those stuck places in your fifth chakra.

So here are some ideas to open up your throat chakra and get those energies flowing:

--- Express gratitude out loud; thank someone for something you appreciate about them

--- Smile, laugh (research indicates that moving those facial muscles changes our biochemistry!)

--- Kiss (see smile above....  and then some); kiss the sky, a horse, someone you love.....

--- Sing, dance, make music

--- Write in a journal; use your words, play with them, make friends with them, see what they look like

--- Read out loud, to yourself or to others

---  Create something: knit, draw, build, design

--- Join a group that talks, practice speaking your truth in a safe place

--- Imagine yourself being who you are instead of who you think you are supposed to be

--- Savor a meal, small, slow bites, delighting in each one

--- Visualize blue or turquoise energy swirling in a counterclockwise direction over your throat to release stuck energy, and then see it swirling clockwise to reboot  or rebuild this chakra in balance and harmony (complete Chakra Balancing Experiences are available)

--- Talk to someone you trust to really listen to you