Beginner’s Guide to Chakras: Throat Chakra

What are Chakras?

Before I tell you more about the throat chakra, let me first clarify what a chakra is. Have you ever heard someone mention chakras but never really knew exactly what it meant? Well you’re not alone, many people find them esoteric and elusive, and unfortunately miss out on all the benefits of knowing about chakras and how they work. Chakra literally means wheel, and represents energy “wheels”, along the spinal column. Ultimately the 7 chakra system is a philosophy related to human consciousness, behavior, and enlightenment. Each chakra represents a wheelhouse of propelling life energy (also called pranayama), going in and coming out, focused on 7 different domains of human psyche and existence. Chakra philosophy originates back 4,000 years ago in India, and has been incorporated into many traditions and philosophies including yoga, meditation, Ayurveda, and most recently within western psychology. This blog series serves to give you a beginner’s guide to the 7 main chakras most widely acknowledged.

Chakra Five: The Throat Chakra, Vissudha

OVERVIEW

The fifth chakra is called Vissudha, or The Throat Chakra. This energy force is located in our neck and throat area. Each chakra is represented by a color, and the fifth chakra’s color is blue.

Seek the Truth and Transcend Traditional

The throat chakra relies on our ability to know our own truth and have an ability to express that truth. The energy in this wheelhouse asks us to question and fortify our beliefs in order to truly resonate with our truth. This harmony creates an internal continuity represented by many aligned vibrations. Hence the element for this chakra is sound, an etheric vibration. Once we are able to know our truth, then the need to creatively express the truth of who are becomes paramount. As we move up the chakra system we move from containing, to knowing, and to loving ourselves and the fifth chakra continues that development into expressing ourselves by consciously creating something that has never existed before. Transcending from traditional to innovative, creativity allows us to offer a piece of ourselves to the universe that never existed before.

The throat chakra is also involves the other side of communication which is listening, and not just expressing. The basic right of this chakra is to speak and be heard, parallels the vibrational element of sound, and speaks to the focus on resonating internally and externally with harmony.

Moving away from the more tangible elements of the lower chakras, the fifth chakra begins the shift into ether and vibrations, leading us into the higher chakras. As this is the beginning of the transcendence chakras, the energy that meets here coming up from the lower chakras and down from the higher chakras represents the meeting and connection between mind and body. Therefore balancing the issues that arise from this chakra are important to have harmony between mind and body.

LIVE IN YOUR TRUTH

The Throat Chakra allows us to examine our relationship to self-expression, truth, and conscious creativity. Balancing this chakra will help you harness your ability to use your voice and express your truth. The throat chakra is heavily influenced by our ability to resonate with the internal and external vibrations in your life to create peace and harmony.  

Each wheel can either live in balance or imbalance, and this is reflected by our behaviors, thoughts, emotions, and traumas related to each chakra’s wheelhouse. Take a look at how our lives are affected when the Throat Chakra’s energy is in balance (meaning the energy going into the wheel is balanced by what is coming out) versus when it is imbalanced.

Balancing the Chakras

If you find that you identify with some of the qualities of the fifth chakra when it is imbalanced here are some things you can do to bring balance to this chakra:

Meditation:

• Repeat a mantra when meditating to work on balancing this chakra using sound.
  • You can try Dhanya Vad (sounds like Dahnya Vahd) which means “I feel gratitude” or make up your own mantra.
• Set an intention for your meditation to expand your ability to express your true self.
• Try Ujjayi breath when meditating and focus on the sound. Click here to learn about Ujjiayai Breathing. http://www.chopra.com/ccl/learn-the-ujjayi-breath-an-ancient-yogic-breathing-technique

Yoga Poses:

• Upward Facing Dog
• Shoulder Stand
• Plough
• Camel Pose
• Lion Pose

Psychotherapy:

• Learn communication skills
• Work on your inner dialog
• Work on finding your voice
• Process issues of trust and honesty

*** I offer an 8 week Mindfulness Based Therapy Program that addresses such issues, click here for more information ***
– Tiffany is a holistic psychotherapist providing counseling in Woodland Hills (West Valley). She specializes in women’s empowerment related to self-esteem, self-confidence, and relationship issues. Her writing, public speaking, and teaching endeavors are dedicated to helping others elevate consciousness and well-being. Find out more about Tiffany by clicking here