THE THROAT OR VISHUDDA CHAKRA
The throat or Vishudda chakra is located at the center of the throat at the level of a man’s Adam’s apple In Sanskrit, Vishudda means “pure” or “purification”. It is the passage of the energy between the lower parts of the body and the head.
The Throat chakra is associated with the following psychological and behavioral characteristics:
· Expression, ability to express your truth, to speak out
· Communication, whether it’s verbal or non-verbal, external or internal
· Connection with the etheric realm, the subtler realms of spirit and intuitive abilities
· Propensity to create, projecting ideas and blueprints into reality
· Realizing your vocation, purpose
· Good sense of timing
Function: Tell your truth
Basic right: To express
Basic need: Express truth
Related Organs: The thyroid, parathyroid gland, neck, jaw, upper lungs, mouth, and throat.
Color: Sky-blue
Sound: HAM (HHHAAAMMM)
Musical note: G
Frequency: 384 Hz
Element: Ether
Energy: Communication, Creation
Animal: White Elephant (Hindu), Blue-Throated, Hummingbird, Butterfly, Wolf, Birds – especially blue birds and jays, Whale – especially the blue whale, Giraffe.
The Vishudda chakra harmonies the mental and the emotions. It allows the expression of our joy, excitement, sadness through exteriorization of those feeling laughter, creams, tears…
The function of the Throat chakra is driven by the principle of expression and communication. It resonates with self-expression and honest communication. This is the chakra to focus on if you are feeling withdrawn and can’t speak from a place of truth.
The through chakra also channels and store the universal force of Ether. Through the development of the 6th chakra, one can feed from universal energy.
Note that this chakra has a natural connection with the second chakra or sacral chakra, center of emotions and creativity as well. The throat chakra’s emphasis is on expressing and projecting the creativity into the world according to its perfect form or authenticity.
Another function of the throat chakra is to connect you to spirit. Because of its location, it’s often seen as the “bottleneck” of the movement of energy in the body. It sits just before the upper chakras of the head. Working with Vishudda can significantly help align your vision with reality and release pressure that may affect the heart chakra that is located just below.
Finally, the throat chakra is associated with the etheric body, which is said to hold the blueprint or perfect template of the other dimensions of the body. It’s an important reference point to align the energy through the whole chakra system.
Throat Chakra Symbol
A blue 16 petals lotus in which is inscribed a downward-pointing triangle interlaced with a circle.
The throat chakra’s symbol meaning is one of sound, wisdom, and consciousness. Associated with the element of ether (or Akasha), the throat chakra is governed by Brahma, the Hindu god of creation and wisdom.
The downward facing triangles represents the air element and its all-encompassing quality. They also symbolize the union of seemingly opposite principles or types of energies, such as male and female, spirit and matter. The star that they form evokes the harmonious joining of forces and highlights the function of the heart chakra as a center of integration and connection.
The circle represents the element of aether (what fill up the universe, what essentially feel up the vacuum of space).
Throat Chakra Mantra
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I communicate with ease
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I can clearly state my needs
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I am always able to find the right words
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I communicate with others confidently
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I can speak my truth with ease
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My voice is heard
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My truth is love
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I am comfortable in silence
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I set clear boundaries
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I am always understood
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I am a compassionate listener
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I am an active listener
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I am the authority in my world
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I create speech that reflects my loving thoughts
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I vocalize my feelings
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I vocalize my feelings
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I am balanced in speaking and listening
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I release doubt over what I say or didn’t say
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I have an important voice in the world
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I claim and honor my true voice
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My thoughts are positive, and I always express myself truthfully and clearly. My voice is heard
Symptoms when the Throat chakra is in balance
When the throat chakra is open, you will find your voice, expressing yourself easily and clearly both verbally and nonverbally.
You will feel compassionate and easily share the pain of others.
You may take pleasure in singing and whistling. Sound may seem to have magical qualities to it and certain sounds will easily transport you into a delightfully altered, expanded consciousness. You will be a lover of music, perhaps making your own, either writing music or playing instruments.
With no difficulty in expressing your point of view, you will easily take a stand on issues of importance to you and be known as a person who speaks their truth.
A quick thinker and articulate speaker, you will be excited by ideas and take pleasure in the matching of wits with others in debate.
The thyroid gland acts as the body’s “accelerator pedal.” It speeds up the metabolic rate and the rate of chemical reactions inside cells, and this powerfully influences your energy level.
When this chakra is open, and the thyroid is healthy, you will easily maintain your ideal body weight without the need to carefully monitor what you eat, and you will generally feel full of energy and motivation.
Symptoms when the Throat chakra is out of balance
If the fifth chakra is blocked or closed, you will find difficulty expressing your ideas and opinions. Speaking in front of people will make you nervous and writing will be difficult and frustrating.
You will avoid taking a firm stand or position on controversial subjects, usually waiting for someone else to lead the way. Once someone else has articulated a firm position, you will tend to agree with that person and adopt the point of view as your own.
You may change your mind a lot about many things, so that it is hard for others to know what you believe in. Because you are much more comfortable when everyone agrees with each other, disagreements, discussions, and even friendly arguments may frighten you. You may speak either very softly or very loudly, or you may mumble a lot.
You may be apologetic for what you say, or you may end many of your sentences with a rise in inflection, thus turning each one into a question, even when you are stating a fact.
You may have a distinct preference for feeling and be distrustful of what you consider to be an overemphasis upon thinking.
Symptoms of excessive energy in the Throat chakra:
You speak too freely and openly, bordering on dictatorial or offensive, or you tend to be a poor listener. You tend to aggressively push your opinions onto others. You continuously feel ignored or misunderstood by others. You tend to be over-opinionated.
Symptoms of deficient energy in the Throat chakra:
You feel insecure, timid, and have an introversion tendency. You struggle to verbalize your thoughts. You find it difficult to be honest with yourself and others. You feel nervous when trying to share your opinions. You struggle with miscommunication in your relationships. You keep a lot of secrets from others for fear of not being accepted. You feel anxious during conversations. You find it hard to be your authentic self. You feel almost paralyzed when doing public speaking. You often enter restrictive relationships that don’t allow you to voice your thoughts and feelings without getting criticized. Your voice frequently cracks or sounds thin.
When this chakra is blocked, you may find that it is challenging to control your weight even though you pay careful attention to what and how much you eat.
The parathyroid glands control calcium in the blood. If you are having problems with osteoporosis, loss of bone density with aging (most familiar with the onset of menopause in women), you may wish to concentrate on opening this chakra.
TOOLS TO UNBLOCK AND BALANCE THE THROAT OR VISHUDDA CHAKRA
Gems & mineral: Aqua aura quartz, amazonite, angelite, celestite, turquoise.
Herbs: Coltsfoot, blackberry, elderberry, common sage, salt, lemongrass, bay laurel, chamomile, eucalyptus, geranium.
Essential oil: Petitgrain, blue hamomile, bay laurel, blue yarrow, Peru balsam, fir balsam.
Below are some of the healing activities you can perform to heal and activate the Vishudda Chakra:
- Sound healing. Sound healing therapy is perfectly suited to purifying the throat chakra. Instruments such as singing bowls, gongs, and tuning forks influence us on a cellular level due to the particular vibrations they transmit.
- Start journaling your thoughts. If you are struggling with verbalizing your thoughts and feelings, try to record them in a private journal. Make a daily practice of documenting how you feel. Let your thoughts and feelings flow freely through your pen or keyboard.
- Listen carefully. If your throat chakra is receiving an excessive amount of energy, you may struggle with dominating conversations and ignoring other people. This habit may get you into a lot of trouble with your friends, family members, partner or colleagues. To break the habit, practice breathing into your belly (as mentioned above) and listening carefully to what the other person is saying.
- Screaming and laughing catharsis. Catharsis is a powerful energy releasing technique which will help you purify your throat chakra. A lot of stagnant energy tends to build in our bodies when we can’t communicate clearly. Release your frustration through laughing or screaming. When practiced regularly, both practices will help you to feel more confident expressing yourself in a healthy way.
- Clear blocks with yoga. Balance your throat chakra by doing yoga stretches such as the fish, lion, and plow pose. You might also like to try rolling your neck around gently to stimulate blood flow.
Sing to yourself. Singing is a beautiful way to gently open the throat chakra.
- Drink pure water. Pure and clean water is essential for your throat chakra health. If you suspect that your water is polluted with contaminants such as fluoride and chlorine, consider investing in a water filter.
- Spend time in silence. As counterintuitive as it may seem, spending time in silence can help you tune into your subtle inner voice. By allowing your inner voice to emerge, you will strengthen your throat chakra. Yogis often take vows of silence to help them communicate more freely with higher consciousness.
- Get a neck massage. Neck massages are so soothing and calming as they help to redistribute the energy trapped in your neck.
Practice being assertive. When you learn how to say “no” and speak up about your needs, you feel empowered. Assertiveness is a throat chakra skill that anyone can learn, no matter how timid you feel.
Yoga (Asana) Poses
The throat and neck are the narrowest point in our body, and much like a bottleneck, feeling (i.e. emotions) can get stuck here. Try poses that help to open and massage the area, such as Sarvangasana (shoulder stand) and Matsyendrasana (fish). Or if you’re after a gentler practice, simple rotation neck exercises are very effective for bringing balance to the throat chakra.
Sarvangasana (shoulder stand)
Matsyendrasana (fish)
First Exercise to balance your Throat chakra
1. Alone or with a partner, make chanting sounds.
2. Work your voice up and down the octave scale. The sound HAM (long vowel aaaaa) is a good one to use.
3. You may experiment with closing your eyes and visualizing blue as you chant.
4. If you are with a partner, bring your chanting into harmony with each other.
Second Exercise to balance your Throat chakra
1. Seat down comfortably, back straight, eyes closes and breathe deeply a few times through the nose. Let go and relax.
2. Concentrate on the Vishudda for a minute and then visualize it surrounded by blue of an absolute purity. Keep this visualization for three minutes. Then, take a deep breath while imagining that energy is penetrating this chakra and breath out while imagining that all the impurities of this chakra are getting out. Repeat this entire process as may time as you feel it’s necessary.
3. Once you feel that you have completed the cleaning process chant the mantra “HAM” seven times.
4. End the process by offering great gratitude toward this chakra.
Third Exercise to balance your Throat chakra
Mindfulness Meditation. You can meditate on this chakra just by listening, without thinking… you try to listen to your inner voice.
You may not hear anything at first but if you persist, you will hear your inner wisdom. We sometime call it the voice of silence as it is soft and subtle. Once you heard it, your entire body will shiver.
EXPLORE THE CHAKRA SYSTEM
Root Chakra
Foundation of stability and security; connects us to the physical world.
Heart Chakra
Nurtures love, compassion, harmony, and emotional balance; connects us to unconditional love and healing.
Sacral Chakra
Emotional center. Enhances intuition, perception, and inner guidance; brings clarity and heightened senses.
Throat Chakra
Communication, self-expression, truth, creativity, and the ability to speak and listen with authenticity.
Solar Plexus Chakra
Empowers personal power, confidence, willpower, and manifestation; ignites inner strength and transformation.
Third Eye Chakra
Intuition, perception, inner wisdom, spiritual awareness, and the ability to see beyond the physical.
Crown Chakra
Divine connection, higher consciousness, spiritual enlightenment, unity, and transcendence of the self.