Chakras for Beginners: The Throat Chakra

Thank you for your patience my friends! In the fifth (and much anticipated) entry in this series (scroll to the end to see the first four) we're talking about the throat chakra. 

As mentioned before, chakra means ‘wheel’ and in yogic philosophy a chakra is a point in the body where energy comes together on its journey through the body (from bottom to top); a meeting point, if you like. We cannot see them, or feel them with our hands, but each is responsible for a different part of our mind, body or soul. Yogis believe that all of your chakras must be unblocked/aligned/opened in order for you to reach the state of 'Samadhi' or 'transcendental bliss' through meditation. If you have a blocked chakra you will never be able to leave the physical world (i.e. your body) through meditation.

In practical terms, think of the chakras like Maslow's hierarchy of needs; you cannot feel completely satisfied, happy or healthy if your chakras are not aligned/fulfilled.

In this series of 7 posts I'll be covering the basic elements of each of the chakras and how knowledge and awareness of those chakras may be able to help you in your day to day life.

So let's get started:

The Throat Chakra

The fifth chakra is the throat chakra, located at the centre of the neck. This chakra is related to your sense of expression, ability to communicate and speak the truth. When we talk about truth and the throat chakra we are not just referring to not telling lies, but the ability to live and speak your truth...i.e. your true authentic voice. While the heart chakra is the place where we discover our 'true self', the throat chakra is the place from which we express it. Looking at the neck, compared to the chest, it is slimmer and there is less space within the body for this energy to sit, so if the heart chakra is particularly over-active you may struggle releasing all the energy through the throat chakra because of the 'bottleneck'.

Those with a balanced throat chakra will be able to express themselves clearly, and not necessarily verbally, while those with imbalances may struggle with self-expression, or saying how they really feel.

This chakra is also associated with emotions, just like the sacral chakra; hence the idea of feeling a 'lump in your throat' when feeling sadness or fear.

If you struggle with confidence, public speaking or have difficulty feeling connected with who you are truly meant to be then this can point to throat chakra weakness or imbalance.

What are the symptoms?

An unbalanced or blocked heart chakra will cause various symptoms, including, but not limited to:

• Lack of control over one’s speech
• Poor listener
• Excessive fear of speaking
• Small, imperceptible voice
• Difficulty communicating your feelings
• Excessive secretiveness or shyness
• Lack of connection with a vocation or purpose in life
• Headaches
• Pain or tension in the jaw or neck
• Chronic sore throat
• Mouth ulcers
• Dental issues
• Teeth-grinding

Yogis believe that certain asanas (postures) can help to release tension and blockages in the chakras, just as they do in the muscles. Any postures which stretch out the throat and expose this area will help heal imbalances:

• Heart openers such as cobra, bow pose, camel
• Upward plank/table-top pose
• Puppy pose
• Chin stand

So what about off the mat?

According to the science of Ayurveda eating blue foods can help (blue is the colour of the chakra) as well a meditating on the colour blue, singing, drinking water & always trying to tell the truth with love.

If you're in Brussels and want to know more...I'll be running an Introduction to the Chakras Workshop at Corpus Studios on 27th May 2018. You can book online at www.corpusstudios.com