Chakra of the week: Vishuddha

 

DISCLAIMER:

I am by no means an expert on each chakra, and I don't know everything. I have read extensively and taken an online course through a Jain instructor. This is just a general outline with a couple tips I've learned from experience. Please do your own research on top of this, because our practices are all different. 

Three more to go! Today, we are on my favorite one: Vishuddha or Throat Chakra

What is the Vishuddha Chakra?

As always: A chakra is a sphere of energy in our astral body that is connected to a place in our physical body.

The Vishuddha Chakra is located in the part of the spinal cord behind your throat. It's connected with communication, as it is close to the vocal cords.

The symbol is a 16 petaled lotus flower surrounding a downward pointing triangle with a white circle inside. The circle represents ether or air, the element surrounding the chakra.

Element

The Element surrounding the Vishudda Chakra is space. Space is the capacity of an object or area. For example, if a glass is half full of water, half is air and the other half is water. The capacity of the glass (the air and water) is the space element.

When I meditate on this chakra, I often think of the sky. The blue of the sky is reflected in the color. After I visualize the sky, I expand the visual to the environment I'm in. If my space is calm, I am calm and more capable of handling strong emotions.

Color

The color associated with the Vishuddha is a bright or sky blue. We know Chakras don't have colors, but the color associated with it is blue. This is because space reflects the prominent colors around, and sky blue is the most present color.

Diet

Warm foods help with the heart chakra as well. Eat foods that soothe the throat. Soup and tea are highly recommended. I like green soups and mint tea with honey. When you hold tension in your throat, this chakra doesn't work as well.

Signs of imbalance

The Vishuddha chakra is associated with gratitude and communication. If you struggle to express yourself or perhaps hold grudges because you can't communicate, then this chakra is probably blocked. Throat issues are also common.

A balanced chakra

A balanced Vishuddha chakra results in a good communicator. It's easy to express yourself and your needs. You feel more grateful for what you have.

To balance the chakra, meditate chanting the seed sound: Ham (pronounced hangm). Space is the element associated with it, and meditation is one of the strongest tools you can have. When your space is balanced through meditation you feel calmer in daily life. By space, I mean the bubble you live in. You can have a calm space in a chaotic world, and that makes all the difference. I don't mean that you should always be calm. Emotions are a necessary part of being and are connected with a lower chakra, indicating the foundational need to feel. A calm space allows you to pause and truly understand the emotions you are experiencing. Or if you are in a high stress situation, a calm space allows you to pause until you are in a safe place to truly feel.

A while ago, I was did a meditation practice where I expressed gratitude for three things every day for a week. During that time, I noticed there was a tension in my throat. I hadn't exercised my throat chakra in so long, I had a sore throat for a month as it was adjusting to it's newfound use. Sometimes as a chakra heals, it causes discomfort. Healing is a process.

Yoga poses that stretch or bend the neck area are very helpful, like the shoulder stand pose or the plow pose.