What & Where
Vishuddha—means
purification. The laryngeal chakra is the 5th, and covers the area of the neck and shoulders and includes the external and
internal throat, teeth and jaw. The
glandular association is the thyroid and parathyroid.
Main Function
After coming
to terms with ourselves and how we relate to others, which is the purview of
the lower chakras, we come to the realm of Vishuddha. This is where we are ready to give something
back to the world in terms of creativity.
It is important to support our children’s creativity and practice
effective means of communication in order to help the child achieve good
self-esteem and communication skills.
The chakra
relates to verbal expression of oneself through careful, responsible selection
of the words we use. This isn't about
idle chit-chat although this does have a place in communication. Balancing this chakra requires a deep
commitment to the truth, as well as living from integrity. When balanced you are filled with strength
and the energy path is cleared to the upper spiritual chakras. Developing the Throat Chakra leads to the
expression of oneself by choosing words that are value added to communications.
This chakra
is also directly related to hearing/listening.
It is the active listening that one associates with a good
communicator. The person with a balanced
throat chakra will listen to what is being said with their full attention. They will not be trying to formulate their
response while others are talking. The
response will be based on thoughtful, responsible selection of word, and the
response will be pertinent to the issue at hand.
This chakra,
when balanced, allows us to communicate our truth to other people, and in turn
allowing others to communicate their truth to us and know that we heard their
words. Other qualities of this chakra
are creativity, willpower, truth and communication. When the chakra is open and balance the life
force moves toward creativity and self-expression.
The
archetypes associated of this chakra are the Communicator and the Masked Self
or Silent Child. The Communicator has
worked on the lower chakras and balanced them.
They are effective listeners and “hear” what others say. They know that if others do not “hear” them
it is because the other person has not effectively opened their throat chakra,
and the failure is not a reflection of their ability to communicate. The Masked Self is the class clown, always
working on getting the laughs, and taking an unrealistically positive view of
things. In reality they are attempting
to hide the tragedy of the feeling that no one loves them or will listen to
them. The Silent Child is also an
archetype of this chakra. The silent
child has not been allowed to communicate their feelings effectively, and
therefore suppress emotions and communication.
The balanced
Throat Chakra nurtures a belief in the sanctity of personal expression. This chakra becomes functional when we commit
to expressing our truth to the best of our ability. An essential practice is that we make what we
say matter; we need not suppress needed communication even if it is
hurtful. Conversely there is no need to
speak words that are shallow and hurtful, when they serve no useful
purpose. It is balanced communication that
heals this chakra.
If we grew up
or are growing up in a family that put down what we said, then speaking up for
ourselves is important to us.
Communicating from the depth of our integrity gives us credibility and
constancy and defines mature adults who can be trusted and mean what they say.
Mantras and the Chakras
The fifth
chakra is about sound and its impact on humans, whether we are making or
hearing these sounds.
“The essence
of all beings is earth, the essence of earth is water, the essence of water is
plants, the essence of plants is man, the essence of man is speech, the essence
of speech is the Holy Knowledge, the essence of Holy Knowledge is Sama-Veda
(word, tome, sound), the essence of Sama-Veda is OM” –Changogya Upanishad
This verse
from the Upanishad gives a good reason why sounds are so important to
people. Have you ever noticed how
different music can affect your mood?
This is because the basic rhythms are uplifting, mournful, relaxing, or
aggravating spinning off many different emotions. They affect the very core of your being, and
can change your mood; it also has similar effect on our spiritual being. This is why mantras and affirmations have
such positive affects on us. The
following linked websites have some information on mantras and affirmations.
Did you
wonder why music affects my mood? We
live in a vibrational universe. Matter
is made up of various groupings and combinations of atoms with their orbiting
electrons and protons, all of which oscillate about each other in a
positive-negative vibratory movement, maintaining a fixed magnetic spacing from
each other. When music plays, it will
impact our current bodily vibrations. If
the music is happy and energetic so are we; if it is slow and relaxed we are
also; if it is hectic, sad, morose these moods transfer also. That is why
dirges at funerals processions to the cemetery are played, and why it is
followed by the upbeat jazz celebration music. On is the morose music suitable
for interment of the body, but this is not a good place to leave a person,
thus, the jazz celebration leaving the cemetery which is a much better spot to
leave ones vibrations.
Another
school of thought says that our bodies contain lots of water, and vibration
travels better through water than through air.
The music is not only heard, but it sets up a vibration in the body that
can affect the mood.
In either
event music does affect breathing, heart rate, blood pressure and many other
autonomic processes of the body. The
vibrations impact our mood regardless of the mechanism. I think that both of these schools of thought
have legitimate stances, and I expect they are both in operation when we listen
to the music.
This sound
vibration is what also makes the mantras mind altering. We set up a vibration that affects the
aspects of body, mind and spirit. I
think that vibration is what melds all of our aspects together, and why they
affect each other. See the article here.
Bodily Functions
The related
body parts are throat, ears, nose, teeth, mouth, larynx and neck. The glandular association is the thyroid and
parathyroid. Related health issues are
soar throat, laryngitis, TMJ (temporomandibular joint syndrome), cervical spine
problems, bruxism-teeth grinding, slow or too fast metabolism, over-weight.
Over Active Throat Chakra
Talk too
much, dogmatic, arrogant, loud speaking voice, obnoxious communication
patterns.
Under active
Unable to
communicate effectively, difficulty speaking, fear of speaking ones mind,
wishy-washy on their view, unreliable.
Balanced
Effective
communication, good listener, reliable, can meditate easily, artistically
inspired as related to art forms with the voice, able to express oneself.
Activities to Balance the Throat Chakra
Answer these
questions:
- How willingly do you share your truth with
others?
- How willing are you to listen to other people's truths?
- Do you say what you feel?
- Do you know that it is important to have personal
integrity?
- Do you do what you say you will do?
- Do you honor “your” truth?
- Do you listen to yourself and “know” what your truth
is?
- Where do you channel your creativity?
- What creative activity do you enjoy?
Create your own Litany of I AM.
Symbol
The symbol is
a Lotus with 16 petals, containing a downward pointing triangle, with the
full-moon circle with in the triangle.
The petals have the Sanskrit letters that represent the vowel
sounds. The elephant is the animal
symbol used here.
