Yoga Nidra to Hear Your Sound

The throat chakra or Vishuddha was the focus for classes this week.  We tried to let go of all other distractions in order to focus on the sound that we know is truly and purely our own . . . . the sound of our breath.  With all of the noise around us, the opinions that are constantly thrown at us (from society, the news, politicians, Facebook, etc.), and people trying to influence us both consciously and unconsciously, it's sometimes hard to sort through the sounds, thoughts and voices in our head and know which one is truly our own.  Yes, conscious breathing helps to calm and centre us, but it also helps to connect us to ourself and our own unique vibration.  This sound that we produce is just waiting to be shared and wants to be heard. 

Express Yourself

Earth, water, fire, and air are elements that most of us are familiar with.  The 5^th chakra, or the throat chakra is associated with the element of ether.   Ether is related to the concept of vibrations and is said to be the stuff that angels are made of.  While the heart chakra acted as a bridge between the tangible and intangible, the throat chakra tends to act as a gateway from the physical world to that of the spiritual.

In Sanskrit, the throat chakra is referred to as “Vishuddha” which loosely translated means to purify.  It is represented by the colour sky blue and is located at the neck or throat.  When working with this energy centre, it is largely about communication and expression.  What do you say?  What do you hear?  Can you purify your thoughts and recognize what thoughts are truly yours and what thoughts came from elsewhere?  When you express yourself, are you sharing what is true to you, or are you expressing what you think others want to hear?  Do you truly listen to what others say to you and what you say to yourself, or are you filtering the information and perceiving it from a certain slanted point of view?  Lots of heavy work and soul searching comes along when focusing on this throat chakra! 

Tune in to Your Sounds

How do you communicate?  Are you direct?  Do you choose your words carefully?  What feeling do you try to convey?  Often when thinking about communication, we have a tendency to focus on the output - what was expressed out whether it was through words, music, illustration, etc.  We’re not as apt to think about the process.  A big part of communication, however, is the listening.  Do you really acknowledge what others are saying?  Do you recognize what you are saying to yourself?  Do you notice where these words that form in your head as thoughts come from (are they truly yours or are they coming from elsewhere)?  This area of communication is the realm of Vishuddha, which is also referred to as the throat or fifth chakra.

Embraced by Ether

From the love of the heart, we move our focus this week to the throat chakra.   The throat chakra, or Vishuddha (purification) is the 5^th step in our chakra ladder.  This chakra is in charge of communication – external communication and how we express our ideas, but also (and maybe more importantly) our internal communication and how we talk to ourselves or how we receive our ideas that we want to express out and share with the world. 

Vishuddha is located at the throat, which is the narrowest part of our body along the spine.  This chakra is often seen as a gateway or doorway to our upper more spiritual chakras.  The element associated with this chakra is ether.  No one can really 

I SPEAK

As we learned last time, the heart chakra is where all our answers to any question we may have lie.  The fifth chakra, or throat chakra is about accessing this information.  It’s the place where we discover what is on the inside, so we can express it out to the outside world.  The throat chakra is in charge of communication, and often when we think about communication, we are focused on the words we are expressing out.  But, a large part of this energy center is being still and silent and listening deeply to weed through the voices and sounds that are inside us to discover which ones are truly ours (our own personal truth) and which ones have been put in there by other people.  The following are a few ways to feed our throat chakra in order to help us find that stillness and allow us to access our inner sounds.         

Can You Hear Me

 Many people carry tension in their neck, shoulders, jaw or all of the above.  This is the domain of Vishuddha or the throat chakra.  Why is this such a problem area for most of us?  “Our modern world bombards us with dissonance – vibrations that we tune out of our conscious mind while our body and nervous system continue to endure” Anodea Judith.  Not only are we surrounded by constant, insignificant noise on the outside, but we are encouraged from a young age to ignore the very thing on the inside that we should be listening for – our inner voice.  We are trained to “fit in,” avoid being different, and to look outside of ourselves for not only the causes of problems in our lives, but also to find the solutions.  As we are growing up, we are taught to believe that “somebody/something” else knows what is best for our lives.  We are not taught to trust our own internal wisdom. 

Listen Up

The next stop on our chakra journey brings us to the throat chakra.  While the heart chakra was a bridge between our earthly connections and our divine world, the throat is a gateway between our inner world and our outer world.  By entering and going through this gate, we enter into “the symbolic world of the mind.  Words, images, and thoughts . . . “ Anodea Judith become most important here for us.  It’s more about intangible things and concepts that may be more difficult for us to grasp, yet can have the biggest impact on the course of our lives.