The Throat Chakra

An article by Cari Cole    No Comments

Hey singers! With a new year dawning it’s time to start getting your list of New Year resolutions in order and among the list somewhere alongside vocal health and expression is the throat chakra. Last newsletter I wrote about vocal health and balance. We discussed how vocal balance is about avoiding certain foods and activities that cause strain. Among the other things that improve vocal tone and clarity, clear communication and vocal clarity reside in the throat chakra.

In Hinduism and its spiritual systems of yoga and in some related eastern cultures, a chakra is thought to be an energy node in the human body.  Each chakra is associated with a certain color, multiple specific functions, an aspect of consciousness, a classical element, and other distinguishing characteristics.

The throat chakra is the chakra of expression. Situated at your throat and vocal cords, unexpressed emotion and frustrations can cause problems in this chakra. Singers can get their throat chakras in better balance by clearing up tension and “stuck” energy (*see suggestions below). The throat chakra is the fifth chakra. It’s color is blue and it governs our expression.

FIFTH CHAKRA: THROAT CHAKRA

Location: Neck, throat area above collarbone.
Color: Blue
Element: The higher expression of all signs.
Functions: Communication center, acting to provide the energy for, and the understanding of, both verbal and mental communications.
Glands/Organs: thyroid gland, throat and jaw areas, alimentary canal, lungs, vocal cords, and the breath.
Gems/minerals: Aquamarine, Turquoise, Chalcedony, Chrysocolla.
Foods: fruit.
Associated aromas: Sage, eucalyptus.
Sensory function: Hearing.
Qualities/lessons:  “The gateway to the Higher Consciousness and the gateway through which the emotions contained on the heart must pass to become balanced and harmonized. Open, clear communication of feelings and thoughts. Creativity, speaking up, releasing, healing.
Negative qualities: Uptight, low self-esteem, low self confidence, hostility, anger, resentment.”
©Angel Gate Creations and DR Joseph Crane, DD, Ph.D. For more information about chakras visit www.teachonlylove.com.

* When the energy in one’s throat chakra is stuck there are several approaches that help to move the energy through the throat.

1. Yoga, massage and hot baths with essential oils help.

2. Tune Your Chakra’s
My friend Barry Goldstein is an amazing healer who works with tuning forks to release stuck energy and “tune” your chakra’s www.barrygoldsteinmusic.com (besides being a wonderful healer, he is also a Grammy winning record producer). Tell him we sent you and you’ll get special treatment .  I love the tuning forks so much that I recently got a set of my own for my vocal practice!

3. Morning Pages (from Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron)
Sometimes writing is a way of getting unstuck. In the well known book “The Artist’s Way” Julia Cameron teaches “morning pages” ~ a way to vent and express by writing for 15 minutes every morning without editing whatever is on your mind.

4. Expressing the truth ~if only to yourself~ and being honest with your feelings is a way of moving energy through this chakra. Songwriting or writing poems or even talking out loud to yourself in the mirror can help your energy flow again.

5. Of course singing is the best medicine!