Dear Reader,
Perhaps it is the unusually warm weather for this time of year, the fact the autumn leaves are still on the trees… but to me, time seems as if it is both speeding up and slowing down at the same time. Is anyone else feeling this?
In any case, we are less than two weeks from December and so it is time to invite you to join the Winter Resilience Course. This is an online course which is designed to support you through the darkest months of the year. We’ll meet online for an hour weekly, and also you’ll have on-demand access to an array of specifically designed short and sweet yoga practices to fortify your energy and nourish your being on all levels.
I used to feel tense and blue during the winter season. Over the years, I’ve learnt to recreate the feeling of the radiance and warmth of the sun through my yoga practice and other natural means. Winter Resilience is my way of sharing my journey through the portal of winter with you. Together we’ll support each other to practice more regularly, so that we emerge from our burrows at the start of spring, relaxed and refreshed. As we are in a time when many of us are struggling with finances and bills, I’ve kept the cost of this course down to £250 this is for 12 weeks of yoga practices, as well as interviews with practitioners to support your health and wellbeing. These classes, interviews and practices are accessible to you in a private learning portal online, on-demand for 14 weeks
You may notice that I’m pretty quiet on social media… I’ve tried to engage with it, on and off as it is basically the main way yoga teachers advertise themselves these days, but my heart is just not in it. This week we have been working with the throat chakra and it got me thinking that if more humans were to really support this energy centre we’d greatly improve our online social media experience, or even better, our offline social experience!
To begin tending to your throat chakra, pay attention to your posture. Most often, as we sit in front of our screens our neck is under strain. This not only blocks the energy flow through the throat chakra but also creates tension in the trapezius muscles, and stresses the delicate neck vertebrae. Take some time, right now, to feel length on all sides of your neck. Take note of how there is a drawing up of your pelvic floor. Also, look for a scooping in of your belly as the rest of your spine lengthens to support your neck. This flow of energy from the base to the crown is the essence of yoga. It is the key to creating flow in your body, in your breath, in your thinking, in your emotions and in your connection with Life itself.
The throat chakra is called vishuddhi chakra, which means cleansed, purified or filtered in Sanskrit. The throat is certainly a site of physical purification, the mucosal lining and lymphatic glands here work hard to clear away bacteria, viruses and other unwanted visitors to our respiratory tract. I highly recommend the Haelan Centre Herbal Dispensary’s Throat Spray to support this area during the winter months. Spray at the first sign of a sore throat, to prevent infection from spreading to your chest. Support your throat in being an effective filter of harmful microbes!
There are still more characteristics associated with the throat chakra area, which includes our ears, tongue, jaw, neck and throat. This energetic place within us is unsurprisingly connected to communication, with listening and speaking. When we think of purification or filtering in this context, we start to understand what it means to have a throat chakra in balance. We choose (filter) our words carefully so that they don’t cause harm to others. We sense when silence is more appropriate than words. We are able to resonate with others. We appreciate the tones, rhythms and vibrations of nature, music and life. Our breathing becomes coherent with our heart rate. We stand up for ourselves by using words with calm, authoritative confidence. We speak our truth, we walk our talk, and we use our communication to cultivate wisdom and spread compassion. The throat chakra is really about the integration of the heart and mind.
We might not always achieve these lofty ideals of course. However, they are certainly worth aspiring to. Remember vishuddhi chakra is related to both listening and speaking, taking in as well as giving out. Taking care of this chakra involves being mindful of what goes in and out of these organs of communication. What foods, ideas, sounds, thoughts and experiences do we nourish ourselves with? Are we exposing ourselves to any toxins? Toxic chemicals in the environment and food (pollutants, alcohol, highly processed food, MSG) have an impact on our brains and consequently, this affects what goes in and comes out of our mouths.
When I worked in the Haelan Centre we had a problem with the dry cleaners next door; we’d smell the strong fumes from the dry cleaning chemicals on a regular basis and it would give many staff headaches. I remember going into the shop to ask if they could air out their premises better. The manager was so intoxicated by the fumes in his shop, that he was swaying and slurring his words. Sadly, he was so incoherent it was impossible to communicate with him.
We can also get intoxicated by ideas and thoughts. Toxic thinking (cancel culture, hate speech), leads people to stop thinking clearly as they lose their filter of what is kind and correct thinking and speaking and what is harmful. This toxicity spreads like wildfire on social media channels. People can get sucked into expressing themselves in a harsh or vindictive manner, something they might not dream of doing “in real life”.
One way of taking care of our throat chakra in regard to speech is to learn about Nonviolent Communication (NVC). This way of communicating encourages us to 1) observe without judgement; 2) express our feelings about another's actions in a way that doesn’t label their actions as the cause, but only the stimulus; 3) connect our feelings (e.g. anger, resentment, frustration) to unmet needs (e.g. to feel safe, to be heard, to be accepted); 4) enquire about or consider the other person’s feelings.
Learning NVC is like learning a new language, but it comes with practice and can miraculously diffuse tension in very challenging situations. If you’d like to learn more, then I recommend Marshall Rosenberg’s Book [] and his free Nonviolent Communication Course on YouTube here. [
The throat chakra’s element is space, and it really is so much about purifying our internal and external environment. We see the effect of this in our yoga practice. Often at the end of a class, I will encourage students to reflect upon how they feel within themselves, and how they perceive the environment they have been practising in. Whether it is a shared space for an in-person class or if they are practising at home, often there is a sense of a calmer, more settled atmosphere. By taking some time out to be immersed in the present moment, we can all cultivate a more harmonious atmosphere, whether it is a home, at our workplace or further afield. As we cultivate that lengthening spine, that spacious open mind within, we create more peace and calm in the wider world.
Below is the throat chakra meditation from last Monday. You are welcome to join us this Monday for the Zoom meditation at 8 am GMT and also the Monday 7:30 pm Zoom, Tuesday at 6:30 pm or in person on Monday at 1:30 pm.
Classes are running, as usual, this week! You can book here…
With love and good wishes,
Julia xx
Throat Chakra Musings