Hello,
And welcome.
I'm Bethany,
And I'm honored to be here with you today.
I invite you to begin by letting yourself arrive.
Take a long,
Easy breath,
And as you exhale,
Allow your jaw to soften.
Let your tongue release from the roof of your mouth.
Continue to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth,
And let the muscles of your throat ease.
So much tension lives here in the throat,
The jaw,
The back of the neck,
Places where words were swallowed,
Where things were held back,
Where the voice learned to wait.
Just breathe now.
You don't have to speak.
You don't have to be understood.
Just notice.
I invite you to imagine or sense yourself standing at the edge of a wide open sky.
Perhaps you are on a hillside,
Or at the edge of a meadow,
Or on a quiet ridge in the mountains.
Above you,
The sky stretches out in every direction,
Vast,
High,
A boundless blue.
Feel the wind moving around you.
It has no agenda.
It doesn't decide which direction to blow based on who might be watching.
It simply moves.
From where it is,
Toward where it's going.
And the birds somewhere nearby are singing.
They're not performing.
Not wondering if their song is good enough and who's listening to them.
Just singing because that is what they do.
That is what they are.
What would it feel like in you to speak with that kind of freedom from the center of your heart?
Now begin to draw your awareness to your throat area,
The column of your neck,
The space just below your chin and above your collarbone.
This is the area of the throat chakra.
It's the center of authentic expression,
Of truth spoken clearly from the heart.
And also of truth received.
The deep listening that makes real communication possible.
Begin to notice what you feel and sense here.
Are you noticing tightness,
Fullness,
Constriction?
A kind of held quality as if something is waiting or on the verge?
Just simply notice.
As you continue to be aware,
Ask,
Is there a part of me that has learned to edit what I say before I say it?
A part that scans every word before it leaves my mouth,
Monitoring for what's too much,
Too honest,
Too strange or too bold.
Notice what's alive here for you.
If you sense a part,
Acknowledge it.
It has learned what it's here for,
For many important reasons.
It has learned to be here for important reasons.
Ask it gently,
What are you afraid might happen if I spoke more freely from my heart?
And just listen for the response,
Allowing it to come.
What are you afraid might happen if I spoke more freely?
These parts that guard the voice are so often protecting something deeper.
A younger part,
Perhaps,
That was told to be quiet,
That was laughed at or dismissed or punished for speaking their truth.
A part that learned at some point along the way that it was safer to disappear than to just be seen and rejected.
If you sense this younger,
Quieter part that showed up at an earlier time in your life,
Just be with it now.
Let it know,
I hear you.
I'm not going to force you to speak and I am here with you now,
Listening.
And welcome whatever arises.
It may come in images,
Sensations,
Feelings,
Or memories.
Be with it as though you are witnessing and watching from a place of curiosity,
Compassion,
And care.
And now imagine or sense a soft,
Clear blue light,
The color of the summer sky above you,
The color of a shallow ocean water.
Imagine this clear blue light gathering gently in your throat,
Not forcing anything open,
Just illuminating,
Just making space,
Just sharing its healing light with this part.
With each breath in,
This light grows a little clearer.
Notice if the part begins to soften and relax,
Feeling the presence of you and the light.
With each breath out,
Something continues to soften.
The muscles,
The history of the experience,
The habit of holding back.
And from the deepest,
Most whole part of you,
Yourself with a capital S,
As though you're speaking to a child who you love deeply,
Let this truth move toward the part or parts that have been silent for too long.
Your voice is not too much.
Your truth is not a burden.
You were not meant to carry everything in silence.
The world needs what only you can say in your way,
In your time,
At your pace,
Not performed,
Not perfect,
Just real from that space inside your heart.
Your voice belongs here.
Let these words saddle in.
Your voice belongs here.
The wind continues to move across that open sky,
Unhurried,
Unashamed,
Carrying the seeds and songs and the scent of distant rain.
Breathe into your throat and feel the softness there,
The opening,
Just like the sky.
And as we begin to return,
I invite you to bring these words with you.
You may repeat after me,
Speaking them inwardly.
I trust my voice.
My truth is worthy of expression.
I speak with kindness and clarity.
I am heard.
My words matter and are a gift I give to the world.
I trust my voice.
My words are a gift.
Take these words and the feeling of them with you into your day.
As you allow that bright,
Blue,
Beautiful light to shine from your throat all day long.
Begin to feel your body return.
Notice your breath.
Notice the space around you and the room you're in.
And when you're ready,
Open your eyes gently.
You have a voice.
It has always been there,
Waiting patiently.
Trust it a little more each day.
Thank you for being with me in this journey.
Bye for now.
