
Throat Chakra Vinyasa Flow To Speak Your Truth
by Ali Temple
Step onto your mat and reconnect with the power of your voice. This gentle vinyasa practice is designed to open and balance the throat chakra, helping you release stuck energy, express yourself with more confidence, and speak your truth with clarity and compassion. You’ll begin with a short throat chakra meditation to ground your energy and activate your center of communication. From there, you’ll move through a flowing sequence that supports openness, courage, and honest self-expression, especially supportive if you’ve been feeling silenced, hesitant, or out of alignment with your truth. While some experience with vinyasa is helpful (as there are no visual cues), this practice is accessible to all levels. Tune into your body, modify as needed, and allow the movement to guide you back to your voice.
Transcript
Hey there!
Welcome back to my chakra flow series.
Today we're moving through a short and quick throat chakra flow.
If you're new to me,
Hi,
I'm Ali Temple.
I'm a global yoga and meditation teacher,
Retreat leader,
And yoga teacher mentor.
I am traveling the world,
Hosting retreats.
So go ahead and find a comfortable seat.
And as we focus in on the throat chakra today,
This is a space where we connect to speaking our truth and self-expression and communication with others.
So we'll start out in a short reflective meditation in your seat.
You can be seated on a cushion or pillow,
Yoga block,
Floor,
Whatever works for you.
Just a nice tall seat to get grounded and into your body before all of that movement starts.
You can close your eyes or look down to the floor with a nice tall spine.
Allow your shoulders to soften back and down.
Just begin to become aware of your breath,
Breathing naturally.
And of your body in this space,
Slowing down for a moment to be present with what is showing up.
And through this sense of awareness,
Now shift that awareness up to your throat chakra,
The throat area.
Maybe you already know that there could be a block there,
Or maybe you're just tuning in right here to see if anything shows up.
Now I want you just to reflect for a moment on if you've been having any difficulty with speaking your truth,
If you've had any challenges in the past or even in the present with expressing your thoughts or communicating your needs.
If you tend to have any physical issues in the throat,
Thyroid area,
Just observe that.
And today through this short flow,
We'll be focusing on that area to try and shift some energy around,
Create some space and release some blocks.
So let's take a deep breath in,
Big exhale out your mouth.
Letting go of any judgments,
Any expectations,
And just keeping that presence,
That awareness internally,
Physically,
Emotionally.
Know that you can modify or skip anything that doesn't feel right to you throughout this practice.
We'll stay seated for just a moment longer,
Start to warm up around the neck and shoulder area.
So hands in your lap or wherever it's comfortable.
I'll just start to roll the shoulders up,
Back and down.
You can kind of let the hands come loose if that feels better.
We'll go the other way,
Back up,
Forward and down.
And we'll take some gentle neck rolls.
Let's start by just drawing your chin down towards your chest and then up to look up at the ceiling.
And keep going with that.
I don't think I mentioned,
But I'm here in Vietnam.
As you probably cannot tell,
But I'm actually in a beautiful yoga studio that is a part of the hotel that I'm staying in here in Central Vietnam.
Really grateful to have this space to practice with you today.
Let's finish off this final round.
Coming back to center and then draw your right ear down towards your right shoulder.
If you want to take that a little further,
Right hand comes across to the left shoulder.
Just slow deep breaths,
Maybe looking over your left shoulder a little bit.
Waking up the sides of your neck,
Bring it back to center,
Switch it up.
Left ear down to left shoulder,
Right hand across,
Gently looking up.
Back to center.
Let's look over to your right.
Back to center.
Let's look over to your right.
Bring your chin down and rolling down across the chest,
Over to your left and back up.
Do two more of those.
Down,
Across,
Back up.
Actually,
Let's do two more.
We'll even it out.
Last one.
Down,
Across,
And back up.
Bring it back to center.
Take a little shake out with your hands,
Your arms.
And let's bring it into a hands and knees position.
If you have any props with you,
You can just slide those off to the side.
I'm going to toss this one out of the way.
We might come back to those a little bit later.
And now as you come into hands and knees,
We'll start with a couple of cat cows.
So through these movements,
Keep that awareness on your throat and opening up that space.
Hands are under the shoulders,
Knees are under the hips.
Take a cow pose,
Drop your belly down,
Lift your chest up.
Feel the lengthening across the front of your throat.
As you exhale,
Cat pose,
Round your spine,
Chin to chest.
Two more of those.
Inhale,
Lengthen,
Feel the opening.
And as you exhale,
Round your spine,
Feel kind of more of a compression through the neck as you draw your chin inward.
One more time.
Inhale,
Get long,
Look up.
Exhale,
Round your spine,
Draw your navel up and in.
Back to a neutral spine.
Curl your toes under,
Downward facing dog.
Press your hips up and back.
Take a sweet little pedal into your heels.
Bend one knee,
Bend the other,
Just observing the space in the back body today.
And let's ripple it right forward to a high plank position.
Pausing here,
Starting to light up your core that will support you through this practice.
Belly is firm.
Take an inhale,
Bring your knees to your mat.
So slowly lower all the way down as you exhale.
Let's tent the fingertips here,
Bringing the elbows out to 90 degrees.
As you inhale,
Peel the chest up,
Long through the throat.
Exhale,
Lower your chin back down.
Two more of those.
Inhale,
Lengthen.
Exhale,
Lower.
Last one,
Inhale.
Exhale,
Lower.
Press through your hands,
Rise it back to downward dog.
Deep breath in,
Big breath out.
Lift your heels,
Bend your knees,
Look forward,
Step to the top.
Halfway lift,
Inhale.
Fold as you exhale.
Root to rise,
Sweep your arms high,
Deep breath in.
Hands meet at your heart,
Breath out.
Inhale,
Sweep your arms up high.
Exhale,
Fold forward.
Halfway lift,
Inhale.
Plant your hands,
Step back to high plank,
Pause as you exhale.
Take another full breath in.
Knees down,
Exhale,
Lower all the way.
Take a cobra pose,
Peel the chest up,
Inhale.
Downward dog as you exhale.
Feet together,
Lift your heels,
Bend your knees,
Step or a little float.
Top of the mat,
Halfway lift.
Exhale to fold.
Root to rise,
Inhale,
Arms rise up.
Hands connect at your heart,
Exhale.
Inhale,
Arms rise.
Exhale,
Fold.
Halfway lift,
Inhale.
Plant your hands,
Now just step your left foot to the back of your mat as you exhale.
High lunge,
Let's sweep the arms up high,
Breath in.
Stay here on your breath out,
Deepen your lunge.
Back heel is nice and high here as you draw your right hip back.
Start to invite a back bend in as you press your thumbs back.
Lengthen the front of your throat and draw your chin up.
Maintaining firmness in your belly as you pull your tailbone down.
Take one more breath in.
Spin it open to warrior two as you exhale.
Landing here for a moment,
Ground down through your feet as you stretch through your fingertips.
Flip your front palm up,
Reverse your warrior,
Inhale.
Bring it all the way back and down,
Frame your front foot as you exhale.
Take an inhale here,
Draw the chest forward,
Lengthen your neck.
Step it back to high plank on your breath out,
Full flow.
Inhale first,
Lower down,
Chaturanga halfway,
Exhale.
Cobra or up dog,
Breath in.
Downward facing dog,
Breath out.
Feet together,
Lift the heels,
Bend the knees,
Step or float to the top.
Halfway,
Inhale,
Fold,
Exhale.
Root to rise,
Breath in,
Stretch up.
Hands to heart,
Breath out.
Inhale,
Sweep your arms up,
Exhale,
Fold.
Inhale halfway,
Exhale,
Hands down,
Step your right foot back.
Heel is high,
Strong through your legs,
Inhale,
Stretch your arms up.
Pause here as you exhale,
Pull your left hip back,
Deepen the lunge.
Deepen the lunge.
Now thumbs start to draw back,
Eyes up,
Chin up,
Stretch through your throat.
One more breath in,
Spin it open,
Warrior two,
Breath out.
Anchor your back foot down,
Press your front knee to the left,
Really engaging through the inner thigh here as you stretch through your fingertips.
Flip your front palm,
Reverse your warrior.
Circle your hands all the way to your mat,
Pause here.
Back heel is still high,
Just draw the chest forward.
Hands flat,
Step back,
High plank,
Full breath in.
Let's blow it out,
Exhale to lower,
Chaturanga.
Inhale,
Upward facing dog.
Exhale,
Downward facing dog.
Now let's come forward to your high plank again on your inhale.
Pause here as you exhale,
Feel one line,
Heels to crown.
Long through your neck,
Take another breath in.
Knees down,
Exhale,
Lower all the way with control.
Bring your hands behind you,
Interlace your fingers,
Full locus.
Big toes pull toward one another,
But legs stay long.
Peel your chest up,
Peel your legs up.
Okay,
Strengthening the spine as you press back and up all the way through your toes and hug in through the shoulder blades,
Neck is long.
Slowly lower that down,
Bring your arms by your side,
Bring one cheek to the mat,
Just land and observe.
Bring your other cheek down.
Hands under your shoulders,
Press through hands and knees,
Curl the toes,
Downward facing dog.
Stretch out through the back of the legs and the spine.
Lift your heels,
Bend your knees,
Step or float to the top.
Halfway lift,
Exhale to fold.
Sweep your arms up as you inhale.
Now just bring your left arm down as you exhale.
Dancers pose,
Bend your left knee.
Kick back,
Reach back to catch the inside of your foot,
If that works for you,
Outside of the foot,
If you are having some mobility issues with the shoulder.
Okay,
Steady your eyes straight ahead,
Feel the length through the chest,
Through the neck,
The throat.
With your breath guiding,
You start to kick back and up.
Simultaneously,
As you kick back and up,
You draw your left hip down.
Really active through the whole body here,
But soften your face.
Two more breaths.
Nice,
Slowly release that mountain pose.
Feel what shows up,
Both feet on the earth,
Arms by your side.
Observe your breath.
Really connect to the grounding through the soles of both feet.
Deep breath in,
Big breath out.
Let's take the other side,
Reach your arms up,
Right arm comes down.
Take your time,
Kick your right foot back,
Catch onto the foot.
Eyes steady to one spot,
Feel all of the space in the front of your body as you start to kick back and up.
Soften your jaw,
Lift your heart,
Lengthen your neck.
Two more breaths,
Go for it.
With control,
Release the weight,
Take a deep breath in,
Let it go,
Exhale.
Top of your mat,
Bring your feet together.
Take a deep breath in,
Let it go,
Exhale,
Top of your mat,
Bring your feet together.
Take a deep breath in,
Let it go,
Exhale,
Top of your mat,
Bring your feet together.
Take a deep breath in,
Let it go,
Exhale,
Top of your mat,
Bring your feet together.
Let it go,
Exhale,
Top of your mat,
Bring your feet together.
Reach your arms up,
Come into chair pose,
Sit your hips back and down.
Not here for long,
So really get into it here.
Feel that firing up in your legs,
Your quads,
Sit a little bit lower,
Lower,
Lower.
Come all the way down to lay down on your back.
I'm setting up for bridge pose here.
You can take a moment to land,
Letting the knees cave in together,
Feet apart.
And then we'll bring the feet and knees about hip distance.
Ground through your feet,
Wrap your shoulders underneath you,
Interlace your fingers here.
And as the sides of your hands press into your mat,
You'll start to lift your chest up towards your throat.
Finding that compression here again,
Just like how we were in cat pose earlier.
Great shape to stimulate the thyroid gland and bring a little more attention to the throat space.
As you press into your feet,
Lift your hips,
Ribs,
Belly,
And breathe.
Gently lower it back down.
Let's come into a cobbler's pose,
Reclined cobbler's,
Soles of the feet together,
Knees fall open.
Place your hands on your belly,
Just take a moment to ground and to observe.
Bend your elbows,
Bring your arms up to a cactus shape,
Kind of a bow shape,
And then come back down.
Bend your elbows,
Bring your arms up to a cactus shape,
Kind of a 90 degree shape like we did at the beginning.
And let's just let the knees fall side to side a couple of times,
One way and then the other way.
From here,
Hug your knees in,
Thighs to belly.
Start to compress the front of your hips,
Draw your thighs downward as you lengthen through your tailbone.
Maybe a little rock side to side or in circles with your hips feels right here.
Last little movement side to side,
Settling your lower back.
And let's bring it right into final shavasana.
Extend your legs out.
Take up lots of space,
Get rid of any props if they're in your way.
Soften through your hips,
Wrap your shoulder blades underneath you.
Let the back of your head get really heavy.
Feel the support of the earth beneath you as you settle into stillness for just a moment.
To observe once again anything that may have shifted through this quick practice.
Physically,
Energetically,
Emotionally.
And take a moment to allow all of that to integrate and settle.
And once again,
Bringing your awareness up to your throat chakra.
This space of self-expression,
Speaking your truth.
Communicating your thoughts and your needs.
This chakra is known to be associated with the color blue.
So as we linger here a moment longer,
I invite you to bring in a nice blue color into your throat space.
Allowing that blue to dissipate any blocks.
Holding you back from speaking your truth.
Trusting that you received whatever you needed in this practice today.
And knowing that you can come back to it.
And that you can come back to it again.
Whatever you needed in this practice today.
And knowing that you can come back to it whenever you feel called to.
You're welcome to stay here longer.
If you'd like to finish off with me back up in a seat.
You can start by wiggling your fingers,
Your toes.
Take whatever stretch feels good in the moment.
Gently roll through one side and I'll meet you back where we started in a comfortable seat.
I want to thank you for having the courage to show up and find peace within.
I'll see you next time.
Namaste.
4.9 (9)
Recent Reviews
Kirsten
June 27, 2024
This really helped my mood this morning. I found the flow a bit fast but that’s more reflective of my inexperience. The movements loosened and lightened me. 🙏🏼
