We're doing throat chakra meditation today.
And in preparation sit up with your back straight and your chin slightly tucked.
And we'll start with some gentle stretches of the neck.
And you can choose to keep your eyes open or close them as gently as you can.
Double check that your back's straight and that the crown of your head is pointing upwards.
And then slowly,
Gently bring your chin to your chest.
Let gravity pull your head downwards.
And then come back to center and tilt your head back.
And now let gravity pull your head backwards.
Enjoy the stretch in your throat.
Start to feel comfortable with this stretch.
Back to center and chin to chest again,
Slowly,
Slowly.
Feel the stretch at the back of the neck,
All the way up to the base of the skull.
Back to center,
Chin up towards the ceiling,
Head back.
And one last time,
Back to center,
Chin to chest.
Surrender.
And gently,
In a flow,
Move all the way back.
One last stretch.
Back to center.
And then on the next inhale,
Bring your left ear towards your left shoulder.
Feel the stretch on the right side of the neck.
And you can put your right hand on your right shoulder.
Gently press it down.
We're staying here a little bit longer.
Make sure you're comfortable enough to keep breathing.
Notice what happens.
Gently bring your head back to center.
And continue to the other side.
Right ear to right shoulder.
At the left hand to left shoulder,
If you like.
Feel that long stretch.
And come back to center.
Check your posture.
And try to feel that your neck is in line with your spine.
A neutral position.
And we'll do my favorite breathing exercise.
Lion's Breath.
I'll explain first.
You inhale normally through the nose.
On the exhale,
You open your eyes and mouth wide.
You stick out your tongue.
And you make a sound.
Let me demonstrate.
Do lion's breath three times.
Normal inhale through the nose.
Eyes and mouth open,
Tongue out on the exhale.
Roaring like a lion.
Let the inhale come passively to you.
Put all your action into your exhale.
When you've completed three breaths,
Return to normal breath.
Make any adjustments you'd like to make.
For now,
Just focus on my voice as I tell you a little bit about throat chakra.
The color is blue.
The element is ether.
The space that forms the essence of emptiness.
And the tradition says that our true selves exist in a space between the clutter of our thoughts and emotions.
To access this space,
We meditate.
Because it's just that little bit easier to access when we bring our full attention into a just being.
Not thinking or doing.
The animal belonging with throat chakra is the white elephant.
It purifies,
Communicates.
The master of mastery.
It harmonizes with its environment.
And this is what throat chakra represents,
Communication,
Creativity and above all,
Self-expression.
If it's imbalanced,
You may struggle with effective communication.
You may feel afraid to speak your personal truth,
To share your thoughts.
You may feel anxiety and speaking up.
And physical symptoms that may signify an imbalance are a raspy or sore throat,
Disease of the gums,
Mouth ulcers and pirate disease.
Take a conscious breath in and out.
As we'll reflect for a moment what the status of our throat chakra is today.
Have you been speaking your truth?
You shared your thoughts.
And if not,
In a particular situation,
What holds you back?
What prevents you from speaking your personal truth?
What do you imagine would happen if you did not hold back?
What is it you fear?
And in contrast to what you may fear,
Dig deep to an experience where you did speak your truth and remember what happens in this reality.
And realizing that sharing what's on your mind,
As long as it is presented as your personal truth and nothing more than your personal truth,
Should never offend anyone.
You would just be sharing what is true for you,
What you have experienced,
What your interpretation may have been and what it triggered in you.
Feelings.
Thoughts.
Realizing that somebody else's truth may be different.
An entirely different perspective towards a similar or the same situation.
There will be harmony when we share our personal truths.
As long as we don't want others to agree,
But just to acknowledge our truth.
From these strokes we can start to understand each other better.
Further balance our throat chakra.
You will chant Am for a couple of minutes.
And again I will demonstrate.
The normal passive inhale.
And on the exhale,
Aung.
And in your own tempo.
Putting emphasis on the Am sound towards the end.
Feeling the vibration in your throat area.
And please play the saturation and the intensity,
The loudness of the word.
See what happens in the throat.
Bring all your attention to feeling the vibration in your throat.
So you feel the vibration.
And then start making your hum shorter,
Softer.
Like it's fading out.
Until you return to normal breathing.
And then say to yourself,
I hear and speak my truth.
I express myself.
And in this process,
I am not guided by rewards or rejection.
I hear and speak my truth.
I express myself.
Gently bring yourself into the room where you are.
Expand your attention to your environment.
Please remain seated just for a little while longer.
Take your time to open eyes.
And to do whatever you need to do once we finish.
I thank you for joining me in this little journey of stretches,
Lines breath,
Reflection,
And chanting ham.
Namaste.
