“The victim mindset dilutes the human potential. By not accepting personal responsibility for our circumstances, we greatly reduce our power to change them.” —Steve Maraboli
For most of my life, being so sensitive to my environment and to how others feel has led me to stifle my voice. The thought of dampening energy has scared me, as I’ve always been hyper-aware that there is already so much heaviness clouding our world.
If you can relate, you know that there is a serious downside to being this way.
In yogic philosophy, it would be said that living in this way blocks the throat chakra. As someone who’s dealt with a throat infection for over a year, a physical symptom of a blocked throat chakra, I find this fascinating.
Other physical symptoms of an imbalance in the throat chakra include…
- A raspy throat
- A chronic sore throat
- Mouth ulcers
- Gum disease
- Laryngitis
- Thyroid challenges
- TMJ disorders
I don’t know about you, but I’ve had all of these manifest at some point in my life, and continue to experience many to this day.
Solutions include everything from...
- doing neck stretches,
- to consuming particular herbs and spices,
- to eating fresh healing foods like apples and oranges,
- to even wearing blue crystal necklaces
...this last one stunned me as I’ve been so drawn to lapis lazuli since coming down with this infection… and only just recently discovered this!
If you ask me though, these “solutions” are all just band-aids. Holistic band-aids. But band-aids all the same.
In my heart I know that, to really heal for good, getting to the root of the problem is a necessity. And that root? Speaking up.
This starts with getting clear on what it is your soul is asking you to speak up about. Quiet is needed for this, which I believe has been the struggle for myself the last year.
I went from living alone my entire life—even as a kid I had my own bedroom and bathroom, and I lived amongst introverts who gave me plenty of space—to living with my partner in a small European flat where space is hard to come by.
When we are not together, I am, 95% of the time, with my family. So this has been a huge change for me. It’s not insurmountable. Nothing is. But it’s been a learning I am still coming into.
Now, to truly get quiet time I need to set boundaries, which, for someone with a throat chakra imbalance, is not always easy—hence the difficult cycle I’ve found myself in.
I don’t share this to throw myself a pity party. In fact, I believe most women (and many men) go through this at this exact stage of life. For many of us, when we enter our late 20s/early 30s, we find ourselves in serious relationships that lead to starting a family. And while this is so beautiful, so sacred, it also involves a disintegration of much of the freedom and independence we had in our early 20’s. Not forever, of course, but for now. Life moves in cycles.
All of this said, stealing moments of sacred, quiet time is crucial and, however challenging, possible.
In these pockets of stolen silence, I like to maximize my time by meditating or journalling. Journalling is so powerful when it comes to balancing the throat chakra as the throat chakra lives between the body and the mind, and journalling allows us to connect the two.
You can envision journalling as a powerful kickstarter of stagnant *qi*, or energy. In facilitating that movement of energy between heart and mind, we help our intellect understand the messaging of our bodies. From here, we can use this awareness to begin to make change. In this case, to see where we are holding back our truth, and how we may begin to embody it, share it. This is how we heal.
Of course, journalling is just one method that is rather cerebral. And if you’re finding yourself stuck it may be because you need a more ethereal practice—like [Yoga Nidra](https://mailchi.mp/c7e1983283bc/yoga-nidra), or a more somatic practice—like Breathwork.
Find what works for you and make it a priority. Whether you’re coping with a Throat Chakra imbalance or not, connecting mind and body is so important for overall wellness, for deep happiness and fulfilment, for living our purpose.
