The right to speak and hear truth

Inspiration of the Month January

Fifth Chakra – Vissudha

English translation – purification

Element – ether, Sound

Colour – blue

Purpose – communication, creative expression, purification

Location –throat, including mouth, ears etc.

Bij Mantra – HAM

Demon – lies

Associated right: The right to Speak and Be Heard

We have already looked at the first four chakras (Muladhara, Swadisthana, Manipura, Anahata). The further we travel upwards towards the crown of the head, the more obvious it gets that a good interaction of all the chakras is not only important but necessary.

“…the lower chakras must be functioning to give proper support to an open throat chakra. We need a good, solid ground in chakra one; we need to be in touch with our feelings in chakra two; willing to take our power in chakra three; and empathically connected to ourselves and others in relationship in chakra four. If any of these are missing, then it is no surprise that chakra five would be affected.” / Anodea Judith

It is important we look at each chakra closely, one at a time, and do the work necessary with patience as we climb up the Chakras System. Any tendency to rush or bypass some needed work will eventually have to be attended to. There are no shortcuts.

The throat chakra; Vishudha, is all about speaking and hearing truth. Being able to Communicate our truth while being able to listen and hold space for others as they express their perception of Truth.

This is probably one of the hardest things to do as a human being. While many of us still feel confused around the concept of truth, some of has have become so rigid in our beliefs, and hurry to judge and separate ourselves from those who do not share our view and philosophy.

We try to surround ourselves with those who think and speak in a similar way to ours, as it makes us feel more comfortable and safer.

We all know lying is perceived as a “bad” thing, however many of us developed a way of going “around” the truth, telling what is called “white lies”, only so we do not need to say what we truly think or feel.

Speaking our truth should always be done in a non-harmful manner and with much kindness and compassion. Ahimsa, the first concept of Yogic philosophy is the leading concept, and our intention should never be to hurt others as we speak our truth.

For many years when I would be asked a question, I would answer the ‘obvious” answer. The answer I believed the other party wanted to hear. Or the “right” answer according to social norms.

When I learned more about the Chakras and the importance of being honest and authentic, it took me some time to break this habit and find my way around it.

What I have come to do now is that when I am asked a question, and I know my answer is not the answer the other is expecting to hear, I tend to warn them. I let them know they may not like my answer and ask if they still want to hear my thoghts. I empower them with the choice to hear an honest answer or hear nothing at all. While I empower myself to speaking my truth. I find this as good way to honor Vishudha chakra and empower both sides.

In order to speak the Truth, we must first understand what is our Truth?

What is it you now know to be your truth 100%?

Has your truth changed in any fields through the years?

Mine has.

Much of the change came with figuring out who I am and what thoughts and beliefs really belong to me and shed those who didn’t.

This is an ongoing process.

This also related to the concept of core values; what are your core values? Your REAL core values? Not your “I wish these were my core values”, but the ones you whole heartedly believe in and act upon?

Mine are: Equality for all and Family as a priority.

Core values are an important guide map on our path as we undergo changes and are exposed to more knowledge and information.

Many of us have some confusion around what are our core values and as such, around what is our Truth?

A balanced Throat chakra is all about being able to communicate our truth while also being able listen to others and their Truth, whether if it fits ours or not.

“This (vishudha chakra) is a vulnerable place, because the throat chakra is where the inside comes out. If we learned it wasn’t safe to share our deep interior self, that we might be ridiculed, misunderstood, ignored, disbelieved, or punished in any way for sharing our truth, then we shut down our throat chakra. There may have been a good reason at the time, but later we have trouble opening it up again.”

It’s like we open the window to our soul. Speaking the truth may not always hurt others, and it shouldn’t obviously be the intention. But it can also hurt ourselves. Sometimes we don’t say what we truly feel because of the fear of rejection. But fear shouldn’t be the reason for us holding back. It is natural that we want to protect our peace, but if we are so scared to speak about our feelings, we are already disturbing our peace – because they want to be expressed, otherwise they stagnate in our body.

“Why do we hold back? While we may think it is fear of someone’s reaction, (rejection, ridicule, anger, etc.) what we are really trying to avoid is our own uncomfortable feelings.” / Anodea Judith

As Brene Brown been advocating the past few years; Courage and Vulnerability go hand in hand and are not separate or contradictory elements.

Most of us have come to see Vulnerability as a “weakness” and Courage as “strength”, and it is only when we see how they are linked to each other, that we can fully allow Vishudha chakra to be expressed and celebrated.

It is about our Right to Speak and our Right to be Heard, while allowing others to celebrate this Right as listeners.

Suggested practices:

So, how can we practice speaking our truth, how can we get more comfortable with our uncomfortable feelings that we tend to avoid often times? How can we practice more awareness and being in touch with our true feelings and learn to express them?

Here are some practices which can easily be included in our daily lives to help us speak the truth:

Journaling:

For starters, journaling is a very good practice to listen to your inner truth. It doesn’t take much time. You can set an intention to take five or ten minutes every night before you go to bed where you pick a pen and paper, and write down whatever comes to your mind. You will see that the words will flow easily. Journaling is all about discovering what is really going on inside of you. You don’t need to fear judgement or anything else, because it is only you telling your truth to yourself. And of course, sometimes we do have some stories or things that we don’t want to look at, but it is important that we do, even though it is uncomfortable in the beginning. It will get better. EMOTIONS are ENERGY IN MOTION. They want to flow, it is in their nature. So if we give them the chance to flow, we will find more and more peace.

And if you don’t like to write, you can do journaling a different way. If you are more a speaker, you can voice or video record yourself. You can even do it while you are cooking or whatever. You will get used to it after some days, and feel how easily you can express your feelings. And after a while you will get more confident in speaking your truth to others.

Ask yourself before you speak:

Bernard Meltzer said: “Before you speak ask yourself if what you are going to say is true, is kind, is necessary, is helpful. If the answer is no, maybe what you are about to say should be left unsaid.”

Try to integrate this practice. Before your speak, ask yourself:

What do I want to say?

Is it true?

Is it kind?

Is it necessary?

Is it helpful?

Watch your own thoughts:

Being honest to ourselves is just as important, because in that case we speak and hear at the same time. And our mind creates whatever we ask him to, and our mind can’t even tell the difference between true or not, because he thinks that whatever we think or say must be true, so he believes it. But often times we don’t speak the truth to ourselves. Sometimes we are very unkind and say things to ourselves that are quite the opposite of nice. And thoughts are just words vibrating on a different energy level. They have an incredible strong effect on our body and soul. To stop these old patterns, we need to become more aware of our thoughts. Meditation is a good way. Here is a guided meditation that is all about “mindfulness of thought” where you can practice to become more aware by labeling your thoughts which I find very helpful.

Chanting

Singing is an important tool to move energy in the throat chakra. Any songs will be powerful. Any chants.

The sound of Om repeatedly or the Bij Mantra; Hum.

A few minutes a day. This can be done as a stand alone practice, but can also be practiced while driving, cooking, showering, Which makes it easy to add it to your day.

Pranayama

Ujjayi or Brahamari as they use sound.

Asana

Neck stretches.

Shoulder stand

Plough pose

Head stand

These asanas have restorative equivalents so that those who have shoulder or neck issues can still practice and enjoy the h=physical and energetic benefits without putting any strain on the neck and the small vertebrae.

When in balance: A sense of creativity, you will feel confident in expressing your feelings to the world, you are honest without being afraid and not let the fear of rejection hold you back.