Revelations of the 5th Chakra {Guest Post}
“My mom always told me that I had a ‘block’ in my Throat Chakra,” I said, repeating a story that I had known since childhood.
It was Vishuddha day - 5th (throat) Chakra day at my 500-hour yoga teacher training in Bali, Indonesia. We were coaching one another through the chakras, day by day, and Vishuddha was the chakra that I had always thought to be my weakest.
“How much space are you comfortable with taking up in relationships?” my partner asked.
Huh. I hadn’t a clue how this was relevant but I went with it - “Well, now that you mention it, as little space as possible.”
Wait, was that true? What a scary thought, but yes - it was. I thought about my most recent relationships - a work relationship, friend relationship, and romantic relationship. There was a clear and common theme - all of these people had big personalities, talked a lot, enjoyed being the center of attention. While I’d just sit by, watching, listening, nodding. Feeling somewhat small, but comfortable. I had noticed though, that over the last year this had been shifting, I had begun growing out of my old way of being, growing out of these relationships. I got dumped (a devastating blessing in disguise), quit my job, and had a very strange and painful interaction with my friend right before coming to Bali.
‘Playing Small’ is a term often referred to in coaching and self-help books. Even though the 5th Chakra’s element is space, I had never connected it with taking up physical or energetic space, with ‘Playing Small’, and my partner’s question was a revelation.
Now that I was here in lush Bali, surrounded by a group of supportive women, I was allowing myself to shine bright, to be big, to be magnificent, to take up space. And I was connecting even more deeply with my desire to help others do the same in their own lives.
“What if it’s not a block?” she asked, “What if your lower chakras needed to be stronger and more supportive before the Throat Chakra could develop and open more fully, as it seems to be doing now?”
Wow. Another re-frame that completely shifted my perspective, took the weight of being ‘blocked’ off my shoulders, and wrote a new story in its place - one in which everything was exactly as it should be, and I was learning and growing at the perfect pace and time.
I’m always so grateful when someone reminds me that everything is actually OK, that the self-judgements or harshness I’ve made up actually have no basis in reality.
If you’d like to examine your own relationship to the 5th Chakra, you could:
Notice the way you talk and communicate - with yourself and with others
Notice the energetic space you take up when relating to another person or your environment
Notice any stories or narratives you have about your own voice, and see if you can shift or re-frame them
Are you doing all you can to support yourself?
Larkin Goff is a Life Coach and Yoga Teacher who is living her magic on the beautiful island of Maui. You can connect with her through her website, www.blissadventure.com.
