The throat chakra is the energy center in the body for expressing yourself and letting your voice be heard. In Sanskrit, it is known as Vishuddha, and is the fifth chakra in the body. According to Kundalini Master, Gurutej Kaur, “The throat chakra is how you’re heard, how you hear, how you listen,” she said in her DVD on chakra balancing. When your throat chakra is balanced, you speak your truth and are honest about how you feel. When it isn’t balanced, you repress your feelings and emotions and aren’t honest with yourself or others.
There are many ways to heal and release your throat chakra. You can sing, chant, and use sound therapy. Words have the power to heal if the intention is to create that healing. Kundalini yoga is a powerful and transformative form of yoga, but sometimes good-old English can also relax you if you don’t feel comfortable chanting mystic and ancient sounds. You can say out loud, “I am safe” or “relax,” and even something as simple as talking to your body can produce a state of healing. This is a technique I learned from the book, Body Mind Balancing by the meditation speaker, Osho.
Below are three poems from poets who speak their truth powerfully and unapologetically. These are poets that know how to utilize their throat chakra to bring awareness to important issues facing the world. While they are great examples of an open throat chakra, anyone can learn to heal their throat chakra.
To open your throat chakra, you don’t need a stage, a podium, or even a microphone: You just need to learn to be honest with yourself and others. Sharing more of how you truly feel could cause conflict with family and friends, but it gives you more freedom to be yourself when connecting with people. It also makes it easier to share your poetry with the world regardless of what other people think. The most important opinion is the one you have of yourself.
Read and watch the following poems for an example of how to share your truth and use your throat chakra for self-expression.
“CAGED BIRD” BY MAYA ANGELOU
Maya Angelou was a talented poet, novelist, activist, and autobiographer. She is best known for her novel, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. In the book, she describes how she experienced rape at the age of seven, and because of the trauma she suffered, she didn’t speak for five years. When she overcame her child sexual abuse, she used her voice for the civil rights movement and inspired people all over the world with her love of poetry and her empowering message of self-love and freedom.
Caged Bird
A free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wing
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.
But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.
The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn
and he names the sky his own
But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.
“DEAR WHITE AMERICA” BY DANEZ SMITH
Protesting is our American right guaranteed by the constitution of the United States. With the horrific homicide of George Floyd, people all over the country are exercising their right to protest and express their anger at our justice system. They are chanting “I can’t breathe” in cities like Minneapolis, Miami, L.A., Memphis, and Washington, D.C. as well as places around the world.
Systemic racism, police brutality, and oppression against black people have been an ongoing struggle in this country, and political poetry has long documented the civil rights movement as well as the current Black Lives Matter movement. In this moving poem entitled, “Dear White America,” poet Danez Smith powerfully captures the injustice and violence black people face every day. You can read Danez’ lyrical prose poem at the Poetry Foundation website.
“COMO TU” BY RICHARD BLANCO
Exercising our freedom of speech is another right guaranteed by the constitution. Criticizing the country through political poetry is a way to make America a safer place to live. Richard Blanco was the presidential inaugural poet of Barack Obama and a graduate of my creative writing program at Florida International University. I’ve studied his work and love this prose poem he wrote entitled, “Como Tú / Like You / Like Me.” This beautiful poem brings attention and awareness to the challenges of being a Latin person living in America and is also a tribute to the Dreamers of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) program.
No matter how difficult 2020 has been so far, it is still a year of change and growth. It’s not possible to create change if we don’t see the systemic problems in our government. To make our world a better place to live, we have to face the realities and injustices that exist and then bring about a collective consciousness that moves towards freedom and peace. As we express ourselves using our throat chakras, we heal the planet and we heal ourselves. Namaste.
