The fifth Chakra is the seat of self expression, and can be seen as the crossroads between the head and the heart. As such, it serves as the mediator between thought and emotion.
In Bodywork, the throat must be open in order for the energy to flow. "Open" means that the person is capable of "letting the sound out" – both the sounds of pleasure and of pain.
Often, as the throat is opened, the pelvis begins to move spontaneously, indicating a strong link between self-expression and passion.
Blockages will be seen in sore throats, shoulder and neck pain, and clenched jaws.
Speaking in Your Own Voice—The Throat Chakra
The fifth Chakra is one of the most interesting, and also one most likely to be blocked. This is the Throat Chakra, (coloured blue, above) and includes the neck, upper shoulders, the mouth and the jaw. This Chakra is the source of expression and manifestation. And what is expressed or made manifest (made real) is me.
So, a fully functioning 5th Chakra person, unblocked in this area, will speak their mind without forgetting their heart. From a purely "pictorial" point of view, the neck is the mediator between head and body, head and heart. The health of this area directly reflects how true I am to who I am. At the same time, the health of this area directly reflects my willingness to be true to myself without losing sight of the thoughts, understandings and concerns of those around me.
As I said, rare in the individual who is not carrying some tension in the neck, shoulders or jaw. We were taught, when we were young, inanities like "If you haven't something good to say (read, what the person wants to hear), don't say anything," "Children should be seen and not heard," et cetera. While such expressions have within them kernels of truth, their intent was to cause us to learn to speak and act in socially acceptable ways.
It's a lot to swallow...
We were given, over the first 16 years of our lives, a prescription for fitting in and not rocking the boat. We were taught to look outside of ourselves for both the source of our problems and their solutions. We were conditioned to bite off our words, lest the big people offend themselves. We were conditioned to see life as a "burden to be shouldered," which is mainly "a pain in the neck." In the process, we lost our spontaneity, our zest for life and our voice. The Bible describes "stiff-necked people," people who lived by rules and regulations, looking down their noses at others.
The tension in this area is almost always the result of unspoken or un-enacted material. In other words, there's stuff bubbling up from the body and from the feelings, which, as bodily sensations neither "mean" anything, nor can the be understood with the mind. People who figure they have to understand why they feel the way they do waste far too much time. And thoughts and understandings in need of expression are perking their way down. The "blockage" occurs at the 5th Chakra.
Most men have been conditioned to be authoritative and angry in their words and actions, when confronting a blockage. Women in the main have been trained to stuff things for the good of those around them, and to always be trying to make things better for others. One of the curses of the sexual revolution is that you now have "ball-breaking" women using a male approach, and sissified men in whose mouths butter wouldn't melt. We now have great clots of both sexes doing what doesn't work for either.
And, of course, repeating what doesn't work, over and over. God forbid we try something new.
Because of the great intuitive nature of the human body, the energy of wholeness continues to flow (either as a trickle or a torrent) for as long as we are sucking air. In the depths of us, we know that there is another path, another way.
We are driven to seek wholeness, then we block ourselves when that path leads to letting go of everything, and grasping on to something new.
The something new is the willingness to speak what I understand to be so, for me, without rancour, without malice, and with a clarity that says, "This is so for me, right now, and this is also me, right now." Being politically correct, blocking ourselves, behaving ourselves, doing what society wants or those around us demand, on the other hand, is a sure recipe for disaster.
A few days ago, I sent a letter to the hundreds of people who have downloaded The List of 50.
The idea is this:
Society and culture tell us that we find a "significant other" through "romance." Through chance encounters, we are swept off of our feet and fall head over heels. (Notice that both of these expressions are about falling down and becoming ungrounded.) There is a prejudice out there that thought, that thinking, is not an element to be engaged in when partner hunting. The hormonal tide is "true," and the mind should be absent.
Well, if this were actually so, why is there such a high divorce rate, and so many unhappily married people? I would posit that this is so because we have the wrong idea about relationships - despite the fact that this concept flies in the face "the cult of Hallmark Cards."
The List of 50 proposes that people actually think about the characteristics they want in a partner. Important qualities like vocation and world view and self-exploration are stressed. Most people find this exercise to be difficult, and most stick with it. In the process, they discover (naturally) a ton about themselves.
When they then choose to declare themselves ready to meet the person they have described, most do begin to meet people more "simpatico." It seems to "just happen," but what actually is taking place is that the person has re-set their filters to the new understanding, and they thus are seeing those around them in a different way. No magic.
I mention this because of some of the feedback I have received. Universally, people are writing and saying that they now understand themselves and who they are much better. Their choice to explore, in a systematic and "real" way (i.e. on paper, following a structure) allowed them to begin to shift gears on their understanding of how they worked with regard to relationships.
This is the "manifesting" stage. Now, I want to distance myself from the New Age crowd, who use that word differently. I don't for a moment believe that I can think something into existence. I don't believe that mumbling an affirmation will change anything. On the other hand, if I say to myself, "I am ready to meet the person I just described in my List of 50" AND I haul my butt out of my house and head to a "logical place," (i.e. not a bar -- then what I'll likely notice is that, "magically…" I start to meet people who match what I have said I am looking for. The clarity of my thought and my willingness to "go and do what is necessary" allows what is new to come into being.
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