The Healing Path of the Throat Chakra: Integrating the Censored Self

How your words can heal all of us

If you are new here, keep in mind that this is the fifth piece in a series of articles describing seven unique paths to Becoming Whole. Because I’m using the subtle anatomy of the chakra system as a topographical map of these seven paths, I suggest reading “What do the Chakras have to do with your Health” first and then making your way through the series starting at the healing path of the root chakra, then the sacral chakra, and the solar plexus. Those three pieces will provide the foundation for you to cross the bridge of the heart chakra. After reading the fourth piece in the series, if you feel ready to continue climbing, you are in the right place.

The throat chakra is the first of the upper three chakras. Remember that in the upper chakras the separate self is dissolving and we are becoming one with the creator. Because there are 3 steps on this part of the ladder this dissolution of self is a process. At the throat chakra we are closer to a unified experience of self than and individualized one, but the separate self does not completely dissolve until we reach the crown. This is why the throat chakra is such an enjoyable place to work- because we can access ourselves as the creator, but we’re still pretty connected to the material world- so we see tangible results quickly.

Not only does this help us believe in magic and miracles but turns life and health into the best playground!

Discovering ourselves as the creator is one of the most empowering and life altering realizations we can have. It’s a tremendous privilege to have that much impact on others and the world around us. It’s also a heavy responsibility. With that said, becoming aware that we are all, G.O.D (the one that Generates, Organizes, and Destroys) is not always easy to hold. Even those of us who have confidently crossed the bridge of the heart chakra are not necessarily ready for the responsibility that accompanies that much power.   

At the level of the throat chakra, we cannot create for individual gains because we are one intimately connected whole.

The teachers out there selling manifestation programs on instagram to seekers of wealth, status and material gains may not like hearing this, but while the throat chakra is the most effective instrument for manifestation, it cannot be powered by the wounds of the lower chakras. It will not create from fear, denial, vanity, perfectionism or insecurity.

The throat chakra is a magic wand that translates thought forms into the material world but it shuts down in the presence of greed. 

The throat chakra transforms intention into impact through sound and vibration. Abracadabra! With my word I create. This is the motto of the throat chakra.

And just as the field of the heart extends far beyond the body, the boundaries of self at the level of the throat include anywhere your vibration can be heard or felt.

Understanding this is critical to holistic health because how we speak about our health, not only affects our health directly, but it impacts the practitioners we work with and the environments in which care is provided.

Through the lens of the throat chakra our vibrational impact is real, but it goes both ways- so as your vibration imprints other, they are also imprinting you. We are actually co-creating a shared reality together, so while we the throat chakra invites us to be very intentional about the words we speak, it also requires that we be very intentional about when we speak. Listening is as important to the throat chakra as speaking.

*This is where you turn the volume on your phone off, and protect yourself from the many vibratory imprints coming through that tiny device.

While most conventional healthcare providers may argue that the exam room is no place to discuss the throat chakra, Edgar Cayce said “The medicine of the future will be music and sound” and Albert Einstein stated “future medicine will be the medicine of frequencies”.

If you hear these statements and your imagination immediately goes to futuristic technology, vibrating sound beds and crystal sound bowls, I want to tell you what the future looks like in my exam room- because it’s actually much simpler than that.

I want to remind you that YOU are the greatest and most advanced medical technology on the planet and if the medicine of the future is sound, you do not need to look any farther than your throat chakra. Everything you need is already within you. 

At the level of the threat chakra, even the creator can be wounded and the wound pattern associated with the throat is guilt. A wounded throat chakra feels guilty for having a voice with so much impact. It feels guilty for creating a beautiful life, a successful career, fulfilling relationships and vital health. A wounded throat chakra is burdened by the privilege and responsibility of the creator. If you’ve ever been in a situation where you’ve worked hard to create something really wonderful for yourself and you chose not to tell a friend or family member about your success because they’re not thriving and you don’t want to make them feel bad about themself, you know this wound. The guilt of the throat is heavy. It weighs us down so we can’t create with freedom and ease.

The wound of guilt either prevents us from creating the lives of our dreams or it holds us back from sharing it with others. But your guilt doesn’t just hold you back- it’s holds all of us back, because it’s when we share our successes, our triumphs, our magical experiences and positive manifestation results that we inspire all those around us to believe in magic and do the same. The throat chakra wants to create impact with integrity with ease, and to do that, we need to talk about it. We need to use our voices to demystify magic, expect miracles, and turn extraordinary phenomena into ordinary experiences. Through our voices, our vibrational imprint on others can become a viral form of inspiration. We all rise up.

But when guilt is at the the wheel, our creative potential is limited. 

People have never come into my exam room saying they feel guilty for their creative gifts. They complain of thyroid issues because they’re using the thyroid gland to slow them down, to hold themselves back from living vital, creative lives. They’re using the thyroid gland to express guilt physiologically.

They complain of neck pain, acid reflux, feeling silenced or unseen. This is the guilt of the creator- we can’t hold our heads up high and allow the divine instructions to move through the upper chakras into our voice. It gets stuck in the esophagus or the larynx. We can’t sing our part of the beautiful chorus. My clients complain of feeling resentful, overwhelmed, and exhausted from trying so hard but not getting anywhere.

They complain of feeling misunderstood.

The results don’t match their intention in health and in life. They want one thing and seem to be doing all the right things to get it but they’re getting something else. This is the archetypal pattern of a wounded throat chakra- and it has a profound impact on our physical vitality, our thoughts and beliefs about ourselves and our healing, our emotional wellbeing and our spiritual orientation to reality.

When we heal the throat chakra, rather than feeling guilty for our creative potential, we use our privilege to create for the betterment of all. We stop depriving ourselves of our dreams and living under the illusion that our successes are the direct cause of others' failure. We become aware that the mega-verse contains enough resources for all of us to thrive (maybe not all at the same time, but at the level of the throat chakra our orientation to time must expand).

When we heal the throat chakra our heart’s intention is translated into impact with the greatest precision.

Healing the throat chakra should not make you the loudest person in the room- nor should it make you into someone that everyone listens to all the time. Healing the throat chakra should refine your ability to discern when to speak, when to sing and when to listen, which words to use and which words to eliminate from your vocabulary, when to shout, when to whisper and when to be silent.

A healed throat chakra is the most potent musical instrument and when enough of us have healed the throat, we create a therapeutic symphony that can heal the world.

If you want practical tips and detailed guidance on HOW TO heal the throat chakra, subscribe to Becoming Whole and stay tuned for a follow up piece on Friday in the “how to” series for paid subscribers. 

In the meantime, you can start exploring the creative potential of your throat chakra with your language. To experience the gifts of the throat chakra, we must be very intentional with our language. This is not always as easy as it sounds- especially when it comes to health- because our entire healthcare system is based on problems, diagnoses and treatments.

In other words, from the perspective of the throat chakra, the language with which we talk about our health is actually contributing to illness and disease.

If you want the throat chakra to support your health goals, your language must bring the future you want into the present. Present tense, declarative statements are very effective but sometimes we need a bit more nuance.

For example, If your intention is to feel vital and energized, it’s ideal to make statements like:

I am vital, I am healthy, I feel well, I have unlimited energy, etc. 

But if you’re feeling fatigued and you go into a doctor’s appointment and make these statements, they won’t know how to help you. The trick is to workshop your language so that you can communicate truthfully while also using words that create the thing you want. So if you walk into the doctor’s office and declare “I am exhausted and I don’t think I’ll ever feel normal again” your language becomes an obstacle to your goals and the throat chakra uses those words to create a future state in which your are exhausted and don’t think you’ll ever feel normal again. But if you walk into the appointment and say, “I thrive when I feel vital and energetic so I am here today to get your help with that.”

This statement doesn’t get you there as quickly as “I am vital and energized” but it moves you in the direction you want to go while also communicating truthfully, that you need some help.

I recommend workshopping your language and creating a list of statements like this before any healthcare encounter so your words can support the therapeutic outcomes you want.

And at home, remember that every time you speak you are creating something so use your words thoughtfully. The throat chakra works best with language that is declarative, free of doubt, consistent and in the present moment, so practice that!

One of the reasons why mantra is such an important part of so many spiritual traditions is because the sounds we make have a direct impact on our wellbeing. When we chant mantra, the sound waves we create stimulate the sella tursica of the sphenoid bone- the seat of the pituitary gland. The vibration stimulates the pituitary to release stimulating hormones that trigger other endocrine glands of the body to release hormones that impact our physical, mental and emotional state. This is the therapeutic power of your voice! It’s real.

If the healing path of the throat chakra feels like your work, start by workshopping your language and come back to Becoming Whole on Friday for part 2 on how to heal the throat chakra.

*If you are a practitioner in a healing profession and interested in a small group mentorship program with Erica, I have one spot remaining in my final group of 2024. If you’re interested, please tell me a bit about yourself and your work here.

*If you are enjoying this series of posts and are interested in going deeper in an intensive week-long experience, with the loving guidance of myself and my talented partner, Paul Kuhn, our next GNOSIS immersion will take place June 7-14 in Mallorca, Spain and early bird pricing is effect until December 1st.