It seems apt that I finally get around to writing another blog the week we're focusing on Vishudda chakra; which relates to how we communicate!
Literally translated, visha means impurity/poison and suddhi means to purify. The concept of purification also refers to communication, essentially filtering what we communicate with the world around us.
When focusing on Vishuddi we can also consider the first and second yamas (Patanjali's sutras - yamas translates as self restraints)
11.30 ahimsa satya asteya brachmacarya aparigrahah yamah
The first two of those yamas are ahimsa and satya. Ahimsa meaning harmlessness or non violence and satya meaning real, genuine, honest, virtous, truthful. A yogi/yogini should speak honestly (satya), with an open heart and an uncluttered mind, and kindly, so as not to do harm (ahimsa). We all remember times when someone has spoken unkindly to us, the hurtful words imprint deeply on our souls, perhaps changing the way we present ourselves to the world for fear of it happening again. Likewise when we're spoken to kindly or offered a compliment it can give us the confidence to share more of ourselves with the world around us.
Speaking, chanting, singing or writing are all creative ways to boost the energy of Vishudda chakra, alternatively spending time in silence, meditating, is a way to calm and balance the energy here; giving us the opportunity to 'hear' our inner voice.
When we talk about hearing that inner voice, we're not talking about the constant chatter from the ego-self (which can often cause 'harm' in the form of negative thought patterns) but a deeper awareness of 'truth'. This led me back to one of my favourite books to share a profound quote, from Stillness Speaks, by Eckhart Tolle.
" When each thought absorbs your attention completely, it means you identify with the voice in your head. Thought then becomes invested with a sense of self. This is the ego, a mind-made "me". That mentally constructed self feels incomplete and precarious. That's why fearing and wanting are its emotions and motivating forces.
When you recognize that there is a voice in your head that pretends to be you and never stops speaking, you are awakening out of your unconscious identification with the stream of thinking. When you notice that voice, you realize that who you are is not the voice - the thinker - but the one who is aware of it.
knowing yourself as the awareness behind the voice is freedom." (Tolle, 2003, p29)
Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Wishing you kindness, truth & love
Sophia x