5 Yoga Practices to Balance the Throat Chakra

The Throat Chakra teaches us about the beauty of our uniqueness. You are meant to share yourself just as you are – your strengths and your beauty along with your vulnerabilities and your blemishes. If you feel you can’t, you may need some Throat Chakra healing.

The Sanskrit name for the Throat Chakra is Vishuddha, which translates most simply as “purity.” Located at the center of your throat, Throat Chakra energy permeates your voice and your thyroid gland.

When your Throat Chakra is imbalanced, you may talk excessively to fill space. Or, alternatively, you may lose your voice. You will feel unable to express yourself in a way that feels authentic and struggle with feelings of insecurity, disconnection, and loneliness.

When the Throat Chakra is balanced, you speak and act from a place of integrity and truth. The “purity” of your speech and actions endears you to others and connects you to your source, transcending feelings of isolation.
 

You create Throat Chakra healing every time you express yourself honestly and authentically.

 
A Throat Chakra imbalance can lead to a deep sense of not knowing how to express yourself with integrity. You get so caught up in wanting to say the “right” thing at the “right” time or in wanting to be the “right” kind of person that you either miss opportunities or express yourself in a way that feels inauthentic.

Your expression is an offering that you make to the world. It is taking what is buried deep inside of you and letting it see the light of day. When you are unable to share your truth, you avoid being honest with yourself and with others.

You create Throat Chakra healing every time you express yourself honestly and authentically.

During yoga practice, you activate this area through poses that focus on your neck and throat, as well as breathing practices (pranayama) that create sound in your throat. Especially if you dislike the sound of your own voice, chanting can be one of the most powerful practices to initiate Throat Chakra healing.
 
 

Here Are 5 Yoga Practices for Throat Chakra Healing:

These practices include a healing sound (mantra), a breathing technique (pranayama), and three yoga postures (asana) for complete Throat Chakra healing.
 

1. Head Rolls and Neck Stretches

This yoga warm-up decreases stiffness in your upper back, neck, and jaw. Each of these areas can hold incredible amounts of tension and need to be stretched regularly.
 

 
Find a comfortable seated or standing posture where your shoulders are aligned directly above your hips. Exhale and lean your left ear toward your left shoulder. While here, breathe easily and take an exaggerated yawn to stretch your jaw and neck muscles more deeply.

On an inhale, return your head to neutral and repeat the stretch on your right side. Finish by rolling your head clockwise three times and then counterclockwise three times. Keep your eyes open if you feel dizzy.

2. Lion’s Breath (Simhasana Pranayama)

Humor and empowerment are antidotes to isolation and dishonesty. Lion’s Breath cultivates both in abundance.
 

 
Sit on your heels with your hands on your thighs. Open your knees wide for traditional Lion’s Pose (Simhasana) or sit with knees together in Hero’s Pose (Virasana).

Deeply inhale through your nose while lifting your hands into the air. Exhale and claw the air downward with your hands, extend your tongue, open your eyes wide, and create an audible sound in your throat. Let it stem straight from your Throat Chakra.

Repeat this three to four times. If you have a tendency to get a dry throat, decrease the volume and intensity of your “roar.”
 

3. Supported Shoulderstand (Salamba Sarvangasana)

Most of us spend time with our heads slightly bowed forward while we look down at our computers, our phones, our desks, and tables. Over time, this ducked-head posture makes our neck vulnerable to injury when put in an unsupported version of Shoulderstand.

Instead, this supported posture makes this powerful inversion safer and more accessible.
 

 
Lie on your back with your knees bent and the soles of your feet touching the mat as in preparation for Bridge Pose (Setu Bandhasana).

Press into your feet to lift your hips and insert a yoga block at its medium or lowest height beneath your sacrum. Be sure to position the block so that it supports the back of your hips and pelvis rather than digging into your lower back or sitting too low on your tailbone.

Bend your right knee toward your chest, and then extend your leg as straight as you can into the air. Follow with your left knee. Keep your knees slightly loose or bend them toward you if you experience limiting tension on the backs of your legs.

Stay here for one to two minutes and come out of the pose by bending your knees toward your chest and return your feet to the floor.
 

4. Supported Fish Pose (Salamba Matsyasana)

A traditional follow up to Shoulderstand in classical yoga sequencing is Fish Pose (Matsyasana). This pose provides a counterbalance to your neck and upper spine and just feels so dang good.
 

 
Begin the pose by setting up your blocks a few inches apart with one set to rest behind your chest (set at its lowest level) and another to rest behind your head (set at its medium height). Pad both blocks with a folded blanket or two to make the pose more restorative.

Set your hips in front of your blocks and bend your knees so the bottoms of your feet touch your mat. When you lie back, your head should rest at the level of the higher block and the lower block should support your back at the level of your chest (nipple height).

Once the blocks are in the right place, extend your legs straight and rest for several minutes. Bend your knees or lower the height of your props if you feel strain in your lower back.

Come out by rolling off of your blocks onto your side, and take a few breaths before sitting upright again.

5. HAM (Vishuddha Bija Mantra)

In addition to body positions and breathing techniques, yoga also gives us sound and vibration to create Throat Chakra healing. The Throat Chakra vibrates with the sound “HAM” (pronounced HAUHM).

For the greatest impact, chant this sound aloud while you focus your attention on the center of your throat. You may chant the mantra aloud or silently.

Want more mantras for Throat Chakra healing? Use These 7 Mantras to Clear Your Throat Chakra and Speak Your Truth
 
 

Clear Your Throat Chakra and Offer the World Your Most Authentic Self

You have everything you need inside of you – this is the ultimate teaching of yoga. The Throat Chakra correlates with space. You take up a unique space on this planet and you were given a unique vibration.

Bringing balance to the expressive energy found in your Throat Chakra and cultivating Throat Chakra healing will deepen your ability to speak about and act upon your deepest truths.

Want to learn more about the Throat Chakra? Check out Throat Chakra 101 to learn more about this chakra and how its balance impacts your life

Photos: Angelique Raptakis

You May Also Enjoy

The Throat Chakra: Here’s Everything You Need to Know About Your Fifth Chakra
The Throat Chakra is the awareness of your personal power, and knowing that no one else has power over you and the choices you make. Learn more here.
Read »