May 12, 2025 • 20 mins
Struggling to express yourself authentically? Constantly apologizing for having needs? Your throat chakra might be blocked, and the consequences could be more serious than you realize.
Dr. Julie Merriman dives deep into the throat chakra – the energy center that governs communication and self-expression. She reveals how our evolutionary history as "herd humans" created deep-seated fears of judgment and confrontation that many of us still carry today. When we stuff down our needs and silence our voices, we're not just compromising our relationships; we're potentially endangering our health.
Research from the American Psychological Association has linked chronic stress – the kind that builds when we can't express ourselves authentically – to six leading causes of death. Dr. Merriman shares her personal wake-up call when years of caregiver stress contributed to her breast cancer diagnosis, highlighting how crucial throat chakra balance is for overall wellness.
The good news? You can begin clearing this powerful energy center with simple, accessible practices. From singing your heart out in the car to performing lion's breath yoga, journaling with blue pens, or working with crystals, Dr. Merriman offers practical techniques to help you find your voice. She emphasizes that authentic communication isn't selfish – it's essential self-care that reduces harmful stress and teaches others how to treat you with respect.
Whether you're a professional helper facing compassion fatigue or simply someone who struggles to speak up for yourself, this episode provides valuable tools to balance your throat chakra and improve your overall wellbeing. Remember: showing up and speaking up without apologies isn't just about better communication – it could save your life.
Ready to find your voice? Subscribe to SoulJoy, leave a review, and visit juliemerrimanphd.com to join the email list for weekly bonus materials to support your holistic self-care journey.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey y'all, I'm Dr Julie Merriman and welcome to
SoulJoy.
This week we are moving to thethroat chakra.
We're going to discuss thenecessity of showing up and
speaking up with no apologies,because, y'all, having a
balanced throat chakra is a verynecessary component of holistic
(00:24):
, sustainable self-care, alsoknown as wellness.
All right, hello, hello, hello.
I hope y'all are doing great.
I, as always, appreciate youtaking a hot minute to hang out
with me while we discuss all thestuff we need to do for
(00:46):
holistic, sustainable self-care.
So let's see, I am gettingready to hit the road.
It is time to travel to Iowa.
I teach for a college out inIowa and I'm headed there this
week.
I've got to present at aconference along the way and
then I get to hood my studentsduring graduation.
I'm very excited about that.
(01:07):
I love.
That's one of my favoritethings about being a professor.
So, anyway, who doesn't love agood road trip?
The hubs and I are loading upand off.
We go.
The hard part.
I don't know.
Do y'all feel this way?
The hard part for me is packing.
I'm a mood dresser, you know.
I dress the way I feel each day.
(01:27):
So when I have to pack allthese outfits, I don't know I'm
going to feel that way.
So, anyway, that's my biggestchallenge for the day, but I
will overcome it.
So, okay, professional helpersthis podcast is dedicated to
preventing and overcoming theoccupational hazards of this
amazing career.
We've chosen specificallyburnout, compassion, fatigue and
(01:50):
vicarious trauma.
But if y'all are not in thefield of helpers, this podcast
is for you too.
Everyone struggles with those,so what I talk about is relevant
for you as well.
So what I talk about isrelevant for you as well.
So, okay, today it's all aboutshowing up, speaking up without
apologies, because y'all thoseare emotional symptoms of a
(02:15):
blocked throat chakra Having toapologize, being fearful to show
up, being fearful to speak up.
A throat chakra blockage canmake it challenging to form
genuine connections.
It can leave you feelingisolated or guarded.
The throat chakra y'all.
(02:35):
It's seated in the throat andit governs communication,
self-expression.
Signs of a blockage here caninclude, like I said, difficulty
speaking up, fear of judgmentanybody, or maybe feeling
misunderstood.
So I know, when I was younger, Iwould always apologize for
(02:58):
having an opinion or a need.
God forbid, I would lock thatinformation tightly in my tummy.
I didn't have a strong internallocus of control back then and
that prevented me from facingany type of confrontation and
(03:19):
again, as I just mentioned, Ifeared judgment.
I feared being misunderstood.
As I just mentioned, I fearedjudgment.
I feared being misunderstoodbecause you know, back in the
day, y'all, when we were herdhumans, if you will, if we
pissed people off, if theymisunderstood us or judged us to
be a pain in the butt, thatkind of stuff got you kicked out
(03:40):
of the pack.
And if you were just a kid back, then you wouldn't survive.
If you were kicked out of thepack, and if you were just a kid
back, then you wouldn't survive.
If you were kicked out of thepack, it was certain death.
So I'll talk about that more ina moment.
But there's some truth tied tosome of these fears.
But honestly, when I learnedthat being able to confront
clients was 90% of whatcounselors do, I really thought
(04:05):
about changing my major.
I just thought maybe I hadchosen the wrong profession.
Now, 30 years later, it comeseasily to me now.
But y'all, that wasn't alwaysthe case and I have to work with
my students quite a bit aswe're teaching them to be
counselors, because the wordconfrontation just kind of shuts
people down.
(04:25):
There's fear there and I thinkit goes back to back in the you
know, ancient days when we wereherd humans and had to be a part
of that pack to survive.
So it was real for humans onceupon a time, that fear.
So if you struggle with thefear of judgment or fear of
(04:49):
being misunderstood or just fearof speaking up, no shame in
that game, there's a reason.
So I invite you to showyourself a little love and sit
back and listen to the goodiesI've got planned for you.
Today, a lot of the throatchakra balancing work is
(05:13):
reviewing our communicationstyles.
I'll talk about that in anotherpodcast.
We need to identify our mostprevalent style of communication
.
Our goal is to move toassertive, not aggressive.
Assertive.
An assertive speaker, someonewho has assertive communication
styles, style, gets their needsmet, and that's the whole point
(05:34):
of communication.
We're trying to discuss what weneed, what we want, what we you
know, things that are needs andwants.
We do that throughcommunication our needs and
wants.
We do that throughcommunication.
(05:54):
When we can't say what we meanand mean what we say y'all we
suffer.
When we don't show up and speakup for ourselves.
We suffer when we apologize forour very existence.
We suffer and I want to parkthis plane right here, just a
hot minute.
If you find yourselfapologizing for everything.
You step in front of someone ohI'm sorry, you say something
(06:18):
you didn't mean to say, oh I'msorry, whatever it might be.
I want you to stop thatbusiness right this moment,
because what you're telling youramygdala is that you're sorry
for your existence.
That is not the case Now.
I want you to replace that witha beautiful.
You're not sorry, you don'tneed to apologize, you're
beautiful.
(06:38):
Of course we want to besocially appropriate, but so
often we just run aroundapologizing because it's just
second nature and we don't evenreally know what we're
apologizing for.
But your amygdala is listeningand you're getting results based
on that.
So I want you to stop that andreplace that with I'm sorry,
beautiful, okay.
(07:00):
So this suffering that I speakof when we don't speak up, we
don't show up, when we'reapologizing all the time, as I
said with myself, I would juststuff it down in my tummy this
suffering can turn into allkinds of illnesses, y'all, I'm
confident.
The breast cancer I suffered acouple of years ago was spurred
(07:22):
on by all of the stress that Iwas living through.
I had a husband who had direbrain cancer.
We had to and we were playinghospital roulette.
I mean, I couldn't plan a weekwithout having to go back to the
hospital, which if we lived inFort Worth proper and it's just
a two block jaunt, no big deal,but we are two hours from the
(07:45):
city, so that's a major ordeal.
I got to pack bags, I got tomake sure I can get Kelly to the
car.
I'm scared for his health.
It was a lot.
It was a lot, so we were goingthrough that.
Then we moved to Arizona forcancer treatment and that was a
whole ordeal Because we have aranch and cattle still have to
(08:06):
ranch and cattle still have tobe fed and fields still have to
be planted.
And I mean it's, it's.
I've lived, I've been a citygirl.
It was a lot easier to find acat sitter and just go
trolloping off than to have toput a lot of things into place,
to be gone for six months and wehad a horrible, frivolous
lawsuit sprung on us the day wefound out he had brain cancer by
(08:26):
an equally horrible human.
It was y'all, it was just toomuch.
I was on autopilot taking careof my beloved and all that
hospital roulette and all thechanges in our life.
It was just too much.
My body took a hit.
All of that stress turned intocancer.
I'm a firm believer of it.
I was very lucky I caught itprior to stage one and to a
(08:54):
double mastectomy.
Later, all is well.
But, my friend, that was mywake-up call to revisit my
throat chakra energy.
My wake-up call to revisit mythroat chakra energy.
See, research shows us thatprolonged or chronic stress can
significantly impact andcontribute to various serious
illnesses.
This includes heart disease,cancer and, of course, mental
(09:18):
health problems.
Studies by the AmericanPsychological Association have
linked chronic stress to sixleading causes of death,
highlighting its indirect impacton mortality.
Take that in for a minute.
We have to be practicingholistic, sustainable self-care
(09:42):
so we can avoid all of thisstress.
So let's dig in just a littlebit more.
So the studies show that stresscan be indirectly linked to
death.
So chronic stress can lead tovarious health problems.
Like I said, heart disease,cancer, lung ailments and
(10:03):
accidents, because we're notfunctioning at our best when
we're very stressed and all ofthat could possibly be fatal.
The mental health impactsProlonged stress can increase
the risk of mental health issueslike depression and anxiety,
which also have seriousconsequences.
And then we have physicalhealth impacts.
(10:26):
Stress can weaken your immunesystem, walking around with a
cold all the time, makingindividuals you're going to be
more susceptible to infections,excuse me and it can also
contribute to high bloodpressure, which leads to heart
disease and perhaps stroke.
Chronic stress can lead tounhealthy lifestyle choices,
(10:51):
like overeating or smoking,drinking too much, which can
also increase the risk ofpremature death.
I'm really Debbie Doomsday,aren't I?
I'm going to turn it around.
I promise.
I just want to go through theresearch.
It even can lead to suddendeath.
While very rare, severe stresscan, in some cases, contribute
(11:14):
to sudden death, particularly inindividuals with pre-existing
heart conditions.
A Yale study found that stresscan induce faster and more
lethal arrhythmias.
Get that, I mean, this stuff isnot something to play with.
See, getting your throat chakracleared up so you can show up
(11:37):
for yourself, speak up foryourself, and do this with zero
apologies, is necessary, becausewhen you do, you relieve
yourself of stress.
When you stuff it, you'restuffing all kinds of stress
into your body.
I just illustrated how badstress is for you, but but don't
(12:02):
worry, I've got you.
I created an easy activity foryou to practice to open up that
throat chakra and this will helpwith reducing stress.
So, okay, before I go there,please subscribe to my email
list to get the weekly podcastemail, which includes the bonus
(12:22):
PDFs I fix up for you, and aweekly email that comes to your
inbox with the podcast alreadyattached as well.
All you have to do is hop onover to my website.
I've got some pretty fun stuffon my website as well, but hop
on over, sign up for my emaillist.
Well, but hop on over, sign upfor my email list.
(12:53):
You go towwwjuliemerrimanphdcom.
Okay, so I call this activity.
I've pictured those monkeys seeno evil, hear no evil, speak no
evil.
Well, these monkeys are sayingshow up, speak up, no apologies.
So let's dive into this.
(13:14):
To clear the throat chakra andreduce stress, you've got to
incorporate practices like vocalexercises.
Seeing your freaking heart outto the radio in the car, that's
a vocal exercise.
Sing in the shower vocalalexercise, but also chanting and
affirmations, along withtechniques like yoga and
meditation, are all very helpful.
You don't even have to leavethe house for yoga.
There's lots of great yogachannels on YouTube which are
(13:38):
absolutely free.
These methods can help releaseblockages and improve your
communication and promote asense of calm, which leads to
less stress.
Okay, so let's look at vocalexercises and chanting Engaging
in singing in the car, chanting,which includes the hum mantra.
(14:03):
A lot of that's on YouTube, forfree too.
This helps loosen up the throat, or even simply humming can
stimulate the throat chakra andhelp release tension.
Now, buyer beware I noticed thiswhen I'm working with my
clients and we're working onthroat chakra.
That's going to release sometension and you could become
(14:28):
tearful, you could becomeemotive.
It's fine, hold space for that.
I've got all kinds of podcaststalking about how to hold space.
Go back and check some of thoseout.
But just be forewarned as youbegin to balance this chakra,
you could experience someemotions that have been pinned
up and causing you stress.
Okay, the next thing is topractice affirmations, positive
(14:53):
affirmations like I cancommunicate clearly, I can speak
up for myself, I can speak mytruth freely.
These can help reprogram somenegative thought patterns and
help enhance yourself-expression.
You're talking to that amygdala, you're trying to rewire neural
(15:14):
pathways, and these positiveaffirmations are very helpful in
doing this.
And I encourage you to sit infront of a mirror and really
make good eye contact withyourself as you're doing these
Yoga and deep breathingpractices like lion's breath.
Hop onto YouTube.
(15:35):
You can find a YouTube thatshows you how to do that.
These involve a deep exhalewith a loud roar, these lion's
breath, deep inhale and athey're gonna do it too loud.
I don't want to blow your earsup, but a loud roar and I'm
talking honey loud where yourhusband's going to run back here
(15:57):
, your wife or your kid.
What is going on?
I am balancing my throat chakra, but this can stimulate your
throat and chest area, helpingto reduce stress and cleaning
out blockages.
Inversions during yoga, like ashoulder stand or a plow pose,
(16:18):
can also help release tension inyour throat and your thyroid.
Meditation and journaling In theworkbook I fixed up for you for
today with this podcast, I havealso included a journal with
the activity.
But you want to focus on thethroat chakra area during
meditation, and writing in thejournal can facilitate
(16:42):
self-reflection, allowing forexpression of suppressed
emotions.
Now, y'all, blue is the colorof the throat chakra, so use a
blue pen maybe as you're writing, focus on a blue color as
you're meditating.
There's all kinds of funflashlight apps on your phone
that flash up beautiful primarycolors and you could go to the
(17:05):
blue to do your meditation andjournal.
Energy medicine.
Big believer in this, considerexploring energy healing
therapies like Reiki or soundbaths, which help balance the
throat chakras, energy flow.
I love to hop over to YouTubeand find a sound frequency for
(17:27):
whatever chakra I might beworking on.
I can feel it vibrating in thatchakra as I'm doing that.
It's very powerful, verypowerful.
And I've got a great reiki girlin fort worth.
She's not a girl, she's a grownwoman lady in fort worth, texas
, who does, um, just a beautifuljob in moving some stuck
energies for me.
But they're everywhere.
Try it, try it.
(17:49):
It's worth the time and effort.
Crystals and stones again,wearing or keeping blue crystals
close to your body, like lapisor a blue well, there's lots of
blue stones but these may helpto balance and harmonize your
throat chakra.
(18:10):
And then, as I said at thebeginning and we'll talk more
about this next week mindfulcommunication You've got to pay
attention to your communicationpatterns and we'll talk more
about this next week.
Mindful communication You've gotto pay attention to your
communication patterns andexpress yourself authentically,
authentically.
Don't say shit because youthink someone wants to hear it.
Don't agree just because it'sgoing to save having to confront
(18:32):
somebody or it's just going tobe easier.
You are robbing yourself of theability to be stress-free.
When you do that, be honest inyour communication.
You teach people, we, you, me,everyone.
We teach people how to treat usin the way we respond to them.
Think about that.
(18:52):
We're giving away our power ifwe're not communicating openly,
authentically and honestly.
And then therapy and support.
I mean, yes, I'm a therapistand I specialize in therapy for
other therapists, but I'm a bigsupporter in we helpers everyone
(19:14):
.
Really, if you've survivedchildhood, you need to go to
therapy.
Life happens, man.
No matter how wonderful ourfamilies are, life happens.
So therapy and support isalways out there.
If you're experiencingsignificant throat chakra
blockages or difficultycommunicating, consider seeking
(19:39):
professional support from atherapist or counselor.
We have got to take care ofourselves, and that should
therapy should be a cornerstoneof your self-care plan.
It's very important.
So, okay, friends, that's itfor today.
(19:59):
Subscribe to my podcast.
Wherever you listen to podcasts, please leave a review.
That helps me reach more peopleand until next time, take care
of you.
Hey y'all, I'm Dr Julie Merriman and welcome to
SoulJoy.
This week we are moving to thethroat chakra.
We're going to discuss thenecessity of showing up and
speaking up with no apologies,because, y'all, having a
balanced throat chakra is a verynecessary component of holistic
(00:24):
, sustainable self-care, alsoknown as wellness.
All right, hello, hello, hello.
I hope y'all are doing great.
I, as always, appreciate youtaking a hot minute to hang out
with me while we discuss all thestuff we need to do for
(00:46):
holistic, sustainable self-care.
So let's see, I am gettingready to hit the road.
It is time to travel to Iowa.
I teach for a college out inIowa and I'm headed there this
week.
I've got to present at aconference along the way and
then I get to hood my studentsduring graduation.
I'm very excited about that.
(01:07):
I love.
That's one of my favoritethings about being a professor.
So, anyway, who doesn't love agood road trip?
The hubs and I are loading upand off.
We go.
The hard part.
I don't know.
Do y'all feel this way?
The hard part for me is packing.
I'm a mood dresser, you know.
I dress the way I feel each day.
(01:27):
So when I have to pack allthese outfits, I don't know I'm
going to feel that way.
So, anyway, that's my biggestchallenge for the day, but I
will overcome it.
So, okay, professional helpersthis podcast is dedicated to
preventing and overcoming theoccupational hazards of this
amazing career.
We've chosen specificallyburnout, compassion, fatigue and
(01:50):
vicarious trauma.
But if y'all are not in thefield of helpers, this podcast
is for you too.
Everyone struggles with those,so what I talk about is relevant
for you as well.
So what I talk about isrelevant for you as well.
So, okay, today it's all aboutshowing up, speaking up without
apologies, because y'all thoseare emotional symptoms of a
(02:15):
blocked throat chakra Having toapologize, being fearful to show
up, being fearful to speak up.
A throat chakra blockage canmake it challenging to form
genuine connections.
It can leave you feelingisolated or guarded.
The throat chakra y'all.
(02:35):
It's seated in the throat andit governs communication,
self-expression.
Signs of a blockage here caninclude, like I said, difficulty
speaking up, fear of judgmentanybody, or maybe feeling
misunderstood.
So I know, when I was younger, Iwould always apologize for
(02:58):
having an opinion or a need.
God forbid, I would lock thatinformation tightly in my tummy.
I didn't have a strong internallocus of control back then and
that prevented me from facingany type of confrontation and
(03:19):
again, as I just mentioned, Ifeared judgment.
I feared being misunderstood.
As I just mentioned, I fearedjudgment.
I feared being misunderstoodbecause you know, back in the
day, y'all, when we were herdhumans, if you will, if we
pissed people off, if theymisunderstood us or judged us to
be a pain in the butt, thatkind of stuff got you kicked out
(03:40):
of the pack.
And if you were just a kid back, then you wouldn't survive.
If you were kicked out of thepack, and if you were just a kid
back, then you wouldn't survive.
If you were kicked out of thepack, it was certain death.
So I'll talk about that more ina moment.
But there's some truth tied tosome of these fears.
But honestly, when I learnedthat being able to confront
clients was 90% of whatcounselors do, I really thought
(04:05):
about changing my major.
I just thought maybe I hadchosen the wrong profession.
Now, 30 years later, it comeseasily to me now.
But y'all, that wasn't alwaysthe case and I have to work with
my students quite a bit aswe're teaching them to be
counselors, because the wordconfrontation just kind of shuts
people down.
(04:25):
There's fear there and I thinkit goes back to back in the you
know, ancient days when we wereherd humans and had to be a part
of that pack to survive.
So it was real for humans onceupon a time, that fear.
So if you struggle with thefear of judgment or fear of
(04:49):
being misunderstood or just fearof speaking up, no shame in
that game, there's a reason.
So I invite you to showyourself a little love and sit
back and listen to the goodiesI've got planned for you.
Today, a lot of the throatchakra balancing work is
(05:13):
reviewing our communicationstyles.
I'll talk about that in anotherpodcast.
We need to identify our mostprevalent style of communication
.
Our goal is to move toassertive, not aggressive.
Assertive.
An assertive speaker, someonewho has assertive communication
styles, style, gets their needsmet, and that's the whole point
(05:34):
of communication.
We're trying to discuss what weneed, what we want, what we you
know, things that are needs andwants.
We do that throughcommunication our needs and
wants.
We do that throughcommunication.
(05:54):
When we can't say what we meanand mean what we say y'all we
suffer.
When we don't show up and speakup for ourselves.
We suffer when we apologize forour very existence.
We suffer and I want to parkthis plane right here, just a
hot minute.
If you find yourselfapologizing for everything.
You step in front of someone ohI'm sorry, you say something
(06:18):
you didn't mean to say, oh I'msorry, whatever it might be.
I want you to stop thatbusiness right this moment,
because what you're telling youramygdala is that you're sorry
for your existence.
That is not the case Now.
I want you to replace that witha beautiful.
You're not sorry, you don'tneed to apologize, you're
beautiful.
(06:38):
Of course we want to besocially appropriate, but so
often we just run aroundapologizing because it's just
second nature and we don't evenreally know what we're
apologizing for.
But your amygdala is listeningand you're getting results based
on that.
So I want you to stop that andreplace that with I'm sorry,
beautiful, okay.
(07:00):
So this suffering that I speakof when we don't speak up, we
don't show up, when we'reapologizing all the time, as I
said with myself, I would juststuff it down in my tummy this
suffering can turn into allkinds of illnesses, y'all, I'm
confident.
The breast cancer I suffered acouple of years ago was spurred
(07:22):
on by all of the stress that Iwas living through.
I had a husband who had direbrain cancer.
We had to and we were playinghospital roulette.
I mean, I couldn't plan a weekwithout having to go back to the
hospital, which if we lived inFort Worth proper and it's just
a two block jaunt, no big deal,but we are two hours from the
(07:45):
city, so that's a major ordeal.
I got to pack bags, I got tomake sure I can get Kelly to the
car.
I'm scared for his health.
It was a lot.
It was a lot, so we were goingthrough that.
Then we moved to Arizona forcancer treatment and that was a
whole ordeal Because we have aranch and cattle still have to
(08:06):
ranch and cattle still have tobe fed and fields still have to
be planted.
And I mean it's, it's.
I've lived, I've been a citygirl.
It was a lot easier to find acat sitter and just go
trolloping off than to have toput a lot of things into place,
to be gone for six months and wehad a horrible, frivolous
lawsuit sprung on us the day wefound out he had brain cancer by
(08:26):
an equally horrible human.
It was y'all, it was just toomuch.
I was on autopilot taking careof my beloved and all that
hospital roulette and all thechanges in our life.
It was just too much.
My body took a hit.
All of that stress turned intocancer.
I'm a firm believer of it.
I was very lucky I caught itprior to stage one and to a
(08:54):
double mastectomy.
Later, all is well.
But, my friend, that was mywake-up call to revisit my
throat chakra energy.
My wake-up call to revisit mythroat chakra energy.
See, research shows us thatprolonged or chronic stress can
significantly impact andcontribute to various serious
illnesses.
This includes heart disease,cancer and, of course, mental
(09:18):
health problems.
Studies by the AmericanPsychological Association have
linked chronic stress to sixleading causes of death,
highlighting its indirect impacton mortality.
Take that in for a minute.
We have to be practicingholistic, sustainable self-care
(09:42):
so we can avoid all of thisstress.
So let's dig in just a littlebit more.
So the studies show that stresscan be indirectly linked to
death.
So chronic stress can lead tovarious health problems.
Like I said, heart disease,cancer, lung ailments and
(10:03):
accidents, because we're notfunctioning at our best when
we're very stressed and all ofthat could possibly be fatal.
The mental health impactsProlonged stress can increase
the risk of mental health issueslike depression and anxiety,
which also have seriousconsequences.
And then we have physicalhealth impacts.
(10:26):
Stress can weaken your immunesystem, walking around with a
cold all the time, makingindividuals you're going to be
more susceptible to infections,excuse me and it can also
contribute to high bloodpressure, which leads to heart
disease and perhaps stroke.
Chronic stress can lead tounhealthy lifestyle choices,
(10:51):
like overeating or smoking,drinking too much, which can
also increase the risk ofpremature death.
I'm really Debbie Doomsday,aren't I?
I'm going to turn it around.
I promise.
I just want to go through theresearch.
It even can lead to suddendeath.
While very rare, severe stresscan, in some cases, contribute
(11:14):
to sudden death, particularly inindividuals with pre-existing
heart conditions.
A Yale study found that stresscan induce faster and more
lethal arrhythmias.
Get that, I mean, this stuff isnot something to play with.
See, getting your throat chakracleared up so you can show up
(11:37):
for yourself, speak up foryourself, and do this with zero
apologies, is necessary, becausewhen you do, you relieve
yourself of stress.
When you stuff it, you'restuffing all kinds of stress
into your body.
I just illustrated how badstress is for you, but but don't
(12:02):
worry, I've got you.
I created an easy activity foryou to practice to open up that
throat chakra and this will helpwith reducing stress.
So, okay, before I go there,please subscribe to my email
list to get the weekly podcastemail, which includes the bonus
(12:22):
PDFs I fix up for you, and aweekly email that comes to your
inbox with the podcast alreadyattached as well.
All you have to do is hop onover to my website.
I've got some pretty fun stuffon my website as well, but hop
on over, sign up for my emaillist.
Well, but hop on over, sign upfor my email list.
(12:53):
You go towwwjuliemerrimanphdcom.
Okay, so I call this activity.
I've pictured those monkeys seeno evil, hear no evil, speak no
evil.
Well, these monkeys are sayingshow up, speak up, no apologies.
So let's dive into this.
(13:14):
To clear the throat chakra andreduce stress, you've got to
incorporate practices like vocalexercises.
Seeing your freaking heart outto the radio in the car, that's
a vocal exercise.
Sing in the shower vocalalexercise, but also chanting and
affirmations, along withtechniques like yoga and
meditation, are all very helpful.
You don't even have to leavethe house for yoga.
There's lots of great yogachannels on YouTube which are
(13:38):
absolutely free.
These methods can help releaseblockages and improve your
communication and promote asense of calm, which leads to
less stress.
Okay, so let's look at vocalexercises and chanting Engaging
in singing in the car, chanting,which includes the hum mantra.
(14:03):
A lot of that's on YouTube, forfree too.
This helps loosen up the throat, or even simply humming can
stimulate the throat chakra andhelp release tension.
Now, buyer beware I noticed thiswhen I'm working with my
clients and we're working onthroat chakra.
That's going to release sometension and you could become
(14:28):
tearful, you could becomeemotive.
It's fine, hold space for that.
I've got all kinds of podcaststalking about how to hold space.
Go back and check some of thoseout.
But just be forewarned as youbegin to balance this chakra,
you could experience someemotions that have been pinned
up and causing you stress.
Okay, the next thing is topractice affirmations, positive
(14:53):
affirmations like I cancommunicate clearly, I can speak
up for myself, I can speak mytruth freely.
These can help reprogram somenegative thought patterns and
help enhance yourself-expression.
You're talking to that amygdala, you're trying to rewire neural
(15:14):
pathways, and these positiveaffirmations are very helpful in
doing this.
And I encourage you to sit infront of a mirror and really
make good eye contact withyourself as you're doing these
Yoga and deep breathingpractices like lion's breath.
Hop onto YouTube.
(15:35):
You can find a YouTube thatshows you how to do that.
These involve a deep exhalewith a loud roar, these lion's
breath, deep inhale and athey're gonna do it too loud.
I don't want to blow your earsup, but a loud roar and I'm
talking honey loud where yourhusband's going to run back here
(15:57):
, your wife or your kid.
What is going on?
I am balancing my throat chakra, but this can stimulate your
throat and chest area, helpingto reduce stress and cleaning
out blockages.
Inversions during yoga, like ashoulder stand or a plow pose,
(16:18):
can also help release tension inyour throat and your thyroid.
Meditation and journaling In theworkbook I fixed up for you for
today with this podcast, I havealso included a journal with
the activity.
But you want to focus on thethroat chakra area during
meditation, and writing in thejournal can facilitate
(16:42):
self-reflection, allowing forexpression of suppressed
emotions.
Now, y'all, blue is the colorof the throat chakra, so use a
blue pen maybe as you're writing, focus on a blue color as
you're meditating.
There's all kinds of funflashlight apps on your phone
that flash up beautiful primarycolors and you could go to the
(17:05):
blue to do your meditation andjournal.
Energy medicine.
Big believer in this, considerexploring energy healing
therapies like Reiki or soundbaths, which help balance the
throat chakras, energy flow.
I love to hop over to YouTubeand find a sound frequency for
(17:27):
whatever chakra I might beworking on.
I can feel it vibrating in thatchakra as I'm doing that.
It's very powerful, verypowerful.
And I've got a great reiki girlin fort worth.
She's not a girl, she's a grownwoman lady in fort worth, texas
, who does, um, just a beautifuljob in moving some stuck
energies for me.
But they're everywhere.
Try it, try it.
(17:49):
It's worth the time and effort.
Crystals and stones again,wearing or keeping blue crystals
close to your body, like lapisor a blue well, there's lots of
blue stones but these may helpto balance and harmonize your
throat chakra.
(18:10):
And then, as I said at thebeginning and we'll talk more
about this next week mindfulcommunication You've got to pay
attention to your communicationpatterns and we'll talk more
about this next week.
Mindful communication You've gotto pay attention to your
communication patterns andexpress yourself authentically,
authentically.
Don't say shit because youthink someone wants to hear it.
Don't agree just because it'sgoing to save having to confront
(18:32):
somebody or it's just going tobe easier.
You are robbing yourself of theability to be stress-free.
When you do that, be honest inyour communication.
You teach people, we, you, me,everyone.
We teach people how to treat usin the way we respond to them.
Think about that.
(18:52):
We're giving away our power ifwe're not communicating openly,
authentically and honestly.
And then therapy and support.
I mean, yes, I'm a therapistand I specialize in therapy for
other therapists, but I'm a bigsupporter in we helpers everyone
(19:14):
.
Really, if you've survivedchildhood, you need to go to
therapy.
Life happens, man.
No matter how wonderful ourfamilies are, life happens.
So therapy and support isalways out there.
If you're experiencingsignificant throat chakra
blockages or difficultycommunicating, consider seeking
(19:39):
professional support from atherapist or counselor.
We have got to take care ofourselves, and that should
therapy should be a cornerstoneof your self-care plan.
It's very important.
So, okay, friends, that's itfor today.
(19:59):
Subscribe to my podcast.
Wherever you listen to podcasts, please leave a review.
That helps me reach more peopleand until next time, take care
of you.
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