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Clear the Crap · Divas That Care Network

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's Divas the Care Radio.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Stories, strategies, and ideas to inspire positive change.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Divas that Care, a network of women committed to making our world a better place for everyone.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: This is a global movement for women, by women, engaged in a collaborative effort to create a better world for future generations.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: To find out more about the movement, visit divas that care.com after the show.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Right now, though, stay tuned for another jolt of inspiration.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: Our network is in its 16th year and listened to in over 30 countries.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: I'd like to personally thank you for giving me the gift of your time.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: As always, it is my honor to hold space with and for you.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: And this series, we are talking about the voice.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: And specifically my subject matter, I am going to be talking about uh the female voice and standing um in your feminine power.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the things that um really really rings true for me as um a Reiki master, let alone as a yoga practitioner, I will get into I'll touch on the asanas, but I'm actually going to talk more about breath work, um, especially as we're talking about the throat chakra.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: I think that um I know that personally breath work has been something that I need to focus on more as a yoga instructor.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um especially because, not only because of the relation it has to the throat chakra, but because you know, our breath is the basis for everything, right?
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and our body is too, they're kind of the chicken or the egg in that in that context.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: But, you know, we focus so much on the asanas in in Western yoga, right?
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's about the the body more so.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and I think that maybe that gets lost in translation.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, maybe not across the board.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna comment on other yoga instructors, other yoga studios, but I know that I've been accused of holding my breath before, and so it's something that I need to work on, and so we will definitely continue to power through and make sure that we are consciously giving the time, energy, and dedication, and focus that our breath deserves, even if it may have been something that we have overlooked in the past.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: So practicing a little bit of forgiveness and making sure that we course correct that trajectory to incorporate everything harmoniously and with balance, which is always the goal.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: So before I get into that, as I mentioned, as a Reiki master, one thing that I have noticed is a lot of female clients, a lot, I don't want to say all, but a lot have stuff stuck in their throat.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: I mean the vast majority.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: And for me, and I will never comment on how other Reiki practitioners work because I everybody is a little bit different, even if they're trained by different, you know, Reiki schools, um, how people, you know, internalize the energy, flow through the energy, transmute the energy, however you want to define it for yourself.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: That makes sense.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: I have a tendency to see things in my mind's eye in that kind of meditative state.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: And so for a lot of what I see when I'm working with a client is what looks like kind of black or gray cobwebs, what looks like I've seen literal static, like if you remember the old school TVs when the channel wasn't working, uh, you'd have that kind of interference, like seeing I've seen something that looks like that.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm oftentimes clearing the throat chakra.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: And don't forget that the throat chakra in women aligns to our neck, obviously, the tops of our shoulders.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of females, and again, I will have respect for any and all genders, but I'm talking about the body mechanics of the female body, and so you can get mad at me for that, but I'm going to continue on that vein and just say that it is with all respect to anyone and everyone, and leave it at that.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: So, with that in mind, the the body mechanics of the female body have the weight of our breasts on our chest, drawing our shoulder blades down.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: One of the reasons why uh strengthening the back muscles, the muscles that are in between the shoulder blades and the spine, right?
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: And getting that posture reversed, strengthening your back as a female is one of the most important things you can do, other than your legs and strengthening everything, right?
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's all about balance.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: But for us, because of the body mechanics and the fact that we carry extra weight in the front, which pulls us down, draws our shoulders forward, gives us that lovely kind of turtle posture of neck, you know, neck jutting out, chin jutting out, shoulders rounding forward and down, that lovely curve through the back, like it's not the opposite of good posture, essentially.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: That's what we are literally set up for physically.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: So we have to counteract that to make sure that we are lengthening tall, leading with our heart center, drawing our shoulders back, engaging the muscles behind our breasts to support that extra weight.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: That's why it's so important for us.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: Why is this important?
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: All of the throat chakra physicality occurs in this area.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: Women carry tension, we store our stress, we keep trauma, we keep fear.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: It all packs in jaw, upper shoulders, teeth clenching, all of that debris from life, this is where it sits.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: This is where it gets stuck.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm not saying that it can't be stuck other places for women, especially the sacral area, our hips, our lower back, another huge area for women that that can store, hang on to, create discomfort, create dis-ease, right?
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: Over time.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: But the throat, the throat.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna try not to get on a soapbox.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: I'm really gonna try.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's I'm gonna fail.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna fail at not getting on a soapbox a little bit with this.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's in so it's so important to me.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um I believe myself, and maybe I'm wrong.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: I like to think I'm somewhat self-aware, definitely not completely self-aware.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: I know that for a fact, but somewhat self-aware, and I know that I I believe that my voice has often not been a problem for me.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: I'm pretty good at speaking out, I'm pretty good at speaking my truth more often than not.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, having that assertion, oftentimes it gets me into trouble.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: So I will say that I am probably on the opposite end of that spectrum when it comes to you know, the idea that females should, or and I'm gonna tread carefully here, should in air quotes for those of you that are not watching, uh you know, be calm, be nice, right?
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: Be nice, kind is wonderful, nice, not so much.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: So with that in mind, when we talk about the throat chakra, and I talk and I see and I I work on on women and I run into these energetic blockages, stagnations.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: Think of literally, if you if you ever look into trees and you see the caterpillar webs or the cobwebs that are just like those white kind of sacks within a tree, think of that, but black and in and around the throat.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: I see this in the bodies of women in my mind's eye when I'm working on them.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: And it's my duty, as is my calling as a Reiki master, to clear that debris, to remove those energetic ties, blockages, restrictions, etc.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: And I hope that I'm I'm doing the service, but ultimately it is up to every individual woman, female, whatever you prefer, to use their voice.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: And not just use their voice, because don't get me wrong, your voice can get you in a lot of trouble too.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: I'm talking about of your truth, honesty, integrity.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: If you've never read The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz, I greatly, greatly encourage you to do so.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's one of my favorites.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the agreements is be impeccable with your word.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: And so this is a great throat chakra kind of alignment.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: And the reason for that is because words cut, you cannot take certain things that you've said back.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: I think we've all learned that experience here and there over our lives.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: As the older you get, the more you realize that your words can cut just as deeply as actions.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: And so if you speak in haste, speak in anger, and I've literally just had this happen to me where I had an experience, I was very emotionally charged.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm not gonna say that I wasn't speaking my truth because I was, but it wasn't kind.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: The words that came out of my mouth were unkind, but they were true.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: And that's kind of that's that's the dichotomy that we play with, right?
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: So that was a wake-up call for me to really start to look at myself because we are not perfect, we are not, I am certainly not perfect, but I do strive to from that from that four agreements kind of philosophy to to speak with kindness, to speak in the idea of of helping and aiding, and and and if I have negative thoughts, maybe I don't speak them.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: If I have something bad to say, I abhor gossip, and gossip is like the lowest vibration of speech, right?
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: Like that, I really, really I've been uh a victim of bullying when I was younger, victim of gossip when I was younger.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: So I really, really don't like when people speak negatively um about others.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's even even if it is true, um, and sometimes it is true, but I I believe in the tenet in that vein of if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_01: And sometimes, to that end, silence is better than the alternative.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_01: And so I practice that quite a bit.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: And now that brings me to another very important understanding between these two.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: So, silence, if you're not making the silence better, right?
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't remember who coined that, but if you're not making the silence better, then maybe just don't disturb it, right?
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_01: So that's one idea.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: But the other idea is the idea of silence when you should speak, right?
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: So that is an intuitive understanding for each individual in every scenario for you know the quantum field of all of the different possibilities that can happen.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: I can't guess or tell you which what to choose, but I can tell you that when things are said in anger and upset, they cannot be taken back once they are once they are out there, especially if you put them in writing.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: But as we're talking about the voice, um it it did hit me that I still have work to do.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: And as we all have work to do, the best thing that we can do is pay attention to those triggers.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_01: And and when we do speak out, because I'm not saying you shouldn't speak out, but try to speak out from a place of even if it's even if it's criticism, constructive criticism, try to speak out from kindness, but stand in your truth.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_01: And that is the most important thing.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_01: And in order to do that, you have to know what your truth is.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that that is where I always come from with all of these different series, you know, tapping into your intuition, tapping into your higher self, finding your truth, right?
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: And and it can be subject to change.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: What's true for you in 2021 may not be true for you in 2026, what's true for you at Monday at 7 a.m.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: may not be true for you on Tuesday at 9 p.m.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's we are always in flux.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm not telling you to be fickle and you know flighty.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: I'm saying if you are always in touch with your intuition and what is right for you and true, and you have like we'll call it a moral compass, we'll call it an inner compass, an idea of I don't love right and wrong, again, air quotes.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I'll just say kind and unkind, right?
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: Or um helpful and harmful, right?
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: These are the these are the kind of the the dichotomies that we always live within in our human existence.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_01: And as women, oftentimes our voices are we weren't allowed to vote until how many years ago?
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: Right, our voices were purposefully, willfully stifled.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: So now that we have them, now that we have them, and God willing we keep them, use them.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: So to that end, now that I've I'm sure I'll get back up on my soapbox, but I'm gonna step down and get to the the point of why we're here.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm going to, we've talked about the tension, we've talked about the area of the throat chakra, we've talked about the importance of speaking your truth and not not holding it in, not swallowing down that anger or that unfairness, that that feeling when something occurs, someone says or does something, and you have that reaction, that call to speak your truth.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_01: Try, pause, breathe, which is what we're getting to.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and and come from that standing and stillness place that we talked about last month, where you are your own rock, you are your own boundary, you are your own truth, and you don't need to throw the rock, you don't need to attack, but you can set your boundary, stand tall, speak your truth, speak it severely, but without harm.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_01: And it's a very fine and delicate balance.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm not pretending that it's not, and that it doesn't take practice and patience and consciousness.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: It takes all of those things.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_01: And that's why oftentimes, sometimes it is things are better left unsaid, but not if you have as a woman the urge to express, because as some people have noted, um the suppression of our voices, of our truths, of our upsets, the repression.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: Let's call it not, let's not call it suppression, let's call it repression, whether self-inflicted or externally inflicted.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: That repression can lead over time to disease within the body.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_01: Believe in that sort of thing.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: Whether it be autoimmune disease, hi, whether it be certain types of cancer, whether it be, you know, disease, that discomfort, that swallowing, it's gotta go somewhere, right?
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: As I always say, trauma is stored in the body.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_01: What you don't process, your body holds on to.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_01: So speak, speak it out.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so I'm going to touch on some of the asanas, but I'm not gonna dive into them and I will explain why.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_01: So it's all here, right?
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_01: Our throat chakras in our throat.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_01: It goes from the jaw, you know, essentially, right?
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like up through almost to the temples where the third eye sits above that, almost let's let's say from the temples, give or take, all the way down to the tops of the shoulders above where the heart chakra is, right?
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: So let's say just below the collarbone area, give or take, right?
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: Per per person.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone's a little bit unique.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_01: We're all special snowflakes.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_01: The asanas, as someone with a neck injury, so talk about your trauma to the throat chakra.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: Someone with a neck injury, these are asanas that I don't practice.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: Now, I will always catch myself and say that on the flip side of that, okay.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: The poses you avoid the most are the poses that you need the most.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: However, when you do have an injury, you need to be very, very mindful.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: So some of the throat chakra poses are shoulder stand, plow.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: These these postures that place the neck and the shoulders at the base or the weight-bearing aspect of the pose.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_01: And the legs become the light, it's it's they're they're basically gentle, air quotes again, inversions, right?
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: So if you practice these asanas, please do so safely.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: Please make sure you fold your towel and and you lay it right right at the base of the neck and the shoulders, but practice it with another educated instructor there with you.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_01: Please, pretty please.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, you can you can really cause damage to the neck, and if God forbid you have a neck injury, then I encourage you please to be very, very conscientious in your choice whether to practice these postures or not.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_01: Now, on the flip side of those two asanas that I I choose not to practice on a regular basis, I used to practice them on a regular basis, pre pre-neck injury.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_01: The opening of the throat chakra, right?
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: So that's kind of the closing, if you will, right?
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_01: The the of the throat chakra, the opening of the throat throat chakra, we're thinking our cat cows, we're thinking our cobras, we're thinking our fish pose, that opening of that space through the front.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I practice, I gently I practice fish.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_01: I practice cobra all the time.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I cat cow is every every practice, right?
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: So these are I've touched on fish before, it's also a heart opener because as you lift through the throat and open the throat, you're also opening the heart center and the chest.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: So go back to any of those conversations that we've already had.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_01: Cat cow, very, very safe, wonderful asana to practice.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_01: Again, I've mentioned it in the past.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: I've mentioned cobra as well.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_01: So all of these have been gone through generally and related to heart opening and the heart chakra.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: And for cat cow, it's an entire chakra reset.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: So I hate to pigeonhole it into just the throat chakra.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: The cat cow is for the entire spine, it's for the entire chakra system, if you want to call it that.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: So let's talk about the breath work.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: Now, in layman's terms, you're breathing through right your throat chakra area, right?
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_01: All of the breath comes in through the nose and the mouth.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_01: All of this is kind of throat chakra domain.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_01: But the lungs, the diaphragm, the areas of your body that are actually creating the movement that are really deep, that are, that are, they're causing it, right?
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_01: This throat chakra area of breath where we all think breath, we're breathing in, right, is not actually where the breath is stemming from, where it's going to, where it's, you know, this is kind of the mechanism, and it's being started from the diaphragm.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: It's being started in the belly, it's being started almost in the solar solar plexus chakra area.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: The lungs are are all around the heart, right?
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a it's an incorporation.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_01: Again, the breath flows through the whole body.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_01: So it's hard to limit it to just the throat.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: But the throat is the highway, if you will, for the breath.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: So as we think about this, there are three breaths, all of the breaths play a part, three breaths that come to mind when you are talking about the throat chakra.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I will, I'm gonna, I will, I will kind of get to them in the in the order, I suppose, of difficulty, although it's hard for me to say that they're difficult or not difficult.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but one of them I really, really like, and there's an element I think that goes back to essentially the idea of self-soothing, and that is the humming deep breath.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it's generally practiced, you don't need to use your hands, but if you were to use your hands, I have headphones on.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_01: You'd put your hands somewhat over your eyes like this, and you would take a nice deep inhalation through the nose, and you'd exhale and you'd uh create that low vibration of hum.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it's it's a self-soothing, calming, relaxing, free, physically freeing, because that humming is a vibration, chanting.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Vibration, sound.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: We just we just talked to Katie.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: Sound healing vibration, right?
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: When we when we say om, when we say, when we chant any of the of the sounds that are associated with the chakras that I've gone over in past videos, these are all ways to bring awareness, concentrate energy into that area, create space, create freedom.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: That's what all of these things are.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: So for this humming bee breath, it's this idea of not just bringing your awareness, but you're kind of focusing that breath's energy directly in the throat chakra.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_01: So this is the restorative.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_01: So the three breaths that we're going to go into one, this is the most restorative, right?
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: So this is the gentlest, and this is the one that's going to kind of to go back to my conversation with Katie, and we talked about uh healing with sound.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: So this is a great, great follow-up for that.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um this idea that the vibration kind of shakes loose the crap, right?
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: The stuff.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_01: So as you're doing this and you're breathing in.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_01: Whatever tone is organic for you is right, right?
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_01: There's no like we're not targeting octaves here.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's whatever comes from you naturally, and just that feeling, feel the resonation, be in the moment.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_01: If you are experiencing stress or you want to clear your throat, obviously, clear your mind, just kind of self-soothe again, is just the the phrase that keeps coming to me.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_01: This is this is the breath for you.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_01: The balance breath.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_01: Technically, I shouldn't say that.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_01: Not each other, that is the balance breath, but we've talked about that in the fest two.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_01: But the balanced breath and one that is very important for all of my vinyasa practitioners is ujay.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_01: And ujayi breath is the ocean breath, right?
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_01: So as it was taught to me, it is practiced by the act of fogging up a mirror, but it's done with the mouth closed.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_01: So unless you have deviated septum nose issues, which I actually do, and it can be hard or challenging for me, I should say.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's that constriction of the throat and then the breath.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_01: So you almost feel as though you're breathing from the back, the top of the sinuses, as opposed to you're still breathing, breathing the air in.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_01: But it feels as though it's coming from the upper back area because the breath is coming through, and that constriction is it's almost feels like it's bypassing the sinuses, even though it's not.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_01: So if you want to practice with me, taking your hand in front of your open mouth to practice, and then we close the mouth.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_01: So take a deep breath in.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_01: Otherwise known as the Darth Vader breath, just kidding.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but it's you will have that Luke, I am your father feeling as this echoes through your head with your mouth closed.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_01: So I like to start with a regular inhale, focus that constriction feeling on the exhale where it's relatable to most people, and then inhale with that same vein in mind.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: And it takes some practice.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: So once you have that exhale, so breathe normally, exhale, inhale.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: And again, it mimics not only Darth Vader, but the sound of the ocean, which is what the breath is named for.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: So this is the victorious breath.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: This is the breath that you practice throughout, assuming you don't have any nasal blockages, your vinyasa practice.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_01: This is the breath that you come to when you don't think you can hold the pose any longer, when you are at your peak and you need to just power through.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: This is your breath.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: It is a balancing breath because you're not trying to, and there are plenty of yogic breaths and yoga and breath work practices that work with manipulation of the inhale and the exhale, and you know, whether you're trying to restore and deepen the relaxation, so lengthening the exhale or whether you're trying to create energy by by lengthening the inhale, there are different ways to kind of play with um using the breath to create, you know, there are specific breaths that are meant to create energize, etc.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_01: Calm, etc.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_01: So I suppose you could think that humming bee breath are is is a bit of a is a bit is a bit, you could you could say it's energizing.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_01: I like to think of it more as soothing, as I mentioned.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_01: For me, it's more of a soothing breath.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_01: The energizing breath.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_01: And so this will tie into your cobra.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_01: This will tie into a pose which is not necessarily associated exactly with the throat chakra, but sphinx pose could be another because you are again opening and expanding your heart center, your throat chakra in a sphinx posture.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_01: And Sphinx is practiced with the with laying prone, um, hips flush on the mat, but unlike Cobra, where your hands are back, you know, in line with the elbows, essentially, in a chaturanga style position, Sphinx, the elbows are the hands are forward, the elbows are stacked under the shoulders, and you're peeling your chest through in a prone position.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_01: So my palms, the the computer screen would be the mat in this instance.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then it is a very, very gentle backbend and throat opener.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_01: So I like to practice Sphinx, and these are two of the places that you could put this breath in.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_01: Oftentimes it's practiced kneeling.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_01: And this is the opposite.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_01: This is the heating male, aggressive lion's breath.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: And it doesn't have to be male.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: I don't even like to say that, but in in yoga, the the right side of the body, the hot and heating element, the active role is associated with the male, the moon, the restorative, the receptive, the cooling associated with the female.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't make it up, don't yell at me.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's been this way for thousands of years.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_01: It is what it is, we roll with it.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_01: So, lion's breath, if you're hump, if your bee breath is the the cooling, the gentling, the restorative, the self-soothing.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_01: Your lion's breath is the Katy Perry hear me roar breath.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: And oftentimes it's practiced kneeling with the hands on the knees, right?
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_01: And that, and again, it's this idea of, and that's why Sphinx or Cobra both kind of set you up if you have knee issues.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_01: I also have knee issues.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_01: If you have knee issues and it's uncomfortable to sit on your knees, then then this idea of pulling the chest forward, strengthening the back, yet again, and creating that that roar, that I am woman, hear me roar vibe, right?
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, by by taking up space, essentially, taking up space with your chest, with your heart, leading with your heart.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: And then it's not necessarily the most attractive, but you have to let go, you must let go of the idea of what the people in the room are gonna think of you, what you sound like, and what you look like, especially because as you practice this deep inhale, the exhale, you pull the chest forward, you open up your heart center, you take up that space, whether your hands are on your knees, the floor, or behind you in a cobra, you open your mouth as wide as you can, you stick your tongue out as far as you can, and you make a roar or a ha or a whatever guttural noise comes out of your body, that's the right one for you.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_01: So again, with these breaths, uh similarly, some of the ones that I haven't mentioned, um, which are the heating, the element, the energizing breaths that are not, I'm not gonna say they're not relevant.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_01: All breath work is relevant in one way or another to the throat chakra, but I'm focusing on on these main three.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, so when you I will do it and I will I will lean by example in letting go of how this translates, because it's not the most classically beautiful look on a woman, but hear me roar, right?
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_01: That's it.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_01: So you take you take that open space, that open chest, you take up that space, you take that deep inhale, jaw out, tongue out, whatever comes out of you is meant to come out, and you just expend it all.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_01: And that's your strengthening breath.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_01: That is your you want to clear the throat chakra from a you want to purge, I'm gonna say purge.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_01: If if the humming bee, if the gentle, the gentle vibration of the hum shakes to release, this lion's breath purges.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_01: This sets sets whatever's whatever gunk is in there on fire and casts it out.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_01: So these are options depending on your mood, depending on what you feel called to do.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but as we talk about the throat chakra, again, you can open with with your fish pose, with your cobra pose, with your sphinx pose.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_01: You can you can, and I don't like to say close it down, but you can work through the back if it's in your practice, if you don't have an injury with your shoulder stand, with your plow pose that are gonna compress and round kind of through the back and the tops of the shoulders.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_01: And they have their purposes, they are wonderful asanas if you don't have a reason not to practice them like any others, right?
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_01: If you practice lion's breath and you have a knee injury, I'm gonna say maybe don't kneel, right?
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like because if you're sitting your your sitz bones on your heels and it's too much for your knees, don't do it, right?
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_01: That's the point.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_01: The point is to honor yourself, and the point with with these breaths, the point with the throat chakra, as a woman, as females, honor yourself, speak your truth, even if it's uncomfortable, even if it's uncomfortable, even if I think that the hesitation and the repression comes from a fear of consequence, an inherent genetic, passed down fear of consequence for speaking out.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I've had a lot of conversations recently, and for myself to get over fear, right?
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like if we have the idea that fear comes from the limbic brain, that it is a Darwinian protection of our environment, and that we are no longer being chased by a I don't know if this is correct, but like you know, a predator.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_01: I was gonna say saber-toothed tiger, but predator of some sort, because I am not, I am not a non-dinosaur expert or a or uh, you know, paleontologist.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm sorry, Ross Geller, I don't know if we were alive at the time of the saber-toothed tiger or if our ancestors were.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_01: I can't help you there.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_01: But um, hopefully maybe someone can uh illuminate whether I'm woefully inaccurate with that assessment.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_01: But the idea being that if we're not in immediate or imminent danger, then is the fear helping us or hurting us?
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_01: And you again, the only way that you can know that is by developing this communication with your intuition.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_01: But I think that as women specifically, I've had conversations a lot about fear recently about what if this happens?
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_01: What if it all goes wrong?
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_01: Well, what if it all goes right?
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_01: And I have to have that same conversation with myself.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_01: I'm scared all the time, right?
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_01: People are scared all the time, not just women, men are scared too.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_01: People are scared all the time, and I think they just don't talk about it, and that's okay.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_01: But this idea of the fear of consequence of speaking out, speaking your truth, whatever that consequence might be, I think that is the fear that we as women really need to overcome.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm not, please, God, Almighty, I am not telling a woman in an abusive relationship to speak out in a way that would harm her.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I hope, hope, hope, hope, and pray that that intuition for you or the fact that maybe you have a closed-off throat chakra has is is helping or saving you in some way.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I just have to say that because when I say this, I'm talking about ways that are physically safe, ways that are safe to for you to express.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not telling you to get yourself harmed.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that that is is a huge part of this conversation, right?
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_01: That's the that's the repression, is that speaking out may cause physical harm.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um I it's awful, but it's it's true.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I can't say that that's not untrue for men because you know, there are abusive parents, they might be women too.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_01: You might have a small boy who has an abusive mother, and it's still the same fear of speaking out and being harmed.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_01: So there is, I will never tell anyone to go against their own intuition or get themselves into a place where they have spoken out and then they have received wrath back, right?
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_01: Umly you can know that, and that's why getting in touch with your intuition and that space within you that communicates to you whether or not you're safe is so important.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_01: That that limbic brain is there for a reason.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_01: But you have to start to cultivate courage in a way that doesn't defy self-preservation.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't think there is one specific way to do that other than I encourage you to cultivate your connection with your intuition.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_01: And when it tells you something, listen, listen, don't listen to me.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just the yoga teacher.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_01: But if you practice some of these breath work asanas, if you if you let's say, for example, you were in a situation where you wanted to speak out and you didn't for that fear, and maybe that's true for you that your truth in that moment was not that that speaking was not your best choice.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_01: That's true.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_01: And so practicing lion's breath when you are later in a safe space to do so, I hope that gives you a way to purge the physical storage of that trauma of not being able to speak safely, that that that that's what a something like a lion's breath is for, right?
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_01: If you spoke your truth and you didn't feel heard or it fell on deaf ears, you were able to speak, but it wasn't able to be received by whomever it was you were speaking out towards.
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_01: That to me, that is where something like the bee breath, the humming breath, the soothing breath, I've spoken it, it's out, it didn't land how I wanted it to, or the the goal or the space that I hoped to create um by speaking did not occur, my goal did not happen, whatever it was I was trying to cultivate did not come to be.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_01: That's where I feel like that humming bee breath can start to dissipate and and allow cultivate healthy vibrations, flow of energy in the in the throat chakra.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_01: But like I said, if you don't feel safe to speak, don't.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_01: As unfortunate as that is, if you don't feel safe, especially physically to speak, don't.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_01: Your safety is always the most important thing.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just sucks that I have to say that out loud, but I do because the repression of the of the of women's voice specifically, the repression of the voice on a human level, on the oppression of the voice of the voiceless, talk about being vegetarian, right?
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um the repression of the truth or repression of the voice is an existential experience.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_01: It does not belong to women alone, but it does belong, unfortunately, to all who have been victimized.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_01: And again, doesn't that suck to say out loud?
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_01: But baby steps, little steps.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_01: Speak your truth when you can, when it's safe to do so.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_01: Stand up for yourself when you can, when it's safe to do so, set the boundary stick to it.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_01: Stand up for others when it's safe for you to do so.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_01: And when it's not, find a place and roar like a lion, practice lion's breath, and purge, get the stagnant energy out of you, get the quieting or the or the shutting of your voice, get that out of you as quick as you possibly can, so that it doesn't fester and that I don't have to come and clear it from you.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_01: And if you do think that you have energetic blocks, then I do encourage you.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_01: I'm happy to help.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_01: Any any any qualified Reiki practitioner should be able to help you with those energetic issues if you do think you have some stuck or stored traumatic issues with your neck or your voice.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_01: So with all of that being said, I just want to again tell you how much I appreciate each and every single one of you for sharing this space with me.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I ask that you please feel free to share the same with your loved ones.
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_01: For more goodness, follow me on all the socials at Above the Ground Podcast or visit my website, airsaboveyoga.com.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_01: As always, don't forget to check out all of my other episodes and my amazing sisters at the Divas That Care Network.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_01: You can find us on Spotify, Odyssey, Apple, Amazon, iHeartRadio, YouTube, BuzzSprout, or anywhere else that you might feel guided.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_01: Again, my name is J.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_01: Raquel Rose, owner of Airsabove Yoga, and you are listening to Above the Ground Podcast, where every day is a good one.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_00: This show was brought to you by Divas That Care.
• 40:58
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