How to harmonize our channel
No complaints, no comparison, no commentary. Vishuddha.
We started our journey through the energy of the body at the start of this year. Now, after building a steadfast base, exploring our capacity for our personal creativity and will, we raised the heart so we can bring through our true voice.
Vishuddha can translate as “very” Vi, and “clear / purity / truth” Shuddha.
The next 40 days we will move the neck, throat, upper back and spine so that we can access all of the architecture available to carry our voice. Voice in this case is a larger holding of any expression. We can express ourselves through our hands when we make dinner, make a bed, make a painting, pottery, tie a knot, write, sing. We can layer these offerings and refine the artistry of our lives.
I have something to offer that no one else does. You have something to offer that I don’t. The tulip polar outside my window is distinct from the rosemary on my counter. Each difference is valuable. However, when we are shamed for difference, for disagreeing, for even asking the why of what we find in our lives or our work, we start to curl the chest down, the shoulders in. It may be small or slight, but it dims the volume of our offering - not just in the instant, but it dims what we perceive as possible. This posture can limit our range to a conforming, unabrasive murmur.
Raise and lower your chin, slowly. Explore the edges, the horizons of what we are familiar with. Turn the chin left and right, find the complexity of the neck is actually far more mobile with practice than we realize. This is the work of our online class sequence.
Off the mat, the option here is to consider our words - the building blocks of our reality. Can we “purify” our descriptions and our offerings? Try this. 40 days of…
No complaints: the taint of negativity; the social lubricant and bonding afforded when we complain “can you believe the traffic?!” The slow, steady, skewing tendency of looking to what isn’t working or in my favor becomes a sticky lens that can influence choices and options.
No comparisons: also a general position of being without judgement, aware of what is around me, of what is within me, as my own perception. Staying in my lane, open and inviting others to inhabit theirs is a freeing contribution that expands what I see and enjoy.
No commentary: reflection is distinct from commentary - the ongoing thrum of inner chatter that can mindlessly run as background noise starts to show itself more clearly. Can I go for a walk and notice where I am without planning my day to come, without internally imagining conversation with someone else, replaying and looping what has already occurred. By choosing no commentary I build deliberation in holding my attention to where I am, what I am doing. I feel my hands stirring the muesli this morning. I hear the cicadas as I walk. Over time a better witness is available.
These 3 considerations fortify and sweeten our silence. Even for short bursts I find myself finding a new quiet. As much as I seek to have my offering clarified, have my ability to mother or teach move distinctly and well through the world, I find already in the three days of our vishuddha practice that my listening is expanded.
My great wish is to be awake to the wonder of the world around me. May I hear the rush of the river outside, the pad of my son’s feet on the floor, the little huff of the cat as she snores in her sleep. When I do there is a wealth around me. With less complaint or commentary, I will do my part and mostly hope to offer praise, support, and even wise outrage as it is in service. May my body grow strong to hold words I may fear are disruptive but know to be necessary.
We come to our mats to build a constancy of current that can move through the spaces within ourselves, between moments of time, and across desperate locations.
Our words make our worlds. May our words be bold, well-chosen, and beautiful.
You are always welcome to join for a seasonal 40 day practice.We just began Summer 2. marthamcalpine.com/seasons for details. Welcome.
What necessary/crucial words for me today. Thank you for them.
Just signed up for the 40 days for the throat chakra (a little late, but so ready!). Excited to deepen into this exploration of communication—it aligns beautifully with my own Kundalini mantra practice, attuning to Mercury’s journey through the ecliptic and the archetypal voices of the zodiac.