Vishuddha, The Throat Chakra

Vishuddha is the energy center of communication, expression, and rationality. It is the fifth of the chakras and acts as a link between the heart and the head, between emotions and rationality. It’s colour is blue and it’s element is ether. In balance, it enables you to communicate with ease, honesty and to show the truest version of yourself.

When your throat chakra is out of balance you may find it difficult to communicate and have an inability to express yourself, which consequently puts one’s identity at risk. If it is too strong it could manifest itself in dominance, supremacy or manipulation and if too weak it may manifest as shyness, awkwardness or fear of conflict.

On a physical level, health problems with the throat neck or teeth could be down to a blocked throat chakra. Moving the neck and opening the shoulders are effective to open up Visshudha. So below are four poses I find help to strengthen this Chakra.

1. Neck Release. The median nerve runs from the neck all the way down the arm to the fingers. This stretch is great to reduce the chances of getting tennis/golfers elbow and reduce tightness in the neck. Using this pose below, making space in the neck, applying gentle pressure on the side of the head and lengthening the arm should tap into the median nerve. To deepen this you can flex your extended hand, point the fingers to the sky and also you could pop the hand against a wall, whilst maintaining the same neck tilt.

Neck Release.

2. Bitilasana. This pose is often used in conjunction with cat pose, Marjaryasana - moving from one to the other using breath as a guide. Starting on all fours, hands under shoulders, knees under hips, drop the belly button to the earth, tilt the tailbone to the sky and open your heart forward. To invigorate the cervical, upper spine, let your neck join into the movement so long as it is comfortable.

Bitilasana. Cow Pose.

3. Salamba Sarvangasana. If you are ready for an inversion, this is a fantastic pose to strengthen the spine, core, legs and neck. It activates Vishuddha, reverses circulation and sends fresh blood to the throat. Please warm up a little through the neck, back and hamstrings before trying a shoulder stand, it is a test for your posterior chain (back body). And it is VERY important to keep your gaze forward to the sky, giving as little movement to the neck as possible. You are compressing your neck so be mindful. Lying down, rock your legs up and back behind your head, take your hands to the lower back and draw your elbows towards one another for stability. Lift the feet to the sky, point the toes, activate the legs and draw your hips towards the top of your mat (your head), whilst keeping toes high. If you feel good, staying here for 2-5 minutes, taking deep breaths.

Salamba Sarvangasana. Shoulder Stand.

4. Karnapidasana. This is a fairly advanced pose and will stretch your posterior chain. Coming from lying down, rock your feet up and behind you. Begin by extending the legs long if the hamstrings allow and then bending the knees, guide them down towards your ears. To modify, keep your hands on your lower back to offer support. Like a shoulder stand, it’s so important to maintain a forward gaze with as little movement through your neck as possible. This pose stimulates the thyroid gland and activates the fifth chakra.

Karnapidasana. Knee to Ear Pose.

Be careful when trying the last two, take your time and warm up sufficiently!

Kiri xx

Introduction to yoga

I won't assume that readers of little health bunny are keen yogis/yoginis, so let us start with the basics of what yoga is, what it's not, why people do it and also explain a few things I wish I knew when I first started practising.

The word yoga by definition means 'union', of body mind and spirit. Yoga intends to increase connection; perhaps this means connecting to ourselves, to connect our body with our mind, perhaps it means connecting to the world, surroundings, to others. Personally, time on the mat gives me time to check in with how I'm feeling physically, emotionally and sets me up for the day. In our busy lives we get swept from work to the gym to social occasions to bed, always looking forward to what's next or dwelling on what happened last week - it is so rare that we stop and take time to get/feel grounded. For an hour, an hour and a half, yoga and meditation give you the opportunity to let yourself off the hook; to shrug off your thoughts, frustrations, stories, worries, expectations and focus on the present moment. As a teacher, I hope to lift weight off students shoulders; to give them a space free of judgement, to get in touch with their breathing and themselves.

The word or sound OM. It is a mantra and is said to be the sound of the universe (like the noise and vibration you hear/feel when you put your ear to a seashell). You know how 'good vibes' is a popular saying? No matter what pitch or length it is, the vibrations you make with an OM gives out energy and lets energy flow through you. If that's all a little too hard to grasp - essentially it is just a hum. I find in a group environment it is a way to connect/unite us all and it is incredibly relaxing once you overcome the unfamiliarity/peculiarity/embarrassment.

Sanskrit. What are these odd words the teacher keeps repeating? I may be stating the obvious here, but yoga isn't a new fad, it has been practised for thousands of years. Sanskrit is the language of yoga that has been passed down generation to generation. Personally I was taught using sanskrit and feel it's only right to continue using this throughout my own teaching... plus, the vocabulary can be long, complicated, obscure and I've worked so hard to remember it so I think it's only right to share!

The term namaste. Generally it opens and closes the class and means 'I bow to the divine in you' - I have also heard 'the light in me bows to the light in you'; it's a way of showing respect and perhaps thanks.

Yoga is an umbrella term which encompasses thousands of traditions, philosophies and teachings. I practised and therefore learnt to teach hatha and vinyasa flow yoga. There are many other branches, including kundalini, ashtanga, iyengar, yin (the list goes on and I would only be able to name a handful anyway) and then within one type of yoga... many more branches. In addition, different teachers will teach in different styles; not one class can be the same as another - some more spiritual, some based on alignment, some focused on meditation or mantras... some are just very challenging sweaty workouts. So when someone claims that yoga 'isn't for them'... I tend to think they just haven't found the right teacher.

Unlike other forms of fitness, yoga encompasses so much more. Instead of working towards a goal, yoga is an ongoing practise. Yes, over time you will likely become physically stronger and more flexible... but hopefully so will your mind.

There is a whole world of yoga I will try to share with you, bit by bit, week by week. But for now, I will leave it at that and say namaste - have a happy hump day.

LHB

The First

My name is Kiri, I'm a 90's baby, the youngest of three and am 5ft 4. I am incredibly lucky with the most supportive family, loving boyfriend and am based in a beautiful little town in Kent called Tunbridge Wells. I am a yogi, more recently a yoga instructor and I’ve been teaching since the start of 2017. The premise of starting Little Health Bunny was for my gradually growing yogi community to keep up to date with upcoming yoga classes, events and news. In addition to that, I've wanted to start documenting and blogging for well over a year. Since the website is now live, I figured that there is no better time to embark upon my blogging journey. 

So why am I blogging? Little Health Bunny is currently on Instagram and is used similarly to a blog... however with the limited word count and general set up, it does not work the way I'd like. Day to day I get asked for advice about various topics, from activewear to motivation to nutrition to travel to recipes to yoga. I am delighted to share what I have learnt and essentially this blog will make life a lot simpler. In addition, I love writing. It's incredibly therapeutic to put 'pen to paper' and I hope someone will find value in the content.

The blog is for both yogis and non yogis, for someone who is perhaps interested in health, food and wellbeing or just anyone who is open minded and fancies a good read *if I say so myself*. Of course, yoga will be discussed and delved into; the philosophy, poses, history and meaning. Each week you can expect to see a minimum of two blog posts: one yoga related and one health/wellbeing related. You may be lucky enough to read the odd interview with local business owners, yogis, health practitioners etc. and you can bet that you will find some of my favourite recipes and healthy hacks.

I’ll say clearly now that I don't claim to know all about nutrition, yoga and certainly not life. I am simply learning as I go along my journey and decided that I want to share that with others. Please approach my posts with a kind and open heart and feel free to ask questions, leave comments or share if you feel there is something that others could benefit from. 

lhb

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