October 26, 2022 - the Indiana Public Safety weekly zoom, sponsored by the Center for Mindfulness in Public Safety, featured Katie Carlson presenting "Balancing our Energy Centers: Living our Truths" Includes Guided Meditation led by Robert Ohlemiller, EMI MTT300 graduate
Balancing Our Energy Centers: "Living Our Truths" with Katie Carlson Transcript
John MacAdams:
Now it is my pleasure to introduce once again, Katie Carlson, who will present this evening's feature. Katie was appointed to be the first Director of Wellness Initiatives for the Marion County Sheriff's Office in 2021. Previously, Katie served as Public Information Officer for the Sheriff, a position she assumed in 2012. Katie completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training at City Yoga in 2019. Earlier this year, she completed coursework and practice to become a Certified Mindfulness Teacher through the Engaged Mindfulness Institute. Katie finds peace and balance through yoga practice and great joy in sharing her yoga and mindfulness practice with others in a variety of community and professional settings. Here this evening, for her 20th Wednesday night presentation, quite a feat. Katie, welcome, very glad to have you once again.
Katie Carlson:
Thank you so much for having me. Really grateful for this opportunity to present for the 20th time for this group. This is the fifth of seven in a series that I call Balancing Our Energy Centers. When I say energy centers, what I'm referring to are the chakras. The word chakra is a Sanskrit word meaning wheel or circle, and the philosophy of chakras arose early in Hinduism. While we are all familiar with the concept of the physical bodies, chakra refers to one’s subtle or energy body. So there are seven chakras that align from the base of the spine to the crown of the head and each of these energy energy centers is believed to correspond with different aspects of our being. In my previous presentations, I've discussed the first four of seven chakras, including the root chakra, which is associated with having our basic needs met, our family and ancestral upbringings, as well as a sense of a general sense of stability and groundedness; the sacral chakra, which is associated with our relationships with others, money, sex, power, and creativity; the solar plexus chakra, which is associated with our self-confidence, self-worth and willpower; and the heart chakra, which is associated with self-compassion and giving and receiving love. The Vishuddha chakra translates to purification. But for the rest of this presentation, I'll be referring to it as the throat chakra. It is located, unsurprisingly, in the area of the neck and throat. It's associated with the thyroid gland, the color teal, and the ages of 29 to 35. As you might imagine, the throat chakra is primarily associated with our ability to communicate, not only speaking our truth but perhaps even more importantly, living our truth, which isn't always the same thing. I'll begin with an example that's always stuck with me whenever I think about the throat chakra. I was chatting with a friend of mine, a friend who is a police officer, and we were talking about chakras, and he said, “So my neck won't stop hurting. What chakra is that?” I knew this person well, and I said, “It's your throat chakra, and it's probably because of everything that you aren't saying right now.” Conversation stopped. His eyes became kind of wide. He knew that what I was saying was very true, about the things that he wasn't saying. He just never associated it with the pain in his neck before then. I gave him some suggestions on clearing or balancing his throat chakra, but I’ll come back to that later. I think it's safe to say that for various reasons-some having to do with the developmental stages that we've discussed in earlier chakras-strong communication skills come a bit easier for some people than others, and being able to clearly express ourselves, our needs, our opinions, our ideas, is only half of the communication battle. To be a great communicator, we must also learn to be great listeners. Becoming an effective communicator involves a significant amount of self-awareness, of our communication strengths and weaknesses. Like mindfulness or any other skills, they can be practiced, but it begins with reflection. Misunderstandings are inevitable, but if misunderstandings in work, hobbies, and relationships occur on a frequent basis, our communication skills may need a tune-up. So communicating effectively is an extremely big topic, and I'm not going to spend a lot of time on it, but a really good place to start is the book “Nonviolent Communication” by Marshall Rosenberg, which has previously been a topic on one of our Wednesday night phone calls. I think Michael Christie presented on nonviolent communication. So communication skills can also be fairly technical, in which case the practical solution also is practice. If we have an important conversation or speaking opportunity approaching, winging it is ill-advised. Not too long ago, I attended a talk where the speaker started off by saying that “he never prepares anything for these.” It was an immediate signal to me that my time wasn't going to be valued, and it wasn't. On the other hand, and Robert was there, actually, I spoke at my father's funeral last April. I was the only member of my family to speak, and my mom had given each speaker a firm three-minute rule. I was the only speaker to follow that rule, especially since my mom was my most important audience member. So much like these presentations, I wrote my remarks out in their entirety. I knew the points of the speech that would choke me up so that I was able to practice those and know when the pauses and the big deep breaths were really needed. Not to toot my own horn, it was a funeral speech, after all, but afterward, I had people come up to me and say, “How did you do that?” And I said, “I practiced.” They said, “Oh!” So one more thing on technical communication skills and practice. Filler words like “um” and “like” can get better with practice as well too. I struggled with both of those for a long time and still do it if I’m nervous and don't feel well prepared. Hearing myself in recordings was key to helping with this, because, as previously mentioned, much of strong communication is self-awareness. So effectively communicating our emotional needs to others, is related to our sense of self-confidence, as we've discussed in the solar plexus chakra. While this is another topic in and of itself, it begins with specifically identifying our needs. How can we ask someone else to meet our needs if we aren't able to communicate what those needs are? It’s also important to remember that while it may feel intimidating to ask for what we need in a relationship with people, opening up that flow of information is a two-way street. When we spend the time to identify our needs and communicate them to others, we should be prepared to welcome that person to communicate their needs back to us. So what again, does all of this have to do with the throat chakra? As I've explained in my previous presentations, there's nothing magic about chakras. There's nothing about them that doesn't require work attention, and personal growth. But focusing on each chakra is an opportunity to bring our attention and balance, if necessary, to various elements of our being and general wellness. But the throat chakra and the way that we communicate is about more than the words that we say and how we interact with other people. The throat chakra also creates an opportunity to examine the way that we communicate to ourselves and others about who we are as people. There's a quote that's accredited to a number of people, including the Buddha and Rumi, that says, “If you propose to speak, ask yourself: Is it true? Is it necessary? Is it kind?” This quote gets back to one of the earliest topics I presented on in yoga philosophy, the Yama of Ahimsa or non-harming. Communicating in a way that is necessary may not always be pleasant, but it can always be kind and thoughtful, and this includes the way that we communicate with ourselves.
I often have conversations in mindfulness classes about the stories in our heads, these thought patterns that are not necessarily true, kind or necessary. So if we shouldn't say these things to other people, why would we say them to ourselves? And if those stories aren't true, necessary, or kind, what is? When we begin to examine what is necessary, true, and kind about ourselves, we start to uncover our own truths. When we can increase our understanding of our true nature and the things that are the most important to us, we can start to express that to other people. And when we can begin to express ourselves as our true selves, when we show up in the world as we really are, we greatly increase our chances of finding people who like us or love us exactly how we are. One final point before I move into ways to bring balance or alignment to the throat chakra: When we consider these questions, “Is it true? Is it necessary? Is it kind?” -especially as it relates to communicating our most authentic selves to the world- “Is it true?” can be a little bit sticky. Working with the throat chakra gives us an opportunity to reflect on whether our actions are in alignment with our purpose or our own important truths. Examples of this could include expressing your care and concern for the environment but missing a lot of opportunities to recycle or create sustainable living habits. Another example is to be the writer who doesn't ever write, the mindfulness teachers lost touch with their personal practice. Things can change. Life can change. You don't have to do the same thing all the time. We don't always have to be into the same thing. But taking time to get clear about the things that are truly important to us, now, and whether or not our actions are in alignment with those values can help bring balance to our throat chakra and our lives, including expectations of ourselves and others. So what can you do to bring balance to the throat chakra? Well, I'll go back to my friend and what I had recommended to him. I told him he ought to start journaling and keeping track of the things that he wanted to say, but that he didn't say. That way, he had a place for those words to go instead of feeling stuck. I also encouraged this as a record of events that he can reflect back on the things he wanted to say but didn't and notice what took on less significance with time and what remained an issue needing more attention or action. Breath work and stretches are helpful to clearing or aligning the throat chakra as are affirmations. One of my favorite throat chakra exercises is singing, actually, no one else has to be around for it, but singing a song that feels meaningful to you, singing it intentionally, loudly even, is highly recommended. As are repeating affirmations out loud. I've recommended just keeping a sticky note in your car, with a mantra or two, like “I express myself truly with words and action” or “I uplift myself and others through honest communication.” And, as I've mentioned in other presentations, color plays a role as well. So to activate the throat chakra, one might consider wearing a teal tie or a turquoise necklace for a little boost before an important speaking event or conversation. So from here, we're going to go ahead and move into a sweated yoga practice and mindfulness practice that's aimed at awakening and balancing the throat chakra. So I’m just going to take a moment to lean back and move my chair back a little bit.
So we just want to find an upright position in our chair. We can let our hands sit in our laps. You can keep your eyes open, or you can keep your eyes closed, but we're going to start to reconnect with our breath. Maybe breathing in through our nose and out through our nose, if it's comfortable. Maybe starting to notice the coolness of the air as it comes in through your nostrils, the air hitting the back of your throat. Almost sensing a waking up of that throat chakra, as the cool air does touch the throat. From here, we're going to take one hand, we're going to place one hand down by the side of our chair, down by our side. We want to bring our ear to our shoulder. So we've got our hand on one side, we’ve got our ear to our shoulder, and if it feels good, we can gently bring our hand, just to bring a little more of a stretch into our shoulder here. We're not putting a lot of pressure, just a little bit of weight. When we do that, we want to breathe into it, so we're taking those big, deep breaths. Lower our hand, we’ll put our hand on the opposite side of our chair, or underneath our leg. We're going to bring our other ear to the other shoulder, then lift our arm up, and if it felt comfortable on the other side, just gently bringing your hand to your head, putting just the tiniest amount of pressure. Bringing a little extra stretch into your neck on the other side. Breathing into that stretch, bringing your hand back down by your side. We're going to start to bring our chin to our chest. As we inhale, we're going to roll one ear up to one shoulder, and as we exhale, we're going to roll back down through center. Then inhale, rolling up to the other side, exhaling, rolling down through center. Inhale, rolling over to the other side, exhaling, back down through center. Inhaling up, exhaling back down. If you've got an even number on both sides, just pausing with your chin at your chest before slowly lifting your head back up to a neutral position. From here, we're going to take a couple shoulder rolls forward and backwards. So we'll inhale, lifting our shoulders up to our ears. Then we'll exhale, rolling our shoulders down our back, taking maybe two, maybe three, shoulder rolls. Going backward, and then releasing our shoulders completely, letting them go all the way back to neutral. Next, we'll inhale, lifting our shoulders up to our ears. We'll roll them forward this time, reversing the direction of the shoulder rolls, taking two or three going this direction. Releasing our shoulders completely and letting them come back to neutral. From here, we're going to inhale, lifting our arms up overhead, and as we exhale, we're going to start to fold over our legs. So we're just folding over our legs as much as it feels comfortable, releasing our head and our neck if we can. If it feels comfortable, you might gently shake your head no or nod your head yes. Getting a little bit of comfortable movement in your neck. And then with our next inhale, we're gonna slowly roll back up. We'll inhale one more time. We'll lift our arms up overhead, and then as we exhale, we start to fold over our legs, releasing our head, releasing our neck, maybe gently shaking our head no or nodding our head yes, just letting our head hang. And then inhale, slowly, bringing our torso back up, slowly rolling back up. From here, we're going to lift our arms up overhead, and as we exhale, we're going to bring our left hand to the outside of our right knee and our right hand either to the back of our chair or to the base of our spine and our chair. So we start to take a twist and we're turning our head to look out over our right shoulder here. So we breathe in, taking those big, deep breaths in and out, feeling that twist in our spine, maybe feeling the sensation of cool air hitting the back of our throat. With our next inhale we will lift our arms back up overhead, and then, as we exhale, we’re gonna twist the other direction. We'll bring our right hand outside of our left knee, our left hand at the base of our chair, at the top of our chair, turning our head to look out over our left shoulder this time, and connecting with our breath. One more time, we'll inhale, lifting our arms up overhead as we exhale, we’ll slowly lower our hands down back by our side. And then we'll start to settle in for a little small, or short meditation practice. And so readjusting your posture if you need to, making any movements that might feel comfortable. Again, keeping our eyes open if that feels comfortable, maybe softening our gaze, if that’s the case. Or letting your eyes close. Trying to turn away from any bright lights or computer screens.Your hands can be wherever they feel the most comfortable. And we'll just start to reconnect with the breath, the natural breath that we can notice. So we're not trying to change our breath at all. One of the first things that we might notice when we connect with our breath is that sensation of coolness as the breath starts to come in through our nostrils or parted lips; the sensation of warmth as the breath leaves our body. So using that sensation of coolness and warmth is the object of mindfulness, staying with it for a few more breaths. Knowing that if your mind has wandered, that's totally normal. Just gently bring our attention back to our breath. This coolness as the air comes in, this warmth as the air leaves. From here, we're going to start to shift the sensation to really specifically focusing on that little point in the back of our throat where the cool air starts to hit our throat. Taking these big breaths in, slow breaths out, noticing that part of our body, the part of our throat, the coolness of the air asit comes in. The more subtle ait as it starts to leave. And if you're comfortable with it, we're going to introduce a little bit of mantra to this practice. I mentioned singing earlier, and there's a mantra associated with each of the chakras. And I don’t think it is a coincidence that the mantra associated with the throat chakra is HAM. And so if you're comfortable with it, if you feel okay doing it, we're going to take a big breath in, and as we breathe out, we'll say HAM, really feeling the vibration of the word moving through our lips, our mouth, our throat. Aaking another big breath in, breathing out, HAM.
One more time taking an inhale, exhaling HAM. Just starting to pay attention to our body in this seated position, releasing any tension that we may have, noticing any sensation that might be remaining in our throat, in our chest, in our lips from that mantra: how does our body feel, how do we feel, right now? Just as communication is about equally speaking and listening, finding balance, we're going to end this meditation practice with some counted breath. So starting with an exhale, pushing all the air out. We’ll start to breathe in, 2-3-4, and out, 2-3-4. Breathing in, 2-3-4, and out 2-3-4. Breathing in, 2-3-4, breathing out, 2-3-4. Breathing in, 2-3-4, breathing out, 2-3-4. Then returning to your natural breath. Once again, just noticing what you feel, what's alive in your body. If your eyes are closed, you may begin to bring your eyes open. If there’s a movement that would feel good, to be in your body, maybe a twist, maybe a stretch, you can bring that movement back in. And then we’ll come back together as a group. I’m really grateful for this opportunity to present.
John MacAdams:
Okay, well again, thank you so much, Katie. I'm glad that we have still a little bit of time. We can go into conversation with your prompts and your questions. And so, for all of us here, gathered in Indiana, thank you so much for those live. And if you're watching this recording. Yeah, please, be well.
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