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Three years ago, it was safe to say that I had a major imbalance and blockage in my throat chakra. I was too shy to speak up for what I believed in, too insecure to stand up for and declare what I wanted, and too scared to sing out loud, even for myself when no one was watching.
I remember vividly feeling disabled and challenged when I could not use my voice the way the others did during my 300 YTT, Yoga Teacher Training, in Shamanic Yoga at the Mystical Yoga Farm.
I did not know any songs, and definitely could not sing in front of others, not even in ceremony or sacred circle. After a deep medicine journey at the end of my training, I remember taking away one thing from it all… I needed to learn how to sing, and that as a ceremonialist it is essential that I carry and work with music as medicine.
During the journey, my facilitator and shamanic guide got sick super sick, and was pretty much taken out by the medicine. Then after and for most of the night, a series of agitating, messy, and uncomfortable events continued to unfold.
My inner medicine woman and healer wanted to help harmonize the group, and help bring some peace within my self, and it was in this precise moment I had the very deep realization and understanding that music was a beautiful tool for bringing the body and group collective energy into peace and harmony.
Music is all about vibration, it has the potential to heal, harmonize and restructure our bodies, brains, and DNA. Our Energy Body, which includes the meridians, chakras, connective tissue, even the water that is stored within our body, brain, and housing our DNA, responds directly to vibratory healing.
It was all very profound, like most medicine journeys are, and I left the ceremony knowing that my soul had awoken to the truth of what one of my purposes was and still is, and that is to find my true voice and learn the ways of using sound, intention and music for healing.
I also learned a lot about the art of holding sacred ceremony, ironically, through the observation and experience of what felt like a ceremony gone wrong.
In fact, though, it was through the experience of discomfort that I was pushed up against my edge and grew immensely.
Then post training, I stayed 2 months in Lake Atitlan, to integrate and deepen my studies in the art of Cacao.
It was during this time that cacao and Kirtan ceremonies came into my life, at the Mahadevi Ashram, and this devotional and healing practice finally provided a space in which I finally felt safe enough to sing.
Something about singing songs and mantras in an alternative language made it feel alright for me to sing. We were singing love songs to the divine, the Gods, Goddesses, deities, spirits, energies, whatever title you want to give them, and they didn’t care what I sounded like.
I was just happily singing in love and developing an ear for music and melody.
Also, something about singing these bhajans, songs and mantras didn't feel like the church I grew up resenting and avoiding, it felt like Yoga, it felt good in my body, it was a healing spiritual practice, and personal development tool for opening and empowering my Throat Chakra, my Heart Chakra, and Solar Plexus.
I didn't understand much about the practice, but I knew I felt safe exploring my voice, knowing that I couldn't mess up singing to the Divine.
Sacred Cacao also helped by lubricating the channels during this practice.
The sacred medicine of Cacao helped bring me into my heart space and allowed for me to release and dissolve self-criticism and self-judgment by opening my heart to gratitude and love for the energy and Deities we were singing to and invoking.
The act of opening with a sacred cacao ceremony made it safe for me to open up and be vulnerable, cry, dance, and express in a safe and sacred container. And the other singers, our beautiful rainbow community, honored that while also sharing their voices and energies for our collective healing and prayers.
Kirtan, mantra, and medicine music is an extension and evolution of my yoga practice. It is part of my practice and Devotion to the Divine within and without. It is a tool for self-healing, self-care, and self-love, as much as it is a practice and tool for sharing in collective prayer for our Earth, community, and Great Spirit.
Now, a little more than two years has gone by since I commenced this journey with singing, and it is my honor to share my medicine song and chakra toning practice with you.
I am still a long way from being a professional singer, but I sing from my heart perfectly imperfect so that others may also learn that it’s okay to be vulnerable and to still be a beginner. I want to share with you practices that you can incorporate into your self-care routine to connect to the power of your voice and the healing that sound, intention, and music has the potential to create within our lives.
In my 13 Moons and Prosperity Embodied mentorship programs, we work with the power of sound, vibration and our voice to produce inner and outer healing. I have helped many women and students access new levels of pleasure and purpose through the art of Vocal Empowerment. The voice and throat chakra is directly connected to the Womb and Yoni, aka genitals, and is our direct channel to God/dess. When you learn to embody your authentic voice, you learn to free yourself from the trauma of oppression, fear, self-judgment so many of us unconsciously hold, or inherited.
Want to learn more and heal yourself with the power of the Voice, email me or book an online session or discovery call! Email me at HeartChocolateyoga@gmail.com
Don’t worry if you are a beginner, I will guide everyone so that you may feel comfortable and confident to share your beautiful voice with your sacred sister priestess community.