Bleu Chakra: Who Are We?
For many weeks in a row, I thought about everything I wanted my music offerings to encompass. I knew I felt called to the idea of letting singing be a space for connection. Connection to the self—exploring expression, and connection to others—love and communication. I had all the particles of what I was after floating around in my head.
One day I decided to open up and put my hopes into words. Midway through my messy attempt to translate my thoughts into language, my friend turned to me and said, “It sounds like you’re describing the Blue Chakra.”
I switched the u and the e to represent the French spelling of the word as an ode to a French speaking loved one and voilà! (see what I did there)
The Blue Chakra is the fifth of seven chakras also known as the throat chakra. The throat chakra represents the voice, communication, and expression. When your Blue Chakra is aligned, your voice flows freely; you are free to create, express, and give the gifts only you can give.
This is the part where I tell you who is typing these words, a bit about my education and background, and where I like to put my energy. I, Lauren Goldman, am a vocalist and music educator. I have my Bachelors of Music in Vocal Music Education from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ. I have directed youth music theatre but what stole my heart was being an adaptive music teacher at the P.G. Chambers School in Cedar Knolls, NJ. My students were multiply disabled and many used adapted technology (or AAC) that allowed them to communicate. For many of my students, they did not or were unable to use their vocal cords, but I refuse to believe they were not “singing” with me in music class.
This, for me, expanded my definition for the following: what does it mean “to sing,” to “use your voice”? My students, despite not using their physical vocal cords, were participating, were they not? My students were engaged and connecting to and with others through music, weren’t they? The idea of “using your voice”, in history and literature, has always meant much more than simply using your vocal cords to produce sound. Aligning with your throat chakra, as I’ve come to believe, means using your “voice” to align yourself with what keeps you grounded—and what a beautiful thing to include singing and music in discovering that alignment within you.
As the earth would have it, I am also a preservice (or pre-licensed) psychotherapist completing my education. I feel and have always felt particularly drawn to the many ways we “find ourselves” and the places to look. For me, music and singing has been a space and a place where I have found myself over and over.
Music and singing has always met me where I am, and I’m confident it can do just that for you too!