Using Family Meetings to Balance the Throat Chakra

Do you have a child who either talks really softly or really loudly? Maybe they are super shy or have a fear of speaking?  Maybe you have a child who is a poor listener and interrupts others frequently.  Other manifestations of a 5^th chakra imbalance might be chronic sore throat/strep throat/laryngitis/ear infections, grinding teeth, and telling lies. If any of that, in any combination, sounds like one of your children, I want to share a whole family technique for bringing balance and healthy patterns to the throat chakra and your family communication.

 Fifth chakra imbalances can be a result of many things:

Verbal abuse

Excessive criticism

Authoritarian parents

Secrets or threats for “telling”

Alcoholic or chemical-dependent family

Handed down ancestral patterns of any of the above

Family meetings can be a healthy way to find clear communication and release ancestral patterns of miscommunication, hurtful communication or non-communication within a family.

How do you hold an effective, loving, safe family meeting? 

• Choose a time during the week that everyone can attend with all of their focus and energy.  Sunday nights seem to be a logical time as a beginning to the week, everyone is usually home relaxing and not too many events are scheduled for Sunday evenings.
• Have an agenda to begin the meeting with.  I like to use a spiral notebook or a binder to keep all family agenda items together and organized.  Beginning a few days prior to the meeting, have a sign up sheet out so that anyone can put items that they want to discuss on it.
• Setting: Hold the meeting in a place where there are no distractions, no tv, no phones, no i-pods, nothing to goof around with.  Kitchen table is great.  Outside on the patio is nice too.
• Use a talking stick or any object that is passed to indicate that it is a person’s turn to talk.
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  Our family talking stick

• Begin with a round of compliments and appreciations.  Each person can say “give” or “get”.  If they choose, “give” that means they give someone else a sincere compliment- no backhanded compliments allowed.  If they choose “get”, everyone else thinks of a compliment for that person and that person gets to choose who they get the compliment from.  Everyone goes once around the circle.  This is so popular that sometimes the kiddos want to go around again!
• The moderator then reads off the agenda items that were listed and the group decided which one to discuss by vote.  Or if it is an important family issue, Mom and Dad can choose to place it first above the other items.
• The person who brought the topic up or wrote it on the agenda gets to make an opening statement to describe the issue.  Then the talking stick is passed in the circle so that everyone has a chance to say exactly what they need to say.  Once everyone has weighed in, then additional discussion takes place using the talking stick to avoid interruption.
• Suggestions for a solution are offered in the circle, each person getting a chance when they have the talking stick.  The person who put the item on the agenda gets to choose the solution or it can be voted on by the whole family.  You can experiment with which works best for your family depending on the ages of your kids.
• Plans to follow up on the issue at the next meeting are made.
• As time allows, the next item on the agenda is introduced by the person who put it on the agenda.  Follow the same pattern.
• Rules: Only talk when you have the talking stick.  Listening is more important than speaking.  Kindness and respect are key.
• Always end with a celebration! Maybe a special dessert- make your own sundaes- or a family walk or bike ride or game.

This ritual will begin to balance the throat chakra as a whole for your family.  There will be less screaming, more direct communication, children and parents will feel “heard”, and there will be a chance to smooth out any issues that are bothering people in the house.
*Teachers- I used this same format in my sixth grade classroom back in my teaching days and it worked great there too!*

I would love to hear how your family meeting went or how your family conducts a family meeting! Share your stories in the comments below.

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