In this article, I’m going to cover 4 signs your throat chakra is underactive, and how this issue can be fixed. 

I’ve split this article into 3 sections, and you can use the links below to navigate straight to one section in particular:

• Signs your throat chakra is underactive
• Common causes for an underactive throat chakra
• How to fix this issue

Before we get into the main body of the article, let’s have a quick recap of the chakra system, and where the throat chakra fits into it: 

The throat chakra is all about communication and self-expression, including listening, speaking, teaching and writing. 

Having a balanced throat chakra means that we are able to effectively and confidently communicate our feelings, beliefs, desires, needs and opinions.

When the throat chakra is out of balance, it either manifests as overactivity or underactivity. (I already wrote an article on overactivity in the throat chakra here.) But the topic of this article is underactivity, meaning that there isn’t enough energy running through your throat chakra. This means there will be too much energy elsewhere, and it knocks your whole energy out of balance. 

So, now let’s take a look at some common signs that your throat chakra is underactive:

1. You don’t express yourself with clarity and confidence

I remember when I first started this website and also when I was at University, my throat chakra was underactive, because I often struggled to express myself in writing when I first started writing articles, and in addition I felt I wasn’t expressing myself fluently when talking to people, either. I often knew what I wanted to say, but I couldn’t find the right words to match what was in my head.

This is what it is like to have an underactive throat chakra — you sometimes struggle to express yourself in an effective, fluent and confident way. (In the second part of this article, I go into some reasons for this.) It can cause quite a bit of frustration too, because you know you’re not operating at your best, but you’re not sure what to do about it.  

2. You don’t stand up for yourself or advocate on your own behalf

If you are someone who doesn’t speak up on your own behalf, this is also a sign that your throat chakra is underactive.

Some examples of how this may manifest: you don’t say ‘no’ when you should. You let others walk all over you because you’re not being assertive in what you communicate. You don’t defend yourself when someone attacks you. You don’t stand up for your rights using your voice. In conflicts, you don’t say your piece —instead you just back down, perhaps for an easy life. 

3. You’re excessively private, to the point of secrecy

If you avoid sharing your inner world with anyone else and find that there isn’t a single soul you can confide it, this is a sign that your throat chakra may be underactive, too. 

People who are secretive and excessively private can’t share their feelings with anyone and this leads to emotional isolation. 

Now onto the fourth sign…

4. You suppress your own feelings, beliefs, opinions, desires or needs in order to be accommodating 

If you find that you’re often keeping quiet about what you really think, feel and need in your relationships, to avoid conflict, this is another sign your throat chakra is underactive. 

If you resonated with at least two of the signs above, it’s likely that your throat chakra is underactive. 

Next I am going into some reasons for an underactive throat chakra. 

You endured emotional/psychological abuse during childhood

If you were conditioned throughout your childhood to keep quiet about what you felt or thought because when you did speak up, it resulted in abuse, this often results in an underactive throat chakra, where it is difficult later on to express yourself with confidence and clarity. Expressing ourselves with confidence is like a muscle — the more we use it, the stronger it becomes. If we underused it for any length of time, we end up with underactivity in the throat chakra. 

This sort of pattern applies particularly to those who had a domineering or controlling parent. I have this kind of family background and this is one of the main reasons why I struggled so much with throat chakra underactivity in my early adult life.

Underactivity in the solar plexus

When the solar plexus is underactive, this makes it harder to behave in an assertive way, and these negative effects can spill over to the throat chakra. 

Spending time in a country with no freedom of speech

Living under a dictatorship can suppress the throat chakra energy, and for good reason. If you have spent time in any place where it is dangerous to express yourself authentically, this has a detrimental effect on your throat chakra.

Past life trauma

Another common reason for underactivity in the throat chakra is past life trauma relating to speaking up. If you stood up for yourself in a past life or engaged in some kind of verbal conflict, and it resulted in your death under traumatic circumstances, this can set up a pattern at the throat chakra where the soul believes that expressing oneself is more trouble than its worth. 

Toxic people

Spending lots of time around manipulative and toxic people is another common cause for an underactive throat chakra. If you find that your words are not welcome or they are turned around and misinterpreted deliberately, it becomes easier to not speak at all. People who have spent time around toxic people therefore often learn to keep themselves to themselves and this impacts negatively on the throat chakra. 

Limiting beliefs around anger

If like some Buddhists you believe that anger is a negative emotion that should be avoided and repressed, rather than acted upon, you may find your throat chakra is underactive. 

Anger is an emotion that shows us where our boundaries have been violated, or what we do not want in our lives. We do not need to respond to anger by smashing things or hitting people, but we can use the anger to make positive changes in our lives and relationships. Anger is a signal. When we ignore it on a regular basis, it hurts the throat chakra. 

Now let’s go into how we can bring more balance to an underactive throat chakra:

If your solar plexus chakra is underactive, work on that first, because as mentioned above, that can cause throat chakra under-activity.

One of the most fun ways to bring more balance to the throat chakra is to engage regularly in some kind of creative hobby. This could be singing in a choir, acting, Toastmasters or dancing. 

Do an inventory of the people in your life. If you find that you’re walking on eggshells around someone and keeping quiet because you’re afraid of how your words will land (based on how they landed in the past), this will be contributing to throat chakra underactivity. So, you’ll want to consider how having such people in your life is impacting on your energy.

Another way to bring balance to the throat chakra quickly and effectively is getting a past life regression. I would only consider this if you feel that you may have a blockage at your throat chakra that results from a past life. Past life traumas are characterised by strong fears which can manifest as a sense of panic. If you’re the kind of person who comes out in a cold sweat at the prospect of public speaking, this is a sign you have past life trauma affecting you at the throat chakra.

I wrote about how to find a suitable past life regressionist in this post. 

Of course, healing from abuse or trauma that occurred in this lifetime can also help to balance the throat chakra. If you grew up with an abusive and domineering parent, and still live in the shadow of this trauma, healing from this can help to bring balance back to your throat chakra. I talked about healing from trauma in this post.

Finally, my Chakra Meditation Kit is a popular resource for bringing balance to all of the chakras. You can find that here.