There will be many times that you need to speak up for yourself in new ways that you may not be comfortable with. You will have to ask for the raise, speak up about the way you are treated, enforce a new boundaries, or even advocate for yourself or a family member at the doctor. Self Advocacy is self care. You have to get comfortable taking up space and using your voice.
Learning to advocate for yourself can be hard. Self- advocacy requires you to speak up for yourself and the things that you value. Self- advocacy requires a heightened sense of self awareness so that you truly know what you need, how to get your life back in alignment, and how to effectively communicate your needs to others.
Your Throat Chakra is an energy field centering in the neck area. This energy center deals with your sense of expression, communication, and our understanding of our personal truths both internally and externally. This area relates to our ability to understand ourselves and others.
When our throat chakra is balanced we operate at our highest levels of creativity, leadership, and great communication with ourselves and others. Advocating for yourself requires a balanced throat chakra. When we learn to self advocate we learn how to say what we need to say, and when to turn our ears to listen to ourselves or others. It allows us to communicate effectively which makes us better self advocates. Self Advocacy is important to our total well-being. We must strengthen our ability to advocate for ourselves in life and work.
When experiencing an imbalance in our sense of communication we may feel a blockage, lack understanding of others, routinely miscommunicate messages with others, lack boundaries, and lack of inner- standing of ourselves personally. It is hard to discern or send messages when we are out of alignment with ourselves.
There are a lot of factors that can play into our ability to speak up. Some common reasons are our unhealed inner child who never felt heard, the fear of the consequences of using our voice, an unhealthy lack of boundaries, wanting to keep the peace around us instead of in ourselves, anxiety, and so much more. It will take time to get familiar with advocating for yourself. View self advocacy as a muscle which needs to be trained and strengthened continuously.
Activating your throat chakra for better self advocacy allows you to champion for yourself at work, at home, and in your community. Here's some tips for advocating for your mental health at home and at work:
1. Develop your sense of self awareness. Self awareness allows you to develop your understanding of yourself. Discern exactly what you need to feel respected, heard, healthy, ect. and use this awareness to get back in alignment. Meditation strengthens your self awareness to new levels with routine practice.
2. Practice Discernment. Sometimes an activated throat chakra means speaking up.
We have to discern when it is better for our health to speak up about things in our life. Anytime you feel yourself compromising your views routinely to meet the needs of others, feeling bad about not standing up for yourself, dimming your light, or lacking boundaries for friends, family, or co-workers, you must check in with yourself to make sure that you are in alignment. Get clear about what your needs are and then speak up and out about the things that are effecting you.
Keep in mind that an activated throat chakra can also mean discerning when it is time to LISTEN. We have two ears and one mouth for a reason.
3. Use Your Voice. Don't be afraid to take up space with your voice. You have the power to shift the narrative at ANY time over ANY situation. Most times we are afraid of the consequences of using our voice and speaking up. If you find yourself facing this fear, ask yourself why you are more concerned with the comfort and health of others than you are with your own needs. Even if the first time you speak up for yourself your voice cracks a bit, use your voice.
4. Believe in yourself. Self Advocacy can be terrifying in the beginning. You have to believe that you deserve the things that you are asking for. You have to trust that YOU know what is best for you. You have to develop a confident mindset as you prepare to use your voice. Believing in yourself fully will give you the confidence to use your voice as new situations arise and you learn to speak out.
5. Stand your Ground . Many times people may suggest lines of treatment, directions in life, or give instructions that don't feel in alignment with what your needs or preferences are. (Yes, even those who are seemingly more qualified than you such as doctors or those with higher work positions than you can NOT know what is best for YOU to be well. The same goes for family.) Be knowledgeable about your options and do your research with every situation that you face. Weigh all your options, get multiple opinions, but ultimately use your own guiding light (discernment) to make conscious decisions about your needs. Then, when you make a decision stand firm in it.
5. Communicate effectively. Advocating for yourself means that you have to be able to communicate your needs and desires clearly, openly, and honestly. You even have to learn to communicate through tough situations or confrontation. You may even have to say what needs to be said and keep your professionalism in tact. How are you crafting your message so that others can not just hear what you have to say, but UNDERSTAND you? It's not what you say, it's how you say it.
At the same time, don't waste your time on people that are committed to misunderstanding you.
6. Meditate on it. Clearing your mind through meditation allows you to get back to the present moment and in a state of alignment from within. Communicating from a space of alignment is important to self advocate effectively. What do you need to do to achieve the goals that you want? How can you begin to move towards the changes that you want to see? Take time to listen to yourself to take agency over your life. You don't need to follow the flow or plan of others. Make a plan and begin to take your life back little by little. EVERY day is a chance to get it right. And just because you were accepting of things at one time, doesn't mean its too late to change things around. Meditation allows you to see that the real changes come from within.
Practice these 6 tips for better self advocacy in life and business. It's time to speak up and out about the things that matter to you most. Self advocacy is important for your total well-being. Your voice matters and it deserves space to be heard.
Affirm: I am accountable for expressing myself freely, openly, and honestly.
Stay aligned
Be Vocal
Advocate for yourself
For more information about increasing self awareness through meditation and advocating for yourself take a class or course, shop our books, and subscribe to our website at www.yeselfcare.com