The Spiritual Meaning of Laryngitis

There are many reasons you may have laryngitis. It can be a symptom of a cold or flu, overuse of the vocal cords, or some other inflammation or irritation of the vocal cords. It essentially means you can’t speak. As always, talk to your doctor or health practitioner about any medications or interventions you may need. But in the meantime, let’s consider the spiritual meaning of laryngitis.

Speech and Communication

Obviously, a loss of the voice means you can’t express yourself verbally. Your body has shut down your main means of communication. Consider the following questions:

• Are you keeping a secret?

• Is there something happening that you want to talk about but can’t find a way to?

• Do you struggle with communication in general?

• What is your relationship with the truth? Do you know it, trust it, tell it?

Throat Chakra Imbalance

Laryngitis is a direct inflammation of the vocal cords, located right in the center of the throat chakra. This energy center encompasses the mouth, jaw, ears, neck, and throat. It relates to the energies of communication, truth, and self-expression, and the ways we communicate our inner world to other people. Consider the following questions:

• Do you feel heard and understood by the people in your life?

• Are you clear on how you feel internally, or are you in a state of confusion?

• Do you express yourself, your feelings, and your creativity regularly?

• Do you talk too much, without really saying anything?

Stuck Anger

The most common physical manifestation of anger is a tight jaw. Something wants to come out of the mouth but can’t for some reason. Perhaps you feel that it would be unsafe to say what’s hidden there, or that even if you said it, it wouldn’t change anything. As a result, we “swallow” back our feelings, and they get caught in our throat.

Anger is an emotion many of us have learned to suppress, but it’s actually a vital core emotion. It teaches us what our needs and boundaries are and shows up when something needs to change. We often have more choices than we initially realize, but even when we don’t, acknowledging how we feel can be powerful medicine. Consider the following questions:

• If your anger could speak for itself, what would it say?

• If your anger could change something in your life, what would that be?

• What need is not being met?

• What boundary has been crossed?

• What injustice are you experiencing (something that does not align with your values)?

• What choices do you see available to you?

The Need to Be Quiet and Listen

Sometimes laryngitis is a call to slow down, get quiet, and listen. When we’re very quiet, we can sometimes hear our own intuitive voice or the voice of Spirit. If laryngitis is a request for you to find quiet and listen to your inner world, what might be discovered? Consider the following questions:

• Have you been managing other people’s needs and feelings at the expense of your own?

• Does taking a break and sitting in the quiet appeal to you?

• If you take time out to stop expressing or communicating and just listen, what do you hear?

Dysfunction at an Energetic Gate

The mouth is considered to be an energetic gate into the body. Energy enters here as breath and food and exits as breath and speech. Ideally, this gate knows when to be open (allowing communication out and information in) and when to be closed (saying no to something or withholding speech). When there’s dysfunction with this energetic gate, we can suffer from issues in the mouth, throat, and jaw. Loss of voice is a total shutdown of the vocal cords, which is where we house our ability to say no. Consider the following questions:

• Has something been “coming in” that you’ve wanted to say no to, like other people’s energy, experiences, or opinions?

• Have you said yes when you really meant no, or vice versa?

• Is there something you’ve been wanting to receive or experience but haven’t been able to?

• Is there something you’re not completely allowing yourself to receive that you actually want to?

If you’ve lost your voice to laryngitis, take some time out to listen to your body and consider these questions. Laryngitis is usually temporary but can become chronic in some cases. Take the opportunity to understand what your body is asking for, and you may be able to learn something from what your body is saying—or not saying, in this case!

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