Hi Jen and Open,

Thank you for sharing this exploration. Jen, your issue around the base and the feeling in the throat, as well as Open's suggestion to use sound into it, made me think of an exploration I had last year, and would like to share it with you, in case it resonates.

One day, while I was on a run, the lyrics of a song came to mind, which I did not initially recognise, and so when I finished the run, and went back home, I looked it up. It was Katy Perry's song, "Roar". The song and the lyrics spoke to me, but other explorations around "Roaring" kept coming, and I realised that this was more than just listening to an 'empowering' song and message. It was about actually roaring. Out loud.

How does this relate to the base though?
At the same time, I found out that an endurance athlete who runs long distances, strategically uses 'roaring' when he needs a boost of energy during his runs, as roaring releases adrenaline and activates the fight or flight response. So there is this connection between roaring (from the throat and further down), with the activation of the stress response (fight or flight) - which changes the physiology of the whole body, from secretion of hormones etc. So roaring, activates the fight for survival, which of course relates to the base.

I know from personal experience, when I am disconnected from my natural human instincts - perhaps a bit ungrounded, overthinking, or too much lost in technology - activating the 'fight for survival' in an intense physical way (e.g., through exercise, cold showers, roaring, combining these together etc.) helps greatly to bring me back to these human animal instincts. The fight for survival is perhaps the strongest of our animal instincts. And it is very grounding and perhaps healing as well, when we have disconnected from our human animal side. So I have given roaring a try (in private of course :D ).

I am curious to what extent any of this relates to your experience and the connection between throat and the base.

All the best,

Alexandros