What are the metaphysical and spiritual reasons for a sore neck?
As someone who’s had neck pain since high school, I’ve tried many cures for muscle tension. Apart from treatments like yoga, chiro, physio, heat packs, massage, Reiki, Magnesium supplements and Epsom Salt baths, I’ve looked at the spiritual causes of a stiff neck. Here are my findings.
A sore neck is the result of a congested Throat (5th) Chakra. This energy centre includes our Thyroid Gland, voice, ears/ hearing, neck and throat. It responds well to sound healing, creative expression, a moderate lifestyle and the colour blue.
It shuts down with criticism, overwork and too much processed foods (especially if they’re ingested quickly – I include too many smoothies in this category!) Anything that overrides your human need for calm, objectivity and silence closes your Throat Chakra.
At any point in time, your chakras can be overactive, underactive or balanced. Donna Eden’s Energy Medicine and Caroline Myss’s Anatomy of the Spirit are good textbooks if you want to know more.
May 2021 update – I’ve used massage and myofunctional therapy to correct my tongue tie and TMJ due to orthodontic work and extractions as a child. I’m also seeing kinesiologist Mashenka Barlag and have been fitted for a splint to reduce grinding. Plus I’m doing stand up comedy!
2021 is a 5 Universal Year of Throat Chakra Healing for all of us, and some people are already feeling it in their necks. See Your 2021 Numerology Forecast for lifepath- specific tips, affirmations and healing meditations. Many people are seeing 555 which is the code for this year’s energy.
An overactive Throat Chakra manifests as talking, gossip or busy-ness without productivity. You’ll find these people addicted to something, be it coffee, sugar, crises or the need for speed and drama. It can be hard for them to relax or to sleep. They’ve forgotten that we’re human be-ings, not human do-ings. FOMO is very intense. Someone with Karmic 14/5 numerology or strong 5 numerology may be more prone to this habit.
An underactive Throat Chakra is linked to stuck feelings, censored truths, speech impediments and stagnation. People with an underactive Throat Chakra may get sore throats*, tonsillitis, feel tired and cough or sigh a lot, which is a sign their words are stuck (I find that a good yell, cry or groan can shift this block – try it in the car or in nature, for privacy…writing down all your worries on paper then shredding or burning them can also help).
They may feel cold, sluggish, overworked and under-appreciated. Like it is never ‘their turn’/ the world is against them. They have forgotten that Spirit is voice-activated, and until we ask with gusto, we don’t receive.
*For me, the spiritual meaning of a sore throat is ‘too much sawing sawdust’, i.e. going over what could have been, instead of allowing yourself to be human and to take new risks.
Ideally, we have a balanced Throat Chakra, whereby we say what we mean, mean what we say but don’t say it mean (an Al-Anon saying). We listen equally to our inner voice and other people. We’re committed to learning, open-minded and excited by the unknown. Our voices sound musical and mellow rather than hoarse or timid. The words INTUITION, LEADERSHIP and PARENTING add to 50/5 in numerology, as all these things require balance and sensitivity. Our Inner-tuition or inner teacher is about trusting our experience at least as much as what other people tell us.
The word SNAKE has a 5 vibration, which makes sense, as it’s a creature known for its flexibility – the number 5 even looks like a serpent. It’s beneficial for people with 5 lifepaths or 5s in name numerology, etc. to protect their Throat Chakras, as this is the part they’re healing this lifetime. Find your lifepath. If you’re in a 5 Personal Year or Month, it’s also wise to look after your Throat Chakra. Find your personal year.
5 Spiritual Causes of a Stiff Neck
1) Inflexibility
Physical stiffness can reflect mental rigidity. Where have you created a bottleneck? Maybe it’s time to ask for help. The opposite of war isn’t peace, it’s creativity. See both sides by healing the the con-neck-tion between your head and heart/ inner male and female/ Yin and Yang.
2) Watching instead of living
Too much screen time, poor office setups and sitting create hip and neck tension. Try yoga, dance and meditation. Use a foam roller or ball on the trigger points in your neck.Garden, play with children and animals. Cover the clocks. Walk more, worry less.
3) Anger and resentment
You can be right or you can be happy. Look up the Liver in Traditional Chinese Medicine (it holds frustration vs happiness). It loves exercise, laughter and acupuncture. I find a sore neck linked to judgement of others, especially addicts (alcohol, etc.) Just remember, over-thinkers attract over-drinkers. We’re all learning balance.
4) A diet of negative energy
Lots of sugary, salty and fried foods can cause inflammation. Eat more home-cooked soups, broths and organic produce to calm your throat. Use music or chanting to neutralise that inner critic (aka, your unemployed genius side). Drink tea, slowly. Detox your feelings, turn off the news and reduce your exposure to bullies. I love Jonathon Goldman’s music on Youtube and have also made a sacred music playlist (updated 2020)
5) Something else!
Other reasons for a stiff neck could be as simple as the wrong pillow/ mattress, or as complex as past life injury or needing to forgive a parent for being a ‘pain in the neck’. Telling the whole truth will set you(r neck) free. It’s time to speak up with love. Having a reading can clear your blocks very quickly, as we directly contact your Soul for messages and next steps.
The neck and hips/ lower back are linked to being told what to do and who you can have a sexual, financial or spiritual relationship with – see this post on the Old Way vs the 11:11 Way. Instead of letting people force feed you their outdated beliefs, express your wild side and disrupt the status quo.
As the site of the inner & outer voice, your neck reflects your relationship to truth. Perhaps it’s time for you to be more courageous. After all, your Soul came here to fly, not to crawl!
Fun Fact: People with stiff, rigid thumbs (which don’t bend at the middle joint) seem to be more prone to stiff joints and necks too. See my palmistry post on thumbs. FYI, I have a stiff thumb.
Related Links
Develop Your Intuition and Banish Self-Doubt – A Webinar with Sarah Yip ($33) Our inner voice and empathy is linked to our body intelligence, developing these qualities can change if not save your life!
Change for Good – A Spiritual Money Webinar ($49.50) With the world in crisis and capitalism (head over heart living) crumbling, now is THE best time to upgrade your thinking around money, abundance and receiving.
Find Your Lifepath – Someone with a 5 lifepath or many 5s in numerology could be more prone to throat chakra issues. 2021 is your turning point!
555 Portal on 5 May 2021 – Be Your Own Fairy Godperson
Talking Sticks and Throat Chakra Healing
Smoothies and the Throat Chakra
Throat Chakra Healing tip! More than half your body is not human – it’s microbes
7 Signs That You Were a Witch, Wizard or Healer in Your Past Life
Can Spirit Talk Through Technology? (Throat Chakra issues can show up in phone, internet and PC problems, especially if we are too in our heads)
The Metaphysical Meaning of Teeth – Biting Off More Than You Can Chew?
Deniz Akan from Dimensional Healing (healer I have sent 100+ clients to)
Caroline Byrd on Breathwork, Tired Mothers and Shocking People Awake! (my 32/5 lifepath mentor, who knows all about the chakras esp. the Throat)
Resources
Express Yourself Flower Essence by Tribe of the Tree
Creative Remedy Essence by ABFE (great for writers and singers)
The Perfect Day Plan Book by Jost Sauer (also a 29/11 lifepath, I helped in his drug rehab clinic teaching spiritual topics)
Thanks to J. (a fellow Master 11 lifepath) for inspiring this post. It was first published 21 June 2016 and has been updated 12 April 2020. I choked on some food yesterday, which reminded me to revise this article. No surprise, my readings client today also nearly choked around the same time – being an empath can be quite dramatic sometimes!
