What is the Heart Chakra?

The Heart is the fourth chakra connected to the human body, and sits right at the center of the sequence. With three above it and three below, the heart chakra forms the connection between the upper and lower chakras.

In Sanskrit, it’s referred to as the Anāhata, and relates to love, compassion, affection, and acceptance. It influences the way we relate in our most intimate relationships, and how we truly feel about ourselves.

HEART CHAKRAPinHeart CHAKRA QUICK REFERENCE:

Heart Chakra Meaning

This chakra pertains to love. It’ also the central chakra in the main system, connecting the upper and lower chakras together.

Heart Chakra Position

This is the fourth chakra, and is located at chest, close to the physical heart.

Heart Chakra Name

The Sanskrit name for this chakra is Anāhata, and it means unhurt, or unbeaten.

Heart Chakra Colour

This chakra is green in color, though it’s sometimes depicted as light pink.

Heart Chakra Symbol

The symbol is a six-pointed star within a twelve-petalled circle.

What is a Chakra?

A chakra is a spinning disk or wheel of energy. In the human body, there are 7 main chakras that run along the spine, each of which holds and carries a specific energy. Yet there are also as many as 114 minor chakras spread over the rest of the body.

They are believed to relate to different glands within the physical body, as well as to energetic impulses, strengths, and weaknesses.

The Chakras are described in the ancient Vedic Texts, which date from 1500 BC. Yet more recently, the concept of chakras has entered mainstream spiritual speak here in the West too.

The seven main chakras are listed below in descending order. It’s important to understand that they’re all equally important. Where a chakra is located on the body has nothing to do with its value.

What’s the Difference Between a Healthy Chakra and an Imbalanced Chakra?

When a chakra is open and operating optimally, it’s spinning with ease. This allows it to receive information from outside, AND transmit information from within, through the physical, emotional and mental bodies, out into a person’s auric field.

Quite simply, this feels good! When our chakras are balanced, we’re functioning healthily.

Yet, it’s not uncommon for chakras to be out of balance (over, or underactive), or worse still, have blockages. When this occurs, an individual will usually experience negativity – in the form of destructive and fear-based thoughts, difficulty holding focus or learning new things, depression or anxiety, or any host of other emotional and physical disorders. Long term chakra imbalances can also result in chronic physical illness.

Symptoms of an Imbalanced or Blocked Heart Chakra

Problems with the fourth chakra tend to manifest via emotional issues. Feelings of isolation, bitterness, fear, and lack of self-worth can all be tied to this part of the energy body.

Also, issues with the physical heart and lungs can have their root here including some respiratory issues, as well as chronic heart weakness.

If you think that your fourth chakra may be in need of healing here are the signs of look out for:

Signs of an Overactive Heart Chakra

  • Overdependence on others for happiness and fulfillment
  • High expectations of others
  • Being judgemental
  • Finding it hard to let go
  • Keeps replaying trauma
  • Needing constant acceptance from other people
  • Adopting a martyr role
  • Heart palpitations of chronic heart trouble
  • Lung or respiratory issues

Signs of an Underactive Heart Chakra

  • Neediness
  • Fear of being alone
  • Not engaging emotionally
  • Codependency
  • Fear of intimacy
  • Lack of self-worth
  • Being self-critical
  • Often feeling fearful
  • Holding a victim mentality
  • Low blood pressure or chronic heart trouble
  • Lung or respiratory issues

5 Chakra Healing and Balancing Exercises for the Anāhata

1. Practice Heart-Opening Meditation

One of the cornerstones in heart chakra healing and removing blockages, heart-opening meditations are very powerful.

In Buddhist practice, the loving-kindness meditation is probably the most well-known and often practiced to heal the heart. Here’s how to do it:

  1. Sit in a quiet space, relax, and focus on the breath for a few moments.
  2. Think of four people. A loved one, a friend, someone you’re aware of but don’t know, and someone you feel hostility towards.
  3. In turn, focus on each person and send them love and kindness. The key is to really feel the love, and really intentionally send it out to each person.

Look on youtube for other heart chakra meditations, Or…

FOLLOW THIS LINK FOR A FREE GREEN HEART-OPENING GUIDED MEDITATION

2. Dive into How You Feel

Spend time actually embracing your feelings. In our fast-paced world, it’s SO easy to skip right over how we really feel and move onto the next thing to take our attention (social media, anyone!)

But heart chakra healing requires us to get intimate with our emotions. This means really feeling. And accepting yourself with unconditional love….even when the going gets tough.

This could lead you into a healing dance with shadow work. If this intrigues, you…

HEAD HERE FOR MORE ON WHAT SHADOW WORK IS AND HOW TO DO IT

3. Accept Love

When we were children – for the vast majority of us – accepting love was non-negotiable! Yet the notion of unconditional love gets lost somewhere along the way, and as adults, we tend to think we need to earn it.

Then with lowering self-esteem and our eyes being opened to all the ways we’re ‘unlovable’ it, the heart becomes blocked, compassion levels drop, and it gets harder and harder to accept love.

But what if you just opened this energy center and let love in?!

It’s NOT as difficult as you think. The next time someone pays you a compliment, say “Thank you, I accept that”. Or if you’re feeling down, grab the phone and call someone for a chat.

Let positive energy flow!

4. Use Crystals

Pink and light green crystals tend to be great for Heart Chakra healing. Place them around your home, and beside your bed when sleeping. You can also try meditating with them. Here are some ideal crystals to work with:

  • Rose Quartz
  • Green Aventurine
  • Green Jade
  • Amazonite

RELATED POST: 5 MUST-HAVE CRYSTALS TO ADD TO YOUR SPIRITUAL TOOLKIT

5. Give Gratitude

Often written about but still vastly underrated, gratitude is a great way to open and rebalance the heart chakra.

Try starting a gratitude journal, and recording five things you are grateful for every morning. Or perhaps writing down 10 things in the evening, before you go to bed.

Doing this can shift your perspective and actually raise your frequency, which will open and realign this energy center, in turn helping to heal your whole energy system.

You could even turn some of them into positive affirmations and repeat them as you go about your day, for example:

  • “I am SO grateful I have clean air to breathe and a strong healthy body”
  • I am SO grateful I have money in my bank and food in my cupboards”
  • “I am SO grateful I have a loving family and incredible friends”

Even if you feel like you’re stretching the truth, giving gratitude for what you envisage your life becoming, is more likely to make it so.

Extra Resources

For more on the heart chakra, or ways to improve your self-love, follow the links below:

Do YOU have any tips for heart chakra healing? Or any experiences to share with our community? Drop a comment below!

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