The heart chakra is named Anahata in Sanskrit, which translates to “unstuck,” or “unhurt.” This means that underneath all our brokenness and pain that resides in our heart, there boundless love and true wholeness. No matter how stuck or hurt we feel, it is the true nature of our heart chakra to reveal that we are whole, complete, and beloved.
Anahata is represented by the color green and the element air. I love how Anodea Judith in Eastern Body, Western Mind describes why the color green was chosen to represent the heart chakra.
“Like the green, growing plants, which push toward the heavens from their roots in the earth, we, too, reach outward in two directions—anchoring the manifesting current deep in our bodies and expanding the liberating current as we reach beyond ourselves. In the heart chakra, these currents come to perfect balance in the center of our being. From that sacred center—the heart of the system—we enter the mystery of love.”
Anodea Judith, Eastern Body, Western Mind
The heart chakra is linked with unconditional love, both for others and for the self. The heart chakra is also the center of acceptance, trust, mercy, and forgiveness.
Where Is The Heart Chakra In My Body?
The heart chakra rests in the absolute center of the chakra system, perfectly in the middle. Anahata is located in the heart, upper chest, and upper back. The heart chakra oversees not just the heart, but the rib cage, diaphragm, lungs, and breasts as well.
What Is The Heart Chakra All About?
It’s no surprise that the heart chakra is all about love. However, it’s as much about loving others as it is about loving ourselves. It is in the heart chakra that we learn to accept ourselves unconditionally. Although we are still progressing on our journeys, wherever we are emotionally, mentally, physically, or spiritually, we still love ourselves. We are devoted and committing to loving ourselves. This may feel strange to read, or to consider, that we are devoted to ourselves? Normally, our self-love is meager and perhaps trickling out of a nearly empty cup. Our heart chakra is where we come into true relationship with ourselves.
“The most common block in the heart chakra is the absence of self-love. How can we have intimacy with others if we are distanced from our own self? How can we reach out to others when we are drowning in shame and criticism? How can we maintain balance between ourselves and others if we have no balance within? How can we treat another with respect if we treat our own selves abusively? Ideally, the demon of shame has been transformed in the third chakra, leaving us ready to enter the heart with an honest regard for the sacredness of our being. To love ourselves is to act respectfully and responsibly toward ourselves, to enjoy our own company when in solitude, to honor our limits and speak our truths.”
Anodea Judith, Eastern Body, Western Mind
Of course, the heart chakra is also where we come into relationship with others. It is where we learn how to expand our compassion and empathy for not just towards lovers, but towards all others. We learn how to connect with others and how to provide space for them to be all that they are.
A Balanced and Unbalanced Heart Chakra
Since the heart chakra is located in the chest, if someone has a block in the heart chakra then you may notice that that person constantly attempts to block that chakra with their arms. They may cross their arms over their chest, with a refusal to reach out to others. The chest can also be collapsed, with the chest deflated and the shoulders curled inwards. On the other hand, the chest could also be inflated in the need to protect the heart, with a challenger or defender mentality, always ready to go to battle.
Traumas and abuses that impact the heart chakra and can cause heart chakra blocks are rejection, abandonment, and loss as well as grief. The death of a loved one, or divorce, can majorly impact the heart chakra. So does receiving conditional love or growing up in a loveless environment.
“If we do not get the love we need, we lack the basic ingredient necessary to assemble ourselves…. Abuse interferes with our love of life. If life hurts, or is lonely, rejecting, empty, hostile, or dangerous, then we do not want to relate to it. Life becomes a painful experience, a process to be endured. We no longer love being alive; we no longer meet life with hope and enthusiasm. We become withdrawn, depressed, blocked. The natural flow of energy can no longer move forward.”
A deficient heart chakra presents itself through fear of relationships and fear of intimacy. This person may isolate herself or himself and be antisocial, cold, and withdrawn. Such a person may be excessively judgemental and lack compassion.
A person who has excess in the heart chakra is someone who has an imbalance of energy in which the heart is open past the point it should be, like a flood gate that has been opened too widely. Certainly a flood gate that is opened too widely would be disastrous, that could ruin crops, land, roads. With an excess of energy in the heart chakra, there can be clinging, jealousy, and codependency. Such a person may have poor boundaries and be overly sacrificing in relationships.
How To Heal The Heart Chakra?
Breathing exercises, also called pranayama, are wonderful for the heart chakra. As they stimulate the respiratory system, and involve breath retention, expansion, and forceful breath sometimes paired with arm, hand, and chest movements, pranayama is wonderful for activating the heart chakra. There are even specific pranayamas you can to do for the heart chakra such as playing reaching the arms out on the exhale and playing them over the heart on the inhale.
Journaling can also be very healing for the heart chakra as it can help release emotions and help you develop awareness of your blockages in the heart chakra. Through the process of self-discovery, you are more present with yourself— with all the details of yourself. Exploring your inner world of emotions, can help self-love to grow.
The yoga asanas that are beneficial for your heart chakra are the ones encourage you to open your heart center. Any chest opening asana activates the energy in the heart chakra. My recommended yoga asanas for deep heart opening are Cat/Cow Pose (Marjaryasana), Camel Pose (Ustrasana), Wheel Pose (Chakrasana or Urdhva Dhanurasana), and Bridge Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana).
Heart Chakra Overview
Name: Anahata (unstuck)
Element: Air
Color: Green
Basic Principles: Love, Compassion, Balance, Self-Love, Relationships, Empathy
Location: Chest, heart, cardiac plexus
Associated Gland: Thymus
Negative Power: Grief
Basic Rights: To love and be loved
Physical Ailments: Problems with the heart, lungs, thymus, breasts or arms, tension between the shoulder blades or pain in the chest. Shortened of breath, asthma, or circulation problems.
Aromas: Attar of Roses
Yoga Poses: Cat/Cow Pose (Marjaryasana), Camel Pose (Ustrasana), Wheel Pose (Chakrasana or Urdhva Dhanurasana), and Bridge Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana).
Stones:
- Rose Quartz: The Heart Stone. Encourages peace, compassion, and tenderness. It reawakens the heart to its own innate love.
- Emerald: The Stone Of Successful Love. It is a seeker of love and revealer of truth. Emerald’s have the power to open and nourish the heart chakra. It brings freshness and vitality to the spirit, with its soothing energy that heals all levels of the being.
- Rhodochrosite: Stone of the Compassionate Heart. Talisman of joy, healing, and love. It clears the solar plexus and heals the heart chakra, freeing them both of blockages. By doing so, it forms a bridge between the upper chakras and lower chakras.
As always, thanks for being a part of the Wild Yoga Tribe and for learning about the heart chakra— anahatha!
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How do you connect with your heart chakra— anahatha? Let me know in the comments below!
