Alternative names: Anahata (Sanskrit)
Colour: Green (or pink)
Location: The center of the chest.
Element: Air
Demon: Grief
Goal: Self-Acceptance, Acceptance of others.
Basic Rights: To love and be loved.
Language: Uplifiting.
Positive qualities include (but aren’t limited to): Compassion, kindness, forgiveness, service, love.
Shadow qualities include (but aren’t limited to): Grief, attachment. Dependent on others for love and affection. Helper syndrome. Heartlessness.
Yoga Exercises to Balance this Chakra: Ego Eradicator. Yoga Mudra. Bear Grip. Baby pose. All arm exercises and pranayam.
Issues Dealt With Here: Love, balance, self-love, relationships, intimacy, anima/animus, devotion, reaching out and taking in.
Helpful Crystals: Aventurine, emerald, green calcite, green tourmaline, lepidolite, malachite, pink calcite, rhodocrosite, Rhodonite, rose quartz, malachite, kunzite.
“The heart is the TRUE power center.” – Guru Raj Kaur
The heart is the where love resides. This is the place where Sacred Transformation occurs. Love is Divine Power. This is the place where our attention changes from “me” to “we” and we become aware of ourselves and how others view us.
The heart chakra is the place where the energies from the lower triangle meets with the upper triangle. It is where our human and physical needs meet the ethereal aspects of ourselves. Where our Earth meets our Heaven.
When this chakra is operating strongly and healthily we have good boundaries and we can be neutrally compassionate. We know how to let a person into our lives in a way that is healthy for us, and we can use our feelings to benefit our Highest Self.
A person who speaks from the heart center will speak truthfully but kindly. A strong heart center will allow us to be with what is, with compassion and without judgement.
When this chakra is not operating well we will either have too much sympathy or dependency. We will give too much and not receive enough.
Personal Experience
In the beginning of 2013 I bought a book called Transitions to a Heart Centered World: Through the Kundalini Yoga and Meditations of Yogi Bhajan
A few months afterwards I noticed small imperceptible changes. Others noticed changes in my attitude and how often I would smile. I began to feel as I did when I was a child: the deep bubbles that rise up in ones heart to the smile that beams simple love and joy. I noticed I was laughing and feeling more. I noticed that I felt stronger, like not much could touch me.
One cloudy day as I pulled out my bike and was getting ready to go for a ride in a sleeveless top my ex-boyfriend gave me a funny look. I had though I was looking quite ravishing myself, so I queried him on the strange look that certainly was not because I was looking good.
“Your shoulders are bigger. Have you been going to the gym?” He finally asked.
I was so surprised I began to laugh. “I’ve been doing heart centered yoga, do you think that has anything to do with it?”
He shrugged. My mind was wondering about it constantly and as soon as I arrived home I checked it out. Sure enough, looking in the mirror, I could see that my shoulders stuck out slightly more than my hips now, shifting my hourglass figure to a slightly more top heavy figure.
I realized that in order to have an expanded heart one must have a strong chest to contain all of its power. My body is very athletic and rapidly conforms to match whatever exercise I’m doing. Then I began to work on the lower triangle of chakras, believing that I had worked on the heart enough for now.
I still feel the effects of all that yoga, and I highly recommend that book. In KYTT Guru Raj Kaur told us that we need to have a strong lower triangle to have a strong heart and strong aura. So don’t forget to work on the lower chakras too!
“Heart rules. Navel organizes. Head is cleared of all chatter.” – Bir Kuar
Further Resources on This Chakra:
Wheels of Life: A User’s Guide to the Chakra System by Anodea Judith <— By far the best reference book I’ve encountered on the Chakra system
Transitions to a Heart Centered World: Through the Kundalini Yoga and Meditations of Yogi Bhajan
