Name in Sanskrit: Anahata
Meaning: Unstruck
Location: Middle of chest
Number of Lotus Petals: 8
Color: Emerald green
The fourth chakra, sitting between the lower three (root, sacral, and solar plexus) and the upper three chakra (throat, third-eye, and crown), is also known as the Heart chakra. In Sanskrit this chakra is called Anahata, literally meaning “unstruck,” metaphorically meaning “unhurt.”
The heart chakra meaning has to do with how we process our relationships with others and life in general. The heart chakra is like a bridge – it connects what we experience in the first three chakra with what we experience in the upper three. It filters all the information that come from below and send it to the chakra and above, and vice versa. It’s like a translator of experiences – a chakra that speaks all the languages and understands all the experiences of the other chakra.
So why “unhurt” you might be wondering? Is there any single person on this Earth who has never been hurt? Of course not. Even enlightened teachers are prone to the vicissitudes of life – their car breaks down too, or their cousin might lie to them.
Unhurt, in this context, means having faced the pains of all old wounds, having reexperienced them in one’s psyche only to realize that now you have the emotional and spiritual resources to embrace and transform them. When you were a child or a young adult, you were not resourceful – it wasn’t the trauma that caused so much pain; it was that you were powerless and helpless in its face, and so you had to crush your ego or bend your soul shape just to be able to survive.
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When the heart chakra is imbalanced
A disfigured, undercharged, overcharged, or torn heart chakra affects our ability to connect to life in a meaningful way. We lose our sense of purpose, and above that our interest in being a part of this universe. We hold tremendous amounts of silent grief or mute hatred, both of which can sit there in our chests for a lifetime without being acknowledged or resolved. Their only symptom is depressive moods, and even suicidal ideation.
People who were raised in environments where they had to act or be a certain way to be accepted carry major heart wounds. If you looked different than the norm in an environment that cherished a certain type of beauty, if your parents only cared about your success (and not your true personal interests), if they needed you anyone other than who you were meant to be, your heart is wounded.
Wounded heart chakra symptoms include a lack of true interest in one’s own self i.e. not caring enough about your hobbies, improving your life, or even daily needs. Not caring about other people or taking a genuine interest in getting to know them. Not being able to feel emotions deeply – especially grief, hatred, love, and joy. A healthy heart chakra feels everything and doesn’t obsess with feeling only the good emotions. It feels, period.
A heart chakra blockage can manifest itself in a variety of ways. If you care more about how you look versus how much you connect with people, if you care more about the impression you leave versus the quality of the connections you make, than you might have a heart chakra blockage.
If you don’t feel like you have the right to love, or the right to be loved, start working on your heart chakra NOW. This basic human right defines the heart chakra because love is the most important thing in this universe and for our souls. This love can come from people, lovers, friends, relatives, coworkers, children, animals, or even plants.
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Heart chakra opening
A simple heart chakra meditation technique is to sit down in a meditative position, in a quiet room, legs crossed and back straight, making sure you won’t be disturbed for at least twenty minutes. Close your eyes and place your hands on the middle of your chest. Let go of any thoughts or fears you may have and visualize your heart filling up and illuminating with a bright green glow.
The above technique is great for those with an undercharged, closed, or disfigured heart chakra. But some of us have excessive energy in our heart chakra. Those of us who have a tendency to get hurt over and over again without knowing how to protect ourselves, or those of us that get easily influenced by the ills of others, might need some protection. To help balance an excessive heart chakra, you’ll want to strengthen your third chakra right below it.
To release the accumulated excess energy in your heart chakra, you can also work with a therapist or a psychic advisor to explore and uncover how your childhood or your recent/current environment might have affected your soul. You might need to learn to be more discerning in whom you trust, and learn not to sell yourself out for outside approval.
In yoga, heart chakra poses include all the backbends from baby cobra to full wheel.
The heart chakra mantra is “YAM” – sounding very much like “yumm”, a simple sound you can repeat in meditation or just sing out loud. It’s good for both undercharged and overcharged fourth chakras.
Heart chakra affirmations
“I have the right to love.”
“I have the right to be loved.”
“I am meant to be who I am.”
“I don’t need outside approval to feel good about myself.”
“I care.”
“The quality of my connections matters.”
Fun everyday practices
For practical heart chakra healing, you can wear a green shirt, pants or a scarf, get green pillows or throws for the living room. You can also paint a water bottle bright green, and drink water from this bottle for a few weeks. You can paint your nails green, or paint a canvas in shades of green – there are many shades of green: lime, pear, seaweed, emerald, olive, moss, sage etc. Color therapy comes in many forms – feel free to be creative!
If you’d like to wear heart chakra stones or have them around your house, obtain amazonite, aventurine, jade, rose quartz, malachite, prehnite, rhodochrosite or unakite. You can wear them as jewelry or put them in different rooms in your house. Make sure to regularly wash your heart chakra crystals with mild soap and water, and give them some time in the sun – this will charge them and keep their energy properties intact.
Find out about the other six chakras:
Throat Chakra, Sacral Chakra, Root Chakra, Solar Plexus Chakra, Third Eye Chakra, Crown Chakra.
