Heart Chakra
Sanskrit name: Anahata
Meaning: Sound that is made without any two things striking; unstruck
Location: Center of chest
Color: Green
Element: Air
Ruling Planet: Venus
Glandular Connection: Thymus
Body Parts: Heart, chest, lungs, circulation
Physical Dysfunction: Shallow breathing, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer
Emotional Dysfunction: Co-dependency, melancholia, fears concerning loneliness, commitment and/or betrayal
Sacramental Association: Marriage
Societal Association: Unconditional acceptance of others
Animal: Gazelle/Antelope
Archetypes: Functional: Lover
Dysfunctional: Performer
Sense: Touch
Foods: Vegetables
Incense/oils: Rose, bergamot, melissa
Crystals: Watermelon tourmaline, rose quartz, emerald, green calcite, jade, azurite, aventurine quartz, malachite, moonstone
Goals: Balance, compassion and self-acceptance
Life Lesson: Forgiveness and compassion for oneself and others
Main Issue: beliefs about love and relationships
Developmental age: 21-28 years
Chakra Characteristics
Too open (spins too fast)
Possessive, loves conditionally, witholds emotionally “to punish”, overly dramatic
Blocked (spins sluggish or not at all)
Fears rejection, loves too much, feels unworthy to receive love, self-pitying
Balanded (maintains equilibrium)
Compassionate, loes unconditionally, nurturing, desires spiritual experience in lovemaking
Archetypes
The Lover: Lovers are magnetic, radiant individuals who truly “own” themselves. They are easily recognizable because it is impossible not to be affected by their positive energy.
The Performer: A common example of this personality is the co-dependent, who looks outside for the love they crave, kidding themselves that their wounds can be healed by finding someone else to draw strength from. However, fear of betrayal, one of the emotional dysfunctions of the heart chakra, sabotages any chance of real happiness with another.
Exercise
1. Lie face down on the floor with your arms by your sides, palms facing toward your hips. Breath in, imagining a string attatched to your hands pulling upward on your lower back and lifting your upper body away from the floor. Keep your neck elongated as you look straight ahead, breathe smoothly. Maintain the poase as long as possible.
2. Lower yourself gently to the floor again and, as you breathe in, extend your arms out at shoulder level like wings ad lift your upper body away from the floor-again facing forward. Imagine your heart area opening up and being offered as a gift to an imaginary recipient in front of you. Ensure that your shoulders don’t hunch up, so that you allow your neck to lengthen.
3. A third variation on this exercise is, from position 1, to breathe in and lift your upper body off the floor, at the same time extending your arms directly in front of you. If it feels more comfortable lift your straight legs away from the floor also. Visualize your heart opening, ensuring that you don’h hold your breath or tense your muscles. Then lower your arms and legs to the floor on exhalation.
Crystals
Aventurine Quartz: This uplifting crystal is good for depresssion, encouraging lightness and enthusiasm for life. It is valuable in maintaining the balance of the heart chakra after it has been closed down by greif, and generally protects this area.
Green Calcite: This crystal helps to develop the strength needed to cope with change or transition, by forming a link between the heart and the head. It is an excellent choice when dealing with emotional “wounds” affecting the heart and encourages compassion and tenderness toward oneself and others.
Green Jade: This crystal is said to offer reassurance and protection to those feeling vulnerable, when placed over the heart chakra. Its gentle resonance encourages strength and stability when you feel afraid or threatened. Green is the energy of balance and healing and light green jade carries a vibration of love and forgiveness.
Rose Quartz: The soothing vibrations of this gentle pink quartz helps comfort anyone suffering from emotional “wounds”. It prompts the development of self-love, through which one can learn to love unconditionally. The loving energy of rose quartz also helps you become more receptive to the joys of all forms of creative endeavor.
Watermelon tourmaline: It is said to be the “superactivator” of the heart chakra, allowing this area to become connected with the higher self. It helps with any emotional dysfunction and enhances cooperative efforts and tact.
Meditation
1. You are beginning a journey to the heart chakra...are you nervous, excited, pained? Acknowledge these feelings, but don’t swell on them...know that you are safe, protected-loved…
2. See yourself on a red pathway. Feel firm earth beneath your feet...notice the road changing to sandy orange, then rippling beneath your feet like water. Your feet seem lighter and help you move closer to your destination…
3. The road changes again, to a rich golden yellow...feel ita warmth penetrating your feet, warming your entire being...everything is bathed in golden sunlight…
4. Look ahead and see that the road has become green and leads to a pink castle...as you take this green pathway it falls away beneath you, as if you were walking on air...you are now at the entrance of the castle.
5. Feel the heavy door swing open into a vast pink hall...on a plinth lies your heart. How does it look? Is it frozen in a block of ice? Or encased in chains? Or is it haemorrhaging energy from being too open to others...consider its state...don’t judge what you see-you are here to heal it…
6. Have the appropriate remedy available to you. Take a pick and chip away at the ice, breathing warm air to melt it faster...unlock the chains with a golden key from your pocket...watch as your heart expands in freedom…
7. Place your hands lovingly on any scars and send universal love to your heart to dissolve them...allow your natural healing energy to give your heart what it needs.
8. Notice how your heart responds positively to this attention...be aware of a connection between what is in your mind’s eye and what is going on in your body...enjoy these moments…
9. Caress your heart and send it limitless universal love, knowing that the more it recieves the more love will be availabe to others.
Daily Questions
*Do you respond to others through the mind and intellect rather than the Heart? Tune in to your heart’s message. Focus on what you truly feel withouth judging. The heart has the answers.
*How much do you feel connected with others? Try going out and smiling at people. You’ll be surprised how many smile back.
*Are you hard on yourself for “failing”? This chakra is about balance-not just with others but with yourself. Honor your dark and light sides.
*Do you put on a “good face”? Learn to detach from your feelings. When your heart is full of pain, acknowledge that it represents another lesson. Rejoice and move forward.
*Are you compassionate, or do you judge others? Everyone’s reality is different. Know that no one can hurt you-it’s hot you react to what they do to you that is the cause of your pain.
Affirmations
*I send love to everyone I know;all hearts arem open to receive my love.
*I accept that pain is an essential part of my growth and development.
*I love myself for who I am and the potential within me.
*All past hurt I release into the hands of love.
*I am grateful for all the love that is in my life.
*Other people deserve my compassion.
*The love I feel for myself and others is unconditional.
*Love will set me free. Others love the best they can. If someone doesn’t love me “enough”, they may be limited in their expression of love and deserve my compassion.
Meaning: Sound that is made without any two things striking; unstruck
Location: Center of chest
Color: Green
Element: Air
Ruling Planet: Venus
Glandular Connection: Thymus
Body Parts: Heart, chest, lungs, circulation
Physical Dysfunction: Shallow breathing, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer
Emotional Dysfunction: Co-dependency, melancholia, fears concerning loneliness, commitment and/or betrayal
Sacramental Association: Marriage
Societal Association: Unconditional acceptance of others
Animal: Gazelle/Antelope
Archetypes: Functional: Lover
Dysfunctional: Performer
Sense: Touch
Foods: Vegetables
Incense/oils: Rose, bergamot, melissa
Crystals: Watermelon tourmaline, rose quartz, emerald, green calcite, jade, azurite, aventurine quartz, malachite, moonstone
Goals: Balance, compassion and self-acceptance
Life Lesson: Forgiveness and compassion for oneself and others
Main Issue: beliefs about love and relationships
Developmental age: 21-28 years
Chakra Characteristics
Too open (spins too fast)
Possessive, loves conditionally, witholds emotionally “to punish”, overly dramatic
Blocked (spins sluggish or not at all)
Fears rejection, loves too much, feels unworthy to receive love, self-pitying
Balanded (maintains equilibrium)
Compassionate, loes unconditionally, nurturing, desires spiritual experience in lovemaking
Archetypes
The Lover: Lovers are magnetic, radiant individuals who truly “own” themselves. They are easily recognizable because it is impossible not to be affected by their positive energy.
The Performer: A common example of this personality is the co-dependent, who looks outside for the love they crave, kidding themselves that their wounds can be healed by finding someone else to draw strength from. However, fear of betrayal, one of the emotional dysfunctions of the heart chakra, sabotages any chance of real happiness with another.
Exercise
1. Lie face down on the floor with your arms by your sides, palms facing toward your hips. Breath in, imagining a string attatched to your hands pulling upward on your lower back and lifting your upper body away from the floor. Keep your neck elongated as you look straight ahead, breathe smoothly. Maintain the poase as long as possible.
2. Lower yourself gently to the floor again and, as you breathe in, extend your arms out at shoulder level like wings ad lift your upper body away from the floor-again facing forward. Imagine your heart area opening up and being offered as a gift to an imaginary recipient in front of you. Ensure that your shoulders don’t hunch up, so that you allow your neck to lengthen.
3. A third variation on this exercise is, from position 1, to breathe in and lift your upper body off the floor, at the same time extending your arms directly in front of you. If it feels more comfortable lift your straight legs away from the floor also. Visualize your heart opening, ensuring that you don’h hold your breath or tense your muscles. Then lower your arms and legs to the floor on exhalation.
Crystals
Aventurine Quartz: This uplifting crystal is good for depresssion, encouraging lightness and enthusiasm for life. It is valuable in maintaining the balance of the heart chakra after it has been closed down by greif, and generally protects this area.
Green Calcite: This crystal helps to develop the strength needed to cope with change or transition, by forming a link between the heart and the head. It is an excellent choice when dealing with emotional “wounds” affecting the heart and encourages compassion and tenderness toward oneself and others.
Green Jade: This crystal is said to offer reassurance and protection to those feeling vulnerable, when placed over the heart chakra. Its gentle resonance encourages strength and stability when you feel afraid or threatened. Green is the energy of balance and healing and light green jade carries a vibration of love and forgiveness.
Rose Quartz: The soothing vibrations of this gentle pink quartz helps comfort anyone suffering from emotional “wounds”. It prompts the development of self-love, through which one can learn to love unconditionally. The loving energy of rose quartz also helps you become more receptive to the joys of all forms of creative endeavor.
Watermelon tourmaline: It is said to be the “superactivator” of the heart chakra, allowing this area to become connected with the higher self. It helps with any emotional dysfunction and enhances cooperative efforts and tact.
Meditation
1. You are beginning a journey to the heart chakra...are you nervous, excited, pained? Acknowledge these feelings, but don’t swell on them...know that you are safe, protected-loved…
2. See yourself on a red pathway. Feel firm earth beneath your feet...notice the road changing to sandy orange, then rippling beneath your feet like water. Your feet seem lighter and help you move closer to your destination…
3. The road changes again, to a rich golden yellow...feel ita warmth penetrating your feet, warming your entire being...everything is bathed in golden sunlight…
4. Look ahead and see that the road has become green and leads to a pink castle...as you take this green pathway it falls away beneath you, as if you were walking on air...you are now at the entrance of the castle.
5. Feel the heavy door swing open into a vast pink hall...on a plinth lies your heart. How does it look? Is it frozen in a block of ice? Or encased in chains? Or is it haemorrhaging energy from being too open to others...consider its state...don’t judge what you see-you are here to heal it…
6. Have the appropriate remedy available to you. Take a pick and chip away at the ice, breathing warm air to melt it faster...unlock the chains with a golden key from your pocket...watch as your heart expands in freedom…
7. Place your hands lovingly on any scars and send universal love to your heart to dissolve them...allow your natural healing energy to give your heart what it needs.
8. Notice how your heart responds positively to this attention...be aware of a connection between what is in your mind’s eye and what is going on in your body...enjoy these moments…
9. Caress your heart and send it limitless universal love, knowing that the more it recieves the more love will be availabe to others.
Daily Questions
*Do you respond to others through the mind and intellect rather than the Heart? Tune in to your heart’s message. Focus on what you truly feel withouth judging. The heart has the answers.
*How much do you feel connected with others? Try going out and smiling at people. You’ll be surprised how many smile back.
*Are you hard on yourself for “failing”? This chakra is about balance-not just with others but with yourself. Honor your dark and light sides.
*Do you put on a “good face”? Learn to detach from your feelings. When your heart is full of pain, acknowledge that it represents another lesson. Rejoice and move forward.
*Are you compassionate, or do you judge others? Everyone’s reality is different. Know that no one can hurt you-it’s hot you react to what they do to you that is the cause of your pain.
Affirmations
*I send love to everyone I know;all hearts arem open to receive my love.
*I accept that pain is an essential part of my growth and development.
*I love myself for who I am and the potential within me.
*All past hurt I release into the hands of love.
*I am grateful for all the love that is in my life.
*Other people deserve my compassion.
*The love I feel for myself and others is unconditional.
*Love will set me free. Others love the best they can. If someone doesn’t love me “enough”, they may be limited in their expression of love and deserve my compassion.