By Jade Doherty

Feeling scared or hurt? It could be your Heart Chakra or Anahata Chakra. Here is your personal guide to balance the fourth chakra.

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What most resonates with you?

Are you feeling:

1. Scared, fearful, hateful, panicked, horrified, hostile

2. Loving, loved, tender, warm, devoted, adored or adoring

3. Or a mix of the two

These are all connected to your heart chakra, or as it’s known in Sanskrit the Anahata chakra. Feeling unloved, unloving, fearful, or even heartbroken can be signs of a blocked (and hurting) anahata chakra. Life can have a big impact on your fourth chakra, so let's spend some time with this important energy center and get you feeling good again.

But what is a heart chakra?! How do I balance it? And why does it matter? 

Let’s have a look at how the heart chakra works, and how you balance a blocked heart chakra.

After understanding the root chakra,  sacral chakra and navel chakra in the previous posts, today, we’ll cover the function of the heart chakra, and why healing and opening your heart chakra, in order to experience greater unconditional love and happiness is so important to living a happy and joy-filled life. We’ll also share how you can work with your sacral chakra through yoga poses, meditation, and other activities, to bring it into balance and evoke more unconditional love, joy, compassion, and well-being so you can live life with a big, open heart.

What is a chakra?

Aside from the physical body, we also have a subtle, energetic body. Within it are pathways that flow with prana or life-force, and these converge at powerful energy centers, known as chakras. The seven primary chakras flow from the root (base of the spine) up to the crown chakra (top of the head).

Each chakra, or nerve center, is associated with particular qualities and emotions which transpire in different ways depending on whether they’re unbalanced (aka blocked)...or not! 

When thinking about balancing on unblocking the chakras, it’s helpful to imagine the flow of energy rather than a literal chakra that is wobbling or blocked up. When your energy is flowing upwards, you will feel the positive aspects of each chakra, in the case of the heart chakra that is love. When it’s flowing downwards you’ll experience the negative qualities of each chakra. It’s more useful to focus on the flow of energy, rather than trying to isolate each chakra and “fix” it. 

For an overview of the whole chakra system, check out our Beginner’s Guide.

Heart chakra at a glance

Name in Sanskrit: Anahata meaning unstruck sound, it can also translate as "pure" or "unhurt"

Element: Air

Location: The heart space

Qualities: Love, hate, fear

From the navel region, the energy moves upwards to the heart region and manifests in three forms – fear, love, and hatred. When people feel hatred or fear or love, the sensation is felt in the heart region. When someone’s heart is broken, it means that love has become sour and turned into hatred. 

When there is love, there is no fear. When there is fear, there is no love. At any point of time, only one of the three emotions takes the front position while the other two go in the background. It is not that they disappear entirely. People who feel fear also have love. When love is predominant, then there is no fear or hatred. When hatred takes the front seat, then love and fear have gone to the back. This is what happens to people. When they are so full of hatred, they have no fear at all and they have no love at all.

When there is an imbalance this happens

The heart chakra, also referred to as the fourth chakra, is the home of unconditional love. When out of balance, it can also be associated with fear and even hatred. When this chakra is aligned and feeling good, you find that you feel open, loved, and loving, and that unconditional love flows easily through you.

When the energy in this chakra is not balanced, you can feel scared, fearful, hurt, and perhaps even hateful. It's often said that the opposite of love is fear, so an imbalance can manifest as a tight, fearful feeling in your chest. Or, if you've been really hurt, the love you once had can turn to hatred.

We want you to have an open, healed, and happy heart chakra so that life is full of love, joy, and open-heartedness! Let’s look at how to get this chakra loving and get your energy flowing!

and vibrancy too! Let’s look at how to get this chakra thriving!

How to balance the heart chakra: essential tools for life

Healing your heart, and getting energy flowing, and living a life of unconditional love is an ongoing practice- and it’s so very worth it! The chakras show us that energy wants to flow, move, and be free. So let's get your heart chakra feeling open and aligned.

Here are some great practices for you to try, and increase your flow, creativity, inspiration, and joy in the process:

• Pick a pose

You got it! - yoga! A holistic yoga practice, made up of asana yoga postures, pranayama breathing techniques, and meditation, will move the energy upwards and thus balance your chakras. Some yoga poses are great at evoking the open-hearted, expansive qualities of heart chakra, especially backbends and postures that open your chest and bring new energy into your heart center. Some great poses include Puppy Dog Pose, Camel Pose, Wheel Pose, and Upward-Facing Dog Pose.

Many yoga practices focus almost exclusively on the physical postures, so if you’re looking for a practice that includes breathing techniques and meditation, you’ll enjoy Sri Sri Yoga. Created by Gurudev, and incorporating ancient teachings in a way that is compatible with modern life, Sri Sri Yoga will teach you not only the well-known asanas but also breathing techniques (pranayama) and meditation too. 

• Self-love

Your love ought to include you too! In fact, perhaps you could be your first love. Positive, loving affirmations, as well as taking time to appreciate yourself - your resiliency, your generosity, your sense of humor - can help to create a loving relationship between you and you.

• Devotion!

Another way people can evoke a feeling of deep, unconditional love - or even divine love - is through devotion, or as it's known in Sanskrit bhakti. In fact, bhakti yoga is one of the main yogic paths. If there's a guru or deity you resonate with you might like to put photos of them up around your house, or if you like singing, you might enjoy kirtan and chanting. Kirtan involves the repetition of a mantra which can be an incredibly grounding and heart-opening activity.

• Nourish yourself

Eat those leafy greens! Broccoli, spinach, kale, cabbage, celery, as well as green teas to start healing your heart chakra.  

• Take a seat

Meditation. A foundational solution to (almost!) all our imbalances. When you find the right practice for you, meditation is naturally calming and restorative, creating a steadiness at your core. Try SKY Breath Meditation, or dive into a dedicated heart chakra meditation. 

When all seven chakras are balanced, harmony pervades, and with it, a powerful sense of well-being. 

Begin your chakra healing journey with Secrets of the 7 Chakras. Join this free on-demand 7-day meditation journey to awaken, rebalance, and harmonize your energy. Guided by meditation master Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, it is an opportunity to dive deeper into the profound wisdom of the chakras and cleanse each one through meditation. Emerge deeply rested, relaxed, and with personal insight. Register for free here.

 

Next, we will continue our journey through the chakra system, and look at the throat chakra.

 

Jade Doherty is a freelance copywriter, meditator, and traveler, who is currently exploring Goa, India.