The Essential Guide to the Heart Chakra

Within each of our bodies exist seven main energy points called chakras. When our chakras are properly balanced and aligned, we feel comfortable in our bodies, confident in our capabilities. When our chakras are out of whack, we can feel a lack of energy and security in ourselves.

This is the ultimate guide to your Heart chakra, also known in Sanskrit as Anahata (meaning unstruck or unhurt.) The Heart chakra rules just about everything you would associate with the metaphorical heart: love, compassion, relationships, beauty, truth. A well-balanced Heart chakra is a necessary component in any giving, loving relationship—between you and your spirit or yourself and others.

What is the Heart Chakra?

To start this guide, let’s explore some of the most basic elements of the heart chakra, such as location, the color associated with it, and the element.

• Location: In the center of the chest area
• Color: Green
• Element: Air

The Heart chakra is located in the center of the seven chakras, with three chakras hovering above it and three resting below. As you might imagine, the Heart chakra represents where the physical aspects of our being meet the spiritual elements. It is known as the center of love, unity, and balance. It represents connection: a connection between ourselves and our spirit, ourselves and others, ourselves and the world around us. The heart chakra is associated with unconditional love, confidence, self-love, self-acceptance, and an open heart.

The heart chakra represents the emotions and feelings associated with the matters of the heart, from compassion to jealousy and everything in between. When the Heart chakra is balanced, you may feel open, receptive, forgiving, loving, caring, and giving. If the heart chakra is blocked, you might experience feeling closed off to the world or bitter. A sense of isolation or loneliness often accompanies a misaligned Heart chakra.

How Does this Chakra Become Blocked?

Many, many events and situations can lead a chakra to become blocked, from a negative thought to a traumatic experience. Furthermore, a blocked heart chakra can last moments, days, weeks, or years. Childhood abuse or neglect, bullying by children in school, sexual assault or harassment, or even something as simple as negative energy can throw the Heart chakra off-balance. Essentially, anything that causes heartache or pain can cause a block in the Heart chakra.

When the Heart chakra is blocked, you might experience a decrease in your natural supply of optimism, and your relationships might suffer. You may hold onto grudges more intensely, you might become jealous, have trust issues, or struggle to share your feelings. If you feel more closed off than usual, unable to connect with your loved ones, there’s a good chance that your heart chakra needs some love.

How to Balance the Heart Chakra

There are many ways to balance the Heart chakra and many materials you can use, from crystals to the colors of the rainbow.

The Heart chakra is associated with the color green, so try incorporating more green colors into your wardrobe, surrounding yourself with its fresh hues, and eating more green foods. Try to soak in the energy of this color and allow it to penetrate your Heart chakra.

Certain exercises, such as yoga, are especially useful in chakra work. Wheel pose, bridge pose, and upward facing dog pose are just a few of the yoga poses that will help open and unblock your Heart chakra. Additionally, taking a walk in nature and surrounding yourself by a vivid green landscape will also soothe the Heart chakra.

Certain essential oils are associated with this chakra and using them in your daily routine can trigger cleansing and clearing. Rose, neroli, jasmine, ylang ylang, and bergamot are great essential oils for clearing the Heart chakra. Try dabbing a small bit of rose oil on your wrists and temples and breathing in the heart-healthy fragrance.

Meditation is another excellent way to balance the chakras. Try meditating on objects, plants, and the colors associated with the chakra you’re working on. Think of every shade of green you can possibly imagine or focus on the image of a specific green crystal, like aventurine, during your meditative practice. You can even include green stones, like jade and fluorite, into your meditation routine.

Positive affirmations are a great practice for life in general but can be especially useful when working with chakras. Focus on heart-affirming phrases, like, “My heart is open,” and, “My heart is loving.” You can write these affirmations down on post-it notes or a journal that you can glance at throughout the day, reminding yourself of the love that flows through your Heart chakra.

Spread the Love

As you can see, there are many easy and effective ways to address an unbalanced Heart chakra. But one of the easiest and most effective ways to open this chakra is to spread love to those around you. Like engaging a muscle, practicing the art of sharing your Heart energy will only make your Heart grow stronger.