Hello my seekers of inner harmony and radiant love!
In this blog we embark on a profound exploration of the Heart Energy Center, the gateway to boundless compassion, self-acceptance, and connection to all the other beautiful qualities of the Heart.
As we delve into a beautiful dance of our heart's energy, we will discover the transformative power of being connected with this beautiful resource within us.
But first, let’s understand why it is essential to awaken and activate our Heart Energy Center.
In a world that often pulls us towards disconnection, nurturing our heart's energy becomes an act of rebellion—a rebellion that nourishes our souls, heals our wounds, and radiates love into every corner of our lives.
By exploring various paths and practices that unlock the reservoir of loving Heart Qualities, you enter into a beautiful path of self-discovery and profound transformation.
About the Heart Energy Center
Let us begin with a basic list of associations …
Sanskrit name: Anahata
Color: Green
Location: Heart
Element: Air
Seed Mantra: Yam
Gland: Thymus
Psychological Function: Love, Connection, Understanding, Compassion, Trust, Generosity, Acceptance
Beautiful people,
we have arrived at the Heart in the exact middle of the 7 main chakras.
This is where we practice unconditional self love … so we can become a whole person and have the full capacity to love others unconditionally.
Side note: If you haven’t read my first 4 blogs on the Chakras,
Start HERE to learn why it's important to Rock your Energy System.
Then move to each of the Chakras one at a time.
The Heart is a beautiful resource within us.
Our Heart Energy Center, our Anahata Chakra, is the home of all the beautiful qualities of Peace, Love, Joy, Higher Wisdom, Understanding, Compassion, Trust, Generosity, Acceptance, Freedom, Expansion, Gratitude, etc, etc ….
Basically, all the qualities that fall under the category of LOVE are Heart Chakra qualities.
Isn’t it amazing that all of these beautiful qualities lie within us?
When we embark on the journey of opening our heart, we begin our dance of healing ourselves and our relationship with others. We say YES, to living on a path of higher vibrations.
Pure love inspires us to explore the divine qualities of the Anahata.
This is probably my favorite Chakra to work with …
I cherish the energies of my heart and love to tap in
all throughout my days, everyday.
For the more often you tap in, the more connected you become and the easier it is to access all of the heart qualities. It’s about developing a relationship with your Heart. The deeper the relationship, the greater our ability to access, embody and express those qualities.
When we open our heart, we open the channels to give and receive freely. This can help relationships of all kinds. Imagine 2 people communicating with open hearts … the level of compassion and understanding makes the conversation safe. When both parties come from a space of generosity and gratitude, this creates comaraderie and keeps each person accountable. While using your hearts higher wisdom and intuition you create greater ideas and can be even more solution oriented.
In Sanskrit anahata means unstruck, unhurt or unbeaten.
It’s about the impartial and infinite love that creates a deeper understanding of self and others. Some also believe it is related to the unbroken rhythm of the heart beat.
Since the anahata helps us develop higher levels of compassion, understanding and acceptance, it makes sense that people more connected to their hearts are less critical and less judgemental.
All of this works to our advantage when forming relationships …
it’s definitely easier to build lasting and fulfilling relationships
when our Heart Chakra is open and balanced.
The color of the Anahata Chakra is green, representing growth and healthy relationships. It is also associated with nature, freshness, healing and tenderness.
Also, it’s worthy to consider, the color of self-love is pink.
So when working with the Heart Chakra feel free to work with green
or pink - whatever color you’re resonating with in the moment.
The element of the Anahata is air which represents freedom, expansion and breath. The more you practice opening your heart, the more you expand your consciousness and freedom in so many ways.
Air is open and free … a balanced anahata chakra is a heart willing to
be open and free and give without restriction, for example giving unconditional love. When your heart is open and expanded, you feel optimistic, friendly, and believe in yourself.
The mantra of the Anahata Chakra is 'yam', which means to let go, to liberate, to give.
What happens when the Heart Chakra is blocked or out of
Balance?
When a persons Anahata Chakra is blocked or out of balance,
oftentimes their heart is closed, because of past wounds.
Unresolved disappointments from childhood can affect our behavior as an adult. This can create issues with energy flow through the Heart Chakra, and can result in difficulty connecting with others. Sometimes it creates isolation or feelings of loneliness. It can also be the reason some people have trouble sharing with and trusting others.
The Following symptoms indicate the Heart Chakra needs healing and rebalancing.
Issues with giving and receiving affection
Fear of rejection
Distant behavior in supposedly close relationships
Lack of trust in a committed relationship
Overly Co-dependent
Appearing tough and unemotional
Inability to be vulnerable
Physical symptoms can also occur, such as heart palpitation, heart pain, poor blood circulation, angina, or even problems like asthma.
How can we balance our Heart Chakra?
With an open and balanced Heart Chakra, you feel an abundance of compassion, kindness and love towards yourself and others.
You live in acceptance, rather than trying to live up to external expectations. You love and accept who you are without judgment.
With an open Anahata you develop trust and respect for yourself
and others.
There are many
ways to unblock and balance your Anahata Chakra.
Here are a few of them …
Embrace, Embody & Express a Heart Quality …
This is one of my signature tools that I practice everyday of my life and have been incorporating into my teachings for over 40 years.
It’s all about nurturing your relationship with your heart space
so that you can align with it and all of its beautiful qualities.
You can choose a heart quality to embrace, embody and express for an hour, a day or even a week … or you can choose a quality for a particular experience.
Here’s how it’s done:
(Click Here to be guided through this process. The session is called “Heart Quality Activation”, which is in the “Open” Category in your Daily Practices Program.)
Get into a relaxed state (eyes closed or open)
Bring your awareness to your Breath
Follow your breath into and out of your Heart Space
Once you feel you are in a peaceful and coherent state - choose a heart quality.
Feel the essence of that quality in your heart space (if you have trouble feeling it - recall an experience when you felt this way. Bring that into your mind and heart - start to remember the feeling - then feel it!)
See yourself showing up with this quality flowing through you easily and effortlessly. Feel how it feels when this quality shines through you, become a vibrational match.
Set the intention to have this quality drive the rest of your day! (Or the next hour, or the next experience in your day)
By tapping into your heart before you choose your quality,
you will be led in the right direction to the quality that will truly
benefit you in the time period you have chosen.
As you continue to practice connecting into your heart and
aligning with the different qualities, you develop a deeper relationship with your heart space and the beautiful qualities associated with it.
If you’re a Complete Vitality Member on ELEV8 Workouts, you’ll notice there are several workouts designed to tap into your Heart space and the different beautiful heart qualities. Do these workouts often to strengthen your connection and relationship to your heart.
Yoga-Dance
The blend of Yoga-Dance tops my list for favorite ways to tap into the heart chakra and all the beautiful heart qualities. Much of my yoga is already very heart centered, then when you add dance, bing bing bing …
Big Bonus - you stimulate the release of Happy Hormones and it amplifies the feelings and your connection.
If you happen to be in Los Angeles this weekend, I’m teaching a Heart Chakra Yoga Dance at LA DanceFit Sunday June 25 from 5-6:30pm.
I’d love to meet you in person and practice with you.
If you'd like to do a Heart Chakra Focused YOGA Class now, click HERE
Pranayama - Breathing Exercises for the Heart Chakra
Our Heart Chakra element is air, so breath-work is a gateway to opening your Anahata Chakra. One of the most beneficial breath-work techniques that not only balances the right and left hemispheres of the brain, but also opens the heart is Alternate Nostril Breathing - Anulom Vilom. Practicing this technique also brings calmness to the mind and body
Here’s how …
Sit in a comfortable position with your spine straight.
With your right hand - fold your index and middle finger in towards your palm (Vishnu Mudra). Close your right nostril with your thumb and exhale emptying all the air out through your left nostril
Inhale 4 counts thru your left nostril
Close you left nostril with your ring and pinky finger (both nostrils are now closed) Hold your breath for 8 counts.
Release your thumb from your Right nostril. Exhale completely for 8 counts (your left nostril is still closed)
Inhale for 4 counts through your Right nostril (left nostril still closed)
Close both nostrils again and hold your breath for 8 counts
Release your fingers from your left nostril and exhale completely for 8 counts. (right nostril is closed with thumb)
That completes one round. Continue for 5 - 10 minutes
If you would like to be guided thru this practice click HERE.
(you must be a Complete Vitality Member to access this.
It is in the Daily Practices Program … in the OPEN category)
Mantra Chant Meditation
Meditation and chanting can help to restore proper energy flow to the Heart Chakra. Meditation is a great pathway to experience peace within.
Getting to a peaceful place within is a great gateway into the heart.
Once our state is relaxed various anxious thoughts that create imbalance to life begin to unravel and with patience eventually get resolved.
The mantra associated with Anahata Chakra is YAM. It is considered to be the seed or beej of the heart depicted with the Heart Chakra symbolism. Chanting this mantra heals both the physical and the spiritual heart center.
It is also believed to make a person more open to experiencing unconditional love and compassion.
Sit tall in sukhasana (cross leg position) and take a few deep breaths to settle inward.
Focus into your Heart space and begin chanting YAM.
Chant for as long as you’d like. (1 minute, 3 min, 7 min, 11 minutes)
Feel a sense of positive energy flowing through your body.
Imagine the chakra opening with the energy flowing throughout the body. The vibrations of chanting YAM produce an overflow of positive feelings.
Everyone will have different experiences as meditation is a deeply personal.
Practice Forgiveness
Various experiences in life can push a person to be judgmental, resentful or even angry. The inability to forgive only hurts yourself, because the negative energy remains in your own energy field negatively affecting your vibration. Energies like anger and resentment hold you back from moving forward. It’s important to clear the air or clear your own energetic field so you can move forward into a space of happiness.
Making an effort to practice forgiveness might seem a very difficult task.
Simply talking to a close friend or meeting with a professional counselor can help you clear your mind and let go and grow into a space of peace about the resentment.
You can also practice the HO OPONO PONO PRAYER, an ancient Hawaiian practice.
This practice teaches the importance of forgiveness through a process that allows the person to rid themselves of burdens in order to heal. This prayer is based on the fact that we are all one so by asking for forgiveness yourself - it is the same as forgiving that person.
The Hawaiian word ho'oponopono roughly translates to 'make things right' or to 'make things move back to balance'.
Follow these steps
Step 1: Repentance – Simply SAY: I'M SORRY
Step 2: Ask Forgiveness – SAY: PLEASE FORGIVE ME
Step 3: Gratitude – SAY: THANK YOU
Step 4: Love – SAY: I LOVE YOU
Freeze Frame from the Heartmath Solution:
Freeze Frame is a heart-focused breathing tool designed to help you quickly
change from feeling stressed to feeling calm. This technique is about aligning your physical, mental and emotional systems, so they all work in sync. By tapping into your heart you are able to think with your head and your heart, not just your head. This brings you into a more coherent state so you can make better decisions and respond from a more calm and centered space.
Here’s how it’s done…
When you’re feeling the stress, tension, anxiety, etc. …
Bring your awareness into your heart space. Make a sincere effort to shift your focus away from the disturbed emotions or racing mind to the area around your heart. ...
(This is key - you’re shifting from head to heart … from thinking to feeling)
Breathe in and out of your heart.
Feel a sense of positive energy, peaceful or joyful. If you can not tap into that feeling right away … recall an experience where you felt good, positive, peaceful, or even joyful. Relive that memory tapping into the experience and feeling the emotion. Freeze Frame it!!!
Continue heart focused breathing in and out … and continue feeling your beautiful moment in time that you’ve chosen …
By taking Heart focused breaths while recalling a positive experience, you can transform negative states, such as stress, anxiety, worry, doubt and fear.
Affirmations
Affirmations - can help to increase the positive energy associated with the Heart Chakra. Keeping a gratitude journal also helps in acknowledging the gifts of the present moment. Some examples of positive heart affirmations include:
I Love and accept myself completely
I deserve to be happy
I enjoy being generous with myself and others
I value Love over attachment and know the difference
I live in a peaceful space connected to my heart
I am worthy of Love
I radiate Joy into every area of my life
I am wanted and Loved
I listen and act from the wisdom of my heart
My heart is open to love
I live in a space of gratitude
I forgive myself easily
I live in a state of grace
I am in harmony with myself and others
I see through eyes of compassion
I seek to understand before being understood
I trust I am on my path of my highest good
I check in with my heart before I speak
In conclusion,
the journey of awakening and healing the heart chakra is a profound testament to the power of love and compassion within us.
As we embrace this transformative path, we step into the depths of our own being, peeling away the layers of pain, fear, and past wounds that have overshadowed our true essence. The heart chakra invites us to open ourselves to the vast and infinite wellspring of love that resides within, reminding us that we are interconnected beings, bound by a tapestry of universal love.
Embracing the energy of the heart chakra allows us to cultivate deep healing and profound connections with ourselves and others.
It is a reminder that vulnerability is strength and that forgiveness has the power to liberate us from the shackles of resentment and bitterness.
By nurturing our heart chakra, we tap into the well of empathy and understanding, embracing the beauty of diversity and unity.
With an open heart, we radiate love and compassion into the world,
igniting a ripple effect of kindness and healing.
May we all continue on this remarkable journey, allowing our heart chakra to guide us towards a more harmonious existence, where love is the foundation of our thoughts, words, and actions.
Omg perfect timing for me with my heart issues . love the way you write 🙌🏼
my first blog I’ve read of your and LOVE IT Divine Timing