Exploring Your Heart Chakra
The heart chakra, also known as the Anahata chakra or green chakra, is the energetic center for unconditional love, compassion, kindness, and forgiveness. Balancing your heart chakra can help you radiate more love for yourself and others. When you work with this chakra, you can truly “follow your heart” and navigate the world with greater empathy, openness, and acceptance.
But before we explore the heart chakra, let’s take a moment to review some chakra fundamentals. You may have heard the term “chakra” in a yoga class or guided meditation yet feel unclear about its meaning. In Sanskrit, chakra means “wheel” or “disk.” The concept of chakras was first recorded in ancient Indian spiritual texts called the Vedas and Tantras, which date back to 1500 BC.
According to this metaphysical tradition, chakras are centers within the body that govern the flow of our prana (also known as life-force energy or chi). When this energy is imbalanced, it can disrupt our mental, physical, and spiritual well-being. Chakras maintain the correct balance and ensure that our energy flows correctly – not too much or too little. Even if you aren’t spiritual, chakras can be a useful metaphor to bring greater balance and tranquility to your life.
Although there are many chakras, most energetic healing practices focus on the primary system of seven chakras located along the spine. They begin at the tailbone and extend upward to the crown of the head. Each chakra is associated with specific emotions, personality traits, and physical conditions. They also have a specific color, scent, mantras or affirmations, and crystals associated with them.
When one chakra is misaligned or out of balance – either too open or too closed – it interferes with our body’s energetic harmony. Our energy can overflow or become stagnant, leading to various problems in our life. “Balancing the chakras” means focusing on each specific chakra to optimize its function.
So how do you help an imbalanced heart chakra or an underactive heart chakra? In this blog, we’ll explore heart chakra healing so you can bring more love and open-heartedness into your life.
Anahata: The Heart Chakra or Fourth Chakra
As the name suggests, the heart chakra is located in the “heart space” in the center of your ribcage. It’s the fourth of the seven primary chakras and is sometimes called the green chakra due to its connection with the color green. In Sanskrit, it is called the Anahata chakra, which means “unhurt, unstruck, and unbeaten.”
Love is the central force of this chakra. It is said to govern compassion for the self and others, as well as empathy, forgiveness, gratitude, appreciation, and fondness. When properly aligned, the heart chakra helps you love unconditionally, feel a stronger emotional connection to others, and create space for different perspectives without judgment. It can also help you develop deeper relationships with your loved ones.
An open heart chakra also promotes emotional stability. It helps you act selflessly while maintaining healthy, loving boundaries and acting with greater integrity in relationships. This helps you be a more generous partner, family member, and friend. When balanced, your heart chakra also helps you attract the right people and situations to support your greatest dreams.
Key Characteristics of the Heart Chakra
- Connection: This chakra helps you forge stronger relationships with other people, as well as animals and nature. It deepens both romantic and platonic connections.
- Unconditional Love: This chakra is motivated by unconditional love and offers the ability to express selfless love to yourself and others.
- Compassion: The heart chakra is the center of your compassion for others, enabling you to be empathic and understand other perspectives without judgment.
- Respect: The heart chakra cultivates respect for yourself and others, which allows you to understand others’ ideas, thoughts, and boundaries while staying true to your own values.
- Forgiveness: As a healing center, the heart chakra enables you to release past resentment and grudges so you can forgive past transgressions. This also helps you be more forgiving to yourself.
Unblocking Heart Chakra: A How-To Guide
When the heart chakra is imbalanced, it can cause emotional and physical distress. If you are working on improving your compassion and empathy or forming a deeper bond with others around you, it is important that you open and balance your heart chakra.
To align your heart chakra, begin by identifying whether it’s underactive or overactive.
Underactive Heart Chakra
When a chakra is underactive, it means there’s a blockage or restriction disrupting the flow of energy through it. An underactive heart chakra can affect your overall well-being, especially with regard to your emotional health. You may feel judgmental, distant from others, or unable to let go of resentments and perceived slights. You may also feel numb to expressions of love and compassion.
Signs of an underactive heart chakra:
Your heart chakra may be blocked if you are experiencing…
- Feeling withdrawn from the world around you
- Unable to access empathy or understanding for others
- An inability to forgive
- Feelings of isolation
- Feeling overly critical of yourself
- Feeling overly critical of others
Overactive Heart Chakra
When a chakra is overactive, it means it is distributing too much energy. An overactive heart chakra affects your discernment in relationships and leaves you emotionally drained. You may find yourself over-committing, saying “yes” when you mean to say “no,” or falling into toxic emotional patterns. You may also feel like your emotions are out of control.
Signs of an overactive heart chakra:
Your heart chakra may be too open if you feel…
- Codependency
- Putting others ahead of yourself
- Losing your sense of identity in a relationship
- An inability to express boundaries
- Saying “yes” even when it negatively affects you
- Giving too much to others without taking care of yourself
Balancing the Heart Chakra (Anahata Chakra): FAQs
Whether it’s overactive or underactive, you may be wondering how to balance heart chakra? Heart chakra healing is a very personal process. Above all else, you’ll need to listen to your heart and follow your intuition. However, many people are able to bring their Anahata into alignment using meditation, essential oils, heart chakra yoga, heart chakra crystals, breathwork, or listening to music at heart chakra frequencies.
Some of our favorite ways to balance the heart chakra include:
- Spending time in nature
- Volunteering
- Yoga
- Meditation
- Affirmations
- Aromatherapy
- Heart chakra crystals
How does spending time in nature help your heart chakra?
This chakra is highly influenced by the element of air, so getting outside and breathing fresh air can help restore and bring balance to your fourth chakra. Try to get out of the city and away from pollution, where the air is clean and fresh. When outside, practice deep breathing exercises. Green spaces like forests, fields, and meadows also nourish this chakra.
Can I give back to others to balance my fourth chakra?
As the center of your compassion and empathy, the heart chakra is fueled by acts of loving kindness. Volunteering can help bring balance to this chakra. Consider supporting a local charity, helping a neighbor, or donating to a food bank. Giving back to others, with no expectation of receiving anything in return, builds your heart energy and helps you expand this chakra.
What are the best heart chakra yoga poses?
Yoga can be a powerful tool in bringing balance and a harmonious energy flow to your heart chakra. The best heart chakra yoga poses focus on opening the chest and drawing energy into the heart. Below are specific yoga poses and movements to connect you to the energy of the 4th chakra.
- Camel Pose | Ustrasana
- Cobra Pose | Bhujangasana
- Fish Pose | Matsyasana
- Wild Thing | Camatkarasana
How can I meditate to open and align my heart chakra?
There are many guided chakra meditations available for free on sites like YouTube or meditation apps like Insight Timer. However, you can also heal your chakras through your normal meditation practice.
Simply focus your attention on the area of the body where the chakra is located and imagine this space filling with colorful energy. For the heart chakra, imagine green energy. Here’s an easy meditation technique for all levels:
- Sit with your shoulders back and your spine straight. Relax your muscles as you close your eyes and breathe deeply. Inhale through your nose and exhale through the mouth.
- Focus your attention on the location of your heart chakra: the center of your chest at heart level.
- Since the heart chakra is tied to the color green, imagine a green glow at the center of your chest, slowly expanding throughout your ribcage and making the whole area warm and relaxed. Rest in this sensation for 3-5 minutes.
- When you are ready, slowly open your eyes.
How do I use aromatherapy or essential oils for the heart chakra?
Aromatherapy is a simple yet powerful tool to use while restoring balance to your heart chakra. Use essential oils with uplifting and peaceful aromas that promote positivity, love, and joy.
Our Heart Chakra Essential Oil Blend is designed to aid in restoring balance to your heart chakra. Dilute in a carrier oil for topical use, or apply the Heart Chakra Roll-On at the center of your chest.
Heart Chakra Essential Oil Blend
Open yourself up to unconditional love, greater empathy, and deeper bonds with others with our Heart Chakra Blend. We offer a 5ml diffuser blend and a 10ml roll-on so you can use these oils as a diffuser blend or a roll-on.
Rocky Mountain Oils’ Heart Chakra Essential Oil Blend consists of:
- Geranium: Brings feelings of worthiness and combats self-isolation.
- Copaiba: Dispels feelings of shame, guilt, regret, and self-loathing.
- Lime: Uplifts spirits and combats emotional fatigue. Helps calm an anxious heart.
- Spearmint: Uplifts the mood and promotes positivity. Combats emotional strain and disconnection
- Rose: Promotes love and joy. Promotes comfort and restores trust in others
How to Use the Heart Chakra Blend
Our Heart Chakra Blend was expertly crafted to open and restore balance to your heart chakra. Diffuse 3-5 drops of the Heart Chakra Blend to open up your heart and compassion, or apply the Heart Chakra Roll-On to the center of your chest.
What are the best heart chakra crystals?
Each chakra is influenced by unique stones and crystals. The heart chakra is highly influenced by rose quartz. When balancing your heart chakra, meditate with rose quartz, carry the stone with you, or wear jewelry with rose quartz to let the energetic properties help restore balance. Our Heart Chakra Blend has a rose quartz rollerball to aid in balancing your heart chakra.
Rose Quartz Rollerball
Known as the stone of unconditional love and a heart healer, the energetic properties of rose quartz promote bonding and deep connections with other beings. The elements of rose quartz bring feelings of forgiveness and allow you to show love to others and yourself.
Our 10ml Heart Chakra Roll-On comes with a Rose Quartz rollerball to further enhance the energetic properties of our Heart Chakra Blend.
Working with Your Heart Chakra for More Love in Your Life
By working with the Anahata chakra and bringing this energy center into balance, you can expand your capacity for loving connection and move through the world with great compassion for others.
To learn more about the other six primary chakras, check out our guides below: