What is the Heart Chakra?

Everything you need to know about the fourth chakra (Anahata): a complete guide for beginners

This is one of the most obvious of the chakras, when it comes to the location on the body. The Heart Chakra or Anahata is located right in the centre of the chest and is associated with all matters of the heart: (self) love, compassion, forgiveness, kindness, altruism.

The Heart Chakra is responsible for “moving” love in and around your life, through all of it. It is also seen as a bridge between the lower chakras (Root, Sacral and Solar Plexus) and the higher ones (Throat, Third Eye and Crown). So you see why it’s an important chakra and why it’s important for all of them to be in balanced with each other.

The colour attributed to the Heart Chakra is green, despite most people associating love with pink. If you feel more comfortable with just pink, that’s fine as well. Or, why not make it more interesting and seeing the love centre as a mix of pink and green?

These are some of the signs of a balanced Heart Chakra:

• You are deeply connected with everything and everyone in a harmonious way
• You are more loving and compassionate towards yourself and others
• You are more inclined to forgive
• Your male and female energies are (more) balanced
• You have a more altruistic and selflessness living

When your Heart Chakra is blocked or out of balance, the below can manifest:

• You hold grudges
• You can’t forgive (yourself and others)
• You feel lonely
• You feel like you don’t deserve love
• You find it hard to trust people

A healthy and flowing Heart Chakra or Anahata is extremely important if you want to have more love of your life, knowing who you are, feeling more compassion towards others, become less judgemental and more forgiving towards others.

How To Balance The Heart Chakra?

There are many things that you can do to open your Heart Chakra and make it more balanced and flowing in the right direction. For example:

• Meditate – Sit, lay down or stand up, whatever makes you feel more comfortable. You can visualize a deep green or pink (or both) light on the centre of your chest and inside your body, appearing and increasing gradually in size, from a tiny grain of sand to the size of a basketball for example. See it as a flower, opening up its bright, green/pink/green and pink petals, rotating clock-wise. Stay with that image for a while.

• Eat more green foods – Since green is the colour of the Heart Chakra, it makes sense to have foods that have green as their primary colour, like all leafy greens, green bell peppers, green apples, limes, spirulina, peas…

• Say daily affirmations – You can say the same ones or different ones several times a day. Just make sure you say with conviction, imagining and holding that feeling as you say it. Here are some examples: “I am love”, “I am peaceful”, “I am open to love and to kindness”, “I love and accept myself deeply and completely”, “I am wanted and loved”.

• Wear green clothing – What you wear also influences each and every chakra. Any piece of clothing or accessory that has orange on it can be used and be efficient in balancing the Heart Chakra (shirts, sweaters, jackets, socks, underwear, pants…). You don’t need to be fully green or pink clothed (not unless you’re going to a themed party); one piece of green or pink clothing or accessory is enough, but that’s entirely up to you.

• Meditation music – There are many, many pieces of music and sounds that can be used and even be specific for healing the Heart Chakra. You can find them on YouTube, for example. You can play different ones every time, so don’t feel like you need to stick with a particular one.

• Use gemstones, crystals and jewellery – Wearing or simply holding these can have a tremendous effect into opening up and healing your Heart Chakra. You can try green calcite, jade, green aventurine, rose quartz, serpentine, green quartz… Basically, any green or pink-looking crystal and gemstone can be used. There are many more that you can use, so have fun discovering them!

You can do just one of these, all of them at the same time or just something else entirely that resonates more with you. What’s important is to do it as much and/or as often as possible, holding or visualizing the intention deeply and truthfully.

You might also like: What is the Solar Plexus Chakra? and What Are Chakras? The 7 Chakras and Their Meaning

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