Love is a hot topic right now. The concepts of compassion, empathy, and mercy are being talked about in the political and social arenas. And in the microcosm of our lives, it’s February, which means Valentine’s Day is on its way. Maybe love is in the air for you, or perhaps you’re sick of hearing about people’s feelings. Either way, a quick dip into the heart chakra can be a way to balance your emotions.
The heart chakra is one of the seven primary energy centers (or chakras) that are believed to exist in the human body. In Western culture, we mainly focus on those seven primary chakras that are aligned on the spine, although in Eastern medicine they acknowledge and work with many more.
The heart chakra is located in the center of our chests and is known as the fourth chakra. It sits in the middle of our seven chakras and helps connect the lower and higher chakras. Each chakra has a Sanskrit name, and the name of the heart chakra is “anahata,” which means unhurt, unstruck, and/or unbeaten. It serves as our center of love for oneself and others, compassion, empathy, and forgiveness. The anahata is associated with unconditional love, compassion, and joy. It is the source of deep and profound truths that cannot be expressed in words.
Anahata is associated with the element air. Air disperses and integrates a spiritual understanding of love, compassion, and connection to everything you encounter. Air, like love, is within and all around us. We can embody this element by keeping our heart center open and our love free-flowing.
The heart chakra is associated with the color green, which represents transformation and love energy. It is believed that the colors and symbols associated with each chakra are reflective of their vibrations. The specific colors and symbols arose when the ancient Hindu masters meditated on the energy of the chakras.
When this chakra is in healthy alignment, you will feel surrounded by love, compassion, and joy, and connected to the world around you. You will feel open to all experiences in life, and it will feel like challenges, especially in relationships, flow through you and are resolved with ease. An open heart chakra allows us to see all of the beauty and love around us, and truly connect to ourselves, our loved ones, and the natural world. This chakra also helps direct love back to ourselves to truly be able to love and accept ourselves and our bodies.
When I do aura and chakra readings at The Broom Closet, I find myself talking a lot about the heart chakra. In my experience, it can be one of the more difficult to keep balanced. It is easily influenced by our lives and our interactions with our loved ones, which can lead to imbalance or stagnant energy.
Blocked chakras can affect the entirety of our being. Blocked energy can have a profound effect on the nature of our mind and mental state. Mentally, an imbalanced heart chakra can result in problematic issues, such as co-dependency, manipulative behaviors, feeling of unworthiness, and an inability to trust yourself or others.
Some signs your heart chakra may be blocked can include isolating yourself excessively, feeling lonely, holding grudges, or feeling jealous or defensive. Someone with a blocked heart chakra may have a fear of intimacy and have difficulty trusting others.
If you are concerned that your heart chakra may be out of balance, there are some easy things you can do to help open it. Cultivating gratitude can help your heart chakra, as well as doing yoga, using heart-opening crystals, wearing the color green, or intentionally eating green foods. Saying heart-opening affirmations can also be a good way of balancing your heart chakra. You could even attend a sacred cacao ceremony, where the sacred cacao is believed to help open the heart center and connect you with the energies of the earth.
If you don’t feel like you are full of love right now, that’s okay. Just take each moment one step at a time. We’re all in this together.
Emily Guenther is a co-owner of The Broom Closet metaphysical shop. She is a Memphis native, professional tarot reader, ordained Pagan clergy, and dog mom.