February. The month of love, primarily because of Valentine's Day, so we often think more romantic love around this time of year versus the familial or platonic we hear about during the other major holidays. With that being said, the focus of this blog post is the Heart Chakra - If you've read my blog on Demystifying Your Chakras you have had the crash course of a post briefly covering the 7 main energy centers in the body. As a recap, Chakras are energy centers located within the body that are associated with our physical, mental and emotional interactions. Each chakra has it's own vibrational frequency as well as assigned color for the location in the body and the ideal state is for all 7 chakras to be open and flowing freely allowing there to be a healthy moving energy throughout. Be sure to read the full Demystifying Your Chakras blog for info and the importance of the other 6 chakras!
I want to start by covering the key aspects of the Heart Chakra in the form of an overview leading into signs of imbalance, tools to aid in healing and other healing techniques that can be beneficial in bringing us balance. To make this blog post an extremely easy read for referencing in the future I'm going to put most of the information in bullet/list format with description and some additional details in each section. Time to really dig deep into the Heart Chakra.
"I know for sure that love saves me and that it is here to save us all." - Mya Angelou
Overview:
The Heart Chakra is the fourth primary chakra of our internal energy system and it's located at the center of our chest at heart level. The color associated with the Heart Chakra is green, the element is Air, and another name for the 4th Chakra is Anahata. It sits between the upper 3 chakras (throat, third eye and crown) that are connected to your emotional body and spiritual world and the lower 3 chakras (solar plexus, sacral and root) that are connected to your physical body and material world. The Heart Chakra is more than just romance, its about healing, connecting and relating. It's also said to be the center through which we experience beauty in life.
This chakra is the center of:
- Our bonds/connection with others
- Self-love and Ability to Love
- Forgiveness, Acceptance
- Inner Peace
- Compassion
- Generosity
- Respect
When the Heart Chakra is properly balanced you will feel love and compassion naturally, demonstrating respect for others and yourself. A healthy, balanced Heart Chakra is the beginning of spiritual and emotional progression and self improvement.
Signs of Imbalance or Blockages:
- Not accepting love
- Problems in relationships
- Holding grudges
- Difficulty relating to others
- Excessive jealousy
- Codependency, Losing Sense of Your Boundaries
- Isolation, antisocial
Imbalance in the Heart Chakra can also manifest on the physical level:
- Respiratory ailments
- Circulatory and heart related issues
Useful Heart Chakra Tools:
Crystal Healing
Rose Quartz: promotes and strengthens all types of love, fosters unconditional love, promotes emotional healing, strengthens hope
Emerald: supports success in love, promotes faithfulness, creates unity in partnerships, imparts wisdom
Green Aventurine: increases love, supports prosperity and abundance, introduces new friendship
Green Kyanite: balances heart chakra, releases negative energy, aligns all chakras
Peridot: opens the heart chakra, promotes love, promotes understanding of relationships, eases emotional trauma
Garnet: a lucky stone for love, success and business relationships, boosts self confidence, balances sex drive
Essential Oils
Rose: helps heal emotional wounds, aphrodisiac, calming, centering, helps break cycle of isolation and heartbreak, awakens capacity for self love
Geranium: promotes emotional stability, balancing and calming, enhances mood
Neroli: increases libido and awakens sexual arousal, awakens innate creativity, invokes feelings of joy and happiness, sharpens intuition
Ylang Ylang: opens the heart to love, calms and balances the emotions during high times of stress, induces feelings of excitement and joy, aphrodisiac
Jasmine: soothing, uplifting, aphrodisiac
Bergamot: promotes positive emotions, relieves stress and anxiety, natural anti-depressant, relieves feelings of sadness and grief, increases mental awareness
The oils can be used in a diffuser, worn as a perfume or created into a special mist to spray in your environment. When you want to encourage self-love, open yourself up to unconditional love, or move past disagreements with a loved one.
Before using any essential oil, be sure to do your research on safety guidelines and talk to your healthcare provider if pregnant or breastfeeding.
Mantras/Affirmations
I love and honor myself
I receive compassion and acceptance
I am open to giving and receiving love
I forgive myself and others
I am free from past hurts
Healing Techniques:
Be open to your emotions: allow yourself to feel and experience them fully, don't repress them which can cause blockages and imbalance
Heart Chakra Meditation: it can take as little as five minutes to sit and quiet your mind, slow your breathing and focus on the center of your chest and visualize a glowing green light - repeat the mantras above (or your own for the heart chakra) and focus on opening your heart to love, forgiveness and peace
Expressing Gratitude: every day, try to point out a few things you're grateful for no matter how big or small. Putting yourself in the mindset of gratitude opens you up to accept more positivity, healing and happiness
Heal Through Sound: the musical note F can be used to unblock and realign the Heart Chakra, singing bowls can be used to achieve this or a simple YouTube search can tune you into this for healing (check out the blog on Healing Through Sound for more info on this)
Work With The Chakra's Color: the color associated with the Heart Chakra is green, try wearing the color, using the associated crystals, and going out in nature for healing
Practice Self Care: this can include a number of things, be kind to yourself pay attention to your physical and emotional needs - take necessary rest, treat yourself, and don't be afraid to say no to tend to personal business
