I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that we all want to be loved and be more loving. Sometimes we get stuck. We give too much. Or maybe take too much. We don’t receive enough. We give our hearts away, we lose ourselves all in the name of love. We don’t have to when we work towards balancing our heart energies.
We can open to receive and give love more freely when our heart chakra is in balance. Your heart chakra, our heart chakras are part of our energy bodies. But before we look more deeply into the heart chakra, it occurs to me that some readers may not be aware of the chakra system. So in case you don’t know about chakras yet, I’ll start there.
What is a Chakra?
Simply stated a Chakra is a wheel of energy. As part of an energy system, Chakras are wheels of light that absorb and transmit cosmic energy in and out of the body. This energy or life force is known as chi, prana, life force, etc. If you’ve heard of them before then you’ll probably know that there are seven primary chakras. The primary chakras run from the base of your spine through the top of your head.
Chakra Basics
The seven primary “chakras correspond to specific endocrine glands with almost identical functions and descriptions (e.g. the thyroid corresponding to the throat chakra.)” All in all, there are 114 chakras in this energy system. They spin smoothly when in balance. When energy gets stuck it can create an imbalance in our mental and physical bodies. Now to the heart of the matter.
The Heart Chakra
The heart chakra is known as the Anahata Chakra. The word Anahata [nada] means the sound that is made without anything striking. Everything on this plane of existence has a sound aka vibration or frequency associated with it, even rocks. So what is a sound that arises from nothing? Or perhaps it doesn’t arise at all but always is and is infinite as the sound behind the sound?
Joseph Campbell approximates this sound, this vibration that exists without striking anything to the unheard hummings of atoms and molecules. This is the silence between sounds or the undisturbed quality of air, the underlying sound of the cosmos itself from which all things come and go and is the fourth element of AUM.
Air is the element of the heart chakra and sound travels primarily through it. Sound also is carried through water and glass. It is the disturbances in air that touch one another that create pulsing waves of air molecules which our ears and brain register as sound.
The Heart Chakra Attributes and Symbolism
The heart chakra is considered to be the seat of the divine self or seat of the soul where the union between mind and body happen since it sits between the three lower or physically oriented chakras and the three higher or spiritually oriented chakras.
The sensory experience connected with the heart is touch.
The heart chakra is governed by the Law of Giving of Receiving. This law is of contraction and expansion where everything functions through dynamic exchange. Deepak Chopra and David Simon in their book The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga say this:
“Because your body, your mind and the universe are in constant and dynamic exchange, stopping the circulation of energy is like stopping the flow of blood. Whenever blood stops flowing, it begins to clot, to coagulate. Whenever a river stops flowing, it begins to stagnate. This is why you must be open to giving and receiving in order to keep the life force circulating within you.” [n.b. intention matters and without conditions]
All of the chakras are represented symbolically as lotus flowers. The symbol for the heart chakra is depicted as a twelve petaled lotus with each petal representing an attribute that we can place our focus. These include; joy, peace, kindness, presence, love, harmony, clarity, compassion, purity, understanding, forgiveness and bliss.
Within the symbol is the two-dimensional representation of the Star of David, a six-pointed star or hexagram which connects two-dimensions. As a three-dimensional representation, it is two tetrahedrons that spin in opposite directions creating a three-dimensional energy field that expands in four directions. This is also known as the Merkaba which literally means light [mer] spirit [ka], body [ba].
Below the heart chakra is the solar plexus chakra or Manipura which is the uppermost chakra that represents our connection to the physical planes of existence. The solar plexus chakra’s element of fire can be drawn upward by the heart as air feeds the fire. The three chakras above the heart are connected to the ‘spiritual’ planes.
The Merkaba consists of two-star tetrahedrons – one pointing up to the heavens, channels energy down from the cosmos to the earth plane, and one pointing downwards, draws energy up from the earth beneath. The upward-pointing tetrahedron is male rotating clockwise, with the one pointing below representing female energy and rotates counterclockwise. Thus, it makes perfect sense that the Merkaba unites both within the heart.
Balancing the Heart Chakra
When the heart chakra is balanced it helps to balance the entire chakra system. When it is imbalanced the breath is shallow and closed, in balance it is open and deep. When it is imbalanced there is a tendency to focus entirely on others and neglect self. A balanced state means that you nurture yourself and from that, you are able to nourish others.
So if you want to balance your heart chakra try any of the following:
- Circulate love through your intention, action and words.
- Acknowledge and support others through acts of kindness, caring, appreciation and acceptance.
- Practice the lotus mudra and set an intention to be open to give and receive all the gifts the universe has to offer without judgement. See and read the instructional here.
- Listen to this issue’s Heart Chakra Balancing guided meditation here.
- Write or create a visual journal entry by contemplating the following:
p.s. This heart chakra meditation is available to listen in this issue of the magazine.
Heart Chakra Gemstones
Notes, Definitions and Other References:
[1] If you want to learn how sound works click here to read a detailed article on Sound Basics here.
[2] tetrahedron – In geometry, a tetrahedron or triangular pyramid is a polyhedron composed of four triangular faces, six straight edges, and four vertex corners. The tetrahedron is the simplest of all the ordinary convex polyhedra and the only one that has fewer than 5 faces. Wikipedia
[3] Linking the chakras to the endocrine system, citation: What Every Yoga Teacher Should Know: 200 H Yoga Teacher Training Manual by Devvrat Yoga Sangha
[4] The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga: A Practical Guide to Healing Body, Mind, and Spirit by Deepak Chopra and David Simon
[5] Another interesting fact is that “communication between the heart and brain is a dynamic, ongoing, two-way dialogue, with each organ continuously influencing the other’s function.” [HeartMath Institute] You can read about heart and brain coherence here.
