A Complete Guide to Balance and Heal Your Heart Chakra
A Complete Guide to Balance and Heal Your Heart Chakra
In part four of this series, we continue our journey with the heart chakra. The heart chakra, known as Anahata in Sanskrit, is associated with love and relationships — its core issue centres around the giving and receiving of love. Self-love and healing from rejection or separation are often at the root of heart chakra issues. This chakra has an association with the element of air. Problems with this chakra can manifest in several emotional and physical symptoms. Let’s look at some of the most obvious indications that your heart chakra needs attention.
Emotional & Psychological States
Grief: Grief is the demon associated with the heart chakra.
Insecurity when in a relationship: You may have an issue with codependency. Insecurity can have numerous sources, but the result is often the same. You struggle to assert your emotional needs and may feel threatened when your partner wants to do anything alone or with friends.
Jealousy: A complex emotion that can rear its head when we fear losing something or someone important. Jealousy will often lead to resentment over time.
Past Emotional Traumas Dominate in the Heart & Mind: Holding onto past emotional traumas can rob us of the ability to enjoy current experiences.
Experiencing Emotional Intensity: If the heart chakra is too open, emotions will be felt intensely at inappropriate times. Emotional reactions are likely disproportionate to the event.
Inwardly Recoil when you sense your vulnerability: It’s natural to protect our heart after emotional trauma, but taken to extremes we can become fearful of trusting others and forming emotionally intimate relationships.
Physical Manifestations
Seeks Approval From Others: Fear of abandonment or rejection can lead to excessive actions to keep others close. At its most basic this can manifest as people-pleasing. Taken to extremes, personal values and integrity will be sidelined in favour of what the other person thinks or feels is correct.
Addictions: Love, smoking, and sugar.
Isolating to Avoid Emotional Intimacy: Earlier complex wounds can result in a desire for simplicity. It is common to avoid closeness because of a fear of getting hurt again. Those on a path of self-development may avoid new relationships because of a reluctance to deal with unresolved trauma.
Bitterness: Bitterness generally arises over a long period. It is normally a combination of destructive emotions and a sense of futility or powerlessness to change circumstances.
Lacks Compassion for Either Self or Others: A blocked heart chakra can mean you are emotionally shut down. It can be possible to feel compassion for others you see as considerably less fortunate — but this is often an ‘arms-length’ compassion. Some will have an ample amount of self-pity, but see everyone else as less deserving of empathy.
Oversharing or lack of sharing emotions: Oversharing can arise for several reasons. Sometimes it can be a way to make connections, or it can be a coping mechanism and a way to work through blockages and painful memories. Lack of sharing can arise from a fear of abandonment and rejection — the idea that keeping things to yourself means you don’t give someone ammunition to use against you. This can be a self-fulfilling prophecy as a lack of sharing usually means keeping people at arm’s length and not letting them get close — which can lead to rejection and abandonment if the other person desires emotional intimacy.
The Body: Heaviness in the chest area. Shallow breathing. Pulling the shoulders forward.
Balancing the heart chakra can help increase your ability to feel love and compassion towards the self and others; this leads to stronger emotional growth and better relationships. It does not matter who or what caused the problem in the first place. It also doesn’t matter whether you think your chakra is blocked or too open — the following exercises focus on restoring balance.
A Simple Meditation
The Heart Chakra Lotus
The only tools necessary here are a pen and a piece of paper. If you need help to set the mood you can light a green, pink, white, or black candle, and burn some incense or oil. For some suggestions, see further down this post, or use something that you know you find enjoyable. You need to lie down on your back. If this is uncomfortable for you, grab some pillows and cushions, or lay on the sofa to prop yourself up. Take a few deep breaths until you feel relaxed and able to focus — breathe in for a count of 6, and exhale for a count of 8. The goal here is to become aware of your body through your breathing. Once you feel calm, visualise the heart chakra as a twelve-petalled green lotus in the centre of your chest. Ask the chakra to show you why it’s unbalanced. You may see a symbol, a face, or an object. If you are sensitive you may see something more complicated. Don't analyse or judge what you see or feel; acknowledge the signs and refocus on your breathing. Once you feel you have brought yourself back to your centre, ask the chakra what you need to heal. Again, you may see a single object or something more complicated. And again, don’t analyse or judge what you see or feel. Stay in your body for another six breaths or longer if you are comfortable. When you feel ready, open your eyes and move slowly until you are upright. You can now write down any thoughts and feelings you experienced during meditation.
The next bit is crucial — you need to park that shit to one side until tomorrow or even the day after that. If you want further insight you can take the piece of paper to bed and put it under your pillow. Ask yourself to have a dream that tells you anything further you need to know — ‘give me a dream to help balance and heal my heart chakra’ is perfectly adequate. The point is to set the intention. You may or may not remember it after waking. Write down anything you can recover from memory, including how you felt when you woke up.
You can now analyse any signs and symbols you were given. Whatever you see will most likely make sense and should at least give you a place to start. Try not to hold on to your insights too tightly — the goal in the upcoming weeks is to gradually open up to new feelings so you can heal and move forward.
Because the heart chakra is where we feel grief, insights could bring up memories of loss we find painful. Try to stay with the feeling until it passes.
Your Heart Chakra Medicine Bag
As with previous posts, I’m recommending specific crystals, incense, and oils, but if you don’t have these and can’t afford them you can still use the other methods found under the Time & Energy Investment heading.
Lighting the Way
Candles are great for creating a healing atmosphere. They’re also useful if you want a focal point to set intentions. Candles can be used as a visual representation of whatever you are trying to manifest or change in your life. For heart chakra healing, the colour used is green, but you could also use a soft pink.
Scent
If you don’t like the smoke and ash that incense produces — candles anointed with oil or an open-flame oil burner offer a cleaner way to enjoy the benefits of scent-based healing. The newer electric wax melt burners are available as a lamp, and also as a plug-in. The electric mist diffusers are another great way to disperse aromatherapy oils. You can, of course, use a few drops of oil on a tissue, or create a scent pouch with herbs or crushed-up incense. Blending a personalised combination of essential oils into a base oil such as avocado oil or jojoba oil would mean you can apply the scent directly to your body.
Each of the following essential oils is said to be beneficial for the issues associated with the heart chakra, and you can usually find them as incense sticks too:
Geranium: This sweet, floral scent is renowned for its heart-healing properties. A lovely oil to lift the mood, and balance the female hormones.
Jasmine: The heady floral scent of jasmine can promote deep relaxation and can stimulate the desire for closeness to others.
Lavender: The marmite of essential oils. Lavender can help to improve sleep quality thanks to its calming and relaxing properties. It is known to be anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, and antioxidant.
Rose: The delicate and unmistakable scent of rose essential oil is great for calming emotions, and lifting the spirit. Anti-anxiety and helps to alleviate feelings of stress.
Neroli: A powerful oil known to help alleviate feelings of anxiety and depression. Neroli is exceptionally good if you need to lift your mood.
Ylang Ylang: Commonly touted as an aphrodisiac, this oil is one of the best for calming the body during phases of intense anxiety and stress.
Other oils and scents worth mentioning are sandalwood and bergamot. You can also use ready-made blends, whether incense or essential oil, that are created to aid emotional healing, increase feelings of peacefulness, or bring calm.
L-R: Green calcite, raw fuchsite, polished malachite, fuchsite tower, tumbled kambaba jasper, epidote, green aventurine acorn, tumbled green aventurine, tumbled amazonite, unakite bracelet and tumbled unakite.
Crystals
For the crystals, it’s good to focus on those that are green or pink in colour.
Malachite: The spiritual properties of malachite are said to help with everything from unblocking the heart chakra to protecting against harmful energies. Use if you need to let go of past emotional trauma.
Green aventurine: I find green aventurine to be more soothing to look at than malachite. It is said to promote healing of the emotions, increase optimism for life in general and even help with courage. Many people are drawn to this stone for its reputation as a bringer of luck and money.
Llanite: A beautiful stone when polished. Llanite can be useful if you need to improve your capacity for self-love, as well as bring focus to the present.
Kambaba Jasper: I actually prefer this stuff to malachite. A dense and richly patterned stone that ranges in shades of green from conifer through to light sage. Spiritually, it can help heart chakra healing by grounding and stabilising the emotions.
Epidote: Epidote is the green seen in unakite. It’s a weird shade of green; sometimes having an almost yellowy undertone. Some say this stone is great for balancing emotions, but I’ve seen others who say it magnifies the emotions whether good or bad. I find it to be earthy and grounding. Its yellow undertones suggest it could be good for energy flowing between the solar plexus and heart chakra.
Unakite: Its blend of pink and green makes this a perfect choice for calming the heart centre and strengthening the understanding of emotions.
Green Calcite: I see all calcite as being good for the mind in some way, and green calcite can help to improve the mindset and bring clarity surrounding emotional matters.
Amazonite: Thanks to its name some associate the stone with increasing courage, but others like to use it for better seeing spiritual truths and emotional healing.
Fuchsite: Polished or raw, fuchsite is a beautiful sparkly crystal that conjures images of faraway, forgotten lands. It promotes hopefulness and recovery in emotional matters. Known as a healer's stone, it can help when dealing with others who need to let go and move on from painful memories.
Other stones worth mentioning are: Jade, and emerald, Many pink stones are used for healing the heart centre, especially kunzite, rose quartz, pink opal, and pink tourmaline.
Take Control of Your Diet
Food is naturally influential for healing of any kind. On the physical level, green foods (natural ones) help fight infection, reduce the risk of heart disease, and reduce inflammation. For heart chakra healing and balance restoration, we look to green foods and those that make us feel nourished and healthy. Include foods that make you feel good about yourself — but if they’re high in bad fats and sugar, use sparingly.
Here are some foods that can help balance your heart chakra:
Green Fruits: Limes, pears, kiwi, apples, avocadoes, olives, and grapes to name but a few.
Vegetables: Green peppers, broccoli, cabbage, spinach, peas, and brussels sprouts. The list goes on, and on. . .
Fish: Those high in omega 3’s such as salmon, mackerel, and trout.
Other Random Green Foods: Green lentils, Thai green curry, basil pesto, edamame beans, seaweed, and soups heavy in peas or broccoli.
Herbs & Spices: There are far too many herbs to mention. . .
Fruit Teas: Try herbal blends that promote calm and relaxation.
Eating mindfully and with intention can help support the healing and rebalancing of your heart chakra.
Time & Energy Investment
Yoga
Yoga for the heart chakra will generally focus on opening the chest area energetically. Many of the poses that are good for the solar plexus are also of benefit to the heart chakra — opening up the central body is the main goal. Some of the beneficial poses include:
Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana): A simple back bend that lifts the top half of the body. Good for strengthening the lower back and stretching the shoulders. Increases vitality.
Sphinx Pose (Salamba Bhujangasana, or niravalasana) : Similar to Cobra pose but gentler in comparison. Strengthens the arms and shoulders.
Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II): A great pose for opening up the chest, hips, and shoulders. Strengthens the whole body, especially the legs and core. Warrior I is equally beneficial here.
Crescent Lunge Pose (Anjaneyasana}: A powerful pose for strengthening the legs, and encouraging energy to flow through the chakras. Opens up the whole of the front body.
Triangle Pose (Trikonasana or Utthita Trikonasana): There's a whole heap of benefits for this pose; it improves balance, and strengthens the hips, legs, back, chest, and shoulders. Triangle pose helps improve focus and concentration, decreases stress and anxiety, and can help to reduce the symptoms of menopause.
Bow Pose (Dhanurasana): This gives a good stretch to the front body, and improves flexibility and strength in the back. Bow Pose is also good for stimulating internal organs. You need a reasonable amount of flexibility to do this one.
Camel Pose (Ustrasana): This pose helps to open up the hips and chest while improving stability and strength in the lower body. Great for improving balance.
Bridge Pose (Setu Bandhasana): This pose can be easier to practice than Bow or Camel if you have limited flexibility. Opens up the front body and strengthens the shoulders, quads, and glutes. Stretches the spine.
Holding each pose for several breaths (between three and five minutes for a yin-style approach) will encourage your inner body to slow and calm down. As with the other chakras — don’t worry too much about whether you’re getting everything right. And don’t think you have to do any of the poses exactly as shown if you can’t physically do so — all yoga needs practice, and plenty of it, to develop the flexibility and balance required for a pose. The Yin yoga video will be the calmest out of the bunch. If you’re not confident in your body, try the Yoga With Adriene Heart Chakra Yoga video.
Mantras, Affirmations, & Sound Baths
Mantras can be a single word or phrase and are believed to carry magical properties. The mantra ‘YAM’ is a one-syllable Sanskrit word used as the sacred sound for the heart chakra. Yam is used to cleanse the chakra to increase compassion. You can chant this however you like, but some say it needs to be done 108 times because that number is sacred in Hinduism. It represents the number of spiritual completion — or the distance between our body and the god within.
Affirmations can be used like mantras but differ in that what we are doing with an affirmation is vocalising what we need with the intention we can manifest what we are chanting. Some useful affirmations are already included in the yoga videos above. If you skipped over that part, the more common ones associated with the heart chakra are:
I am open to receiving love
I am worthy of love
My heart is a sanctuary of peace
I radiate love to those around me
I attract loving and harmonious relationships
Love is the motivator of my actions
My heart is open to experiencing love
I feel compassion and love for all living beings
It is safe for me to love
Sound baths can be a great way to relax for an hour. If you are sensitive to sound, this method could work wonders for you. The best frequency for the heart chakra is 341.3 Hz. The heart chakra is associated with the F note. The first two videos are examples of contemporary sound produced for alternative healing. I have found using headphones helps enormously while listening to binaural beats and other sound therapies. This is a link to an 8-hour-long black screen version of the first video for use during sleep. A crystal singing bowl is used to create the sound. The second video is a single pure tone. You can use the sound bath videos when meditating because they are not jarring and will not interfere with your inner journey. The third video “341 Hz Heart Chakra Frequency Healing Music” is more like music, but with little variation in the sound. It’s very calming, and like the other two, it won’t be jarring on your psyche or disturb you during meditation. As it’s just over an hour long, it’ll get you to sleep, but use one of the other videos if you want something playing through the night.
Is It Healed Now?
As always, it’s important to remember that healing is a process, not an event. Along with the exercises in this post, you may find it helpful to keep some written notes. Whether you write it online in a blog or on scraps of paper thrown into a spare drawer, having a record serves as evidence of progress. The heart chakra can be particularly hard to work on because it’s where we hold onto past emotional traumas. It is not hard to understand that difficult relationship dynamics, the loss of someone close to you, emotional neglect, and other painful experiences can lead to problems. The urge to shut down or close off feelings is understandable and sometimes necessary for survival. When working to reopen the heart centre it is essential to be kind to the self.
