The heart chakra is the midpoint of the chakras – the last three chakras that we looked at are considered the lower chakras, and they are more directly related to the physical body and the world we perceive with our senses. Onward from here, we are exploring the higher chakras that are more so related to the spiritual body.
This is article four in the chakra lessons – heart chakra. We will look at all the issues that can arise when the heart chakra is out of balance. These issues can affect each of the bodies differently; mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual. You can find the video lesson of this blog here.
First, let us have a glance:
Colour: Green
Key issues: Passion, tenderness, inner-child issues, and rejection
Emotional: unconditional love and compassion
Physical: Circulation
Mental: Passion
Spiritual: Devotion
Element: Air
Sanskrit word: Anahata – “unstruck note.”
Chakra Lessons – Heart – Intro
This chakra governs all of our relationships. The heart Chakra enables the experiences we can have in love and relationships, including the relationship with self. It opens us to more profound compassion, forgiveness, and the ability to receive love. It assists us in connecting with nature and the healing qualities it brings. You become more in tune with plants and animals when the Heart Chakra is flowing freely.
When the heart chakra is functioning at it’s best, we can nurture and forgive ourselves and others, a healthy sense of self-worth. We can be more present in our lives. We are very generous but are also not fearful of healthy boundaries—balanced relationships all around us, including the relationship with self. We become more empathetic and can feel the emotions of others. We feel secure and trust our decisions without second guesses.
Chakra Lessons – Heart – The Bodies
Physical Body
The heart chakra is directly related to the heart! Health issues in the heart can sometimes be old emotions that we haven’t properly healed, and/or cleared from the body. Here are some physical ailments that can manifest when the heart chakra isn’t healthy.
- High blood pressure
- Irregular heart rhythms
- Heart disease
- Asthma and other respiratory illnesses
- Upper back issues
- Breast cancer
- Impede immune system function
High blood pressure can be an initial sign of underlying mental strain often caused by bottled-up stress, anger, and/or frustration. The health of the physical heart improves when we release the past traumas, emotional pain, and avoid judging others.
Mental/Emotional Body
Here are some examples of emotional pain that could be residing in the heart chakra. Take some time to check in with yourself and see if you feel any kind of charge as you read over this list.
- Feeling stuck in the past – pining for old relationships
- holding onto grudges
- Trust issues
- Low self-esteem
- Bottled emotions
- Commitment issues
- Relationship procrastination
- Holding on to past traumas – willingly or unknowingly remaining in victim mode (it’s ok, I’ve been there, I know <3)
- Anxiety
- Stress
- Consistently pushing people away – unwilling to be vulnerable
- Always put self last. Filling other people’s cups first.
If we can take the following steps, we begin walking a path of increased awareness of self, compassion, the forgiveness of self and others, empathy, and unconditional love. We can nourish our mental health and many other parts of our bodies by filling our cups first. Make time and space for your overall wellbeing by making time to take care of our energetic and physical bodies regularly like you would see a massage therapist, a chiropractor, a therapist, etc. Seek to be on the path of beauty, where life is a beautiful experience with all it has to offer. Challenges and celebrations, Heartbreak and lasting love, every up and down have beauty in it.
Steps:
- 1. First and foremost, if you are absolutely 100% in any kind of mental or physical anguish, please schedule an appointment with your medical professional immediately. You are loved, and the world needs you.
- 2. Begin a path of understanding, allow yourself to explore the many healing modalities and see what feels right for you. It might take a few tries, and trying numerous methods before you figure it out, but keep trying new things, it keeps the soul joyous. When we can admit that we would like the help, the universe will begin placing ideas and experiences in front of you, so be bold and try a lot of new things at least once.
- 3. Begin a daily practice of some kind. Meditation, therapy, yoga, EFT tapping, sound therapy, the list goes on. Once you have found what works for you, schedule it daily.
Making the time for yourself helps to align all of your bodies and reduce anxiety and stress. Permit yourself to have some time daily to check in with yourself and do something that is just for you. It will assist in overall health.
Spiritual body
When we can open up the heart chakra, it will allow us to know what unconditional love and faith are all about honestly; it gives us confidence that we are always being cared for by the universe. That there is a higher purpose to your place in this plane of existence. The effects when the heart chakra is low in energy and blocked is mainly damaging to the spirit, lethargic, and no will for much more than basic needs.
Chakra Lessons – Heart – Symptoms of a blocked or over-active Sacral chakra
When the Heart Chakra is blocked or overactive, physical symptoms can manifest.
Blocked or deficient in energy symptoms
- Depressive symptoms
- Trapped in grief
- Unwilling to let go of the past
- Oversensitive
- Untrusting
- Resistant to relationships
- Regret
- Lack of compassion for others
- Emotionally cold and closed off
- Congestive heart or respiratory illnesses
- Fatigue
- Low immune system
Overactive symptoms
- Always seeking love and approval from outside sources
- Need approval
- Vulnerable
- Gossipy
- Over-give to others
- Others always come before self
- Very sensitive/empathetic
- Triggered emotionally very easily
- Trouble trusting self
- Heart arrhythmias, heart attacks, stroke, and asthma
Chakra Lessons – Heart – Helpful Tools
If you feel you are blocked/deficient or overactive – or even if you just want to maintain the health of your Heart Chakra – here are some tools that can assist.
Crystals that can help support the Heart Chakra.
Peridot – this is the best crystal to use when we want to activate the chakra. By activate, I mean that the chakra is lacking energy or is blocked. Activating it will help it the energy flow, and keep the chakra healthy. It is regarded as a cleansing stone as it is believed to be able to detox the aura. Assists with processing negative emotions and/or traumas that are blocking the energy in the Heart Chakra, replacing that space with love and compassion, and forgiveness of self and others.
To calm an overactive chakra, you can use Pink Tourmaline, Pink or Lavender Kunzite, or Rhodonite.
Pink Tourmaline – releases old patterns of disease that can be held in the auric field related to the heart.
Kunzite – heal the pain of broken relationships or loss through death – aids the grieving process.
Rhodonite – used to clear unwanted energies and calms the heart. It has a very iron-rich content that aids in grounding us back to earth energy, and back into the present moment – this aids us with deep inner-work and matters of the heart, moving us closer to unconditional love.
To balance the Heart Chakra, you will want to use Watermelon Tourmaline, Green Aventurine, or Rose Quartz.
Watermelon Tourmaline – The green in the crystal brings the life force energy into the body, while the pink harmonizes the chakra.
Green Aventurine – calms and balances the chakra and aids with the function of the lungs.
Rose Quartz – This crystal encourages love and friendships. Using it in meditation will take you through opening the many levels of the heart, and help you to connect with your inner child. In the physical body, it can aid sexual and emotional imbalance, increasing fertility.
Essential oils that support the Heart Chakra
- Rose – moves the energy of passion into unconditional love. Acts as an anti-depressant following grief or a break down in a relationship.
- Melissa – Recommended using when in shock or grief, strengthens the heart. Greek healers referred to Melissa as “the elixir of life.”
Yoga poses to open the Heart Chakra
- Cobra
- Head to Knee forward bend
- Fish pose
Final Thoughts
The heart chakra can be a very emotional energy center. We need to make sure we are keeping this chakra functioning and healthy. Not only for physical reasons for maintaining heart health, but also to keep the energetic heart healthy. We need this to be able to manifest from our heart space, and it allows us to be open to give and receive love.
It is in our human nature to want that love connection, but if we do not take the time to care for ourselves, how are we sending out that vibe wanting a relationship? In desperation, or with full faith knowing that you love yourself so much that it isn’t what matters most to you? Again, it comes down to decisions. Will you make your physical and emotional heart health a priority? Use the tools above to help you on this journey, or as always, you can reach out to me for spiritual coaching and/or distance reiki treatments. Get on to the path that your heart truly desires for you, and chose to be happy right now precisely how life is and watch the blessing come rolling in.
Until next time,
Relevate the day — Anna xoxo