Chakra 4 Anahata: The Heart of All Things

Anahata is the chakra at the heart of you.

As the middle chakra of 7, Anahata links the lower and upper chakras. The heart chakra allows you to feel love, compassion and a deep sense of peace. The heart chakra is related to balance in relationships, balancing self and others resulting in a peaceful, balanced life.

• Focus: Love, Relationships
• Color: Green
• Seed Sound: Yam
• Sense Organ: Skin
• Associated sense: Touch

ESSENTIAL OILS:

• Bergamot – assists with grief, boosts joy

• Lavender – emotional balance, calming
• Eucalyptus – awakens the heart
• Lilac – promotes forgiveness
• Rose – enhances compassion
• Neroli – strengthens connection between heart and mind

CRYSTALS & GEMSTONES

• Rose Quartz – helps with empathy and to receive understanding
• Boji Stones – Male and female stones that work together to heal a broken heart
• Malachite – Facilitates patience to resolve issues of love
• Emerald – helps restore beauty, attracts love
• Ruby – gives you courage on a date
• Green Jasper – facilitates feelings of being loved

Incense: Meadowsweet, Nag Champa, Orris Root

Foods: Green tea, green leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale and dandelion greens. Air vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and celery. Leafy spices such as basil, sage, thyme, cilantro, and parsley.

The physical body: heart, circulatory system, lungs, ribs, diaphragm, breasts, shoulders, and arms.

Chakra location: center of the chest

If you notice yourself sitting with your head forward, shoulders rounded and chest collapsed, do poses to open your heart chakra

When the heart chakra is deficient, you may experience feelings of shyness and loneliness, an inability to forgive, or a lack of compassion.

Physical symptoms can include shallow breathing, asthma, and lung diseases.

Asanas that enliven the heart chakra include: Ustrasana, Supta Vajrasana, Dandayamana Danurasana, Danuraasana, even Tadasana.

The heart chakra naturally yearns to release and let go. Doing backbends develops trust and surrender we need to open the heart fully.

In many backbending poses, the heart is positioned higher than the head. It’s wonderfully refreshing to let the mind drop away from the top position and lead with the heart.

Some signs that the heart chakra is overpowering your life can include co-dependency, possessiveness, jealousy, heart disease, and high blood pressure.

The most powerful way to open, energize, and balance the heart chakra is to love ourselves. Love is the greatest healer.

In yoga practice, remembering what we love and appreciate as we practice fourth chakra asanas enhances the power of the poses.

NOTICING ANAHATA CHAKRA

Balanced: unconditional love, self-love, accepting, ability to forgive, to be content, peaceful, compassionate, caring.

HOT YOGA POSES FOR ANAHATA:

Pranayama breathing 

the deeper the breath/ lifting and opening the chest, the more opening of your heart chakra.

Ardha-Chandrasana

side bends force energy out of the side channels and back into the central channel overall, especially the Heart Chakra

Dandayamana-Danurasana

When you are stretching forward/leading with your chest, the location of your heart chakra, this pose will balance the energy of the heart chakra

Tuladandasana

Your heart –if done correctly – is pounding after this pose. You are focusing energy on your heart chakra.

Trikonasana 

In this pose, you are lifting your chest upward the entire time, leading with the power of the heart chakra.

Bhujangasana 

pushing your chest up and out focuses on the heart chakra

Poorna-Salabhasana 

pushing your chest up and out focuses the energy of the heart chakra

Dhanurasana

stretching your chest up and out very dramatically here, focusing your energy on waking up and clearing stuck energies in the heart chakra

Ustrasana 

one of the two biggest heart opening poses, this pose focuses completely on opening your heart chakra from the front of your body. There is no holding back in this pose; you are completely pulling open the locks on your heart chakra. If you feel dizzy, lightheaded, nauseous, teary or emotional during or after this pose, know that your heart has just opened and released old wounds. Congratulations.

Sasangasana 

 the second of the two biggest heart opening poses, this pose also opens your heart chakra from its locks located around the back of your body, again relaxing the side channels that loop around the heart and releasing their hold on your heart chakra

MEDITATION FOR ANAHATA CHAKRA

Enclosure