National Heart Awareness Month: Lessons of the Heart Chakra

Our Heart Chakra rules our connection to others and ourselves. It is related to love and is the integrator of opposites in the psyche: mind and body, male and female, persona and shadow, ego and unity.

As air is the elemental association to this Chakra, breath is the association to life! It is an exchange of electrons. Air is the primary nutrient and breathing is our flow of energy. Survival without it is measured in minutes. It is so important that you do it without thinking. Your breathing is the voice of your spirit. It’s depth, smoothness, sound, and rate, reflect our mood. If you become aware of your breath and breathe the way you do when you are calm you will become calm.

Practicing regular, mindful breathing can be calming and energizing. Breathing air in can even help stress-related health problems ranging from panic attacks to digestive disorders. Focusing on the breath is one of the most common and fundamental techniques for accessing the meditative state. Breath is a deep rhythm of the body that connects us intimately.

When we take a deep breath, we truly love ourselves. When our Sacral Chakra is out of balance, we can feel negative emotions such as hatred, guilt, selfishness, paranoia, impatience, and self-pity. We can have powerful, passionate feelings for others, but will only love another or do something for them on the condition that they love or do something for us first. We are a hard-hearted, unsympathetic, self-centered person. We are afraid to love others, and unable to love ourselves.

Broken hearts are sometimes difficult to mend. In heart healing we learn how to heal these wounds by going to the heart of the matter. Core issues block our abilities to give and receive love, and to recognize love when love shows in our lives. When we open to love, we realize the more we love the more we can love.

When this Chakra is in balance, we feel a healthy connection to a propensity to love deeply, feel compassion, have a deep sense of peace and centeredness and ourselves. This chakra deals with physical healing, balance, harmony, compassion and love. When it is balanced, you trust in others, take risks, love and feel loved.

A balanced heart center shows as a very compassionate, understanding, and generous person. The emotions of love, joy, happiness, honesty, and respect are very important are easily expressed. We are considerate and sensitive to the needs of others, and empathetic to their pain. We are able to feel love for all beings around us, in an ever-widening circle from ourselves and family, to our pets, friends, neighbors, countrymen, fellow human beings and all those living beings on Earth. Ultimately, we can see the Divine – we can see God or Godhead or the Self – in all beings, and we realize the same Self in us is also the Self in them as well.

The lesson of the Heart Chakra is that Love and all it’s divine power can be manifested from within us! We can accept no more love than we are willing to give ourselves. The way we love others, STARTS with the way we love ourselves.

The Heart Chakra:

Location: The center of the chest

Color: Green/Pink

Element: Air

Sense: Touch

Musical Keynote: F (vocalized “ah”)

Associated Gland: Thymus *Controls the heart, blood circulation, immune system, lower lungs, rib cage, skin, upper back

Gemstones: Emerald, Green Jade, Rhodonite, Rhodochrosite, Rose Quartz, Ruby, Kunzite, and Watermelon Tourmaline.

Herbs: Roses, Marjoram, Geranium, Jasmine, Lavender, Orris root, Yarrow

Essential Oils: Marjoram, Geranium, Jasmine, Lavender, Mandarin, Melissa, Rose, Maroc, Tangerine, Ylang Ylang

Qualities and/or Functions: Unconditional love, harmony, forgiveness, healing, compassion, understanding, personal transformation, warmth, sharing, devotion, selflessness

In A Word: Compassion

Verb: I love

Anahata: 4th Chakra (Heart Chakra): Air, Social identity, oriented to self-acceptance This chakra is called the heart chakra and is the middle chakra in a system of seven. It is related to love and is the integrator of opposites in the psyche: mind and body, male and female, persona and shadow, ego and unity. A healthy fourth chakra allows us to love deeply, feel compassion, have a deep sense of peace and centeredness. The color for this chakra is green or pink. This chakra deals with physical healing, balance, harmony, compassion and love. The heart chakra is located near the heart.

This chakra is most important in all facets of love, when it is balanced, you trust in others, take risks, love and feel loved. Physically, it governs the thymus gland, heart, blood, circulatory system and the immune and endocrine systems. To help activate this chakra, eat lots of green vegetables, surround yourself in nature, especially trees and plants. The symbol of this chakra is the Crescent.

Life development: The Heart Chakra – Chakra 4 represents growth from age three to around age seven. The child learns about relationships with others outside the immediate family (the outside world). Relating will build good self-esteem and self-acceptance. This is when love and relationships must be shown to be unconditional and expressive. Underlying feelings of guilt, grief and being shown that love comes with conditions can have a detrimental and long term reach into the child’s life.

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Andrew Pacholyk MS, L.Ac. Alternative medicine and therapies for healing mind, body & spirit! http://www.peacefulmind.com