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Heart Chakra: Everything You Need to Know

02/10/2022 by Kristin Addis 9 Comments

how to heal and open your heart chakra with yoga poses, lifestyle changes, essential oils, crystals and affirmations.

Post number four in this series on the chakras brings us to the halfway point: the heart chakra. In case you missed the beginning of the series, check out the first three posts on the root, sacral, and solar plexus chakras!

Table of Contents

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  • The Heart Chakra at a Glance
  • Heart Chakra On the Earth
  • What Happens When Your Heart Chakra is Blocked or Out of Balance
  • How to Heal Your Heart Chakra
  • Heart Chakra Affirmations
  • The Best Crystals for Balancing your Heart Chakra

The Heart Chakra at a Glance

Chakras 101: The Heart Chakra

The heart chakra, or anahata chakra in Sanskrit, is located at the center of the spine at heart level. Anahata roughly translates to, “unhurt.” Accordingly, the heart chakra acts as the individual’s center of compassion, empathy, love, and forgiveness. This chakra governs one’s senses of trust, fearlessness, peace, generosity, gratitude, and connectedness, as well as change and transformation, healthy boundaries, depth in relationships with others, emotional control, and love for oneself.

The heart chakra has a feminine energy and is symbolized by a green six-pointed star within a 12-petaled flower. Elementally, the heart chakra is associated with air, and its mantra is, “I love.”

The heart chakra is special because it is the fourth of the seven chakras, making it the exact halfway point of the system and the unifier of the physical and spiritual chakras. By connecting the lower three chakras — the root, sacral, and solar plexus — with the upper three chakras — the throat, third eye, and crown — the heart chakra acts as the bridge between the earth and spirit.

Heart Chakra On the Earth

heart chakra
The quaint town of Shaftesbury

The heart chakra exists on the planet, too! The heart chakra of the earth is believed to be dually located at two towns in southwestern England about 30 miles apart from each other, Glastonbury and Shaftesbury. Another 25 miles beyond lies Stonehenge, which adds another layer of mystique to this earth chakra. All kinds of legends center around this location, like the tale that Glastonbury Tor has a connection to King Arthur and the ancient mythological land of Avalon.

Others stories point to the historical figure Joseph of Arimathea, who is believed to have carried relics of the resurrected Jesus across the ocean to modern-day England. Meanwhile, in combining the symbolic meanings associated with Glastonbury and Shaftesbury, one joins love — Glastonbury — and will — Shaftesbury, making this a powerful location for the earth’s heart chakra.

Glastonbury and Shaftesbury are the most commonly discussed locations for the heart chakra; however, another location which is sometimes considered is Maui’s Haleakalā volcano. Apparently, the energy at the top of this dormant volcano gives off the same frequency as the beating of the human heart.

What Happens When Your Heart Chakra is Blocked or Out of Balance

heart chakra
Talk about space to breathe! An incredible view within Kyrgyzstan’s Tian Shan Mountains

When the heart chakra is out of alignment, a number of issues can arise. One might feel hard-hearted, brokenhearted, unhappy, lonely, insecure, easily hurt, or unable to receive love. One might choose to lead with the head and not the heart, to grow distant from others and put up walls, to shut down emotionally, or to hold onto resentment or bitterness.

How to Heal Your Heart Chakra

As always, I love yoga for bringing the chakras into alignment. A variety of yoga asanas — specifically, bow pose, camel pose, and chest openers — can help to bring balance to the heart chakra. Consider following along with a guided yoga flow like this heart chakra yoga for beginners, 15-minute flow, anahata chakra yoga class, or heart-opening rose yoga.

Exercise in general can play an important role in developing a healthy sense of self-love, as well. Our bodies are our greatest gifts, and the more we learn to respect, honor and take care of them, the healthier our heart chakras will be overall!

Breathwork is also a powerful practice, especially considering that the element of the heart chakra is air. Even something as simple as deep breathing can bring peace and calm to the heart and remove stuck or negative energy from the heart chakra. Take it one step further with a visualization exercise, like imagining a beautiful rose blooming from the heart chakra to open wider and wider.

Meditation is a great tool for balancing the chakras, and following a guided meditation designed specifically for the heart chakra, like I’ve linked here, can do wonders. Lastly, use the vibrational energy of a sound meditation to feel the heart chakra come back into alignment by verbalizing the seed syllable, “yam.” (Pronounce it with the same vowel sound as “yawn,” rather than, “yam,” like the vegetable!)

heart chakra
A breath of fresh air in Newfoundland

Heart Chakra Affirmations

Incorporating affirmations into any of the aforementioned activities, or simply reciting them on their own, can further help align the heart chakra. Some affirmations which could target the heart include:

  • I am worthy and deserving of love.
  • I forgive myself and others.
  • I am open to giving and receiving love.
  • I live with gratitude and generosity.
  • I honor the guiding of my heart.

Furthermore, things like aromatherapy, crystals (more on that below), healthy foods, and color therapy can help to align the heart chakra. Try an essential oil like bergamot, jasmine, geranium, lavender, cypress, or rose, to target the heart energy. Incorporating natural, bright green foods like kale into the diet can be effective, as well. Even wearing green to create mindfulness of the heart chakra is a good idea.

Perhaps a more general approach to balancing the heart chakra would be to engage in activities that spark love, passion, and joy. Whatever prompts a smile — do that! In addition, try to express gratitude. There is something about thankfulness that seems to make the heart radiate love and positive energy, and incorporating a habit such as writing in a gratitude journal into a daily routine could be a powerful way to keep the heart chakra in alignment. And don’t forget about self-care! By putting personal needs first, caring for others doesn’t have to lead to burnout. Only by loving ourselves well can we, in turn, pour out to love others well.

The heart chakra could also be aided by focusing on its element, air. Placing oneself in environments which have a strong sense of open space and fresh air could be highly beneficial — bonus points for a natural abundance of the color green! Plus, getting in touch with nature in general often has a freeing mental and emotional effect. Find peace in the untouched, rolling green hills of places like Canada’s Banff National Park, Newfoundland, or the mountains of Kyrgyzstan. Or, for a more local trip, try a spot in the rural U.S. like Idaho, Wyoming, or Glacier National Park in Montana.

The Best Crystals for Balancing your Heart Chakra

glacier national park things to do highline trail
Spacious perfection in Montana’s Glacier National Park

You’d want to use crystals for this chakra if you’re affected by blocked energy around the heart—issues related to forgiveness, empathy and compassion. Other issues of the heart, such as a breakup, also can also affect this chakra. 

Green gemstones and crystals are often tied to this chakra. Stones like Amazonite can help you open your heart and release inner soothing energy. However, pink crystals are connected to this chakra too. Rose Quartz is another popular healing crystal for this chakra, as it signifies love with oneself and others. Other crystals for this chakra include Emerald, Malachite, and Peridot.

-READ MORE-

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How to meditate with crystals, according to an expert

Sometimes, in the busyness and stress of everyday life, the heart gets overlooked. We tend to pay attention to our physical needs and the thousands of thoughts bouncing around our brains, yet when it comes to self-love, generosity, and connectedness, we are quick to put the emotional work on the back burner.

However, by working to balance our heart chakras and keep them in alignment throughout the day-to-day, we only set ourselves up to be the best, most compassionate, and most joyful versions of us that we can be. If we can remain in touch with our hearts to do all things with love, the world and the people around us will be that much better for it.

What is heart chakra? Here's everything you need to know! Learn its location, meaning, ways to balance it, what to do when it's imbalanced, plus words of affirmation to help strengthen your heart chakra. #heartchakra #chakra
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About Kristin Addis

Kristin Addis is the founder and CEO of Be My Travel Muse, a resource for female travelers all around the world since 2012. She's traveled solo to over 65 countries and has brought over 150 women on her all-female adventure tours from Botswana to the Alaskan tundra.

« Sacral Chakra: Everything You Need to Know
My Review of Skicircus, Austria’s Most Laid-Back Ski Resort »

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I'm Kristin, and my vision of a better world is one where more women are empowered and living out their dreams. Solo traveling is the best method I've found to become the best, bravest version of me. This site is all about how YOU can have the adventure of a lifetime in an easy, fun, approachable way, so that you can feel empowered, too. Want to learn more about me?

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Comments

  1. Terri says

    05/03/2021 at 6:42 am

    Wow that was an amazing read????????So grateful and I able to understand why have been attracted to my green crystals and love my plants so much more ✌????????????????

    Reply
    • Kristin says

      05/03/2021 at 9:50 am

      Aw so glad you enjoyed it 🙂

      Reply
  2. Mrs T says

    05/03/2021 at 5:52 pm

    This was inspiring
    Appreciation for you’re beautiful definition of the heart chakra
    As a young child I would always doodle this emblem and today now I know why – – you have served me and I Thankyou wholeheartedly ????????????

    Reply
    • Kristin says

      05/04/2021 at 8:21 am

      Aw glad you liked it.

      Reply
  3. Holly says

    11/11/2021 at 10:30 pm

    I really needed to read this! Ive been blocking my heart chakra for so long, I don’t know where to start, but your post is a great resource. Thanks

    Reply
    • Kristin says

      11/12/2021 at 12:08 pm

      Yay <3

      Reply
  4. Hannah Coates says

    03/04/2022 at 3:34 am

    Wonderful! Researching for writing a yoga flow and this was so informative, covered loads of bases!

    Love and light x

    Reply
  5. Gurpreet Kaur Bhamrah says

    09/01/2023 at 4:31 pm

    How can we understand the chalra is opened and now we don’t need to focus on opening it rather maintain it ??

    Reply
    • Kristin says

      09/08/2023 at 6:00 am

      For me, it’s a sense of peace and knowing in that area of my body or that are of focus, and then I know it’s time to move higher.

      Reply

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