Anahata – the heart chakra!
Anahata, the fourth primary chakra, in the heart region, the 9th bone at the thoracic, has the element of Air, is a smoke-colored mandala. In Sanskrit, Anahata means “unhurt, unstruck, and unbeaten”. Anahata is often called the “heart” center, symbolising the qualities of compassion, acceptance, universal love, selflessness, and devotion that are associated with the awakening of this center. How I personally perceive the heart chakra, when aligned, is one of strength, resilience, courage, and of course, love!
In the current situation that we live in, many might not feel love, acceptance, compassion towards others. COVID-19, stressful jobs, highly demanding lifestyle…. We are taught by many motivational speakers to train our mindset – THINK POSITIVE! GET BACK UP! WE TRY AND WILL BE BETTER! But competing with all these, going with all these, most of us are not aware of how the different chakras work. I chose to write about Anahata because the matter of the heart is complicated. With a “good” heart, we can do so many things for ourselves and for others.
When the Anahata is well aligned, one will feel love, compassion, and happiness. There is a sense of willingness and openness to challenges and situations in life, in connections and relationships with others. It allows us to see goodness and love, finding ourselves, accepting ourselves, bringing true self-love.
What if the heart chakra is blocked? One will experience the total opposite of the above. Such as holding grudges, dwelling on past relationships, having trust issues, feeling shy and lonely, commitment issues, defensive, afraid of being rejected…. Signs of blocked Anahata can be shown through the body as well. Examples of bodily illnesses could be poor blood circulation, high or low blood pressure.
How to open Anahata:
- Yoga heart-opening asanas that lead to back bending, without the head touching the ground such as Urdhva Dhanurasana (wheel pose), Ardha Ustrasana (half camel pose), Purvottanasa (reverse plank pose).
Picture source: https://www.ekhartyoga.com/resources/yoga-poses/upward-plank-pose
Picture source: http://- https://www.ekhartyoga.com/articles/practice/pose-of-the-week-wheel-pose-urdhva-dhanurasana
Picture source: https://www.ekhartyoga.com/resources/yoga-poses/camel-pose
- Chanting the mantra “YAM”
- Singing/crystal bowls
- Wearing rose quartz crystals
- Repeating positive affirmations such as “I am loved, my heart is opened to love, I live in a state of gratitude.”
- Keeping a gratitude journal (write 3 things to be grateful & thankful for each day)
Learning about Anahata has made me aware of my own feelings, reminding me to be grateful. When we are grateful, we have no time to be upset. These two emotions cannot work together. Be grateful always! <3
