Heart chakra (Anahata): love and connection
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4 min read
In yoga tradition, the body has seven main energy centers, called chakras, that run from the base of the spine to the top of the head. The heart chakra is the fourth, at the center of the chest over the breastbone. Its Sanskrit name is Anahata, usually translated as “unstruck.” Its color is green.
What it’s about
Chakra teachers link the heart chakra to love and passion, empathy, inner peace and harmony. The tradition describes a balanced heart chakra as feeling loved, content, at peace and joyful, with a deep love for yourself, and being kind, generous and accepting of yourself and others. One sign in that list is easy to miss and worth keeping close: healthy boundaries that protect your heart and your ability to give love, to others and to yourself.
In everyday terms, this is your relationships, including the one with yourself. Can you give love without losing yourself? Can you let it in? Self-compassion, grief, empathy and people-pleasing all belong here.
When it feels out of balance
The tradition says the heart chakra is thrown off by trouble in your love life: unhealthy relationships with partners, and most of all your relationship with yourself. Grief can block it too. Chakra teachers link an unbalanced heart chakra with feeling disconnected, lonely, withdrawn or undeserving of love, and with jealousy, a lack of empathy, being overly critical of others, giving too much of yourself to help others, never feeling satisfied with what you’ve achieved, codependency, people-pleasing, spite, and being stuck in fight or flight. They also describe the chakras as a chain, so one out of balance makes it harder to balance the ones above it.
None of this means you’ve done anything wrong. It means a need isn’t being met, as happens to everyone. So ask yourself whose love you’re waiting for, and what grief you haven’t made room for. If you give a lot, ask whether it’s generosity or a way of keeping people close. That honest look is where the work starts.
If any of this is heavy or won’t lift, talk to a doctor or therapist. A chakra practice is a support, not a treatment.
Ways to work with it
Most of this comes down to small changes in your daily habits. Take a few minutes in a quiet place to meditate on what might be behind the way you feel. Make time for the people who are good for you, and set the boundaries that let you keep giving without running dry.
Yoga can sound intimidating if you picture arm balances and pretzel shapes, but there are plenty of easy beginner poses, and you can do them in your yard, on your living room floor or even in bed. Common heart chakra poses are a standing backbend, cobra pose, camel pose, wheel pose and bow pose. A quick YouTube search will turn up heart chakra routines.
For a short practice, sit with your hands over your heart and breathe into your chest. Chant YAM slowly a few times, the sound the tradition gives this chakra. Then think of someone you hold a resentment toward, maybe yourself, and notice what comes up.
Some people also use the tradition’s extras. Because the heart chakra’s color is green, they eat green foods like spinach, kale, lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, peas, green bell peppers, leeks, zucchini, avocado, cucumber, celery, green apples, pears, kiwis, basil, matcha and green tea, or wear green. Something as small as a salad with dinner counts. Some rub ylang ylang, rose, jasmine, lemon, lavender or bergamot oil over the heart or add it to a wind-down bath, some carry or meditate with rose quartz, malachite, rhodochrosite or peridot, and some listen to 342 Hz tones while they meditate.
Affirmations are short statements you repeat to yourself in the present tense. A few for the heart chakra:
- I am loved.
- I am kind and compassionate.
- I am at peace with my past decisions and ready to move forward.
- My heart is open to all that is good.
Healing isn’t linear. If one thing doesn’t help, try another, and remember that little thoughtful changes can go a long way.
A question to sit with
- Where do I give love easily, and where do I hold it back?
- What grief am I still carrying?
- How do I treat myself when I fall short?
The seven chakras