Anahata: The Heart Chakra

Element: Air

Color: Green

Identity: Social

Archetype: Lover/Performer

Developmental Age: 4 to 7 years

Right: to love and be loved

The heart chakra, our source of love, connects our physical bodies with a higher purpose. Love is a powerful guiding force in life, as we all seek to find it. Although we may feel it should come easily, the world is starving from lack of love for ourselves, the world, and each other. This issue stems from the myth of separation, the idea that as individuals, we are separate from each other and the world we live in. However, when doing chakra work, it’s essential that we understand the power of our divine love, a source of union and infinite healing. What other force can heal our wounds if love cannot? Without love to bridge our souls to the physical world, grief can overcome us, disconnecting us from our life force. 

The heart chakra balances our lower, more physical chakras with the divine energy of the upper chakras. It is the force that fuels our relationships. When we love, we find ourselves vulnerable and exposed to potential grief. A balanced heart chakra finds power in our ability to open up to the unknown. Love disintegrates our rigid viewpoints and through our vulnerability, allows healing energy to flow through to our wounds. Additionally, through fourth chakra work, we can integrate our rejected selves with the wholeness of our beings. The goal of this work is to liberate the forces of mind, body, and soul.

In a hyper-critical society, developing self-love can prove to be a difficult process. It can even be radical to accept the wholeness of oneself, rather than rejecting what feels unwanted. Conscious love maintains our sense of self-empowerment while honoring our commitment to others. Conscious love often involves the work of integrating our dualities: masculine and feminine, shadow and light, etc. in order to create a balance within ourselves and our connections with others. It also involves processing our grief, opening ourselves up for spaciousness in our hearts, allowing love’s healing power to flow through. In healing our grief, it’s important that we reconnect to our devotion towards ourselves and accept what may prove to be painful. This may involve connecting to our compassion and utilizing forgiveness in order to foster this powerful, conscious love. 

Our internalized patterns have a deep impact on the relationships we create. As we attempt to bond with one another, the concepts of love we have developed will emerge. Unhealthy examples of love we have been given at a young age will manifest in our future relationships if we do not do the work of unlearning and healing. We may demand tumultuous, codependent love that can feel like a drug, filling the void of our missing self-love. We may also close off from love, withdrawing and becoming cold in the absence of it. Breath is a source of infinite energy, possessing the ability to heal our grief and past traumas that pertain to love. Breathwork can be transformative when healing the fourth chakra.

As love is a unifying force, we are honoring its sacred nature by doing this work. Love is our instinct and has the infinite ability to heal the world. In healing our fourth chakra, we are facilitating the revolutionary process of healing our cultural wounds and making the world a more peaceful place. 

Mantra: YAM

Affirmations:

I possess an infinite supply of love.

I am worthy of love.

I believe in love. 

I love and accept myself.

I live in balance with others and the world.

I forgive myself and others. 

Love is my instinctual nature. 

I trust the healing power of love.