The heart chakra is about how we connect and relate to other beings. It is about our capacity to give and receive love and acceptance, and our openness to experience relationships.
When the heart chakra is in balance, we experience the world differently. We get to live from a place of unconditional love – we are in a state of openness and acceptance, allowing ourselves to receive love, open our hearts and minds to others, and connect and appreciate all beings. We can experience heart-centered insights and emotional power, allowing us to make better decisions, and have inner peace, despite our external circumstances.
When this chakra is blocked, our relationships are affected, we may feel alone, struggle to accept love or give love to others, find it hard to trust or accept ourselves, or experience darker emotions.
The heart chakra can be affected by situations and experiences that have emotionally impacted us, such as being raised in an emotionally cold environment, experiencing abuse of any kind, or facing illness or extreme stress.
The gifts associated with this chakra are about unconditional love and emotional power.
- Physical gifts: Feeling in tune with your body, and having a strong healthy chest area.
- Mental gifts: a sense of peace that radiates to others, the ability to be understanding, the freedom to be yourself, being able to set healthy boundaries, and being able to better understand your own needs.
- Emotional gifts: experiencing unconditional love and acceptance towards yourself and others, empathy, joy, self-love, self-reflection, self-acceptance, being able to deal with your emotions in a healthy way, being receptive to others, being open in your relationships with others and experiencing gratitude.
- Spiritual gifts: openness to forgiveness the ability to give and receive love, the capacity to experience unconditional love, being able to let go and heal, experiencing deep connection with all beings, the ability to harmoniously exchange energy and being able to enjoy healthy, loving relationships.
The challenges associated with this chakra being out of balance include our ability to interact and connect with other beings, and ourselves.
- Physically challenges: experiencing issues with the heart, lungs, or chest area.
- Mental challenges: restlessness, difficulty trusting others, difficulty connecting with or relating to others, being critical of self and others, being withdrawn or needy, or creating distance in your relationships.
- Emotional challenges: feelings of anger, grief, jealousy, inability to love yourself and others, feeling disconnected from people around you, lacking empathy and compassion, inability to receive love, feeling impatient, being easily hurt, having low self-worth, shutting off your emotions or putting up walls, feeling like a victim, or holding onto resentment.
- Spiritual challenges: fear of following your heart, inability to forgive, feeling disconnected from love, difficulty setting boundaries, and feeling a heaviness in your heart.
In opening the heart chakra, you open your world to a life of unconditional love, deep connections and joy.
A few techniques you can use to heal the heart chakra:
Letter to self:
- Part of healing this chakra is letting go of old emotional wounds.
- Start by freeing yourself of the old baggage you are carrying from past experience. Find a quiet space.
- Relax your body and mind. Now, think of anything that you feel is holding you back, that you are having trouble letting go of. Separate yourself from this experience. It happened in the past to the old you; at this moment you are a different person.
- Take your journal or paper and write a letter to that old you. Write it like you would to an old and dear friend. If this friend was experiencing these unresolved emotions like guilt, shame, fear and so forth, what would you tell them? What would you want them to know? Write it out and then go back and read what you have written, perhaps out loud.
- Feel the words of forgiveness and love encompassing you.
- Give yourself the gift of forgiving whatever you feel you need to.
Meditation:
- Sit in a quiet, comfortable spot. Take a few deep breaths to ground and center yourself. Now go within.
- Picture a green vortex swirling around your heart chakra. Set the intention to be open and to receive.
- Feel this vortex of love energy flowing through your being, cleansing and healing you.
- Open your heart to love; open your physical being to accept your body as perfect; open your emotional body and allow yourself to let go of old wounds; open your mind to diversity of thought and beliefs; open your spirit to welcome unconditional love, and allow this unconditional love to flow through your being and fill you within.
- Now open your eyes and go forth to every interaction from this space.
Yoga:
- Begin by setting the intention to create healing in the heart chakra.
- Be mindful of your breathing, slowing it down.
- Focus on poses that open the heart: forward bend, warrior 1, camel pose, wheel pose, bridge pose, upward dog pose, bow pose, cobra, fish and cat pose
Essential oils:
- These include rose, lavender, jasmine. bergamot, geranium, neroli, melissa and ylang-ylang.
Gemstones:
- These include rose quartz, jade, green calcite, green tourmaline, green aventurine, and kunzite.
What can you do today to open your heart to yourself and others?
Many Blessings
Santa