Heart chakra

Origin and meaning

Anahata means literally "unstruck, that which has not been hit": refers to the divine sound that exists prior to any vibration produced by impact — the inner sound of love itself. It is the bridge chakra between the three lower (root, sacral, solar — ego centred) and the three upper (throat, third eye, crown — spirit centred). The integrated heart unites earth and heaven in the human being.

Its element is air; its symbol is a 12-petalled lotus with a six-pointed star (intersection of two triangles — the upward of spirit and downward of matter) and the seed mantra YAM. Anatomically, it corresponds to the heart, lungs, thymus, arms and shoulders. Energetically, it is the centre of unconditional love — for oneself, for others, for life.

Healthy and unbalanced functions

Healthy heart: capacity for unconditional love, deep compassion, sincere forgiveness, healthy intimacy without losing oneself, gratitude as basic state, capacity to give and receive love in balance, integrated empathy without excessive absorption, sense of inner peace. The chest is open, the breathing is deep, the heart beats with serenity.

Imbalanced heart: by deficiency = emotional cold, isolation, loneliness, difficulty connecting with others, shallow breathing, postural collapse of the upper back. By excess = uncontrolled empathic absorption, excessive caring of others to the detriment of oneself, hyper-dependence in relationships, unhealed unrequited love, emotional overflow. Childhood traumas of abandonment, betrayals, important losses, romantic disappointments deeply affect this chakra. Many "broken hearts" of trauma never close completely without conscious work.

How to balance it

Practices: metta meditation (loving-kindness — Buddhist meditation of cultivating love for self and others), conscious gratitude practice (daily list of three things you are grateful for), gentle self-care (small acts of love for yourself), forgiveness work (rituals or letters of forgiveness — to oneself and to others), green stones (rose quartz, green aventurine, green jade, malachite). Asanas that open the chest (cobra, fish, opening of arms). Mantra: chant YAM. Conscious breathing focused in the chest area.