How are we on the fourth chakra already? Even more excitingly although I’m writing this post on the ferry back from Dublin as it goes live I’m in Rajasthan! So obviously keep an eye on the travel bit of yogipod too!
Anahata chakra is the heart chakra and located in the centre of the chest. The heart chakra is known as the gateway to higher consciousness and it is the balance point between the physical three chakras below and the three spiritual chakras above. In sanskrit anahata means unstruck note or unhurt and its inner aspect is unconditional love and compassion. The associated colour for anahata chakra is green, its element air and endocrine gland the thymus.
As can be seen in the depiction above the anahata yantra is a twelve petalled lotus with two star shaped triangles, a crescent moon and an antelope.
– The twelve petals – represent lustfulness, indecision, fraudulence, repentance, hope, longing, anxiety, impartiality, arrogance, discrimination, incompetence and defiance
– Interlocking triangles – balance and harmony
– The crescent moon – the path to enlightenment and the psychic blocks that must be dissolved to achieve enlightenment
– Antelope – alertness, lightness and speed
From the yantras representation you can see that the heart chakra is not all about sentimental love, it is more focused on the love of the world around us, creation and the simple pleasures in life as well as being the doorway to our higher state of being.
When the heart chakra is balanced it qualities are compassion, altruism and tolerance with its main focus being on unconditional love. When blocked you can become possessive and co-dependent, feeling isolated due to the fear of rejection. Due to the heart chakra being so connected to passion and consciousness it can overpower in life leading to jealousy and an inability to accept love. In being this way we begin to shut off the chakra systems ability to feed the physical body as well as preventing us from appreciating ourselves and others. Deficiencies therefore manifest themselves in shyness, loneliness, an inability to forgive and a lack of empathy. It’s true that the less love you give to yourself the less you can give back to others. When our heart is nurtured it has the ability to fulfil unconditional love, without this nurturing though it begins to die and we can no longer love.
Physical symptoms of an unbalanced heart chakra can include shallow breathing, asthma, lung disease, heart disease, high blood pressure and a roundness in the shoulders.
Due to the high blood pressure risks with an unbalanced heart chakra most linked asanas will be leading with the heart and keeping the heart positioned above the head. This can also take the mind’s focus away from itself, leading life with the heart. Linked to this is also the idea of using back bends to develop the trust needed to open the heart fully and passive chest openers to enliven the heart chakra. Cobra is a great active asana for the heart chakra, really rolling those rounded shoulders back and opening through the chest letting your heart open and flourish. Matsyasana or fish pose also strengthens the chest, neck and throat area, again opening that heart area out and stopping the body closing in on itself. Additional postures could be camel pose, bridge pose and upward facing dog as well as supta baddha konasana (reclining bound angle pose) wild thing, and head to knee forward fold. Janu Sirsasana or head to knee forward fold is a passive asana for the heart chakra, still opening through the chest area even as a forward fold as chakras can be opened from the front or the back. While practicing these heart opening postures really focus on the yantra and the green light that sits in the chakra position, work on shining that heart light out, letting it touch all aspects of you, your life and the people around you and you will leave your practice lighter and full of love
Namaste