Hello beautiful people and welcome to your weekly dose of Celestial Goodness. As always, thank you for joining me in this space and on this journey. I never take your time for granted—I appreciate the time you spend either reading my blog or watching my videos or both. This is a passion project born of love, and of a desire to be of service–to share the ways in which I have seen how miraculous and beautiful life can be. It is not always easy, especially when the world can seem so chaotic at times. In those times, I try to remember as mythology teaches, that entire worlds can be birth from chaos.
Anais Nin said, “In chaos, there is fertility,” and Friedrich Nietzsche said, “You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.” So when things seem chaotic, I like to think of what is being birthed? What can we birth in our own lives when things seem to be a bit more chaotic than we would like it to be? That is just a thought for you to ponder…something to sit with through this week. So yes, all of that to say again thank you for your time, energy, and presence. Thank you for being here on planet Earth, at a time such as this.
Today we are going to talk about the fourth chakra—the heart chakra—or Anahata. See this week’s video here: https://youtu.be/MGhEDGhvTRA I thought for a very long time about how to present this chakra. As with each chakra, there is so much to say, so much that can be unraveled and revealed even within our own individual lives and our own ways of working with these energy vortexes. If I had to choose one word for the heart chakra, it would be “love.”
If I had to choose a way of visualizing it, I would see it as ebbs of gold, pink, and green light swirling from the chest area out to the world. This light would interact with everything and everyone—from plants and animals—their anima—their spirit and soul, that which is in all of nature, up to the cosmos and back down to the Earth’s core, and of course, it would flow between each of us—from one to another, we would feel love, compassion, empathy, care, appreciation, and a deep reverence and respect for each other and for everything.
If I had to pick a quote—well, you know me well enough to know by now, that I could not pick just one. I will start with one from the Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho. “One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.” And then, by Jacques Benigne Bossu “The heart has reasons that reason does not understand.” Marcia Wiederkehr said, “I stand before what is an open heart. And with an open heart I dwell in possibility.” The heart chakra represents all of the potential of the blessings that come with having an open heart. In the Prophet, Khalil Gibran said some of the most beautiful words that I have heard arranged together.
“Let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.” The heart chakra is a love letter to us, and it is a love letter to life.
In Sanskrit, Anahata means “sound produced without touching two parts.” It also means, “pure, clean, stainless, unhurt, unstuck, and unbeaten.” This fourth chakra is associated with unconditional love, with compassion, joy, and the deepest truths of life—those which cannot be expressed in words. It is also associated with balance, calmness, and serenity. This is the part of the journey through the chakras where we arrive at the center—we arrive to the heart of things.
This chakra represents a bridge between the three lower chakras representing matter (Root, Sacral, and Solar Plexus), and the higher chakras representing spirit (Throat, Third Eye, and Crown). It is also a step into another element. With the root chakra represented by the grounded Element of Earth, the Sacral Chakra represented by the creative energy of the Element of Water, and the Solar Plexus represented by the passionate Element of Fire, we now arrive at the Element of Air. Air is ethereal and intangible, and this chakra represents the move from the tangible to the intangible. Air is all around us. Liz Simpson describes the Heart Chakra by saying, “This love is not dependent on others. It is not the tribal love of the Root Chakra or the sexual love of the Sacral Chakra, but is a state of being, enduring and constant, regardless of externals.”
I believe that the heart chakra asks the question—Can you love and be loved despite? You can fill in your own word after despite, but some that I think of are: Can you love and be loved despite past hurt? Can you love and be loved despite a difference of opinion and belief? Can you love and be loved despite how you were raised to believe that love should be? Can you love and be loved despite the story of love that you have created in your mind? No matter—whether it may be outdated and not working? Are you consciously aware of the story that you are telling yourself about love?
Many years ago when I first when to see my dear friend Mr. Rishi, he told me that I needed to work on strengthening my Heart chakra. His words were, “You need to strengthen your Heart chakra which governs compassion, love, your emotional zone, self-acceptance and forgiveness. Imbalance causes grief, allergies and fever, depression or heart ailments. Once opened you are blessed with good health, peace, fulfilment of desires and good relationships.” I knew something was wrong in that area. I had suffered heartaches—and that is the chance that we take right—when we love, we risk hurt? I suffered heartaches and internalized them mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. I was building a wall around my heart that was bigger than the Great Wall of China. But when we build walls, we have to remember that we are not just keeping people and experiences out, we are also keeping ourselves in. We are creating a prison for ourselves. We have to be able to transform pain so that we can keep our love flowing. The Anahata is the spiritual place where we become free from the past so that old hurts and grievances can no longer hurt us. It is our sacred inner temple, and the work that we do there not only benefits us internally, but also externally.
The heart chakra is found at the center of our chest area. Because of its location, it has associations with the cardiac system and with the lungs. As the heart chakra is also associated with air, it should be no surprise that these organs rely on air and the breath (prana) to function properly. It is also associated with the immune system.
It is also said that the Earth has chakra points. Many people theorize that the Earth’s heart chakra is located in two cities fairly close to each other in England—Glastonbury, and Shaftesbury. They are also close to Stonehenge. I have visited Glastonbury (also because it is also thought to be the mythical land of Avalon from King Arthur tales) and could definitely feel the energy of the place. The heart chakra is associated with the color green. At higher frequencies it is also associated with the color pink. It represents love energy and transformation.
When this chakra is imbalanced or blocked you may have physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual symptoms. This could include: deep insecurities and fears, manipulative behavior when it comes to love, difficulty trusting, feelings of jealousy, you may isolate yourself excessively, you put yourself in the role of victim or rescuer, you may be possessive, you may love conditionally—I will only love you if…, you might withhold emotions to punish others, you could be overly dramatic, fear rejection, feel unworthy to receive love, and codependent. Physical ailments can include respiratory problems—lung infections, bronchitis, and circulatory and heart related issues.
When this chakra is healthy, opened, and aligned, you are empathetic, compassionate, you love unconditionally, you are nurturing, you feel surrounded by love and joy, you feel connected to the world, you see the beauty and love in yourself, in others, and in the planet, you feel gratitude, you have emotional control, you are able to transcend the ego, and you experience deep and meaningful relationships.
When working on healing my heart chakra, I had to get very real and very honest with myself. I had to ask questions where I knew the answers might hurt my feelings. What was the root source of my attraction to codependent relationships? Why didn’t I feel truly worthy of a healthy love and relationship? What did I think of myself? Could I forgive myself for my role in my life when things went wrong? Could I forgive others? There were tears, and deep walks with my shadow. But one day, I stopped feeling the pain of heartache, and instead felt the joy of immersing myself in love again. It can take time, and it can be scary to face yourself. And you will feel like quitting…but I ask you to keep on the road if you are doing heart chakra work. Asking these questions along with doing the work—the hard but rewarding work of healing, really transformed my life. That is the promise of the heart chakra. Open your heart, take that risk, and you will reap the rewards. It may not always work out, but an open heart chakra allows us to see the blessings in each lesson, and in each season of our life. My wish for you is that you know the joys of an open heart chakra—the release of fears, the release of insecurities, the pleasure of deep and meaningful relationships with yourself and others.
So what are some ways to balance the Heart Chakra?
· Meditation to balance the Heart Chakra. Many meditations out there can help you to concentrate healing energies to the Heart Chakra area. Each Chakra is also associated with a particular sound. The heart chakra is associated with the sound/mantra YAM. Meditating and chanting to YAM for even a few minutes can be beneficial to helping balance the heart chakra—the anahata. Listening to 128Hz frequency or 639Hz while meditating is also great—these are the frequencies that resonates with the heart chakra. They help to activate love, compassion, vulnerability, and forgiveness.
· Crystal Healing. Crystals vibrate with different energies. Helpful crystals for heart chakra healing work are crystals that are green or pink in color. These include some of my personal favorites: Rose Quartz, Emerald (The stone of successful love), Malachite, Jade, Aventurine, Rhodochrosite, and Amazonite (Stone of Courage). Carrying these close to you and placing the gemstones on the area of your heart chakra while lying down can be very beneficial to helping with alignment.
· Colors. Surround yourself with the colors pink and green. These colors are most strongly associated with the heart chakra. Wear pink or green clothing—talk to your AKA friends and see if they can hook you up with some green and pink décor.
· Foods. Eating your greens has never felt so good! Eat things like leafy greens, green vegetables, green fruits things like green apples, kiwi, spinach, kale, celery, callaloo, collard greens, broccoli, green grapes, avocado, Brussel sprouts and spirulina. Foods with a green color resonate with this chakra.
· Practice Forgiveness. This Buddhist forgiveness prayer is one of my favorites: If I have harmed anyone in any way either knowingly or unknowingly through my own confusions, I ask their forgiveness. If anyone has harmed me in any way either knowingly or unknowingly through their own confusion, I forgive them. And if there is a situation, I am not yet ready to forgive, I forgive myself for that. For all the ways that I harm myself, negate, doubt, belittle myself, judge, or be unkind to myself through my own confusions: I forgive myself. You can see it in my video/blog on forgiveness! https://youtu.be/Lu-9trkl3lk
· Seek therapy. Therapy really helped me in this area. It helped to have someone neutral help me to face myself. As always, I will always include this, but I am aware that it can be difficult for some people, whether due to financial barriers or through other forms of access. There are resources available for low cost or virtual therapy. Here is a resource from SAMSHA: https://findtreatment.samhsa.gov/
· Connect with the air element. Light some incense or go where you can feel a nice breeze. Check out my video/blog on the element of air. https://youtu.be/PObRDbrK9xs
· Practice your affirmations! Here are a few: I am worthy of the purest love. I release and let go of all resentment. I forgive myself and I forgive others. I love myself for who I am and the potential within me. I am grateful for the love that is in my life. There is an infinite supply of love. I live in balance, in a state of gracefulness and gratitude. I am love.
As always, I hope that this information was informative and that you can apply these in a practical manner in your life. Please let me know if anything works well for you!! Also, please feel free to drop more tips/suggestions in the comments. May the stars shine brightly over your week, and may you feel the love that is all around deeply and truly. Thank you.
Celestial Goodness 