Heart Chakra

Photo from: HowToOpenChakras

The fourth chakra - anahata in Sanskrit - hovers around the area of the heart and is represented by a lotus flower with 12 petals. These petals represent feelings of lust, indecision, repentance, hope, anxiety, longing, impartiality, arrogance, incompetence, discrimination and defiance. The heart chakra governs these feelings and keeps them balanced within our hearts. It governs the sense of touch and thus primarily rules the hands and the skin. The color green, also a very potent color for growth and healing, represents the heart chakra.

When this chakra is balanced, we feel unconditional love and compassion for those around us and for humanity. We strive for peace with all of our actions and we interact easily and naturally with other people. If your heart chakra is blocked, however, you will feel vengeful and unnecessarily mean or harsh towards others. You will feel overwhelming guilt and paranoia, and ultimately you will either drive others away or rely on others for happiness, rather than feeling it deep within yourself. This emotional turmoil may be physically manifested through heart problems, trouble breathing, and upper back pain.

To unblock your heart chakra, learn to give and share more generously and love others for their flaws as well as for their positive qualities. For some tangible exercises to open this energy center, try practices yoga poses such as the Locust, the Fish, and the Camel. Carry around emerald or rose quartz gems and fill your house with poppy and holly flowers. Donate to a charity or give some unused clothes to the Salvation Army. Next time you want to criticize someone, try to give them positive feedback instead and remind yourself to love them. If you feel jealous or paranoid, try deep breathing technique and press your palms together to stimulate energy flow between them, which links back to the heart chakra. Some mantras to practice daily:

• "I do not need others to be happy, but I am thankful for the love that others bring to my life." 
• "I will think about each action I take and make sure it leads to peace."
• "I love those around me." 
• "I am strong and I respect myself and others."