Embrace love, beauty, and connection through opening your Heart Chakra…

The Heart Chakra or Anahata chakra is the central energy center of the body, and is located at the center of your chest, behind your breast bone. Therefore, this chakra is believed to be the area where the physical and spiritual meet.

A healthy fourth chakra creates harmony between the heart, body, and mind, and is associated with love, compassion, and beauty. It is also typically associated with the element of air, and the color green.

According to Chakras.info, here are some of the main functions associated with the heart or Anahata chakra:

• Love for oneself and others
• Relating, relationships
• Compassion, empathy
• Forgiveness, acceptance
• Transformation, change
• Ability to grieve and reach peace
• Compassionate discernment
• Center of awareness, integration of insights

An open heart chakra helps you remain open in love and compassion, offering forgiveness to both yourself and those around you.

A closed heart chakra, on the other hand, is associated with grief, anger, insecurity, fear, and jealousy, and may manifest in destructive or unhealthy relationships, or fear of intimacy and avoidance of relationships altogether.

Physically, this chakra rules the lungs, chest, arms, hands, and lymphatic system – and, of course, the heart. Poor circulation, blood pressure issues, bronchitis, and other heart and lung conditions may be physical symptoms of a blocked fourth chakra.

Obviously, this is a very important chakra, and fortunately, there are a number of tools available to help keep your heart chakra healthy and balanced.

Balancing the Heart Chakra

To open a blocked fourth chakra, you can try keeping a gratitude journal, practicing loving-kindness meditations or affirmations, or heart-opening yoga sequences. Some good yoga poses for opening the Anahata chakra are heart-opening poses like Camel Pose or Fish Pose, as well as Cobra Pose, Up Dog, and Standing Seal Pose. You should also regularly engage in activities that cultivate your appreciation for beauty, and help you feel connected to nature.

Try this yoga class to open and balance your heart chakra…