Are your experiencing tough times with your relationships? Is it safe to say that you are feeling over the top and clingy about your crush? Your heart chakra might not be in good condition, as indicated by energy healers.
Definition of Heart Chakra
Deep in the center of your chest is a glowing, green orb of energy called your heart chakra. At least, that’s what practitioners of energy healing, an Eastern tradition, believe. The heart chakra is one of the body’s seven natural energetic junctions, points where your life force is extra concentrated. Each chakra rules the surrounding organs and a host of spiritual functions—the throat chakra, for example, energizes the vocal cords and airways, but it also supports our metaphorical voice. An energy healer who is working with a client who struggles to speak up, or who can’t stop dominating conversations, would give her throat chakra extra attention. The heart chakra is associated with cardiovascular health but also our ability to give and receive love freely.
What does it feels like to have a compromised chakra?
Because everyone’s energy profile is different, there’s no absolute rule to tell that your heart chakra is in need of a tune-up. But there are a few signs. For example, your chakra might be clouded or compressed if you’ve been experiencing:
- Feeling tense and impatient with the people you love, even after you’ve had alone time to recharge.
- Being especially critical of yourself and others.
- Self-loathing and incessant negative self-talk. (“I’m just the worst, no one will love me.”)
- Self-destructive behaviors, like reverting to addictive on-again, off-again relationships.
- An inability to feel happy for your friend or partner’s achievements.
Sometimes, the opposite problem can occur—you might have a bloated, inflamed heart chakra if you’ve noticed:
- Unrelenting obsession over a love interest that starts to interfere with your other relationships and work.
- “Stalking” behaviors, like frequently checking up on other people’s Facebook pages or sending heaps of text messages to people who don’t answer.
- All-or-nothing feelings. (“If we break up, I have nothing!”)
Challenging Your Heart Chakra
There’s a quick and easy way to give your heart chakra a check-up. Get into a comfortable position, close your eyes, and imagine a sphere of green energy in the center of your chest. Focus on it without trying to change what you observe. What hue of green do you see? Is it as vibrant as a freshly mowed golf course, or does it look sickly? Does it feel tight and cramped, or sore, or open and relaxed? If your chakra doesn’t feel comfortable and bright, it could use a little work.
How to Balance Your Heart Chakra
Energy healers know that there are lots of ways to bring a wayward heart chakra back into alignment. What works best will vary from person to person, so consider trying a few approaches:
- Visualize white light from the universe entering your heart chakra and revitalizing it. Can you feel it soften and spin? In the world of energy work, simply imagining change can have real effects.
- Certainyoga posesthat stretch and relax the muscles of the chest can open a clouded heart chakra. The camel and cobra poses are two such exercises, and you can do them at home or with a yoga instructor.
- Jasmine is the scent associated with the heart chakra, so take a quiet break with a cup of jasmine tea or light some incense in your home.
- Loving-kindness meditation can heal a heart chakra from the inside. This Buddhist practice is performed by reciting a mantra: “May I be happy, may I be healthy, may I be safe.” You might visualize being surrounded by warm, loving energy, too. After you’ve meditated on self-compassion, consider going a step further—recite the mantra for someone you care about.
- Get your emotions out. Often, a compromised heart chakra is a result of feelings that haven’t been expressed. Write them down, draw a picture, or share them with a good friend.
- Exercise! No, it doesn’t have to be heart-pumping cardio aerobics. But any exercise, from a walk to rock climbing to swimming, will shake up the tension in your body. Plus, it’s something you’re doing for yourself—an act of self-compassion.
- Are you clinging to a grudge? Are you stuck replaying a past hurt on an endless loop? Moving on is a conscious choice, but refusing to take the path of peace can hurt you in all sorts of subtle ways. Even if you’re not okay with what went down, you can forgive. Forgiveness isn’t for the other person; it’s for yourself.
- Consciously step away from relationships and habits that are addictive and painful. Decide on your boundaries and stick to them. That means that, while you can’t stop someone from stringing you along in love, you can choose not to engage in games that leave you (and your heart chakra) drained.
Your heart chakra is what gives your life warmth and love. That’s why it pays to take care of it. Even if yours isn’t in crisis, it’s wise to check in periodically and tune up with meditation, visualization, and self-care.
The tips on addressing a compromised heart chakra are interesting. It would be helpful to explore how these methods can be cross-culturally validated, given their origin in Eastern traditions.
I found the suggestions for balancing the heart chakra quite useful, particularly the focus on visualization and meditation. However, there are few practical issues in integrating these into daily routines.
The concept of energetically points like the heart chakra seems quite abstract. In terms of evidence, what does modern psychologysays about this approach?
That’s a valid question, Carrie. While traditional psychology might not explicitly focus on chakras, there is a growing body of research on mind-body connections and how mental health practices like those described can affect physical well-being.
This is an intriguing perspective on dealing with emotional turmoil. I wonder how scientific studies on chakras align with this traditional view.
I appreciated the detailed explanations of symptoms and remedies. However, it would beneficial to see more in-depth examples of success stories from people practicing these techniques.
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