Unblock the heart chakra
The heart chakra, or "Anahata", is the central point of your entire chakra system and a place where you can finally realize the unity of all things.
It functions as your spiritual center, helping you develop a loving connection with yourself and others by cultivating compassion, empathy, joy for being alive, and truth.
When your heart chakra is in its healthiest state, it allows you to have a sense of oneness with everything and transcend duality. The energy of the heart chakra is similar to the qualities of air: it is expansive, formless, soft and delicate.
When your heart chakra is blocked, you experience feelings of emptiness, apathy, stress, anxiety, lack of authentic connection with others, and lack of self-confidence.
One of the main reasons for blocked heart chakra is the fear of living an authentic life. Restoring balance in this center requires an honest assessment of your current lifestyle.
Healing and unblocking your heart chakra will allow you to transcend the ego and connect to the unifying force of love.
Love is the essence of your soul, and your heart center has its own unique intelligence.
Let's look at my favorite methods for cultivating a loving heart and opening your heart chakra:
1. Heart Chakra Breathing Exercises
Breathing is one of the best ways to work with your heart chakra. Hindus understand the importance of breathing (sometimes called "prana") and its cleansing energy.
Yoga pranayama techniques were designed to help control breathing, increase the flow of oxygen in the body, and expand consciousness. Breath in traditional Chinese culture (known as "Qi", which translates to "air" or "life force") is the foundation of medicine and martial arts, such as Qigong.
Air is the element that represents the qualities of the heart chakra: expansiveness, freedom and constant flow. Breath is your energetic life force and a primary nutrient of the body.
Let's look at some of my favorite breathing exercises for a healthy heart chakra.
Diaphragmatic breathing
This is an easy and powerful breathing technique that involves contracting the diaphragm muscle, which separates the abdomen from the chest.
The best way to practice diaphragmatic breathing is to place one of your hands on your chest and the other on your stomach.
When you inhale, your belly is supposed to expand and stick out with your lower hand outward.
The movement of your upper hand should be minimal and the air should move downward during inhalation. When you exhale, the air rises and your stomach contracts.
Practice this technique daily for 5 to 10 minutes to get into the habit of breathing from your stomach and not your chest.
Gamma Breathing
This is my favorite breathing technique, which works wonders for releasing stress, anxiety, increasing focus, creativity, happiness and connection with the power of love.
Gamma breathing shifts your brain into the gamma state. Gamma brain waves are of the highest frequency in our brain (40-200Hz), and they are much more active in experienced meditators.
The good news is that you can easily shift your brain into this state using this breathing technique!
Gamma breathing consists of 4 breathing cycles, where you alternate between breathing through your mouth and through your nose.
| Inspiration (3 seconds of inspiration) | Exhalation (3 seconds exhalation) | |
| 1 | Mouth | Mouth |
| 2 | Mouth | Nose |
| 3 | Nose | Nose |
| 4 | Nose | Mouth |
Repeat this sequence at least 3 times.
Alternate nostril breathing
Alternate nostril breathing, also known as nadi shodana, is a cleansing breathing technique used to release trapped energy channels in your body and calm the mind.
Nadi shodana will fill your heart center with oxygen and allow you to feel a gentle sensation of freshness throughout your body.
Here's how to practice alternate nostril breathing:
- Sit with your back straight.
- Take the index and middle fingers of your right hand and fold them toward your palm.
- Use the right thumb to close the right nostril and inhale slowly through the left nostril.
- Pause after inhaling and plug the left nostril with your ring finger.
- Exhale slowly through your right nostril.
- Keep your ring finger in the same place and inhale through the right side.
- Close the right nostril with your thumb and exhale through the left.
- Keep your thumb in the same place and inhale through your left nostril.
If you find this confusing, keep in mind that each time you inhale, you seal and alternate with the next nostril.
Breath of Fire
Breath of Fire, also known as Kapalabhati Pranayama, is a powerful detoxifying breathing technique, which involves a series of short, powerful nasal inhalations (the exhalation is passive).
Breathing fire is very often practiced during kundalini yoga exercises. It helps increase blood flow to the heart center, detoxify the body and bring more clarity to your mind.
Kapalabhati is an intermediate breathing technique, and it is not recommended for people with certain health conditions. Please consult a doctor or qualified yoga teacher before trying this technique.
2. Heart Chakra Affirmations
Try some of these powerful heart chakra affirmations, which can be used throughout the day or during your meditation to strengthen this energy center:
- I am worthy of being loved.
- I am open to giving and receiving love.
- I love myself unconditionally.
- I have the strength to follow my heart.
- I realize my heart's desire.
- I am able to leave the past behind to forgive myself and others.
- I have the willingness and ability to forgive myself and others.
- I am open about my feelings in all my relationships.
- I am grateful for all my blessings.
- I am love, I am peace, I am light.
3. Yoga Poses for the Heart Chakra
Yoga is a great way to work the heart chakra, as certain physical postures (asanas) will allow you to open your chest and shoulders.
Yoga also improves the circulation of oxygen in your body, as most yoga exercises involve working with your breathing (air is the main element of Anahata).
Here are some of the best yoga poses for opening the heart chakra:
- Locust Pose (Salabhasana)
- Bow Pose (Dhanurasana)
- Camel Pose (Ustrasana)
- Wheel Pose (Urdhva Dhanurasana)
- Upward Plank Pose (Purvottanasana)
- Full Boat Pose (Paripurna Navasana)
- Half Bridge Pose (Setu Bandhasana)
4. Heart Chakra Meditation
This wonderful heart chakra meditation will help you bridge the gap between mind and body. During this mediation, you will imagine the color green, focus on feelings of love, and integrate breathing as a key to your heart center.
Let's get started:
- Sit with your back straight and relax your body by taking a few deep breaths.
- Once you are completely relaxed, begin to imagine yourself surrounded by nature. It can be a place in the heart of the forest or a beautiful green garden.
- Spend a few minutes at this place, enjoying the serenity, peace and calm.
- As you sink into this meditation, gently move your attention to your heart chakra and imagine a green circle of energy in the middle of your chest.
- Continue to breathe into your heart center and expand this circle with feelings of joy, compassion, kindness and unconditional love.
- Enjoy the healing energy that emanates from your heart space.
- Stay in this state for at least a few minutes to integrate this transformative energy.
- End your meditation by placing your left hand on your chest and saying the words: “Thank you, I love you.”
- Recognize that ultimately you are the love you feel.
5. Stones and crystals for the heart chakra
The primary color of the third eye chakra is green, so the most effective stones for balancing your sixth chakra are usually green.
However, some of the stones that correspond to the energetic frequency of the heart chakra are pink.
Let's take a look at some of the best stones for balancing your green chakra and their colors:
1. Rose Quartz
Typical colors: light pink to bright pink.
Helps with: self-love, forgiveness, compassion, relationships, stress and anxiety, clearing energetic blockages, good fortune.
This powerful pink crystal vibrates with the energy of unconditional love. Rose quartz is very often called the "stone of the heart", because it stimulates the loving energy of the heart throughout the aura.
Rose quartz is the best crystal for purifying the heart. It is also a universal stone of regeneration and can be used for physical and spiritual healing. Its vibration is nourishing, gentle, soothing and calming.
2. Emerald
Typical colors: green, green-blue, yellow-green.
Helps with: self-love, relationships, fertility, good luck, stress and anxiety, wealth and prosperity.
This beautiful green gemstone is very often called the "Stone of Successful Love" because it offers healing energy to your heart chakra, and it restores balance between partners in a relationship. Emerald has a calming effect on your emotions, and it can be used to heal your heart after an unsuccessful relationship.
3. Malachite
Typical colors: different shades of green.
Helps with: empathy, unconditional love, electromagnetic pollution, psychic protection, aura cleansing.
It is a mesmerizing green stone of protection, which is known to absorb negative energies from your aura. Malachite will help you develop a healthy relationship with yourself and others.
Malachite has a pleasant stabilizing energy that makes you feel more relaxed and emotionally balanced.
4. Rhodonite
Typical colors: pink, pink-pink to red-brown, red, gray and yellow.
Helps with: self-love, relationships, emotional pain, compassion, self-confidence, optimism, focus.
This beautiful pink stone is also known as the "stone of self-love and unconditional love", so it is perfect for healing your heart chakra. Rhodonite will balance your emotions and protect you from envy or jealousy.
Rhodonite is a wonderful stone to have in your life as it promotes joy, compassion, healing and balance.
5. Amazonite
Typical colors: light green, blue-green.
Helps with: meditation, empathy, compassion, self-love, mental clarity, relationships, electromagnetic pollution.
Amazonite is remarkable for instilling empathy and compassion. It will help you realize that you are not the only one in the world facing challenges.
Amazonite is also an excellent energy filter. This stone can be extremely useful to you, especially if you regularly use a computer, tablet, smartphone or microwave oven.
6. Unblock the heart chakra with food
Physical nourishment for the higher chakras has a more symbolic meaning. The best type of “food” for your heart chakra would be a life filled with joy, purpose, compassion, acceptance, and love.
The heart chakra is about eating physical food with an open heart infusing each meal with love.
Our lower 3 chakras serve the following aspects of our body:
- The root chakra views food from a survival perspective.
- The sacral chakra is interested in the pleasure of eating
- The solar plexus chakra deals with the transformation of food into energy
The heart chakra acts as a bridge between the body (represented by the lower three chakras) and the mind (represented by the 5th, 6th and 7th chakras). Here are some of the most important lessons from your heart chakra when it comes to food:
- Infuse love into your meals by using only the highest quality ingredients (organic, locally grown and otherwise sourced).
- Express gratitude for a meal, especially one prepared with love.
- Share your meals with other people.
- Eat more plant foods and raw fruits and vegetables (for example, green leafy vegetables).
Here are some of the best green foods that resonate with your heart chakra:
- Fruits - avocados, green grapes, kiwis, pears, green apples, honeydew melons.
- Vegetables - Dark leafy greens (kale, spinach, arugula), broccoli, celery, bok choy, lettuce, collard greens, cucumber, Brussels sprouts.
- Legumes – Green beans, green peas, edamame.
Let love in
A balanced heart chakra allows other people to feel at peace when they are around you because you are full of joy, passion, and your heart is filled with love and faith.
The process of healing your green chakra involves opening and expanding your heart space letting in the energy of love.
Your heart chakra is your powerful healing center, and the energy of love is considered the ultimate healing force. All of the healing methods we've talked about in this article are fantastic tools you can use, but the best place to start your heart chakra healing journey would be to accept and love yourself.
You must not forget that your heart center is extremely powerful, and has an immense capacity to heal itself if you surrender to love.
