4th Chakra, HEART

THE FOURTH CHAKRA is located in your heart center and represents your intuition and love. Organs associated with the Fourth Chakra include the heart, lungs, blood vessels, shoulders, ribs, breasts, diaphragm, and upper esophagus. Spiritual and emotional issues that can block energy in the Fourth Chakra are emotional expression; the capacity to fully express and resolve anger, hostility, joy, love, grief and forgiveness; the balance of giving and receiving and nurturing of self verses nurturing of others. Physical dysfunctions that can occur are: heart attacks, hypertension, chest pain, congestive heart failure, asthma, allergies, lung cancer, pneumonia, upper back and shoulder problems, and breast cancer.

The energy of the Heart allows us to recognize that we are part of something larger, that we are interconnected within an intricate web of relationships extending through life and the universe.

The fourth chakra is at the center of the seven chakras with three below and three above. This is the area where physical and spiritual meet. The fourth chakra, also referred to as the heart chakra, is located at the center of the chest and includes the heart, cardiac plexus, thymus gland, lungs, and breasts. It also rules the lymphatic system. The Sanskrit word for the fourth chakra is Anahata, which means “unstruck” or “unhurt.” The name implies that beneath the hurts and grievances of past experiences lies a pure and spiritual place where no hurt exists.

Some people choose to live in the place of grievances. They’ve been hurt in the past by parents, siblings, classmates, or loves. Maybe you’ve been there too. It’s impossible to avoid situations where someone may try to hurt you. But you get to choose what to do with that hurt. Some people might try to hurt the other person back. Yet, that is not living from a place of compassion. The person who inflicts pain on others is coming from a place of fear, ignorance or hatred, all of which represent a closed heart chakra.

When you encounter hurt feelings from your past or present, you can choose to feel them fully and let them go or hold onto them. By letting them go, you’re able to open your heart to new people and new experiences with compassion, love, and understanding. Holding onto hurt harbors negative feelings and cuts you off from opportunities to love and serve. Letting go is as easy as making a choice. Your mind and your ego may tell you otherwise but it’s as simple as choosing to let go and move on.

When your heart chakra is open, you are flowing with love and compassion, you are quick to forgive, and you accept others and yourself. A closed heart chakra can give way to grief, anger, jealousy, fear of betrayal, and hatred toward yourself and others.

Walking in another person’s shoes is not easy to do, but can be helpful in fostering a sense of empathy. To help create empathy and compassion, I like to play a game called, “the what if scenarios.” When encountering a person who is being unpleasant or who has treated me poorly in the past, I quickly take my mind through a host of what ifs. For example, ask yourself, “What if that person is just having a bad day?” or “What if that person just lost his job?” “What if she just learned her husband was having an affair?” “What if he was just diagnosed with an illness?” As you create these stories, of which the possibilities are endless, you begin to empathize with the other person and his or her situation. This method takes you away from yourself and self-pity and places compassion onto the other person.

Now, let’s suppose that there’s a family member or close friend who just repeats a pattern of inflicting hurt on a constant basis. You can still offer love and compassion either from a distance or by setting boundaries. In any case, know that when someone chooses to hurt you, it’s almost never about you. It’s about them.

Take any opportunity you can to foster love and loving feelings. Love is a currency and whatever you give will come back to you.

Use Shamanessence 4th Chakra Oil to help activate and clear the heart center, allowing the energy of the solar plexus and throat to travel through.

The mantra sound corresponding to the fourth chakra is the sound YUM. A special mantra to help expand love and compassion is OM MANI PADME HUM. You can repeat this mantra in meditation to gain greater access to these qualities.