In this series of discussion about chakra balancing in the human body, we have discussed about the first three chakras so let us now move on to the Fourth Chakra also known as the Anahata Chakra. The Anahata Chakra can be located in the spine at the centre of the chest. Due to its proximity to the heart it is also called the heart chakra.

Qualities of Anahata or Heart Chakra

As the name itself suggests this chakra controls love, compassion and all the matters that can be associated with the heart.  It is located in the middle of all the 7 chakras. It has three chakras on top and three below it. The lower three chakras are the body chakras and the three above the Fourth Chakra are the mind chakras. This is why the Anahata Chakra does the critical function of balancing the body and the mind. It balances the real with the ideal. It also balances the emotion with the logic.

Influence of Weak Anahata Chakra

Before you go about healing the Fourth Chakra you must be aware of some of the common symptoms that your heart chakra is weak.

The first indication is when you don’t open up and you are in a constant fear that you may be caught and hurt if you open your heart to others.

The second indication is when you cannot trust others. You always feel that people try to hurt you intentionally. This is why you cannot make strong relationships. Due to this you intentionally find faults and try to hurt others. The weak Fourth Chakra will not let you to forget and forego anything in life. This makes you emotionally very close.

When the Fourth Chakra is weak you try to become over suspicious. You may be clingy and over possessive. This will lead to your partner getting frustrated. This may also lead to a lot of stress in your personal life. The constant feeling that you suffer from is that your partner does not need you as much as you need them.

With a weak Fourth Chakra you tend to feel a lot of expectation from all the relationships that you have in your life. You expect people to behave in a certain manner and if they don’t you lose your temper. You may even become more aggressive. You feel that you must change the way people are behaving around you. In this attempt you may lose out some well-wishers. This is again going to frustrate you more.

The Fourth Chakra or the heart chakra can also have a strong influence on your physical body. The common physical problems that can be associated with the Fourth Chakra are chest pain, bronchitis, blood circulation problem, tension, breast cyst, arm and shoulder problem, etc. The list of the problems is a long one.

Balancing the Anahata Chakra

Reflect Deeply:

We will now discuss how you can heal and empower the Fourth Chakra. Try to look within yourself and see how exactly mercy and justice works. You must learn to forgive others and include you too in that list as no one is perfect. As humans we do mistakes and this is exactly why we must be forgiven. We cannot do justice to all as we are not Gods. This thought will ease your stress and make you more relaxed.

See The Bright Side:

When the Fourth Chakra is not working properly you will tend to get annoyed easily you have to control this. When you see a house that was messed up by your children you will feel annoyed. However, try to think how lucky you are that you have kids who mess up your house. This will make you feel better instantly. This is just an example. You can find out more things in your life to compare. This is a very powerful method to heal the Fourth Chakra. Whenever you see trouble, instead of getting annoyed and losing your temper just change the way you look at the situation.

Visualization:

The sound vibration technique also works for the Fourth Chakra. Imagine a green light radiating from the Fourth Chakra moving to all parts of your body. This light is slowly healing your body and making you feel better. Now imagine that this light is moving inside your body and healing the organs from inside.

Pranayama:

Bhramari pranayama is considered best for the heart chakra. Basically the word Bhramari means bee and true to its name, the

bhramari-pranayama

pranayama is performed just like the humming sound of  bees. You must sit still in any comfortable posture like say vajarasana or preferably padamasana. Then close your ear lobes with your hand as shown in the picture. Then inhale deeply and as you exhale, produce a sound of humming.

If you are less comfortable doing it in a sitting posture, you can also try doing it while lying down.

Asanas:

Many yoga asana can help you to balance the Anahata chakra as described here:

Stretching Out – Press your palms in front of your chest. Now using force take the palms away from each other. The palms should be facing away. The arms should be stretched out. As you take away your arms breathe out. You have to again bring back the arm in the original position. Whole doing so inhale and when you stretch out your palms exhale slowly. You must do one cycle in one second. You can go on for thirty to sixty seconds.

Gowmukhasana or Cow Face Pose

Garudasana or Eagle Pose

We will be putting separate posts on above two asanas.

All the best with your anahata chakra healing!!