Open your heart: The Heart Chakra

By Amy Adams RYT

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that we all want to be loved and be more loving. Sometimes we get stuck. We give too much. We don't receive enough. We give our hearts away, we lose ourselves all in the name of love. We don't have to when we work towards balancing our heart energies. We can open to receive and give love more freely when our heart chakra is in balance. Your heart chakra, our heart chakras are part of our energy bodies. But before we look more deeply into the heart chakra, it occurred to me that some readers may not be aware of the chakra system. So in case you don't know about chakras yet, I'll start there.

What is a chakra?

Simply stated a chakra is a wheel of energy. As part of an energy system chakras are wheels of light that absorb and transmit cosmic energy in and out of the body. This energy or life force is known as chi, prana, life force, etc. If you've heard of them before then you'll probably know that there are seven primary chakras. The primary chakras run from the base of your spine through the top of your head. The seven primary "chakras correspond to specific endocrine glands with almost identical functions and descriptions (e.g. the thyroid corresponding to the throat chakra.)" All in all, there are 114 chakras in this energy system. They spin smoothly when in balance. When energy gets stuck it can create an imbalance in our mental and physical bodies. Now to the heart of the matter.

Open Your Heart: Anahata Chakra

Symbolism & Attributes

All of the chakras are represented symbolically as lotus flowers. The symbol for the heart chakra is depicted as a twelve petaled lotus with each petal representing an attribute that we can place our focus. These include; joy, peace, kindness, presence, love, harmony, clarity, compassion, purity, understanding, forgiveness and bliss.

the Merkaba

Within the symbol is the two-dimensional representation of the Star of David, a six-pointed star or hexagram which connects two-dimensions. As a three-dimensional representation, it is two tetrahedrons that spin in opposite directions creating a three-dimensional energy field that expands in four directions. This is also known as the Merkaba which literally means light [mer] spirit [ka], body [ba].

Below the heart chakra is the solar plexus chakra or Manipura which is the uppermost chakra that represents our connection to the physical planes of existence. The three chakras above the heart are connected to the 'spiritual' planes. Thus, it makes perfect sense that the Merkaba unites both within the heart.

The Merkaba consists as two-star tetrahedrons - one pointing up to the heavens, channels energy down from the cosmos to the earth plane, and one pointing downwards, draws energy up from the earth beneath. The upwardpointing tetrahedron is male rotating clockwise, with the one pointing below representing female energy and rotates counterclockwise.

Chakra Basics Infographic