Heart Chakra
The heart chakra, known as Anahata chakra, is the fourth of the seven main chakras and is associated with love, compassion, connection, and emotional balance.
- Location: Center of the chest
- Color: Green (sometimes pink)
- Element: Water
- Meaning: “Unstruck” or “unhurt” (from Sanskrit Anahata)
The heart chakra is your center of connection—it influences how you:
- Give and receive love
- Feel compassion and empathy
- Form relationships
- Forgive yourself and others
It’s often seen as the bridge between the lower chakras (survival, emotion, action) and the upper chakras (communication, insight, awareness).
The heart chakra is linked to:
- Emotional openness
- Compassion and kindness
- Trust and connection
- Inner peace and acceptance
When it is balanced
You may feel:
- Loving and compassionate
- Emotionally balanced
- Connected to others without losing yourself
- Able to forgive and move forward
When it is out of balance
A blocked or underactive heart chakra may look like:
- Emotional withdrawal
- Difficulty trusting others
- Fear of vulnerability
- Loneliness or resentment
An overactive heart chakra can look like:
- Over-giving or self sacrifice
- Losing boundaries in relationships
- Seeking approval or attachment excessively
Practices associated with the heart chakra
People who work with the heart chakra often focus on:
- Acts of compassion and kindness
- Gratitude practices
- Breathwork and heart-centered meditation
- Spending time with loved ones or in nature
- Practicing forgiveness and healthy boundaries
Links to the Physical Body
A balanced heart chakra aids in balancing the thymus gland. It also is linked to the heart, obviously, the circulatory system, and the immune system. Problems in any of these areas often times show an unbalanced heart chakra, which suggests an emotional block around Love, sometimes caused by grief of one sort or another. There is also a link to a fear of violation and deception, for example rape, affairs, etc.
Enhancing Self Awareness enables us to sense when the body is signalling that a story we are telling ourselves needs to be changed from within. Understanding our thoughts, emotions and physical body, as well as our patterns and habits, enables us to see where we are stuck and make changes which then enhance our physical health.
So, with the heart chakra, understanding how we are closing our heart through fear, not able to be vulnerable, not able to trust, is a first step to opening our heart. Unconditional love develops over time.
The Heart Chakra is the Centre between the lower, more physical chakras and the upper, more spiritual ones, and is connected with love, compassion, and connection.