The Heart Chakra
The Heart Chakra — known in Sanskrit as Anāhata — is your energetic center of love, compassion, forgiveness, and connection.
Located at the center of your chest, it acts as a bridge between the lower chakras of the body (our physical experience) and the higher chakras of spirit (our connection to the divine).
When the Heart Chakra is balanced, you move through the world with openness and kindness. You’re able to give and receive love freely — not just to others, but to yourself. You live from a place of harmony, acceptance, and emotional peace.
But when this chakra falls out of balance, you might notice feelings of loneliness, bitterness, grief, or jealousy. Physically, it can even show up as tension in the chest, shallow breathing, or heart and lung issues.
At a glance:
Gland connection: Thymus
Color: Green
Element: Air
Tarot: The Lovers, symbolic of true love and healing
The Star, symbolic of the love for humanity
Temperance, symbolic of the love and care of the soul
The Empress, symbolic of love and nurturing
Governs: All aspects of love’s connection and expression
Musical note: F
Mantra: Yam
Vowel sound: AY (like the “a” sound in “play”)
Frequency: 639 Hz
Balancing the Heart Chakra
The heart chakra concerns the right to love and be loved. If the lower three chakras – root, sacral and solar plexus – cover the more physical and emotional aspects of ourselves, the heart chakra is the gateway that connects the lower three chakras to the upper three that embody our higher self, higher frequencies and higher consciousness.
The mind-body connection exists at the level of the heart.
As you balance and work on each chakra, your wisdom and awareness grow. It is at the heart where your ego takes a back seat to your higher self, allowing the most authentic version to ripple to the surface. This paves the way for engaging life from a heart-centered perspective.
The heart chakra affects your life in terms of your relationships, how “deserving” you feel to receive love from others, and how much you see and feel love around you. It represents how much you accept ourself as you are, how much you respect others, but also your capacity to forgive others for their transgressions.
Your level of compassion and empathy towards yourself and those around you affect and are affected by this chakra. The heart chakra embodies how you see yourself in relation to the world and those around you.
It’s important to bring this chakra into balance because then you can learn to find your strength and place in the world using the power of love. In the process, you become more present and loving along the way.
This means that you begin to let go of judgement, understand that you ARE worthy of love, and that you – and every other being – is divine. You exude more peace and more love, in general, when this chakra is flowing and balanced.
Love, then, catalyzes your transformation.
A Balanced Heart Chakra
When you encounter someone who has a balanced heart chakra, they display signs of unconditional love. They choose to view the world with love. They are optimistic, friendly, peaceful and have great capacity for empathy.
When the Heart Chakra is Too Open
A heart chakra that is too open manifests in someone with any, some or all of the following characteristics that concern emotional behavior: clinginess, smothering displays of love, and adopting the role of a martyr. They might be prone to angry outbursts, fits of jealousy and/or possessive behavior. Co-dependency is another symptom. They are only capable of conditional love even as they might feel unworthy of being loved themselves.
A Blocked Heart Chakra
A heart chakra that has reduced energy flow or is blocked manifests in someone with any, some or all of the following characteristics that concern emotional behavior: They might wallow in self-pity, fear rejection, or dread loneliness. They might have trouble committing to a relationship and complain of feeling disconnected from others, sometimes even from themselves. Low self esteem is another sign of a heart chakra imbalance, along with feelings of depression. They might feel resentful of others or engage in excessive self-criticism. They can also be prone to feeling bitter about life.
Physical Symptoms
If the solar plexus chakra remains unbalanced long enough, physical symptoms can manifest.
If the heart chakra remains unbalanced long enough, physical symptoms can manifest. Some of those physical symptoms include breathing difficulties, high blood pressure, heart trouble, cancer, asthma, as well as circulation problems.
How to balance this chakra:
You don’t have to do everything listed to help balance this chakra. Try different activities, then pick the ones that are the most effective for you.
Aromatherapy:
Try rose, eucalyptus, mint, or geranium essential oil. These can be used in a carrier oil (always test first!) or with a diffuser (but do not use diffusers you have pets in the house).
Crystal healing:
Carry a green or pink crystal with you or put directly on the chakra area as you meditate. These include jade, malachite, emerald, green aventurine, green/pink tourmaline, and rose quartz.
Color therapy:
Stare at objects that are green in color or meditate with them, such as with a green-colored mandala. You can also try wearing green clothing to remind yourself that you are working on balancing this chakra.
Exercises:
To help further open this chakra, it’s important to engage in activities you love or those that have special importance to you.
Another way to balance this chakra is to work on your own feelings of resentment or unresolved arguments.
You have to DECIDE to see everything as love and set aside judgement.
Regularly telling your partner and family how much you love them can open the heart, as can a practice of gratitude. This can look like verbally sharing what you are grateful for, giving praise to others and recognizing them for their contributions, mindful appreciation, or even keeping a gratitude journal. Reviewing the positive parts of your life is another meaningful way to open the heart.
Get mindful:
Of course mindfulness and meditation are two powerful ways to open up the heart, especially those that include working on forgiveness. Love and kindness meditations can be particularly powerful. Engaging in breathwork is another practical way to help you open this chakra.
Heart Chakra eating:
Additionally, it’s important to eat more healthful “green” foods such as spinach, kale, Swiss chard, broccoli, peas, green beans, green apples, kiwi, green pears, green olives, cucumber, lentils, celery, arugula, green grapes. Herbs and spices such as parsley, cilantro, cumin, dill, basil, oregano, micro algae (chlorella, spirulina), green tea, and matcha are other great foods to incorporate.
Guided Meditation:
When you balance Anāhata, you begin to view the world through the lens of empathy and connection. You see the divine in others and in yourself. This is where healing truly begins — through compassion, gratitude, and the courage to love again.
Once you’ve read this post, you can go even deeper with the Guided Heart Chakra Meditation, where you’ll experience healing through breath, visualization, and affirmation.
💚 Watch the Guided Heart Chakra Meditation here → link live on 16 October 2025.
