Anahata

Anahata: Fourth Chakra

When we think of the heart chakra we immediately think of love.  Green is the colour of the heart centre, a colour of abundance and plentitude.  But love and prosperity follow compassion and gratitude.  These qualities are what the heart chakra is all about.  When this energy centre is in balance we have kindness, devotion, acceptance, forgiveness, hope and empathy.

Air is the element of this chakra and when our fourth chakra is out of balance we feel a heaviness.  We are resentful, suspicious, possessive, passive and melancholy.  We become emotionally insensitive, dependant on others, sorrowful and depressed.  We begin to feel the imbalance physically as upper back and shoulder issues and with respiratory problems.

What exactly is Gratitude, Compassion?

Gratitude: the quality of feeling thankful. APPRECIATION

Compassion: a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another struck by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.  Mercy. Tenderness.  Clemency.

These are qualities we can access when things are going well.  But how easy is it to feel gratitude when our life is full of seemingly insurmountable challenges?  How much compassion do we feel towards the person that has hurt us so deeply it is painful to even think about?

We first need to understand and develop compassion for ourselves.  We are usually our harshest critic, the voice of our saboteur continually berating us for each misstep.  Unless we can look inward and take care of ourselves and learn self-compassion we will constantly be out of balance in the heart chakra.

For compassion to blossom we need to be in a state of Gratitude.

How do we do this in challenging times?  We find gratitude by accepting what we have, and what we have no control over.

When we are in a continual state of gratitude and compassion, me becomes we, there is Unity over all of our separation- gender, race and religion.  When we dwell here, we experience love.

Being loved by another increases the experience of the self as we are reflected in the eyes of another.

Ultimately we are able to feel love when we are able to truly love ourselves.  We become connected.  When we experience kindness compassion, forgiveness, of the self we are a formidable force of inspiration to those around us.  When we are heart centered we are more able to find the divinity around us, within us; finding gratitude in the most unlikely situations with ease.  And when the love of another wanes, we are less likely to be thrown out of alignment.

The Demon of this chakra is GRIEF.

Grief sits in the heart centre like a stone.  The deep mental anguish arising from bereavement, to be left feeling desolate.  Once it is lodged there it is difficult to open the heart centre.  It becomes difficult to breath.

When we deny grief we become cold and distant.  Rigid.  We begin to feel dead inside.  To acknowledge grief is to help unlock the heart.  To shed tears to process the truth.  HOPE is reborn.

When we fall in love we strip ourselves of our defenses, allowing us to expand and grow.  However when we are hurt in matters of love we are hurt in our most vulnerable trusting aspects.  The purest form of the self is wounded.

When we deny grief we abandon ourselves, and the feel sorrow for the loss of our authentic self.

To face our Grief we have to take the brave step for dealing with rejection; the universal fear that dwells at the core of every heart.  It brings us into our deepest despair, our darkest fears, and our heaviest grief.

It triggers feelings of helplessness, as we are unable to change the situation.   Our self- esteem plummets.

Rejection says we are unworthy, and then we reject our self.

This is where we need to understand compassion.  We can use rejection in a healthy way, to uncover some of our truths that we need to face.  We acknowledge our grief allowing us to reconnect with our core self.

The key to moving through grief is finding Forgiveness.  It is not to say that that the persons’ behaviour was ok, they are accountable for their choices or actions, but forgiveness is about releasing ourselves from the pain another has caused us.

The Unaligned Anahata

• Emotional: Sadness, loneliness, co-dependence, needy, masochistic, attached.
• Mental: Tormented, afraid, depressed, resentful.
• Physical: poor posture due to closed heart centre.
• Social: Aggressive or passive, co-dependant.
• Beliefs: No one is reliable, unable to trust others, believe undeserving of love.
• Behaviour: Self-serving, rescuing, seething hostility, passive aggressive, obsessive, compulsive, addictive, fanatic.

The Balanced Anahata

• Emotional: Balanced light, spirited, free, gentleness, unconditional love, devotion.
• Mental: Acceptance, open, fresh, clear, calm, detached objectivity, attitude of gratitude.
• Physcial: Stable centre, independent and self-emanating, strong immune system.
• Beliefs: unfettered by beliefs, openness.
• Behaviour: Harmonious to self, others and surroundings, integrity.

Try this …

Set yourself an assignment to do something unexpected even outrageous for someone else.  The joy is contagious, not only do you feel uplifted, and the person who receives your generosity will be touched at the heart.  For those who consider themselves already hopelessly co-dependant, you get a little bit more of a challenging assignment.  You do something fabulously outrageous for yourself.