What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than with a song about love, and encourage the opening of your Heart Chakra?
It’s likely that you’ve heard the Beatles song “All You Need is Love” and that you know these lyrics:
Love, love, love
All you need is love
Love is all you need
All you need is love, love
Love is all you need
Love is all you need
Have you ever paid attention to these lyrics?
Nothing you can do, but you can learn how to be you in time
It’s easy
How beautiful is that? “Learn how to be you in time.”
And,
There’s nowhere you can be that isn’t where you’re meant to be
It’s easy
Yes, this is where you are meant to be.
And all you need is (self) love.
Let’s explore how to open your heart chakra.
The word chakra is Sanskrit for wheel or disk. It is said that chakras are where energy and information align, where all the layers of life connect, and are the junction points between consciousness and physiology.
The life force prana moves through the channels of the body, and the idea is to have the chakra wheels spinning freely so that the chakras don’t block the energy, and are balanced rather than overactive or underactive. Toxins, undigested experiences, and repressed emotions can contribute to blocking the free spinning of the chakras. This slows down the movement of prana.
The heart chakra is all about being connected with yourself, and cultivating joy, self-love, and compassion.
The heart chakra is the fourth chakra, called the anahata chakra in Sanskrit. It is located at the center of the chest, and the associated with color the color green and your thymus gland.
The heart chakra holds the connection to both the physical and spiritual aspects of ourselves. Because it is at this pivotal location – connecting the physical and spiritual chakras – it also governs how we get in touch with our higher Self in relation to the world and the Universe.
When your heart chakra is out of harmony you can become disconnected from yourself, or have difficulty loving yourself, or are unable to give love from a genuine place, or do not feel deserving of love. Therefore you could have difficulty receiving love, and are out of touch with your true Self.
When your heart chakra is in harmony, you become fully connected to yourself: you easily cultivate joy, you love and accept yourself and others, you give and receive love genuinely, and feel compassion for yourself and for others.
Create a love ritual for yourself to open and clear your heart chakra with crystals, colors, affirmations, chanting, yoga, or drinking tea
Essential oils that can remove blockages in the heart chakra are rose, geranium, lavender, and ylang ylang. To help connect with the heart chakra you can anoint yourself with a few drops of essential oils at the center of your chest. Or, you can put a few drops in the palms of your hands, rub your hands together, and release the scent and energy as you open your palms to release the fragrance of the oils into the air around you, and deeply inhale the scent. You can also rest your hands on your heart, with the activated oils.
Crystals and stones can help diffuse energy blocks, especially rose quartz, emerald, and jade. You can also place a crystal or stone in your hand, your left hand which is the receiving hand, and place the crystal or stone on your heart.
Affirmations work! I invite you to take the time to intentionally create a connection with your heart chakra, and add these affirmations, out loud or silently:
- I fully and completely connect with myself in loving and compassionate ways, and extend that outward to those around me
- I receive and give love freely
- I am supported in elevating the vibration of my heart to one of joy
- I love and accept all of myself
Give yourself some roses. Roses resonate with the heart center. Make yourself rosebud tea and ingest the love of the roses. Or, get yourself some roses and enjoy their presence.
Chanting will open and clear the chakras, and the sound or vibration associated with the heart chakra is yam, a Sanskrit seed mantra. Practice chanting yam a few times either out loud or silently to yourself. (Yam rhymes with calm not ham!)
Yam
Yam
Yam
Yoga asanas/postures can also clear blockages of the chakras. There are are a few specifically helpful to the heart chakra.
First, is the Bear Hug:
- Sit or stand. Wrap your arms around yourself in a bear hug and take a few deeper breaths through your nose.
- Now, notice which arm is on top, and switch arms to give yourself another hug, while taking a few more breaths in and out.
- Release.
Tadasana, Mountain Pose:
- Sit or stand, feet firmly grounded. Imagine the crown of your head reaching to the sky.
- Interlock your fingers behind you and reach your hands downward. Take a few breaths.
- Gently look up if that is comfortable for you. Reach your heart center forward and up. Take a few more breaths through your nose.
- Release your hands, and bring them as if you are reaching to the sky. Gently gaze upwards.
- And release.
Care for your physical heart with these easy tips:
- Drink sufficient water, eight 8-ounce glasses a day. According to a teacher from India, Sadhguru, 50 percent of heart attacks can be prevented by drinking sufficient water.
- Mix it up and do something for the first time. When you let yourself explore and be playful, feel-good hormones are released and this balances your blood pressure which is good for your heart.
- Take a walk. Exercise and being in nature lowers blood pressure and improves mood.
- Pile on the produce and opt for vegetable-heavy meals. Numerous studies continue to show that fruits and vegetables contribute to cardiovascular health.
- Lastly, meditate. Many studies show that meditation is effective in relieving stress and lowering blood pressure and contributes to heart health.
Love, love, love
All you need is love
Love is all you need
All you need is love, love
Love is all you need
Love is all you need
Written By: Karen Allen, Faculty, Feast for the Soul
Karen Allen is a McLean- and Chopra-certified mindfulness and meditation teacher, and an Ayurvedic wellness and lifestyle teacher. Retired as an immigration attorney, she resides in the California Bay Area.
