The heart chakra is one of my favourite chakras to work with, because it’s a really potent energetic centre.
Heart energy, and the energy of love, is one of the most powerful energies to work with in your spiritual practice.
If you’re interested in learning more about anahata chakra and how you can activate and energise your heart centre in your yoga practice, keep reading…
What Is Anahata Chakra (The Heart Centre)?
In hatha yoga, kundalini yoga, and tantra yoga philosophy, anahata chakra is known as the fourth chakra.
Anahata chakra is sometimes called the heart chakra or the heart centre.
The heart chakra is part of the pranic subtle energy system, and is located along the spine, close to the area of the heart organ.
What Does Anahata Chakra Represent?
The heart is internationally recognised as the symbol of love, and the heart chakra is known as the ‘seat of love’, or centre of love.
Anahata chakra is associated with unconditional love, compassion, charity, giving, harmony, balance, stillness, inner peace, healing, calmness, and serenity.
Other Divine qualities of the heart centre include bliss, understanding, empathy, clarity, purity, unity, kindness, and forgiveness.
The Sanskrit word ‘anahata’ is roughly translated to mean “unhurt”, “unstruck”, or “unbeaten”.
And the term anāhata nāda is associated with the Vedic concept of the ‘unstruck sound’ or the sound of the celestial realm.
It is said that the lower chakras (muladhara chakra, svadhistana chakra, and manipura chakra) are ruled by the laws of karma, which means that the individual is bound by fate due to karma (with regard to the lower chakras).
However, anahata chakra is said to hold the ability to make decisions outside of the bounds of karma.
With the heart chakra, it is said that the individual can make their own decisions, especially in terms of following their heart and the nature of their Higher Self.
As opposed to being controlled by fate, karma, unfulfilled emotions, animalistic instincts, or lowly desires ruled by the lower chakras.
The heart centre is regarded as the inner temple which houses the soul. When we refer to the ‘self’, we often point to or touch the heart, signifying that we identify the heart with our spiritual centre and sense of self.
Anahata chakra is not to be confused with hridaya chakra, also known as hrit, surya chakra and the spiritual heart.
Below, slightly to the left, and very close to the heart chaka, is the hridaya spiritual heart, or hridaya heart.
The hridaya heart is a minor energetic centre that is said to be the inner temple of Supreme Consciousness (atman).
If you’d like to learn more about the stages of healing and spiritual awakening, you can check out my article here.
What Is Associated With Anahata Chakra (The Heart Chakra)?
The heart chakra is associated with green and grey, and the element of air.
It’s usually symbolised by a lotus flower with 12 petals, a six-pointed star (shatkona), and the seed syllable ‘yam’.
The sense organ associated with anahata chakra is touch, the action organ associated with the heart chakra is the action of the hands, and it is often associated with the thymus gland too.
The knot of Vishnu (vishnu granthi) is associated with both the heart chakra (anahata chakra) and the solar plexus chakra (manipura chakra).
The deity associated with anahata chakra is Rudra, the devi associated with the heart chakra is Vaishnavi and the yogini is Rakini.
When To Work With The Heart Chakra
It can really help to work with the heart chakra when you’re healing trauma, wanting to surrender into unconditional love, or tap into vulnerability, forgiveness and compassion.
Depending upon the intention of your practice, the heart centre can feel peaceful and still with omnipresent love and bliss, and at other times it can invoke a lot of ‘crunchy’ emotion due to its capacity to encourage deeper spiritual healing.
It’s very common for tears of joy or tears of healing and release to arise when working with the heart centre.
How To Practice With Anahata Chakra And Energise The Heart Centre
Yoga Poses For The Heart Chakra
To help energise and activate the heart chakra you can practice these yoga poses (asana):
- childs pose (balasana)
- cobra pose (bhujangasana)
- cow face pose (gomukhasana)
- diamond pose (vajrasana)
- easy pose (sukhasana)
- fish pose (matsyasana)
- mountain pose (tadasana)
- tree pose (vrikshasana)
- warrior one (virabhadrasana ekam)
- wind relieving pose (pavana muktasana)
Mantras For The Heart Chakra
If you want to work with the heart chakra using vibration and sound, the seed mantra (bija mantra) for anahata chakra are ‘yam’ and ‘hrim’.
You can recite ‘yam’ or ‘hrim’ whilst using mala beads for a japamala meditation practice.
Simply come to a comfortable seated meditation position. Close your eyes and settle into the breath.
Focus on the heart space and repeat the mantra as long as feels comfortable, or until you’ve completed one full round of your mala.
Be sure to check out my free Sacred Chants + Mantras playlist for ‘yam’ heart chakra meditation music.
You can put this on quietly in the background whilst engaging in some restorative heart-opening asanas such as the supported fish pose (supta matsyasana).
Simply use a block or a bolster under the upper back so that you can surrender and melt into your heart-opening yoga poses whilst listening to the yam mantra.
General Yoga Practices For The Heart Chakra
Anjali mudra and apan vayu mudra are both good mudras for the energy (prana) of the heart chakra.
Anjali mudra helps you to focus on the heart centre, and come back to a state of peace, balance, and harmony in alignment with your Higher Self.
Whilst apan vayu mudra is said to be strengthening for the heart.
Rose quartz is known as the ‘Stone of Unconditional Love’ and works really well with the heart chakra due to its healing qualities that are centred around love, compassion and peace.
You can incorporate rose quartz into your practice by having rose quartz in the room, or making a rose quartz talisman.
Simply cleanse and charge your rose quartz crystal using holy water, incense and moonlight, and then keep the rose quartz on you at all times during the day, and by your bedside or under your pillow at night.
Bhakti yoga, the yoga of sacred devotion, and karma yoga, the yoga of right action are also great practices to align yourself with the heart chakra.
Bhakti yoga allows you to tune into sacred love for the Divine, and karma yoga purifies the heart through selfless service to the universe as a cosmic whole.
When working with the heart chakra, make sure that you’re in a safe space to do so, because it can feel very vulnerable to work with and open up anahata chakra.
Due to the deep and raw nature of working with the heart chakra, it can be good to cleanse and protect your space before and after your practice by smudging or sprinkling holy water.
Depending upon what you plan to do after your practice, it can often be beneficial to close your practice by working with the root chakra (muladhara chakra) to ground yourself, and protect yourself, before connecting back with the day-to-day realities of the manifest world.
Final Thoughts…
The heart chakra is a wonderful tool for healing, inner peace, and serenity.
Will you explore your heart chakra in your next yoga class?
If you’d like to learn more about ajna chakra, the third eye, then check out my article here.
*It’s important to note, that some of the modern-day associations with the chakras, such as their ‘colours’ were not originally derived from the ancient Sanskrit texts.
The colours associated with the chakras, amongst some other associations such as crystals, are ‘new-age’ associations that have developed during the modern yoga period.
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