Heart Center
Our ‘yoga heart’ lies at the center of our chest. Three fingers above the bottom of the sternum.
When in balance, the heart space becomes a center of exchanging love.
A very simple and comprehensive way to understand the energetics of this chakra is to see it as a constant balance between love and hate. When overactive there can be an abundance of giving and receiving actions rooted in love but to the point of leaving the center never feeling full…almost as if there were a hole and all of the energetics of love are coming in but also leaking out.
When underactive, there is an undertone of sadness and unworthiness. Any of the emotions that would be connected to hate or pain would be the most tangible ones to recognize.
The light and the dark must both exist in all of us. Through exploring the heart, we are able to get a good understanding about where our tendencies tend to lie and to acknowledge them.
Postural cues to come to balance at heart center are;
lift the skin of your chest up and over your trapezius muscles
drop your shoulder blades flat on your back body
lift your sternum upward while moving your lowest ribs backward
bring your palms together placing your thumbs at your heart center
Some mantra to help create more conscious flow in this region:
I am love
I am light
I love myself
I respect all life
I am worthy of love
I am worthy of light
I am worthy of respect
The heart chakra is one of the easiest ones to activate. Notice next time you are feeling sad or depressed and see if you can’t take note of your internal dialogue and posture.
Take a few breaths and be gentle with yourself.
Elongate your spine and lift your chest and see what type of internal dialogue shifts occur.
One note of caution would be to protect this area. Once you begin to open this area, people are going to be energetically drawn to you. It is perfectly acceptable to create a boundary to protect your energy and to be mindful and selective about who you choose to exchange energy with.
