Giving and Receiving: Reconciling Our Heart Chakra

What's Love Got To Do with It?

In our society as we know it today, we are obsessed with the idea of love. Think of the endless list of movies, television shows, books, songs (pull up America's Top 40 and see how many of them are talking about love), and so many more examples.
While love rests in our fourth chakra, this "love," an overly sensationalized and confusing emotion, is not what we are talking about. The love that we are reconnecting with is not a love that is earned or sought after, but rather the love that we are rightfully born with and entitled to. It is unconditional and everlasting. 
Unfortunately, many individuals have been damaged by a convoluted love, be it from a family member, friend, romantic partner, etc. Today, we are talking about what it is that are heart chakra deserves as well as methods, exercises, and tips to reclaim that dazzling green gem residing within ourselves.

Anahata: reclaiming our right to love and be loved

Residing at the center of the chest, the heart center feels the power of love with every breath you take. It makes sense that the element that represents with chakra is air! Unseen and all around us, love and air is what gives us life. Some may have a deficient heart center. A deficient heart chakra can be manifest in many ways. One individual may have trouble expressing love, care, and compassion. This may stem from poor examples of love from childhood (often seen in children and/or adults with divorced parents) or from a lack of trust in others. Other individuals may have closed off the heart chakra and is unable to let love in (e.g. an avoidance, denial, or rejection of compliments, fear of commitment, difficulty with intimacy.) These individuals often have poor self-confidence and/or self-image.

On the other hand, individuals may have an excess heart chakra. These are individuals who never say no (who may even fear to say no), give recklessly, or who needs to be friends with everyone. People with these traits often do not understand rejection and take rejection very personally. Individuals with an excess heart chakra have the tendency to manifest these behavior due to poor grounding and self-acceptance. The mentality is often times, "If I do x, y, and z for this person/these people, I will be loved." If you feel that you exhibit these traits, I recommend you read my blog on the root chakra as well.

If your heart chakra needs a reset, here are some of our tips:

• Take deep breaths; fill up your heart center by filling up your lungs! Take notice of how the body feels and reacts to breathing deeply and moving that air/prana through the fourth chakra
• Practice heart openers; some of our favorites are cobra pose, standing backbend, camel, bridge pose, and supported fish pose.
• Practice random acts of kindness; this can be anything from holding the door open for someone to volunteering for a local organization. I made it a habit to smile at people as I pass them.
• Love yourself; first thing when you wake up, give yourself a big hug! Why? Because you deserve it! This helps us to reteach ourselves that we have a right to be loved.
• Practice positive affirmations; write them on sticky notes and leave them around the home, set them as your desktop, or set them as alerts in your phone.

Have something you would like to add to our list? Leave us a comment below! We want to hear! And don't forget to like and share to show some love.(;