Fourth Chakra - Heart

Sanskrit Name; Meaning : Anahata; Unstruck
Location : Heart / Chest area
Affirmation : “I love.”
Central Power : To love and be loved
Element : Air ^[1]

The fourth chakra falls right in the middle of the seven major chakra centers; there are three chakras below associated more with the physical body and three chakras above associated more with the spiritual body. Because of this, the fourth chakra is a major gateway between the heavenly energies above and the earthly energies below. The heart chakra is in the middle of the seven chakras for a reason; it is the middle ground where mind and body meet… because love is the central tenet, not creation. The more emotionally stable you are, the better equipped you are to deal with future challenges.^[2]

The heart chakra is the place where above and below mix and where energy is processed through the lens of compassion, empathy, and love. It is the location that generates the highest vibration, frequency, and energy that humanity can emulate: love. Love, love, love! This chakra is entirely associated with the heart and love, including things like balance, self-love, relationships, intimacy, and self-acceptance. People who find powerful expression in this fourth chakra are typically peaceful, very compassionate and loving, and are empathetic and altruistic.^[3]

While we could spend hours and days writing down information about love and the prospects in relationships, altruism, and intimacy, this last paragraph will be devoted to the importance of the heart chakra when it pertains to balance. Since the heart chakra is the middle point in the system of seven centers, balance is an essential principle at this level of integration. This implies both internal balance between various aspects of ourselves (mind and body, persona and shadow, male and female), as well as balance between ourselves and the world around us (work and play, giving and receiving, socializing and being alone). Finding this equilibrium supports the basic issues of love and relationship, for without balance within ourselves it is difficult, if not impossible, to achieve healthy and long-lasting love relationships.^[4] It is very important to focus on the “center point” as a means of “finding the balance” within a person’s entire life experience.

The fourth center or heart chakra, is situated midway between the two breasts. When stimulus comes into the body it is registered in the first chakra. The response is a change in the electromagnetic field of the first chakra, producing an energy flow out of the first center, into the center, out the third, and into the heart chakra. In many of us the heart chakra is typically the place where this flow of energy is absorbed or drained from the field. The heart chakra is also one of the main locations of tension in the body; neck and shoulder problems start in the back of the heart chakra as well. However, if energy is not drained or absorbed when it enters the heart center, it is then free to continue out.^[5]

As should be clear with the chakra centered around the heart, the physical manifestation of issues within this center are located almost entirely to disorders of the heart. It also relates with issues related to the lungs, such as asthma, thymus, breasts, and down into the arms, mostly due to circulation. A “weak heart” can also be associated with immune system deficiencies, high or low blood pressure, and general tension between the shoulder blades or pain in the chest.^[3] This chakra affects the whole system - vascular, lymphatic, skeletal, and muscular ,etc. - where the other chakras do only to a limited extent.^[6]

Physical stress can pour into the heart chakra. Emotional stress can pour into the heart chakra. External issues can pour into the heart chakra. This chakra is a receiver and giver of energy because it serves as a middle point between all the other centers. Hence why this chakra is so important for the physical body, is involved in so many systems in the human body, and requires a lot more stout attention to its physicality, because the heart as an organ is one of the few major ones we cannot live without.

Heart centered energy is one that you can feel enlivened when you express your love to something you cherish greatly, especially when that is directed right back into your being in the form of self-love. Its importance in the major chakra centers becomes a place of growth for many along their journeys in life and beyond. There is no denying when you have run across someone who you see as not embodying love, and you know that horrible feeling that you feel when you are around them or watch them express energy in some form from that of the lower chakras that seems devoid of love, compassion, care, or empathy.

Sadly, the fourth chakra is an area of growth and development that not everyone is able to understand and comprehend because it does come down to consciousness, or awareness. It is the first chakra that requires more than just physical development for it to be understood, because it is the first chakra to step beyond what is easily measured by science. Whereas the lower three chakras - the physical, emotional, and mental bodies - are self-evident and culturally more clearly understood, the upper chakras require more explanation. The fourth chakra, or heart center, is identified as the astral body or plane; it is the first level beyond three-dimensional reality, that experiential level just above the physical, emotional, and intellectual planes. The astral is the realm or level of consciousness that bridges the dimensions of matter and spirit… The astral plane also represents the level of consciousness wherein transformation and transpersonal are made possible.^[7]

In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, along with many various Eastern philosophical and ancient teachings and wisdom, the concept of the heart chakra is best personified by the heart-mind. In Sanskrit, the word citta translates into “mind” and “heart”, or heart-mind. The idea here is that the heart is actually the place where conscious love and the “heart of the Enlightened Mind” exist. It is the place upon which when we “think we the heart” it motivates our choices through compassionate action. When we feel the love of our interconnectedness with our Self, our highest power, and our fellow beings on this earth, and when we enact actions through our heart-mind, it creates a greater sense of belonging, care, and empathy for the world around us. As the old adage has said: being led by the heart has never led you astray. Or as a favorite of this author? Strong back, soft heart: this is the Way.

[1] Judith, A. (2006). Introduction: Sacred Centers of the Self. In Eastern body, Western Mind: Psychology and the Chakra system as a Path to the Self (pp. 10-11). essay, Alchemy.
[2] Jelusich, R. (2004). Chapter 10: Fourth Chakra - The Empath. In Eye of the Lotus: Psychology of the Chakras (pp. 130-131). essay, Lotus.
[3] Judith, A. (2006). Chakra Four: Finding the Balance in Love. In Eastern body, Western Mind: Psychology and the Chakra system as a Path to the Self (pp. 222). essay, Alchemy.
[4] Judith, A. (2006). Chakra Four: Finding the Balance in Love. In Eastern body, Western Mind: Psychology and the Chakra system as a Path to the Self (pp. 230). essay, Alchemy.
[5] Bruyere, R. L. (1994). What is an Aura?. In Wheels of Light: Chakras, Auras and the Healing Energy of the Body (pp. 69). essay, Simon & Schuster.
[6] Jelusich, R. (2004). Chapter 10: Fourth Chakra - The Empath. In Eye of the Lotus: Psychology of the Chakras (pp. 127). essay, Lotus.
[7] Bruyere, R. L. (1994). Wheels of Power. In Wheels of Light: Chakras, Auras and the Healing Energy of the Body (pp. 46). essay, Simon & Schuster.