Anahata – Surrender to Love

Opening the heart center and allowing yourself to surrender to love is the greatest gift you can give yourself.

Chakra four, Anahata, is at the very center of our energy system. Here, in the heart area,  the energy moving up from the lower realms joins with the higher being, creating  unity and the realization of Oneness.

We spend lifetimes protecting our hearts not realizing that only willful surrender will allow us to connect with love. The barriers we put up block the flow of energy in this center until it either closes up and is unable to feel, or the emotional charge becomes too much and it oozes neediness becoming heavy and burdensome.

Experiences between 4 and 7 years of age have the greatest impact on this chakra.  Once we have mastered impulse control, we are ready to socialize. This is the time of play groups, kindergarten and school. We want to be loved so we try to win love and approval often behaving contrary to our true selves. Boys learn they cannot cry while girls learn they can’t be angry. We begin to hide those emotions and distance ourselves from who we are. At this time in life, divorce, death in the family or other traumatic events shape our relationship with love of ourselves and of others.

Later in life, betrayals, heart breaking love affairs and other perceived rejections just serve to reinforce these blockages. Issues of giving and receiving come up as well as trust and vulnerability and the holding of suppressed anger, sadness or grief.

Yoga and connecting with that loving Higher Self facilitates balance and healing of the fourth chakra.

Poses that open the chest area help push through the blockages that have resulted from loss, rejection or abandonment. These energetic blocks  affect not only the heart but the lungs, diaphragm , ribs, shoulder blades and the entire respiratory system. They can also compromise the functioning of the thymus which, during our growth period, is responsible for the healthy development of our immune system.

As bodily sensations they can be felt as tightness, rigidity, pain and shortness of breath.

If not addressed, these sensations become disorders of the heart and the circulatory system and diseases such as asthma, breast or lung cancer.

By bringing attention to what we are feeling in this area in poses such as cobra, bow, fish and child’s pose, we begin to release mental and emotional blocks that appear as sensations in the front and back of the heart. Releases here can appear as prolonged and intense crying or as a sudden sense of spaciousness and opening. Other Asanas include shoulder blade and arm openers, yoga mudra and diamond. Take time between poses and sides to feel. From that feeling allow energy to guide your practice.

The element of Anahata is Air. Pranayama and the expansion of yogic breath serves to open the heart area. As the heart expands, Ego dissolves and is replaced with forgiveness, empathy and generosity. The heart radiates love. Its masculine quality translates as protection and support. The feminine aspect nurtures and connects.

Other practices such as meditation include focusing on self-love and acceptance and softness.

Feeling fully that which we are ready to let go and filling our hearts with gratitude for what we appreciate in ourselves and in our life are also wonderful ways to heal. We can take this a step further as we show appreciation for others by taking time to be with them, by giving them attention and small conscious acts of love.

All of these practices help us recognize that we are the source of our own experience and wholeness. When we find our way to love we begin our spiritual journey.