4. The Heart Chakra

The Heart Chakra is in the center of the 7 Chakras and maintains the balance between the upper three and lower three. Also known as “Anahata”, this chakra is aligned to the color green, the musical note F, the planet Venus, the element Air, and the Sacred sound “Yam”. The Heart Chakra is located right on the heart and is attuned to the Cardiac Plexus.

I find it interesting that all our lives we already know about the Heart Chakra since many believe the heart is the location of love in the human body. Especially during the holidays, we “open our hearts” to give gifts to family, friends, and the less fortunate. So you really already know about the Heart Chakra. This chakra is associated with love and giving/receiving.

The chakra before the Heart, the Solar Chakra, focused on personal creativity. The Solar Chakra is thought of as the Chakra of power where creativity and compassion are born and nourished. And now with the Heart Chakra with it’s element is air–like a breeze picking up a seedling– works to disperse creativity and positive self-esteem throughout your life.

Your heart chakra may be out of balance if you cannot trust yourself or others, if you feel unloved or unworthy of love. If you are getting caught up in your feelings, or what others may think of you, it’s a sign that your heart chakra may need some attention. Additionally, jealousy and resistance to change arise when the heart chakra is out of balance. Physical signs that the heart chakra needs healing include wheezing, breathing trouble, ulcers, and chest infections.

Crystals used to heal the Heart Chakra include but are not limited to: Green Aventurine, Rose Quartz, and Rhodonite. Many green and pink stones will align with the Heart Chakra.

Green Aventurine helps your heart let go of old ways and habits allowing for growth and change. Aventurine is also ideal for fending social disputes and instead opens the heart to other’s perspectives and friendly communication. Placed on the heart chakra, Green Aventurine will align the heart to these ideas, or this stone can be worn or kept on the person to invite these things into your life.

Rose Quartz, like all quartz crystals, is an ideal purifier and will clear out any negativity, jealousy and anger from the heart and replace it with love and compassion.

Rhodonite helps open the heart to be more giving and respectful to mankind. This crystal will also defeat anxiety and bring grounding love into your life.

1. The Root Chakra

The first of the seven standard Chakras is located at the base of the spine. Known as the Root or Base Chakra, it’s Sanskrit name is “Muladhara”, musical note is B, color is red, and sacred sound is “Lam”. The Plexus’–or bundles of nerves or vessels in the body-that the root chakra aligns to are the Lumbar and Coccygeal Plexus’. Both are located at the bottom part of the spine.

Survival instincts and physical state are the main focus of the root chakra. With the right types of healing exercises, the root chakra works to keep issues related to these focuses at bay. Say you are having trouble accepting your body, you are feeling restless, or lacking physical energy. Maybe you are having financial problems and don’t know if or how you can pay next month’s rent. Perhaps you aren’t eating as well as you normally do, or you are having suicidal thoughts. Of course not all of these issues can be completely healed by meditation, or crystal healing, but it is likely that self-healing exercises can aid in the healing process. I’m not a doctor nor are many practicing chakra healers, so please don’t depend on me for medical advice. However, the root chakra is centered on these types of issues and when healed, can ground you in a healthier and safer state of mind.

Like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs where physiological needs need to be attained before reaching self actualization, the Root chakra needs to be healed to create stability in the rest of the body and mind. Once this stability is obtained, one can move on to healing the next Chakra. It would be difficult to try and open your 3rd eye to become more spiritual if you were constantly worried about your weight or financial state. There is an order in which certain needs must be addressed. One must focus on physical needs before gaining the privilege of wondering how to improve creativity skills or harness a sense of accomplishment. That is why the Root chakra comes first, because it must be addressed before any of the other chakras for the best healing.

Crystal healing is often associated with the Chakras so with each Chakra that I share with you, I will list crystals which focus on healing the chakra at hand. To use crystals in chakra healing, place the crystal on the chakra area for 20 minutes while laying down in a quiet, undisturbed space.

Crystals aligned with the Root chakra include but are not limited to: Jet, Red Jasper, Smokey Quartz, Bloodstone, Fire Agate, Stichtite, Obsidian, and Red Calcite. As you can see, many of the stones are red, like the color of the Chakra. This will be a reoccurring theme as we move on to the other chakras.

To wrap up, let me tell you about the first three stones I’ve listed:

1. Jet is a very dark matte-black stone which aids in taking control of life and stabilizing financial situations. If you carry this stone in your wallet you may see an increase in money coming your way. 
2. Jasper is actually said to align with all the chakras and depending on the color, will align to a specific chakra. The root chakra is red, so Red Jasper aligns to it and helps calm emotions, decrease worries, and calm sexual aggressiveness. 
3. Smokey Quartz is one of the most efficient of the grounding and cleansing stones. It is used to detoxify the body, alleviate suicidal tendencies, and increases acceptance of the body.

 

Visit back tomorrow to read about Chakra #2: The Sacral Chakra