By Kari Vannice

Do you ever wonder why you sometimes have difficulty accepting yourself the way you are, find it difficult to say “no” to people or struggle with jealousy? It could be that your Heart Chakra is out of balance. Chakras are swirling vortices of energy that are centered along the spine. Chakra means “wheel” in the ancient language of Sanskrit. They can be thought of as spinning wheels of light or energy that connect the physical body to the spiritual body and the emotional to the mental.

There are seven major chakras. The first, the root chakra, is at the very base of the spine. Next, the sacral chakra located in the lower abdomen, the solar plexus chakra in the center of the torso and the heart chakra. Moving up to the neck you will find the throat chakra. The crown chakra is often referred to as the third eye and is located on the forehead. Finally at the top of the head is the crown chakra. Each one is not only an energy center, but also corresponds to specific emotions we feel and relationships we have with people or things.

It makes sense that the heart chakra relates to our emotions surrounding love and romantic relationships. The heart chakra is the reason we feel “heartbroken” when someone we love leaves us and also why our “heart sings” when we are newly in love. The emotional health of the energy swirling in our heart becomes a physical sensation in times of extreme emotional imbalance. Yes, believe it or not, even feeling offthe-charts in love is an imbalance. I don’t know anyone who has not experienced both of these extremes. However, what the majority of us want to know is, how to create and maintain a healthy emotional balance on a day-to-day basis and how to rebalance our heart chakra energy as we experience the normal ups and downs of everyday life.

First, it is good to know more about the specific emotions associated with the heart chakra. That way we will know when we are dealing with a heart chakra issue and not emotions associated with another chakra. Anytime you are feeling love, compassion, confidence, generosity, inspiration or hope the heart chakra is activated. On the other hand, this chakra is also involved when you are feeling despair, hate, envy, fear, jealousy and anger. Each emotion has a lesson to teach us and the heart chakra lessons are ones of forgiveness, unconditional love, trust, compassion and letting go.

Each chakra also governs specific parts of the body. It is obvious that the heart chakra governs the heart, but it also is associated with the circulatory system, blood, lungs, breasts and the thymus.

So, illnesses like high blood pressure, asthma, heart attack, and breast cancer may be a sign of a heart chakra severely out of balance. There are excises we can do, food we can eat and even music we can listen to in order to rebalance our chakras. Rebalancing the chakras can take only a few minutes, but it is a life long process to keep them balanced. The first step to rebalancing the heart chakra is to spend a few minutes opening up the chakra.

To do this, sit in a comfortable position. Close you eyes and visualize your heart opening up like a door. Visualize a beautiful green light emanating from your heart. Take your right hand and make three clockwise circles over your heart. Think loving thoughts while taking three deep breaths and then visualize your heart’s door closing. Once the heart chakra is open active exercises like doing push-ups or swimming the breaststroke can stimulate it. If you prefer something less vigorous, there are several yoga postures that have the same effect.

Yoga poses like cobra, bridge and standing back bend are all ‘heart’ openers. They encourage emotional release and rebalancing. It is good to hold each pose for 30 to 60 seconds to allow the emotional release to happen. The heart chakra is represented by the color green. So it is no surprise that the majority of heart chakra foods have a strong green color. Leafy vegetables such a s spinach, kale and dandelion greens are good for heart energy as well as broccoli, cabbage and celery. Spices like basil, sage, thyme, cilantro and parsley are also said to help the heart chakra. And what to drink? Why, green tea of course!

Whether you are sipping green tea or a green smoothie you will also benefit by listening to some heart healing music. Each chakra vibrates at a certain frequency and there are many different styles of music composed specifically to resonate at the same frequency. Listening to this music can raise your heart’s vibration to the correct frequency and change the way you feel almost instantly. One quick Google search will yield dozens, if not hundreds, of downloadable compositions to stimulate your heart chakra.

With a balanced heart chakra you will feel more loving, compassionate, and accepting. In the world of energy, intention is everything. Set the intention to take one small step toward balancing your heart energy and see how it changes your life.