The 4th Chakra is the bridge between the lower three Chakras (which pertain to the physical concerns of the world) and the upper three Chakras (which focus on the spiritual aspects of the Self).
At a body level, this Chakra is “located” close to the heart, and is therefore also referred to as the Heart Chakra. The 4th Chakra governs our Affinity and as such is associated with our ability to love others and ourSelves Unconditionally. It is a powerhouse of energy and is said to have more energy than the brain!
By healing our Heart Chakra, we can begin to raise our personal vibrations to Peace and Grace, instead of operating out of survival, manipulation and fear. We can release our tendencies and needs to judge or control others. Instead, we can infuse ourSelves with the most powerful energy on the Planet – Love – and experience more inspiration and joy in our lives!
Whereas the 3rd Chakra is connected to our ego and therefore helps us gain Self-respect for our accomplishments, the 4th Chakra is about Unconditional Love and Joy. This is the space where we get to love ourSelves not for anything we do, but simply for being!
We are NOT born with the knowledge of how to love fully and unconditionally. Instead, we are given the opportunity to learn how to love during the course of our lives.
As adults we are challenged to rise above our pain and to make loving and compassionate choices (I will cover choices in the 5th Chakra blog). To create a loving environment around us we need to consciously forgive and to let go of our wounds. We have all been in situations where we have felt hurt or wronged by another – and the instinctive response is to be right about the injustice and to feel victimized.
The Heart Chakra, with its quiet, intuitive voice, implores us to release these automatic responses – to drop our Victim Stories and our need to understand why the injustice happened. It challenges us to Let Go, to Forgive and to Love anyway. The 4th Chakra helps us to enhance our consciousness – to remember the Truth of who we are, to surrender and to accept. And with this raised consciousness comes a state of grace where profound healing and transformation can take place, and inner peace abound.
The Ancient Egyptians depicted pictures in which the deceased would be tested to determine whether they could be granted access to the after-Life. The test involved weighing the departed individual’s heart and comparing it with the weight of a feather. If the heart was light i.e. it was not heavy from a lifetime of guilt and pain, entrance would be permitted in to heaven. Those Lighthearted souls that could transmute their pain and find happiness regardless of outer circumstances were deemed to be worthy of the fruits of the after-Life.
This leads us to the concept that the Chakras record our actions, thoughts and feelings so they can be evaluated in the after-Life (Please note, I am not espousing that there is a test to get into heaven!).
When a 4th Chakra is closed down, it can result in shyness, loneliness, an inability to empathize or forgive, Narcissism and mean-spiritedness. There may be a sense of numbness and a general sense of being shut down emotionally. Also people with unhealed Heart Chakras can develop energetic shields to shut others out – an attempt to overprotect the Self that serves to alienate them and potentially making them more distrustful of others.
People with open Heart Chakras show up as kind, generous, welcoming and open, and they bring with them a pervading sense of tranquility and acceptance. Compassion and non-judgment are a way of life, as is living with joy! These are people that choose to be happy, and to love regardless of past experiences. Often they are able to access happiness from the smallest occurrence or for no reason at all.
Contrarily, those with overdeveloped Heart Chakras live in their emotions. They tend to over-dramatize events and to live in victim-hood (sometimes even martyrdom). Know any people that fit the bill?
These individuals have been hurt in their lives and instead of healing their pain, forgiving and moving on, they choose to live in their broken-ness. They live in the past thereby cutting off access to the present moment and the potential for any authentic relationships. Their goal in relationships is to stay safe and avoid getting hurt. They relive the drama of their pain, becoming sentimental. They may even consider themselves to be romantics.
However, relationships are challenging for them as they tend to be oversensitive and view disagreements as personal attacks. They mistake possessiveness for love, and often are unable to see another’s point of view if it is contrary to their own. They view others as extensions of themselves and believe they need another to complete them. Ultimately, they consider themselves to be incomplete or deficient. Ironically this inability to “see” another person creates an environment in which the partner feels completely disconnected. The afflicted individual feels misunderstood and alone, and cannot have the one thing they desire most!
Codependency, jealousy, possessiveness, oversensitivity, an inability to connect, living in the past and holding on to pain are all hallmarks of an overactive Heart Chakra. I also believe hoarding comes from a combination of an overactive 4th Chakra and an under-active 1st Chakra, where survival and unprocessed pain come together to create a perfect storm.
At a body level the 4th Chakra is associated with the Thymus gland, heart, lungs, chest, breast, diaphragm and blood vessels. Therefore, Heart Chakra issues can lead to illnesses of the heart and circulatory system, as well as difficulty in breathing, asthma, allergies and numbness in the arms and fingers. Obesity can also be connected with an unhealed Heart Chakra. In women, breast disease or underdeveloped / large breasts can be symptomatic of 4th Chakra issues.
Healing the Heart Chakra can create magic and miracles in your lives. Here are some ideas:
- The best way to heal is through Forgiveness (click here for my blog on the subject).
- Take stock of your life and identify any situation that you are holding on to, where you are stuck in a Victim Story. Can you find another interpretation for what happened? Can you release the victim position? Can you forgive somebody for any injustice they may have inflicted on you?
- The Heart Chakra is about Unconditional Love, so begin to practice Validation. This is holding the energy of approving of or appreciating yourSelf and others (as opposed to being critical or In-Validating). Remember, this is about appreciating yourSelf for who you are, not for what you have accomplished!
Good luck and let me know how you get on with these exercises. We are moving to the Higher Chakras …. next up is the 5th Chakra.