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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.
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I am posting this from an email post of August 19, 2011.
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As I’ve been working with people recently, I’ve come across a common theme that I felt compelled to write about. I am observing as people are working to gain more awareness and to transform themSelves, they are finding that they are STUCK in patterns that “just won’t change”. Can you relate?
If so, this is you Higher Consciousness at work, alerting you that you’ve got some healing work to do, and bringing the matter to your attention (even repeatedly if necessary)! This is not a punishment from the Universe – so please watch our for any “victim thoughts”.
The key here is the act of Forgiveness. One of my favorite quotes on this subject is from Dr. Lewis Smedes who says:
“To forgive is to set the prisoner free and discover the prisoner was you.”
When we don’t forgive we expend energy on vilifying another (parent, (ex) spouse, friend, boss, co-worker, etc.). This energy then becomes “unavailable” to us to use for manifesting our goals, creating our life, etc. In our righteousness and our desire to hold someone responsible for something they did “to us”, we end up “chaining” ourselves to that person, to the situation and to the time frame in which the transgression occurred. Hence, Dr. Smedes’s view that we are the prisoners!
More often than not, the transgression could have occurred years ago, and our energy is tied up for the entire duration. Wow, talk about being stuck! And the Universe will continue sending us a steady stream of people to remind us of the unhealed “picture” and associated beliefs. During these encounters, we are reminded of the same feelings as with the first “offender” – feeling attacked, judged, rejected, abandoned, etc.
So I’d offer you the following to reflect on:
– Forgiveness IS possible, even if you don’t know how. It can even be easy!
– Forgiving somebody doesn’t mean that you have to go back to the way the relationship was with them or to even let them back into your life. This is entirely up to you. You can forgive and discontinue or renew the relationship.
– You can forgive from afar, and even forgive somebody who has passed. The other person doesn’t even have to know what you are doing!
Through the act of forgiveness, you will have more energy for yourSelf and you can attract more abundance, joy and freedom.
If you can relate to the above, please contact me. I have been working with Forgiveness tools, and I would be honored to help you.
Peace
Anarah
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In our journey through the Chakra system, we have moved from the tribal mind (1st Chakra) and individual consciousness (2nd Chakra), to a place where we can now begin to exert our individual energies into the world. We are now ready to express our personalities and our egos – and to use our willPower to manifest our desires!
Hail the 3rd Chakra – the center of our external Personal Power! (I will cover internal Personal Power in later Chakras.)
Located at the Solar Plexus, the 3rd Chakra is our energetic connection to our emotional / mental body and is linked to our personality and ego. It is through this Chakra that we can begin a beautiful journey of knowing, understanding, liking and even loving ourSelves. The Solar Plexus Chakra is all about Self-esteem.
During the tribal phase (1st Chakra), we were told what to think, what to believe, how to be, who to be, etc. In the 2nd Chakra, we started to develop our personal identity – who we are, what we care about, etc. And now, in the 3rd Chakra, we can focus on manifesting all the physical constructs of our developing personal identity. (Some texts make reference to the 3rd Chakra housing our “Inner Teenager”.)
Our Solar Plexus Chakra helps us to bring our thoughts and inspirations into the physical form through our willpower and Self-discipline. This Chakra helps us to use our physical energy and drive into achieving our desires. (It is the 5th and 6th Chakras that enables us to manifest goals through affirmations and visualizations.)
A strongly developed 3rd Chakra allows us to free ourSelves from “sheep-like” submission to authority and gives us the courage to act on our own initiative, with the conviction that we know what we want, we can go out and create it, and that we can ultimately take care of ourSelves.
As such a healthy 3rd Chakra reflects the following personality characteristics: Self-respect, Self-discipline, ambition, Self-confidence, the ability to take action and the courage to take risks.
On the flip side, fear is a giveaway sign of a weak 3rd Chakra. This could be fear of rejection, fear of looking foolish, fear of being judged or criticized, fear of failure, etc.
The situations we attract and the lessons we learn around building our Self-esteem and Self-worth are energetically stored in the Solar Plexus Chakra. So when we take any action that builds our confidence and esteem, or when we overcome our fears, we enhance this Chakra!
We can damage our 3rd Chakras through any of the following: repressing our anger, submitting to another’s will, subjugating our personal values, criticizing others, refusing to admit when we are wrong and not taking action to create a better life.
3rd Chakra issues can wreak havoc in relationships. When two individuals have different goals or desire different outcomes, this can give way to power struggles! Which party can exert greater will and get their way with the other party? So control, competition, domination and manipulation are very much 3rd Chakra issues. Long-term power struggles like those in a marriage or in a difficult parental relationship can leave people depleted or stuck / trapped.
I will briefly introduce the concept of “psychic cords” at this time, as these can challenge or block our Solar Plexus Chakras. We are energetic beings and we all know unconsciously or consciously how to cord other people and trap their energy. (When you try to control or dominate others to bend to your will, you are likely using a 3rd Chakra cord!)
The 3rd Chakra is a powerhouse of energy and is therefore a real target when it comes to cording (although all Chakras can be corded and all for very different reasons).
Psychic cords originate from one entity (the Corder) and effectively tie up a piece of the life force energy of another person (the Cordee). This energy is either “siphoned off” or trapped in a perpetual tug of war. Needless to say, the energy becomes unavailable to the Cordee.
For people who have the tendency to give over control to others or who lack sufficient inner strength or Self-respect, these cords can be persistent and the effects can be long lasting. This can become a vicious cycle – the weaker your 3rd Chakra is, the weaker it will become!
What I would offer you is that the more you can become aware of your Energy and your Personal Power, the less likely you are to be corded (or to remain corded), and in turn this will diminish the potential hold Corders can have on your energetic system. For the Corders, please keep in mind, there is much Karma that is accrued through cording another person, so it behooves us to be mindful of our own motivations and manipulations.
People with an underdeveloped Solar Plexus Chakra may exhibit some of the following:
- Low Self-esteem and Self-respect
- A tendency to lie or live in denial
- Inertia when action is called for / procrastination
- Staying in unhealthy situations
- Living in fear
- Being shaky, quiet, withdrawn or tired
On the converse side, those with overdeveloped 3rd Chakras are likely to show up as:
- “Power trippers” who try to control everyone and everything around them
- Impatient, pushy and manipulative
- Hard-headed
- Clinging to old ways of being
- Being unable to co-operate
The Solar Plexus Chakra is associated with the element of fire – if it is closed you may feel cold physically or detached emotionally. If it is too wide open, you may get overheated or be hot-tempered. This Chakra is usually depicted as being yellow in color.
The 3rd Chakra is linked to the stomach, gall bladder, liver and intestines – the physical organs responsible for converting food into useable energy. Hence, those with well-developed Solar Plexus Chakras will have strong digestive systems, lean torsos and high energy levels that enable them to function effectively on the physical plane. Conversely, malfunctioning 3rd Chakras may manifest physically through mid-body obesity, intestinal disorders, ulcers and liver disease.
Meditation and energy tools are the best way to enhance and heal the entire Chakra system.
A great practical way to strengthen our 3rd Chakras is through right action – by organizing ourSelves and pushing ourSelves to achieve our goals. Other tactics to build this Chakra are working out (becoming strong and developing stamina), taking creative risks and actively taking part in the world around us.
Here is an excellent exercise to strengthen your 3rd Chakra:
- Make a list of your goals or desires
- Evaluate each one of these to assess whether these are Your goals for yourSelf or somebody else’s goals for you
- Cross out any goals that are not Yours
- Pick one or more of the remaining goals, and begin to take action to manifest the desire(s)
I look forward to hearing any feedback on the above exercise! As always, please call or email me with any questions.
Next we will explore Self-love and other concepts associated with the Heart or 4th Chakra.
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The Sacral Chakra is magnificent and awe inspiring! It manages a lot of very important human functions, and is usually quite developed in most humans living in this era. This Chakra is the center that oversees the creation of life. The Sanskrit name for the Sacral Chakra translates as feminine creative abode or the seat of life or the dwelling place of the Self. It is “located” in the lower abdomen, just below the navel, and it is typically depicted as being orange in color. (See blog on 1st Chakra for a brief discussion on Chakra colors.)
Developmentally, the 2nd Chakra aids us in rising out of the tribal / group / family mind (1st Chakra) into individual consciousness. With the activation of the Sacral Chakra we begin to develop a sense of personal identity. We learn to put up boundaries and have a sense of personal space. However, because we are still acutely aware of our needs for survival, we begin to develop what I call “relationship consciousness”.
As we move beyond the circle of those with whom we have genetic or familial bonds, we begin to learn the rules governing human relationships. We grow and evolve as we learn about personal choice and consequences; we develop an awareness of male / female polarity; and we discover what we are willing to “sell” ourselves for. In other words, what we are willing to give up in order to be in relationship, and who or what we are willing to become attached to. Such attachments include other people (partners, bosses, parents and children), material possessions and even our physical characteristics (features, body type, physical strength, etc.).
The 2nd Chakra is the center of emotions, sensuality, sexuality, pleasure and creativity. This Chakra helps with our body awareness and aids us in our sense of strength and grounding into the physical body. The Sacral Chakra works on an instinctive level – it activates our sexual desire, warns us of danger (along with the other two “lower” Chakras – the 1st and 3rd) and gives us access to our emotional intuition.
The psychic ability of Clairsentience can be developed by working with the 2nd Chakra. This enables us to sense the feelings, motivations and attachments of others, and also helps us to put ourselves in somebody else’s “emotional shoes”. The energy perception here is an emotional one – we primarily get sensory information through our feelings (you must be familiar with the term “gut instinct”). We can also experience Clairsentience by sensing colors and pictures. This is a fascinating way to work with psychic energy, but the caution here is to be aware that it can result in the absorption of other people’s energy. If too much energy is being routed to the Sacral Chakra, it can become overly active or too open, and this will result in energy being directed away from the other Chakras thereby creating imbalance within the our Chakra system.
In the 1st Chakra blog, I introduced the concept that Chakras store information and energy. The 2nd Chakra is where we store all our memories of relationships (including sexual encounters) and lessons learned through our relationships. The information pertains to all our relationships, particularly with our family of origin, because ultimately the relationship we had with our first family informs our experience of all our other relationships. In other words, the beliefs we grew up with and developed as a consequence of our earliest encounters with our parents and siblings shape the types of relationships we develop later in our lives. For instance if we learned that to survive and receive love, we needed to enmesh ourselves with our parents then we are likely to develop an overly open 2nd Chakra and have a real issue setting boundaries in relationship.
Sometimes traumatic events cause us to freeze these events in our relationship space, in an unconscious and un-integrated way. This ties up our energy in the past and keeps us stuck until the impacts of the events in question are integrated and / or released.
If this Chakra is too open you may:
- have boundary issues i.e. you are swallowed up in a relationship and / or you smother and engulf others
- feel everyone else’s emotions, and absorb these emotions as your own
- be ruled by your own emotions, resulting in frequent dramatic episodes (may include periods of aggression, vengeance, hostility and anger)
- internalize your emotions and become depressed
- hold on to emotions and grief for too long, and be lost in the memories of those you have loved and lost, and / or how you have been mistreated in relationships (holding a grudge)
- be too attached to what you have created (e.g. your children – including living vicariously through them – and home); you may also be overly attached to your possessions
If the Sacral Chakra is closed, you are likely to be at the opposite end in terms of emotionality. In this state, you are likely to feel flat and lifeless, or cold and distant i.e. you are out of touch with your emotions, and perhaps even your sexuality. You may find it difficult to access your creative abilities and have a sense that you are going through life in black and white, without any passion or joie de vivre.
When the 2nd Chakra is out of balance it can lead to sexual dysfunctions. It also stops one from making vibrational connections necessary to attract and maintain love relationships. Further, eating disorders can be a manifestation of an out of balance Sacral Chakra.
Those with balanced 2nd Chakras find it easy to give and receive love, can access and share their creativity, and are able to have healthy relationships (including emotional and sexual intimacy). Also they are able to trust their instincts about other people and maintain appropriate boundaries. They feel confident in their body image and are able to access the healing power of a strong and regenerative physical body.
Please do not despair if this is not where you are currently in your life! The Chakras can be worked with and healed and actually …. The Sacral Chakra is a wonderful one to work with and balance as it responds to emotional and creative self-expression. In other words it is fairly easy to access and transform. My experience is that by working through any emotional trauma or painful memory, you can impact the 2nd Chakra in a very positive way. Sending any kind of energy to this Chakra – Reiki, meditation, visualization, even simply laying hands on the navel – can be extremely comforting, as this is an instinctive doorway into our emotional lives.
Two good affirmations for working with the Sacral Chakra are:
- “I love and honor myself”
- “The Universe provides me with all the love and nurturing I need”
As discussed previously, for those who can meditate or visualize, please continue as with the 1st Chakra by seeing the Sacral Chakra as whole and balanced. Visualize it spinning in a clockwise direction, as this will help to release any blocks. As we are now on the 2nd Chakra, you can add an element to this meditation – by postulating there is an open channel of communication between the 1st and 2nd Chakras to help bring about balance in the entire Chakra system.
Stay tuned for the next installment: Solar Plexus or 3rd Chakra.
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I will be seeing clients in LA on Friday December 16 from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. I am really excited about this as I haven’t worked in the LA area in over a year. So to all my LA clients, come and see me and get a healing for the holiday season and a preview into the New Year! Please e-mail me or call to book an in-person session and I can provide you with the address, directions, etc. I look forward to seeing and working with you at this special time of the year.
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The Root Chakra is located right at the very base of the spine, and its main function is to help us to feel connected to the Earth and to our physical body.
This Chakra holds the information about our bodies, money / security, family genealogy, social backgrounds and tribal histories. In essence, it contains our genetic make-up – at the physical level (i.e. body characteristics, health and wellness, ability to make money) and the mental-emotional level (i.e. family patterns, unresolved family issues).
The 1st Chakra is associated with the color red.
At this point I would like to discuss the color system attributed to the Chakras. It is widely believed that all Chakras are linked to a certain color i.e. the Root Chakra is red, the Heart Chakra green, etc. The Chakras are considered to correspond to the various colors of the rainbow (ROYGBIV – going from 1st to 7th Chakra).
In my experience this is not the case. My interpretation of this is that the “rainbow color system” for the Chakras represents an ideal state for human beings, i.e. one where man and nature are perfectly balanced and harmonious.
The energy and vibration of each Chakra, including the color, contributes significantly to the corresponding layer of the aura, i.e. the 1st Chakra creates the 1st layer of the Aura. Just as there are seven Chakras, there are seven distinct layers of the Aura. As you may know the Aura can change color and this is because the Chakra system is not a static system – it changes and shifts all the time. (We may have a true Aura color but this will be discussed in another blog.)
So when you work with / visualize your Chakras, my suggestion is not to impose any color on them. Instead, see or feel what color the Chakra is vibrating at in that moment. This may be incredibly freeing and fun!
Ok, back to the 1st Chakra description.
When the 1st Chakra is clear of obstructions we feel secure, grounded, stable, strong and healthy. Often there is an ability to easily manifest material goals.
If the 1st Chakra is blocked, unbalanced or even damaged, it will be reflected in our physical reality with recurrent health problems, weight issues or elevated anxiety / fear. Also, this block can manifest itself in recurrent moves (homes) and different jobs. Generally there is a sense of not being at home or feeling like the outsider / unwelcome.
Survival consciousness pertains to the infant stage of life, so 1st Chakra issues are likely to occur for those who were abused or those who were abandoned or felt abandoned during their childhood.
Signs of a blocked Root Chakra are lack of discipline or focus, dependency on others, eating disorders, feeling spacey or vague and an inability to relax.
Signs of a Root Chakra that is too wide open are high levels of attachment to the physical level – body image, health, physical appearance, money and possessions. Alternatively, this can manifest as people being stuck in routines, patterns and / or habits.
For those of you who feel grounded and secure, are healthy and fit, and have stable homes and jobs – congratulations! You likely have an open and well-balanced 1st Chakra.
For those who have identified situations in your lives that suggest an imbalance in your 1st Chakra, do not despair. It is possible to change the existing vibration and to re-balance the Chakra. Through the course of the 7-part series, I will offer some guidance on healing ourselves through working with the Chakras.
As a first step for now, you can begin by having an intention to heal the Chakra, to transform it. In my work I have seen first-hand the power of intention so please do not underestimate this step.
If you are able to visualize, begin to see your 1st Chakra as healthy and whole, and imagine it spinning in a clockwise direction. This will ensure the energy is moving and that the blocked energy is being released.
Next week I will write about the Sacral or 2nd Chakra and the overall concept of balancing the Chakras.
