Chakra Four: Heart + Air

“If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.” Buddha

Welcome to the middle, everyone. Congrats on making it through the physical triad!

On our Chakra Journey we rode the energy of our internal fire (3rd), to float in the warm air of the chest cavity for today’s journey (4th). Full of gratitude for who we are, and curious for how this self-alignment expands. The 4th Chakra is the home of our spirit. Where the strings of love and compassion originate for everything and everyone which weaves together our life. As the heart pumps our blood, so does it pump our tenderness. Let’s jump right in!

Welcome back to your space, where you have a mat, water, and a journal. Maybe you have changed the scarf over the lamp to Green.

As we give allowance to and space for the principle of change, I will continue to present these Chakra journeys in slightly different ways. Not the same way works for everybody, and sometimes you need to see something in a different perspective to actually want to do it.

The quoted readings and some exercises come from the book Wheels of Life by Anodea Judith, PhD. All other sources are noted. These posts will be written as both blog and journal; I have taken this journey to create it. My aim is simply to share information I have found useful. Any mistakes are my own.

I want to drop us in right away, feeling the power of our own compassion.

As we have grown older, the heart has weathered a lot of events, and a lot of time. Based on the nature of reality, the heart has not gone unscathed, and there is more than one event which has shook you to your core.

During our time with the Root Chakra, we named those hurts and fears which we have held on to. Naming them was a bit liberating, right? You shined a light into the cave, and the “hurt” shivered…backed into a corner, exposed.

The Sacral Chakra implored us to flow free of our “safe” cave: letting loose our inhibitions, emotions, physicality, and experiencing the breadth of who we are as a being. Delighting in what people and things we gravitate towards. Allowing water to nurture and bathe us in pleasant vibrations.

The Solar Plexus Chakra transformed our energy into willpower. You lit a fire from your capacity to change, and stoked your fire with passion, confidence, and personal freedom.

In the fourth, Heart Chakra, we will find our Healing Love with non judgmental compassion. We have risen to the “heart” of our system where matter and spirit integrate.

Thanks for being here. Okay Ya’ll, you know what we do first! We will sink into our chakra system with the Sushumna Breathing Activation. I decided to display the sequence for one more post because it is still a new activity! Keeping honest with ourselves about when we need assistance is part of the cycle of life. In addition, breathing is the most powerful tool for integrating Chakra Four, and we will use it many times today.

Align the chakras along sushumna. Read through the steps first and then stand to practice

Stand with feet shoulder width apart, stretch hands high over head, reaching with your whole body while feet are flat on the ground. Stretching out, wiggle through the space that may have been compacted, encourages the chakras to align
Return to a normal standing position, palms facing forward (mountain pose), trying to maintain the elongated new height. Perhaps half and inch you gained back! Remember gravity is constantly weighing on us. Tuck your pelvis so your central axis feels stacked and a clear column is running through your core body
Breathe slowly, deeply, in through your nose to balloon your belly with air, and fill the chest next. Out through your mouth. 3 deep breaths here
Imagine the vastness of the sky above you (even as you are indoors), experience the space above you. Drink in this vastness through your head, pulling it down into you like a human sized straw. Cascade this airy, clean and bright space into your face, ears, whole head, down your throat, over your shoulders, continue all the way down.
It may help you to visualize this vastness as a light, a color, a stream of wind, or a column of bubbles
Take a few times to breathe in, getting a little further down your body each time. Till you are able to breathe through your feet releasing the breath into the floor. Earth. Grounding. We are experiencing the Manifesting Current.
When this feels comfortable, you are able to imagine the energy flowing from the sky to the earth, and begin working with the upward current! The Liberating Current.
Breathe in the earth’s energy from your feet, into your genitals, into your abdomen, cheast, heart, throat, face, spilling up into the sky above.
When this feels comfortable, practice running both currents at the same time!
Play with these two currents. Is one of them harder to control or feel, is there a particular block of tension anywhere? Thank yourself for this practice, and take a sip of water.

Great, we are connected to our body, vibrating in tune with inner and outer molecules, and have arrived at our core, the Still Point of our being.

Journal Prompt:

Describe your first memory of feeling Love. Describe the sights, sounds, and smells.

“Anahata” Sanskrit for “Unstruck”

Associated Weighty Words: Love, Air, Breath, Balance, Relationship, Affinity, Unity, Healing

The Table below is a non-exhaustive list of physical and mental, we will call them “charms”, which you can work with for each Chakra. “Work with” would be to feel (location on body), visual imagination, do (activate body part), eat, smell, watch, listen, etc. – Well that just means, using all your senses! How very Tantra of us 😉

Anahata	Unstruck (sound that is made without any two things striking)
Location	Heart, Thoracic T1-T5 on Spine
Element	Air
Outer Force	Gaseous
Function	Love
Inner State	Compassion, Love
Glands and Body Parts	Thymus, Lungs, Heart, Pericardium (fibrous membrane around heart), Arms, Hands
Malfunction	Asthma, High Blood Pressure, Heart Disease, Lung Disease
Color	Green
Seed Sound	Lam
Celestial Body	Venus
Food	Green Fruits and Vegetables
Verb	I Love
Herbs	Lavender, Jasmine, Orris Root, Yarrow, Marjoram, Meadowsweet
Minerals	Emerald, Tourmaline, Jade, Rose Quartz
Animals	Antelope, Birds, Dove
Sense	Touch
Chief Operating Force	Equilibrium
Demon	Grief

The Heart Chakra symbol is a Circle surrounded by 12 Lotus Petals, with 2 intersecting triangles in the center. “The triangles represent the descent of spirit into the body and the ascent of matter rising to meet the spirit. This symbol, also known as the Star of David, represents the Sacred Marriage: the balanced interpenetration of Yin and Yang polarities.” Anodea Judith

We also note that there are 6 points to the star: 6 other chakras, with the heart as the center
Our three chakras below reside in the physical world; what we are and do. The three chakras to follow are expressed through spirit: voice, sound, thoughts. The heart is the integrator which is why a clear heart is so important to the system. Any blockages on the cycle reverberate through matter and spirit.
As each chakra is a swirling vortex of energy, so too is the entire body in relation to the world. Remember, you are a you-sized energetic field in the atmosphere. You come into contact with people, places, and things, and you have an effect on each other. We either dance about the polarities of our effect, or we head straight for the acceptance and balance of middleground, the key of the sacred marriage: Understanding.

“Opening the heart chakra requires a combination of technique and understanding. First, we learn to see the world in terms of relationships – what causes things to enter into and remain in combination with others and the world around us. Second is the practice of balance – between body and mind, inner and outer realms, self and other, giving and receiving. Thirdly – transcending the ego, allowing us to surrender to forces larger than the self. Last – understanding and control of the breath, for it is a tool of physical and mental transformation.” Anodea Judith

The level of connection we have with someone or something is scientifically called “affinity”, or what we describe as “chemistry”…two parts stay in contact because there is an intrinsic fit, a bond.

Each has something the other is lacking (or a peaceful validation of shared views), and the two parts are seeking to balance themselves.
As humans, it is not always obvious why we are attracted to someone, but it is certainly more present in some than others, and it can be irresistible. This is good, it energizes our soul.
A bond forms from the balance of parts, and the Heart Chakra is the center of balance. Naturally, Love can arise.
- What this enjoyable bonding with another does for us, is fill up ourselves with feelings of happiness and contentment with who we are – the first step in finding the affinity inside ourselves
- “Self-acceptance is our first chance to practice unconditional love”
  - With acceptance of how we are now (someone likes me as I am), it is easier to accept the faults of others, extending unconditional love
  - When we are in affinity, we radiate love and joy because everything inside us is in harmony. All of our cells are working in unison, pulsating in “rythmic resonance”
- The affinity does not always last. When we fill up our energy field with what glued us together, that bond isn’t so magnetic.
  - Now we have the choice of the ages, do I stay or do I go? This is the hardest question of all, and it depends on so many factors. The basic question to ask is the connection leading you more into balance (even without the affinity) or do they lead you out of your element.
  - Friend, Family, or Lover…do you keep your affinity (now is Love), or must you sever the weight of the bond, as it is unbalanced.
- HOWEVER…one must always take time to achieve affinity in themselves. There is no other option. If we don’t have our cells working in unison, living in harmony, we cause chaos internally. Remembering the affinity others allowed you to feel can be a beacon when you feel lost. Tune into the rhythmic pulsation of your body, and fill yourself up with memories of harmony.
  - When you find yourself drifting from your inner affinity- check in on yourself – how can you treat yourself better? Do you treat yourself as well as those you have affinity for? Do you call them names or reprimand them for resting? Love starts in yourself.
  - Our strength that we rose from our root chakra, the powerful energy lies in the harmony of our words, actions, thoughts, and emotions – affinity of our parts makes us whole. Don’t loose these parts as we continue higher in the chakras.

This aspect of affinity is all new for me, how about you? It is starting to make sense…my mind is connecting all of the thoughts I have had on Love. Reconciling all of the ways society has told me what I need and what Love looks like. I’m happy for a new, stripped down perspective. Through affinity, Love can arise: to live in a state of harmony.

“Love is a unifying force – it draws things together and keeps them in relationship”
- From our multitude of parts, affinity and love make us a whole
  - “A binding force allows something to hold together long enough to evolve its patterns to deeper and more cohesive states. Love allows change and freedom, but keeps coherence at the center. To offer safety and acceptance to another invites the field of love to flourish.” Anodea Judith
  - Love requires both closeness and distance: an equilibrium

These two videos on Maya Angelou’s personal account of Love go together as one. Love liberates…love is air we help distribute through our choices of acceptance and understanding.

Whether we do that within ourselves, or for others…love is liberating.

What can decrease Love?

“Jealously reduces the flow of love as it dictates that they must flow from within narrow limits”
Homophobia
Ageism
Racism
Withholding Love, for fear of rejection

The tighter we hold on to Love, as if it is a scarcity, the smaller amount of room we have to recieve it. Love needs Air, as all things do. If we can imagine love as abundant, we will give abundantly, which as part of the self-fulfilling wheel…we will receive abundantly.

Think of all the relationships in your life. Housemates, the corner store, my job, my mechanic. Can you see you are already connected to so many opportunities to practice love?
- Everything we come into contact with is a connection to view the sacredness of two spirits.
- We can practice love, even without affinity.

A highly regarded Vietnamese Zen Bhuddist Monk named Thich Naht Hanh wrote an insightful book interpreting the philosophy of Love in 1926, called How To Love. He has many other lovely books you might be interested in. He tells us that “Understanding” is another name for “Love”. “To Love another means to fully understand its suffering”.

We can visualize “suffering” using another model which you may have seen in school: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. This is Tantra y’all, we are weaving ancient principles and truths with newer corresponding models. Much of the premise is the same. Humans need things, and with even one or two unfulfilled – is what we will call “suffering”.

The more we practice and are aware of what chakra alignment means for our development, the more we can hope to fulfill these needs. We cannot expect to attain perfection, but we will gain understanding with ourselves on what we need to suffer less.

A Bhuddist Proverb told in story form by Thich Naht Hanh

“If you pour a handful of salt into a cup of water, the water becomes undrinkable. But if you pour the salt into a river, people can continue to draw the water to cook, wash, and drink. The river is immense, and it has the capacity to receive, embrace, and transform. When our hearts are small, our understanding and compassion are limited, and we suffer. We can’t accept or tolerate others and their shortcomings, and we demand that they change. But when our hearts expand, these same things don’t make us suffer anymore. We have a lot of understanding and compassion and can embrace others. We accept others as they are, and then they have a chance to transform.”

Journal Prompts:

How do I react to Love and affection?

Describe an incident that hurt my heart, and how do I feel about it now?

The element of the Heart Chakra, Air, is how we can embrace complex relationships; mimicking air by inviting equilibrium, calmness, softness, and openness.

Air will go everywhere, and is the element most quickly distributed.
- We can only live minutes without it
- Therefore air is the vital energy (“prana”) which connects every cell, every thought, every function, relationship, every thing in life.
Breath is the vital energy between the worlds of matter and spirit; all flow through open air in the heart.
- As our jobs become a more sedentary style of work, we work intellectually versus physically. Intellectual activation requires so little physical exertion that it leads to a habit of shallow breathing. (Frequent fear, anxiety, depression, and air pollution can also lead to shallow breathing)
  - The accumulating effects of long periods of shallow breathing affects the health of our body: slower metabolism, lower physical energy levels, build up of toxins. As these traits appear, we self-realize them by driving when we could walk, ingesting modified stimulants, etc.

The most important exercises of this chakra will have to do with breath. I know, I know, it’s getting kind of old to pay attention to, but it is tragic how important it is to a functional system.

“Aside from maintaining basic life functions, the breath is one of our most powerful tools for transforming ourselves: for burning up toxins, releasing stored emotions, changing body structure and changing consciousness. Without breath we could not speak, for air is the force behind our voice. We could not metabolize our food without oxygen. Our brain could not think. Breathing is a grossly underestimated source of life-giving, healing, and purifying energy.” Anodea Judith
By practicing to expand our lungs, increase our breathing capacity, we can make deep breathing a habit, which will consistently aid our bodies desire to self-heal.

I want to speak on a grave matter while we are here. There are unbearable atrocities that happen to men and women every day. Relationships (past or present in their lives, not yours) gone awry. Perpetrators will either deny wrongdoing, or claim it as “love”. Rape, pedophilia, abuse, harassment, murder. If you have experienced this, I feel deeply for your pain. In no way do I mean to equalize a “break up” to “xyz”. What I will say, with tenderness, is the weight may be different, but the healing is the same. The only way through is through. Breathe, Grief, Breathe, Acknowledgement, Breathe, Personal Freedom, Breathe, Forgiveness, Breathe, and so on. Please do not carry their savage weight. You are Love, Love is Air.

You saw this coming…let’s do some breath work 🙂

Alternate Nostril Breathing: This is my go-to sequence when I experience my mind wandering when I am taking time for mind/body work. It can harmonize the left and right sides of the brain through the individual attention of flooding with oxygen. If you would like to do this now, go for it, but the Bandhas breathing technique is where I want to focus today.

Sit in a comfortable position with your legs crossed.
Place your left hand on your left knee.
Lift your right hand up toward your nose.
Exhale completely and then use your right thumb to close your right nostril.
Inhale through your left nostril as much as you can (keep going till it’s in your throat!) and then close the left nostril with your fingers.
Open the right nostril and exhale through this side (keep emptying!).
Inhale through the right nostril and then close this nostril.
Open the left nostril and exhale through the left side.
This is one cycle.
You will probably feel unevenness in this action which is perfectly normal. It will likely fluctuate, as the pathways of Ida and Pingala do. Can be fun to open your timer and watch how long you can inhale/exhale. (Just for a few rounds)
Always complete the practice by finishing with an exhale on the left side.

Bandhas Breath: “Bandhas” means “Lock” – method of holding breath and locking it into certain parts of the body. There is a whole world of yoga devoted to this practice and is considered advanced. I’m including it because it stimulates relaxation after inducing tension which is pleasant, and it brings more awareness to where we can send our breath. Practice these just once right now, and remember to fill yourself up with air as completely as you’ve ever tried before. Let it rise into your throat and extend through your extremities.

“When the upward- and downward-moving forces are thus blocked and forced into proximity with each other, then it is said that they function like two sticks being rubbed together: they produce heat. The concentration of energy increases with practice, and it is said that a striking phenomenon eventually takes place: in very advanced practitioners the intense heat created by the locks, coupled with retention of the breath, awakens awareness and leads it upward along the central path of the spine.” -Yoga International

Precautions to engaging this breath:

On a menstrual cycle or pregnant
High or low blood pressure
Have a hernia
Have a stomach or intestinal ulcer
Recently had an abdominal illness or trauma
Have glaucoma
Have heart disease

Bandhas’s as written by Anodea Judith:

The Chin Lock: jalandhara-bandha, sends energy into the head, and stimulates the thyroid gland and throat chakra. Simply inhale fully, contract the throat, and lower your head toward your chest, keeping the back straight. Hold the breath as long as comfortable, but don’t push it, for it can make you feel quite faint if done improperly.
The Abdominal Lock: uddiyana-bandha, is done in a standing position. It helps to massage internal digestive organs, and purify the body. Inhale fully and exhale deeply. While the stomach is empty of air, hold your breath empty, and pull in the stomach and abdomen as far as you can, being careful not to inhale. Hold as long as comfortable, and inhale by slowly relaxing the abdominal muscles.
The Anal Lock: mulabandha, tones the root chakra. It is practiced by tightening the perineum and anal sphincter after inhalation while the breath is held. This stimulates sleeping kundalini.

Awesome work activating deep breathing. We always have breath in our back pocket when we run into issues. By its nature, breath is a healer, and it is how we can always start a healing path.

Journal Prompts:

Describe how I openly express love and affection (non-sexual).

What are 5 things I love about myself? Add as many as you can over time.

After doing breath-work and emotional digging, it is fitting to do some Self-Massage. 1, touching yourself is an act of love. 2, massage will continue releasing more trapped energy. Our rib cage is full crevasses that rarely get individual attention. Massaging where the sternum and ribs meets is a key area to open the heart. This work can elevate your breath capacity. Play around and explore your skin. Linger longer over places that feel dense or not pliable. Below is a very very brief video (I’m moving way faster than you should) for some chest/rib cage/shoulder ideas. Again, it is just the tip of the iceberg! The Heart Chakra also includes the arms so include them as well. Spend 10 minutes with yourself.

In these Quarantine times, I feel extra grateful to the artists who post their music and even go live. Many artists have even put together concert series with folks spanning the globes. This one popped up on my feed and I was so curious because Jack Johnson is an absolute treasure, who I hadn’t listened to in a few years. Spoiler, he is still soothing all the anxiety in ya through that natural voice…and he has friends! This woman…wow 🙂 Last thing, the second song transitions us perfectly into tomorrow’s Chakra about Voice, so look forward to that! Enjoy these physically distanced tunes!

Beautiful souls, I have TWO more videos for you today, and then you go DO YOU. I hope you have felt Love in yourself, and you can send Love to others.

Yin Yoga (click if you’d like a brief background on Yin- long poses to learn breathing through discomfort). You have been working so hard on this journey, Yin is the perfect way to integrate everything you have experienced.
1. I don’t have blocks at my house, so I used 3 couch pillows. Perfectly comforting.
2. In the chest opener with arms out, practice your Banhas Breaths
3. Always modify to your needs but modify so that you stay engaged, and not entirely give up on the pose
4. This was the only Heart Chakra routine I found which deliciously added music to the frequency of this Chakra Level. Such a treat to have it in the background, making the whole session resonate in our subconscious.
5. The video ends abruptly so, sorry about that.
Life Vest Video – You may have seen this back in 2011. I leave you with a Kindness Boomerang 🙂

Conclusions of the Heart Chakra: Love can be delivered in every breath we take. How we respond to ourselves, people, and events, can be done with understanding of suffering, and initiate harmony.

With Health and Happiness we go,

Kaitlin

4/20/2020

Bonus film if you need a movie to watch: The Upside. From book to big screen, Kevin Hart and Bryan Cranston did a fantastic job of portraying the evolving humility, compassion, connection of the characters. Showing on Amazon Prime

Resources:

The Meaning of the Sacred Marriage for Our Times

https://www.brainpickings.org/2015/03/31/how-to-love-thich-nhat-hanh/

https://www.healthline.com/health/alternate-nostril-breathing#how-to

https://yogainternational.com/article/view/a-beginners-guide-to-bandhas