Chakra 4 - Anahata
Anahata is the fourth, or heart chakra. This Sanskrit name means unstruck and comes from the word anahata-sabda, the unstruck sound.
It is considered the center of love, devotion, equilibrium, compassion and transformation. It is the seat of hamash (soul) and is the seat of balance, the central chakra. It is located in the center of the spine at the center of the chest.
The color associated with this chakra is green. Green is the most neutral color in the visible spectrum. It contains the warmth of yellow and the coolness of blue. It is the color that brings balance, soothes the nerves, and acts as a tonic when we are weary, fatigued, or depressed. Nature gives us her healing power through this color more than any other. It was known in ancient times that this color could heal and was especially soothing to the eyes. Green is seen directly on the eyeball, whereas yellow is seen outside the eye, and blue is seen in the interior of the eye. It engenders peace and tranquility.
An image of the Anahata chakra is below. It is a green lotus with its twelve petals splayed outward from the circle. Some of the qualities in the lower three chakras can be considered negative, those of this chakra is a mixture of positive and negative qualities.
image of Anahata chakra
On a practical level, the basic issues of this chakra are love, intimacy, devotion, balance, and self-love.
The destructive emotion associated with this chakra is grief.
When the anahata chakra is in balance, you would feel loving, compassionate, peaceful, altruistic, and balanced as well as having a healthy immune system.
If this chakra is deficient, you would be antisocial, withdrawn, cold, intolerant of yourself and others, feel depressed, have a fear of intimacy and relationships, and feel lonely or isolated.
If this chakra is excessive, you would be clingy, jealous, overly dependent, demanding, and have poor boundaries.
If you are out of balance in your heart chakra, you may have problems with your heart, lungs, thymus, breasts, or arms. You can also have a sunken chest, experience shortness of breath, circulation problems, asthma or tension between the shoulder blades, as well as chest pain.
Not sure if this chakra is out of balance? View our Chakra Assessment.