The heart chakra, or Anahata, is the fourth main energy center. It is linked with love, compassion and forgiveness. This guide covers its color, location, signs of imbalance, practices, mystical traditions and what research says.
Key Takeaways
- Anahata means “unstruck.”
- Color green or pink, element air, mantra YAM.
- Themes: love, compassion, forgiveness.
- Practices: loving-kindness meditation, breathing, gratitude.
- Chakras are a spiritual concept, not a medical one.
In This Guide
- What Is the Heart Chakra?
- Where Anahata Comes From
- The Chakra Heart and the Spiritual Heart
- The Bridge Between Earth and Spirit
- Heart Chakra at a Glance
- Signs of a Balanced vs Blocked Heart Chakra
- Practices to Open the Heart Chakra
- A Deeper Heart Practice
- When the Heart Is Broken
- Heart Chakra Affirmations
- Mystical Traditions of the Heart
- Channeled and Esoteric Teachings
- What the Research Says
- Learn More on Next Level Soul
- Books on the Heart and Chakras
- Watch and Listen on Next Level Soul TV
- Where to Go Next
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Go Deeper: The Divine Law of Love
What Is the Heart Chakra?
The heart chakra, called Anahata in Sanskrit (“unstruck” or “unhurt”), is the fourth of the seven main energy centers. It sits at the center of the chest and is the bridge between the lower, earthly chakras and the upper, spiritual ones. It is linked with love, compassion, forgiveness and connection. The name refers to anahata nada, the “unstruck sound” that yogis describe hearing in deep meditation. See all seven in our chakras guide.
Where Anahata Comes From: The Heart in Ancient Texts
The heart was sacred long before anyone drew seven wheels on the body. The oldest Indian scriptures already treat it as the doorway to the divine.
- The Upanishads. The Chandogya Upanishad describes a small lotus inside the “city of Brahman,” the body, and a space within it as vast as the universe outside. It tells the seeker to look there. The Katha Upanishad says that of the many channels of the heart, one rises to the crown, and by it a person reaches immortality.
- Hatha and Tantric texts. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika and the Shiva Samhita teach the anahata nada, the inner sound heard when the mind goes still. The Shat-Chakra-Nirupana (1577) gives the classic picture: a twelve-petaled lotus holding a six-pointed star made of two interlocking triangles, the meeting of upward and downward energy.
- Ancient Egypt. Spell 125 of the Book of the Dead shows the heart weighed against the feather of Ma’at, or truth. A heavy heart failed the test. The Egyptians held that the heart carried a person’s conscience and character into the afterlife.
- Chinese medicine and Taoism. The heart (xin) is the “heart-mind” and the home of shen, or spirit. A calm heart is treated as the root of a clear life.
The Chakra Heart and the Spiritual Heart
Many teachers separate two things. The chakra Anahata sits in the center of the chest. The Spiritual Heart, called Hridaya, is what the sages mean when they say “know the heart.”
The sage Ramana Maharshi (1879 to 1950) taught that Hridaya is the source the sense of “I” rises from and returns to. He pointed to a spot on the right side of the chest, about two finger-widths from the center, and said it is not a physical organ and not the same as the chakra.
The practical difference. Anahata is where you work with emotion, love and forgiveness. Hridaya is where you rest in what you are. The first prepares the ground for the second.
The Bridge Between Earth and Spirit
The heart is the middle of seven. The three below it (root, sacral, solar plexus) deal with survival, feeling and personal power. The three above it (throat, third eye, crown) deal with expression, insight and unity. Teachers often say the lower chakras are about me and the upper ones are about all of us, and the heart is where the turn happens. That is why a blocked heart can make a person feel stuck even when the other centers seem healthy. Start from the ground with the root chakra if you feel unsteady, then come back to the heart.
Heart Chakra at a Glance
| Attribute | Traditional Description |
|---|---|
| Sanskrit name | Anahata |
| Location | Center of the chest |
| Color | Green (pink is also used) |
| Element | Air |
| Bija (seed) mantra | YAM |
| Symbol | Twelve-petaled lotus |
| Themes | Love, compassion, grief, forgiveness, trust |
| Body areas (traditional) | Heart, lungs, arms, hands |
| Sense | Touch |
Signs of a Balanced vs Blocked Heart Chakra
| Balanced | Blocked or Overactive |
|---|---|
| Warmth and compassion | Coldness or isolation |
| Healthy boundaries | Difficulty trusting |
| Ability to forgive | Holding grudges |
| Giving and receiving | Over-giving or jealousy |
| Gratitude | Unresolved grief |
These are traditional associations, not medical findings. If you are struggling with grief, depression or anxiety, speak with a mental health professional.
Practices to Open the Heart Chakra
- Heart-centered breathing. Place a hand on your chest and breathe slowly for 3 minutes.
- Loving-kindness (metta) meditation. Silently offer good wishes to yourself, a loved one, a neutral person, a difficult person and all beings.
- Gentle backbends. Camel (Ustrasana) and Cobra are traditional.
- Chant YAM.
- Practice gratitude. Write three things each night.
- Forgive in small steps. Start with a minor hurt.
- Use green or pink stones. Rose quartz and green aventurine are common. See our crystals guide.
A Deeper Heart Practice: Four Steps
Breath and gratitude are a good start. For a deeper opening, many traditions work in this order. Give it 15 to 20 minutes, ideally daily for two weeks.
- Settle (3 minutes). Sit comfortably. Breathe in for 4 counts and out for 6. A longer exhale calms the body, and a calm body can feel more.
- Feel the center (3 minutes). Rest your attention in the middle of the chest. Do not try to create anything. Notice warmth, tightness, heaviness or nothing at all. All of it counts.
- Give and receive (8 minutes). Try tonglen, the Tibetan “sending and taking” practice. Breathe in, and imagine taking in pain, yours or someone else’s, as dark smoke. Breathe out, and send back relief and light. If it feels too heavy, switch to simple loving-kindness phrases: “May you be safe. May you be well. May you be at peace.”
- Rest (3 minutes). Drop the technique and sit in the silence. Some traditions call this listening for the unstruck sound.
If strong grief or old memories come up, slow down or stop. Take it to a counselor or therapist you trust. Opening the heart is never meant to be forced.
When the Heart Is Broken
Heartbreak is not only a metaphor. Doctors recognize takotsubo syndrome, or “broken heart syndrome,” in which severe emotional stress can temporarily weaken the heart muscle. A 2010 review of 148 studies by Julianne Holt-Lunstad found that people with stronger relationships had about a 50 percent greater likelihood of survival over time. The Harvard Study of Adult Development, running since 1938, points the same way: good relationships keep us healthier and happier.
Spiritually, grief is often described as love with nowhere to go. The mystics do not ask you to skip it. A few things help:
- Let it move. Cry, write, walk, talk. Stuck energy is the old picture of a blocked chakra.
- Grieve in company. Friends, a support group or a spiritual community.
- Forgive at your own pace. Forgiveness is not approval. It is putting down a weight you were carrying.
- Get professional help if grief lasts, gets in the way of daily life, or brings thoughts of harming yourself.
Heart Chakra Affirmations
- I give and receive love freely.
- I forgive and release.
- I am worthy of love.
- My heart is open and safe.
Mystical Traditions of the Heart
| Tradition | Teaching |
|---|---|
| Yoga and Tantra | Anahata is where the individual self meets the divine |
| Bhakti yoga | The path of devotion centers on the heart |
| Sufism | The heart (qalb) is the organ of spiritual perception; Rumi’s poetry sings of it |
| Christian mysticism | Devotion to the Sacred Heart; “Blessed are the pure in heart” (Matthew 5:8) |
| Buddhism | The brahmaviharas: loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity |
| Edgar Cayce readings | Linked the spiritual centers to the endocrine glands |
| Paramahansa Yogananda | Taught devotion and love as paths to God |
| A Course in Miracles | Forgiveness as the way to open the heart |
Read about the whole system in our chakras guide, and compare with the grounded root chakra.
Channeled and Esoteric Teachings on the Heart
Channeled material, meaning texts received through trance, an inner voice or automatic writing, puts the heart at the center. Whether you take these as literal messages from higher beings or as inspired writing, they have shaped modern spirituality.
| Source | What it says about the heart |
|---|---|
| A Course in Miracles (1965 to 1972, scribed by Helen Schucman, who said the voice was Jesus) | Forgiveness removes the blocks to love. Love is what you are, not something you earn. |
| The Law of One (the Ra Material, 1981 to 1984) | The green ray is the heart, the gateway between the three lower energy centers and the three upper ones. |
| Edgar Cayce (1877 to 1945) | Linked the spiritual centers to the endocrine glands and stressed that growth starts with love and service in daily life. |
| Kuan Yin | The bodhisattva of compassion, “she who hears the cries of the world.” Her channeled teachings center on mercy and forgiveness. |
| Mother Mary | Channeled messages on tenderness, surrender and the mother-love that holds all beings. |
| Paramahansa Yogananda | Taught that divine love is the goal of every path and that devotion opens the way. |
Notice the pattern. These voices come from different centuries, cultures and methods, yet they keep pointing to the same place. The heart is the doorway, and love is the key that opens it.
What the Research Says
The heart chakra is a spiritual concept and is not measured by science. Research does support related practices. Studies on loving-kindness meditation report increases in positive emotion and connection, and gratitude practices are linked with greater wellbeing. The HeartMath Institute studies heart rate variability and emotion; its measurements are real, though some of its wider claims about a “heart field” are debated. Grief and heartbreak are real physical experiences too, and professional support is valuable.
A little more detail. In a 2008 study, Barbara Fredrickson and colleagues found that seven weeks of loving-kindness meditation increased everyday positive emotions, which in turn built lasting resources such as a sense of purpose and social support. Slow breathing near six breaths a minute, often called resonance breathing, is used in heart rate variability research and is linked with calmer stress responses. Neurocardiologist J. Andrew Armour described the heart’s own intrinsic nervous system in 1991, sometimes called the “little brain” of the heart. None of this proves a chakra exists. It does show that the heart and mind talk to each other, which is what the traditions have always said.
Learn More on Next Level Soul
- What Are Chakras?. The seven centers. Read the guide
- Root Chakra. The foundation. Read the guide
- How to Meditate. Start with the breath. Read the guide
- Soul Groups and Soulmates. Love across lives. Read the guide
Books on the Heart and Chakras
- Loving-Kindness by Sharon Salzberg. A classic on metta.
- Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach. Self-compassion.
- Wheels of Life by Anodea Judith. The chakra system.
- The Book of Joy by Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu. Compassion and joy.
- The Essential Rumi by Coleman Barks. Poems of the heart.
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Watch and Listen on Next Level Soul TV
These titles from the Next Level Soul TV catalog go deeper into this topic.
- Chakra Alignment Meditations. Guided meditations on NLS TV.
- Chakra Cleansing Meditations. Guided meditations on NLS TV.
- NLS Mastery: The Divine Law of Love. NLS Mastery training.
- Free Masterclass: Anjie Hipple (Law of Love). Free masterclass.
- Ascended Master Kuan Yin. Show on NLS TV.
- Kuan Yin on Mercy, Forgiveness and the Bodhisattva Path. Audiobook on NLS TV.
- Bhakti Yoga. Audiobook on NLS TV.
- The Prophet. Audiobook on NLS TV.
- Chakra Meditation: Balance Your Energy Centers. Episode.
- Mary Magdalene Speaks: Awakening Love & Hope with Christy Whitman. Episode.
Where to Go Next
- The seven chakras
- The root chakra
- Soulmates
- Energy healing
- Mindfulness
- Go deeper with Next Level Soul Mastery, our collection of in-depth courses.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is the Heart Chakra?
The fourth main chakra, called Anahata. It is at the center of the chest and is linked with love, compassion and forgiveness.
What Color Is the Heart Chakra?
Green, though pink is also used.
What Does Anahata Mean?
“Unstruck” or “unhurt,” a reference to the unstruck sound heard in deep meditation.
What Are the Signs of a Blocked Heart Chakra?
Traditionally, difficulty trusting, holding grudges, loneliness, jealousy or unresolved grief.
How Do I Open the Heart Chakra?
Try heart-centered breathing, loving-kindness meditation, gentle backbends, chanting YAM, gratitude and forgiveness practices.
What Is the Heart Chakra Mantra?
YAM.
What Stones Are Used for the Heart Chakra?
Rose quartz, green aventurine, malachite and rhodonite are common choices.
Is There Scientific Evidence for the Heart Chakra?
No, it is a spiritual concept. Research does support loving-kindness meditation and gratitude practices for wellbeing.
Go Deeper: The Divine Law of Love with Anjie Hipple
The heart chakra opens through love, and fear is what closes it. Anjie Hipple teaches how to live from love in her Next Level Soul Mastery course.
Join Anjie Hipple as she guides you into the living field of love, not as an abstract idea, but as a transformative state of consciousness, offering profound insights into releasing fear-based patterns, awakening your higher self, and embodying the Law of Love in your relationships and everyday life.
What you will walk away with
- Live from love
- Tell love from fear
- Clear old love imprints
- Step out of the fear triangle
8 lessons, part of Next Level Soul Mastery, our collection of in-depth courses.
