Hey all. Thanks for continuing to read on and let me share my passions of anatomy and energetic work. This week we will focus on the Fourth Chakra, called the Anahata Chakra. This Chakra is the middle ground between the physical self and the spiritual self, and personally, one of my favorites.
Let's start with the anatomy of the Fourth Chakra. The Lungs, the Thymus, the Pericardium, The Heart, and the Cardiac Plexus are all associated with this area. This heart space has connections with the cardiovascular system, the respiratory system, and the immune system. Because of the area's close ties to the lungs and the heart, oxygen uptake and oxygen regulation play key components in keeping the heart chakra balanced and in check. Pranayama, or breath work, is a potent practice to help this space of the energy system in the human body. With its correlations and associations with the heart, blood pressure, and overfall heart health are vital to successful Fourth chakra energy.
The gland intertwined with this chakra is the Thymus. Although the Thymus is a gland, it has many links to the immune system. It is known for producing and modulating T -Cells. These T Cells help to fight off foreign invaders and to keep your immune system healthy and functioning properly. Interesting fact to note as well, the Thymus is largest when we are young.
The trigger point muscles of the Anahata chakra are the Rhomboids and the Pectoralis Muscles. The pec muscles are associated with love to others and compassion to others. The rhomboids have associations with love to the self.
The energetic aspect of the Heart Chakra is one of love and divine power. This energy center is the meeting ground between the spiritual and physical self. It is also where the energy of the physical self stems from. It is where you learn to trust and have faith in the self to lead life from the heart. The energetic qualities of this chakra infiltrate all 7 spaces or Chakras connected to the individual.
The mantra of this chakra is "I Love" or also the state of "Love is Divine Power." This mantra plays inside of the concept of self- awareness, self- exploration, and forgiveness. It is within this chakra we start to learn and love aspects of ourselves and discover what makes our independent self feel worthy, loved, and respected. It is from there that we start to build healthy and non- co dependent experiences and relationships. The hands and arms are also part of the working organs to help express love and compassion to others.
Imbalances that can occur in the chakra are ones of anxiety, fear, anger, detachment, disassociation, asthma, breathing conflicts, bronchitis, asthma, heart attacks, heartbreak, shock, fainting, fight or flight, and many others. As I state each week, please see a medical doctor in collaboration with doing the self work to untangle what i at the individual source of your concerns.
To help balance this chakra, there are three easy things to do:
1. Backbends- for those who feel their fourth chakra is underutilized, back bends can help to safely open up the space physically. With the new found opening structurally, one may start to feel more confidence in opening the heart emotionally. Vulnerability is a vital aspect of this Chakra. Opening the floodgates does not happen in one fell swoop. If overused and spread thin with the amount of love to others, coming back to your own heart is needed. Using things like child's pose and forward folds are a great way to bring more of an internal heart space back into you.
2. Pranayama- Because the heart and lungs are a part of this chakra, using breathing exercises is a great aspect to revitalizing this space. YouTube as well as many other apps have great breathing exercises to help you gain confidence on when to use what type of technique.
3. Loving Kindness Meditations- There is a whole type of meditation practice geared towards bringing you to a loving and kind space of the heart. Compassion Mediation Practices have been proven to help with immune responses as well as overall mood in the body.
I hope you all have enjoyed the reading and looking forward to next week's article on the Fifth Chakra, which is all about communication and finding your voice.
Happy Reading-
Peak Body Integration