Boundless love and compassion results in a healthy heart while any negative emotion results in imbalance, leading to physical discomfort like chest-pains, says RUBY LILAOWALA.
The first beat of the heart means life and its’ last beat means death. The medium that the heart uses to act upon our body is blood, the precious red fluid which combines with the breath to carry to carry the life-principal, or prana, building up and maintaining the body in its’ endless circulations. Physiologically, the heart is the hardest worked organ in the body. It pulsates more than a hundred-thousand times everyday. It drives eight tons of blood through the arteries from head to toe.
Psychologically, the heart is the seat of the ego, for our feelings, emotions and thoughts which is why whenever we say “I feel” or “Oh my God”, we automatically put a hand on our heart-chakra which is responsible for our relationships with others. When we feel friendly and loving towards others, our heart-chakra expands and we grief, loneliness and hatred, it gets blocked.
Anti-social people and those who can’t get along with family and friends have an imbalanced heart-chakra which translates physically as blockages. If you want to avoid surgery and stents, fill your heart with love for everyone and everything that life offers. Of course, this is the opinion of a lay person like me but nothing is lost in trying it! Boundless love and compassion results in a healthy heart while any negative emotion results in imbalance, leading to physical discomfort like chest-pains.
When this vital chakra is blocked by negativity, various aspects of your life are affected and you feel listless, sad, anxious, hyper and angry, in which case, you attract lots of unpleasant events because like attracts like. This may also result in failure of your personal relationships.
The Katha Upnishad says that “When all the knots of the heart are unloosened, then even here, in this human birth, the mortal becomes the immortal.” Basically, the inclinations of the heart are love and peace which is why we say “follow your heart”. When the heart’s natural sensitivity to open up and share is replaced by negativity towards others, we say that such and such person is “hard-hearted”.
So, how do we transform the heart chakra? Spend time with young children and pets. Get down to their level of playing. Follow their lead. You can also reconnect with an old friend. Let them know what they mean to you. If you have children, hug them and tell them you love them. You can also do a lot of things at home. Put up pictures of loved ones or a heart-centred spiritual teacher. Take care of your diet and incorporate vegetables and leafy greens like spinach, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, basil and parsley into your diet to nourish your heart chakra. Use oils like the rose oil to lift your spirits and increase your positive thoughts, a sense of spiritualism and feelings of hope and happiness. Since the heart chakra is associated with colour green, lighting green candles and having pictures of nature in your surroundings will help your heart feel at ease. Chant your favourite mantras daily. The heart chakra is associated with the vibration sound of the mantras.
You can also perform an anonymous random act of kindness for a week. See how it makes you feel. Volunteer at a pet or homeless shelter. Spend time in natural settings. Forests are especially good. Visit cultures known for their open-heartedness and non-materialism. Live in Sat-Chit-Anand.
Is that all we can do to keep our heart chakra healthy? No, we can do more. Just as base metal is transmuted into gold, we have to consciously transform our gross and negative Karmas into our highest spiritual potential. We are our own healers and alchemists. Even Fritjoff Capra who was an atheist, admits in his book, ‘The Tao of Physics’ that a “loving and sharing heart produces photons of high energy and spiritual momentum which attracts people to it”. This is why we feel happy in the company of some people who have a loving nature but feel uncomfortable in the presence of others.
