Love, Loss, and the Heart Chakra

Happy [early] Valentine’s Day!

Before I lose you, I don’t entirely believe in chakras. I’ve disputed for and against them and been on both sides of the argument at different points in my life. There is virtually no scientific basis for chakras. However, the souls that I work with believe in them, and so to a degree, I do as well. I now see them as conveyers of energy throughout the energetic and physical body, like gears pulling and channeling this energy throughout.

When I first worked with my teacher, the energy I call Source, he put a lot of focus into controlling my ability to communicate with them through the heart chakra. He told me to visualize it as if it were a green light spinning in no special direction. When I wished to not hear or speak to them, I was to visualize the green light condensing and becoming small. When I wanted to connect, I was to see the green energy opening wide and reaching out. I didn’t question this; I knew very little about chakras and had no interest in them initially. Still, I was determined to be an apt pupil, and I listened.

Recently, I experienced a traumatic situation that led to deep grief. Even though I had abandoned paying attention to my chakras, Source came forward and showed himself vigorously running his fingers up and down the middle of my chest, where my heart was, as if assuaging a deep pain there. I remembered that he did this very thing when he was showing me how to move energy through the chakras last year. I had completely forgotten, and yet here he was reminding me how important it was to

If you don’t believe in chakras, see them as visual aids for certain focuses, like communication, grounding, love, etc., connected to your physical body as well as your soul.

Conveyer of Love, Passion, and Creativity

The heart chakra has so much more to give than many sources have detailed. In my opinion, it is the primary and sole chakra that we should focus on the most. It is linked to your physical heart and your emotional center, and it serves as a mediator for both. It also regulates all your other chakras, and it’s one of the easiest ones to control and heal.

Like your heart, this chakra shifts and pulses with every interaction. It is strongly affected by your emotions. Reactions, responses, and meditations can cause your heart to open or close, and sometimes very rapidly. It’s not ideal for the heart to close or open like this. Instead, it should maintain a relatively neutral size and rate.

But what causes this chakra to open and close, and how can we keep it regulated?

Note: Not only are these reasons for your heart to open and close, but they can also be the result of a heart opening and closing. Much like how depression causes you to lose your appetite and starving can lead to depression. Very much a snake eating its tail situation.

Opening the Heart

The heart chakra responds additively to actions that involve reaching outwards. But this doesn’t necessarily mean all positive emotions cause the heart to open. Additionally, some emotions we would consider to be negative can also cause the heart to open.

• Love, attraction, infatuation, desire
• Creativity, art (whether observing art or creating art)
• Fulfillment of any passion, such as a hobby
• Exercise
• Communication, both spiritual and physical
• Searching and focusing, tuning in, paying attention
• Obsession and addiction
• Praise, pride, adulation
• Shouting, raised voices, singing, outward forms of expression and body language
• Physical comfort

Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. When your heart chakra is very open, you can experience psychological symptoms, such as anxiety, over-excitability, and mania. Physical symptoms are predictable: a racing heart, murmurs, palpitations, and more.

Closing the Heart

If you have a restriction of energy anywhere, you can guarantee it is owed to a closed, choked heart chakra. The good news is that heart chakras don’t close without reason. Something significant has to happen for them to collapse inward. Once collapsed, it is must be actively held fast to keep the chakra closed.

• Trauma and shock, physical and mental
• Depression
• Stress
• Drive for justice, revenge
• Rage
• Exhaustion, mental or physical
• Grief
• Timidity, having a crush on someone
• Shame, embarrassment
• Secrets, whether good or bad
• Hiding, literally or figuratively
• Defensiveness or guardedness
• Doubt
• Physical tensions and reservations, curling up into a ball
• Physical discomfort

The closed heart trembles when it is constricted, like a tightly closed fist. The energy shivers as it is condensed, vibrating with such frenzied energy that it can’t go anywhere. I theorize that this is why it is so difficult for us to communicate with others, dead or alive, when we are in the state of a closed heart. We are literally impossible to connect to.

Regulating Your Heart & Things to Note

First, it’s important that you practice mindfulness. Pay attention to how your body reacts during emotional situations. Does your chest seize when you’re sad? Do you feel pulled towards someone or something that makes you excited? When you have an idea of how your heart reacts, you can anticipate when you’ll need to step in and relax it.

As with all things, a good diet, exercise, and mindful meditation will keep your heart chakra effortlessly regulated. During meditation, I like to visualize a flower blooming to open my heart. Then, when I am done, I gently close the flower. You can use any visualization you wish. You can also physically touch your chest and spiral your finger slowly outward larger and larger while speaking affirmations that promote positivity and love: “I am full of love.” Then, when it’s time to relax the chakra, spiral it back down to a modest size: “I am peaceful.”
Alternatively, rubbing your chest up and down in gradually lengthening strokes and vice versa is another way.

Intuitives, mediums, and anyone who plays with opening and closing their heart chakra to speak with souls should note that doing so can have side effects. Practicing opening your heart chakra can give you a euphoric feeling, like a dose of caffeine. Likewise, practicing closing it can make you feel depressed and reduce you to tears in minutes. Try to not close your heart too quickly or too tightly. Like a diver with the bends, you want to rise slowly and gently. Continue to regulate your heart using the aforementioned methods.

Enjoy the power of your heart!