The Heart Chakra: Foods for Passion
The Anahata Chakra is situated in the center of your chest, close to the heart. Its mantra is YAM. The color that represents this chakra is green. You feed this chakra by finding your passion and following your heart: have faith, find ways to express yourself and practice appreciation, balance giving and receiving and (most importantly) give yourself permission to forgive others and yourself.
When your heart chakra is in balance you will feel a great compassion for all living creatures. You will be kind, caring, joyous and outgoing. You will feel completely at ease with yourself and the people in your life. You’ll no longer mind spending time alone, and will feel completely satisfied with “me” time.
When your heart chakra is unbalanced you will probably be very negative in your thinking, and may find it very difficult to keep a positive outlook in life. You may feel unloved, unworthy and unappreciated. This will manifest in the world around you, and will only confirm these “beliefs” about yourself. You may even have a hard time accepting love from others and feel like you just have to settle.
How to Balance Your Heart Chakra
Learn the art of mindfulness and loving kindness — the foundations for living with an open heart — in The Yogi’s Heart, a guide for opening and connecting. For it is only when you approach life from a place of openness can you embody connectedness with all things.
Recipe: Green Juice or Smoothie for Your Heart
To keep the heart chakra spinning and love emanating, here is a quick recipe you can blend or juice:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup coconut water
- 1 bunch kale (de-stemmed)
- 1 green apple (I like Granny Smith)
- A small piece of ginger
- 1 half cucumber
Directions:
Blend or juice all of the ingredients together. If you juice, use the whole cucumber. You’ll end up with a beautiful green juice or smoothie to enjoy!
Read the Other Articles in This Series:
The Root Chakra: Foods to Ground and Strengthen
About the Author
Crystal Healing and the Root Chakra
There are seven chakra points on the body where the energy flows and intersects, bringing peace, harmony, and balance to our lives. Yet, like everything else chakras tend to become blocked over time, and we can feel the physical effect of this blockage within our bodies. Removing these blockages is simple and may require some practice, but in the long run it’s worth it. While crystals are a popular method of clearings, this article includes items you may wish to use along with crystals. All work well together and will enhance your connection to this energy point.
You cannot balance the other chakras without first tending to the root chakra.
What the Root Chakra Does
The root or base chakra keeps us grounded and is our connection point to the earth. When this chakra is balanced, we are confident, trusting, and independent. We learn to grow in all aspects of our lives ‒ spiritually, physically, and mentally. When it is blocked, we become anxious and stressed and can lose interest in our most basic of needs.
Crystals Are Connected to the Chakras
Many crystals emanate vibrations that parallel the chakras, and each chakra has a corresponding crystal companion. While all work to balance them out, I have found some crystals work better than others. I suggest you work with a few to see which one is a good fit for you. The root chakra has two color associations, so stones of both colors will do, but not all stones of these particular colors are adequate, or may be more suited for something else. There is also the price. Some crystals are rare to come by and expensive. I suggest doing some research to make sure the stone you use – or wish to use – is both accommodating in price and healing. It doesn’t have to be expensive to help.
Crystals for the Root Chakra
The colors associated with the root chakra are red and black ‒ fire and earth elements. Some, like hematite and onyx, have more than one use. Most black or brown stones have an affinity with the earth and are already widely used as grounding stones. For added measure, you can wear a clear quartz stone to amplify the vibration.
Black/Brown Crystals
- Hematite
- Obsidian
- Onyx
- Tiger’s Eye
- Black Tourmaline
Red crystals
- Red Jasper
- Red Calcite
- Bloodstone
- Garnet
Note – garnet comes in green as well. If you wish to use a garnet, make sure it is the proper stone.
Meditating with Crystal Energy
After purchasing and cleansing your desired crystal (crystal cleansing is very important), lay on your stomach. Pick a place to lay where you will be comfortable and there are no worries about someone disturbing you. Place the stone on your tailbone, making sure it won’t fall off. Alternately, if you can’t lie on your stomach it’s fine to lay on your back. You can either hold the stone in your hand near the chakra point, or place it on your body so that it won’t fall off. If sitting, hold the crystal in your cupped palm near your root chakra as you meditate. Take some deep breaths. Feel the vibration of the stone.
Play meditative music designed to stimulate the root chakra. I feel strongly that sound waves increase the vibration of the crystal. There are many wonderful videos on Gaiam TV about sound waves, such as Cymatics: Bringing Matter to Life with Sound and Fractal Meditation, and [Astral Traveler](/video/astral-traveler}. Like crystals, you need to choose a video that works for you.
The root chakra is connected to the sense of smell. Burning incense or essential oils is a great way to enhance your balancing and cleansing. I burn patchouli and use it solely for this purpose. Other scents you can use are nutmeg, cedar, ginger, vetiver, myrrh, and cinnamon; or, try a combination of your choice or another associated with the root chakra.
Eating root chakra foods and exercise are good tools as well. Go for a walk or sit cross-legged on the ground. If you practice yoga, you can incorporate standing forward bend into your routine.
