Learn more about the Chakras:

Here you will find some helpful information to educate yourself about the chakras, before you come to class
This link will explain in more detail about the seven energy centers, the chakras and their importance and impact to our physical bodies.

What are Chakras?

Chakras are psychic centers that lie along the axis of the spine as consciousness potentials. The chakras are not materially real and are to be understood as situated, not in the gross body, but in the subtle or etheric body. Repositories of psychic energies, they govern the whole condition of being. In the Hindy tradition they are usually represented as lotuses.

As kundalini energy reaches each chakra, that lotus opens and lift its flower; and as soon as she leaves for a higher chakra, the lotus closes its petals and hangs down, symbolizing the activation of the energies of the chakra and their assimilation to kundalini.

Each of the chakras, according to the Tantras, corresponds to one of the elements of which the known world is compounded. Muladhara represents solidity; Svadhisthana, liquidity; Manipura, the gaseous; Anahata, the aerial; Vishuddha, the etheric, or space.

This ascent through the chakras can be viewed as an upward journey through the self.
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ANAHATA CHAKRA

The Heart Chakra
our "spiritual heart"

A healthy fourth chakra allows us to love deeply, feel compassion, have a deep sense of peace and centeredness.

The heart chakra is considered the bridge between the lower three and the upper three chakra. It is midway, right in the center of our body.

Below us are the first three chakras which relate to things and activities in the external physical world. Above us are the top three chakras which relate to internal representations of the physical world that are experienced mentally. The fourth chakra, located over the heart, is the balance point between these two extremes: the integrator of mind and body, believed to be the central home of the spirit.

Anahata chakra has twelve vermillion petals. The Yantra in the centre of the chakra is composed of two overlapping, intersecting triangles. One triangle, facing upward symbolizes Shiva, the male principle. The other triangle, facing downward, symbolizes Shakti, the female principle. A balance is attained when these two forces are joined in harmony.

The seed mantra is Yam and the vital breath is Prana.
The presiding deity is Ishana Rudra Shiva.

The chakra's associated animal
is the black antelope or gazelle,
symbolizing the lightness of physical substance.

The heart chakra is related to the element air and the quality of love. Air is formless, largely invisible, absolutely necessary, and the least dense of our first four elements. Air is expansive as it will expand to fit any space it is put into, yet it is soft and gentle.

So, too, is love. Love is the expansion of the heart, the transcendence of boundaries, the interconnectedness of spirit. Love is balance, ease, softness, forgiveness. And love at the heart chakra is felt as a state of being, existing independently of any object or person, unlike the passion-oriented love of the second chakra.

The Sanskrit name for this chakra is Anahata, which means "sound that is made without any two things striking", or unstruck. This describes a state where we are no longer fighting or confronting what we love but moving with it in graceful harmony. The fight of the third chakra gives way to graceful acceptance in the fourth.

Because Anahata is related to the element air, it is accessible through the breath. The Hindus call the breath prana, which means "first unit," and they believe it contains the essence of all vitality and nourishment, being the point of commonality between the mental and physical worlds. Opening up the breath, unloosening whatever tensions are constricting it, is a way of accessing the
heart chakra.

Glands and organs influenced by the fourth chakra:
Heart, lungs, immune system, thymes gland, lymph glands.

Some signs that the heart chakra is overpowering your life can include co-dependency, possessiveness, jealousy, heart disease, and high blood pressure. The most powerful way to open, energize, and balance not just the heart chakra but all of our chakras is to love ourselves and others.

Unconditional Love is the greatest healer. In our hatha yoga practice, remembering what we love and appreciate as we practice fourth chakra asanas enhances the power of the poses and our general well-being.

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Symbol for the heart chakra is the cross

Qualities: Divine/unconditional love, forgiveness, compassion, understanding, balance, group consciousness, oneness with life, acceptance, peace, openness, harmony, contentment
Negative Qualities - Repression of love, emotional instability, out of balance, heart problems, circulation problems
Energy - Consciousness
Interrelating Organ - Thymus
Spinal Contact - 1st Thoracic Vertebra
Sense - Touch
Element - Air
Color -Pink or Green
Healing Gems/Minerals - Emerald, green and pink tourmaline, malachite, green jade, green aventurine, chrysoprase, kunzite, rose quartz, ruby

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Some yoga exercises that help open the heart chakra:

cobra
wheel
half wheel
bow
fish
upward facing dog
camel
breathing exercises
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Physical signs as imbalances of the heart chakra:
Frequent bronchitis or lung infection
Heart disease
Breathing difficulties
Weak immune system
Hypertension
Aching chest or upper back

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Love is the essence of live, our ultimate healer.

Exerpts from Anodea Judith, C. W. Leadbeater, Tantra Chakra System