Unlocking Love and Joy: The Healing Power of the Heart Chakra

Embark on a transformative journey to the core of your emotional universe as we unlock the secrets of the heart chakra, your inner wellspring of love and compassion. Amid the hustle of life's challenges, it's all too easy for our heart chakra to become obscured, stifling the flow of joy and connection. In this soul-nourishing session, we lay bare the symptoms of a heart chakra yearning for attention—physical discomfort, emotional barriers, and the ripple effects on our personal relationships—and we bring forth potent strategies to dissolve these blockages, reinvigorating your capacity to love deeply and live joyfully.

As we continue to trace the contours of an open heart, we reveal the enchanting power of heart chakra affirmations, those vibrant statements that realign our energies with the universe's boundless love. Whether it's fostering self-love, casting away resentment, or sowing seeds of gratitude, the affirmations we share are keys to unlocking a more profound acceptance of ourselves and others. 

Next Sunday's Topic: Becoming Minimalist

Transcript

Ivory LaNoue: 1:33

Hi, welcome to the show. Today's topic is all about the heart chakra. I want to say a special hello to my listeners in Swindon UK. So great to have you here. Thanks for telling different people to listen, because I see that listenership going up there, so it's nice to know I have some supporters there.

Ivory LaNoue: 1:53

Let's jump into this all about the heart chakra. So in this episode I will be talking about how chakras work, what the heart chakra is associated with, what it provides to you and how to know if yours is blocked and, if it is blocked, specific ways to unblock it so you can put that into use. Today let's start with talking about chakras a little bit. You've probably heard about them. They're the seven wheels of energy in the body that started the crown of your head and traveled down the body to the base of your spine. When they're spinning properly and flowing, each chakra allows Qi energy and that's spelled QI to flow through the body. Your heart chakra, specifically, is located at the center of your chest, around your heart space. So right here it is the fourth chakra in your body, and let's talk about how it becomes blocked. Those are chakras can get blocked due to our life experiences and when this happens, your feelings of love won't feel balanced. The heart chakra is particularly prone to becoming blocked due to negative love experiences, unhealthy relationships, among other traumas. We store that trauma in our heart chakra and that could be big trauma, like grief, and it could be small trauma, like disappointments and just basic sadness. But if we don't clear that out, it comes to a point where it really begins to affect us in various ways in life emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually. So also, the heart chakra tends to be the one I find to be blocked most often. So I want to talk about when your heart chakra is blocked. It could lead to further love blocks and difficulties in relationships, and it creates this vicious cycle that needs to be broken. What happens when you're blocked? If these wheels of energy, your chakras, become blocked by stress, anxiety, emotional upheaval, whatever your well-being may suffer. The fourth chakra, also called anahata, is located at the heart, as I said, right in the center of your chest. If it becomes blocked, you may find it hard to develop and keep healthy relationships of any kind. So what are the signs of a blocked heart chakra and how do you go about unblocking it? That information is coming up shortly, I promise.

Ivory LaNoue: 4:33

Let's talk about some associations with the heart chakra. In Sanskrit, anahata means unhurt, unstruck and unbeaten. It is the fourth primary chakra in your body and serves as your center of love for yourself and others. It's the center of compassion, empathy and forgiveness. The anahata chakra is associated with unconditional love, compassion and joy. It is the source of deep and profound truths that cannot be expressed in words.

Ivory LaNoue: 5:09

Another heart chakra is a bridge between the lower and upper chakras, integrating the manifest with the spiritual. It's associated with the element air. The first chakra is earth, steady and grounded, and the first one is here. The second chakra is associated with water, and that's here. The third is fire in the belly, required to transform grounded creativity into positive action. Air disperses and integrates spiritual understanding of love, compassion and connection to everything you encounter. Air, like love, is within and all around us. We can embody this element by keeping our heart chakra open and our love free-flowing.

Ivory LaNoue: 5:58

The anahata chakra, or heart chakra, is associated with a color green Isn't that interesting? Which represents transformation and love energy. The colors and the symbols are reflective of the vibration of the chakras. The specific colors and symbols arose when the ancient rishis meditated on the energy of the chakras. So I want to talk about what it's like when your heart chakra is in alignment. When it is, you're going to feel surrounded by love, compassion and joy and connected to the world around you. You will feel open to all experiences in life and it will feel like challenges, especially in relationships, flow through you and are resolved with ease. An open heart chakra allows us to see all of the beauty and love that's around us and truly connect to ourselves, our loved ones and to the world around you.

Ivory LaNoue: 7:12

But if your heart chakra becomes blocked, you'll notice the opposite. It happens both physically and mentally. So what are the physical signs of your heart chakra being blocked? It can affect the entirety of your being and the longer your heart chakra is blocked, the more it will affect you and the more levels of your being it will affect. Symptoms of blocked energy can manifest as physical ailments or disease. The heart chakra directly affects the heart, lungs, chest, arms and hands. When misaligned, poor circulation, higher low blood pressure and other heart and lung conditions can result. Issues that can occur in the body can also include infections of the lungs, like bronchitis, and circulatory problems. There are also mental signs that your heart chakra is blocked, and it's because blocked energy can also have a profound effect on the nature of our mind and our general mental state. So, mentally, an imbalanced heart chakra can result in problematic issues such as being codependent, which is where you are addicted to another person, exhibiting manipulative behaviors, feeling unworthy, a tendency to isolate yourself excessively.

Ivory LaNoue: 8:39

Now I want to just put a little caveat there. If you're an empath or you pick up everybody's energy, you probably need excessive time alone compared to other people. So there has to be multiple of these, not just one, that you exhibit Feeling unworthy, feeling lonely, holding grudges against people you love, feeling jealous, frequently being overly defensive, having a fear of intimacy, putting yourself in the role of the rescuer or victim, finding it difficult to trust others. So let's say you've found there's a number of those pertaining to you or someone you know. The next logical thing is you want to know how to balance your heart chakra. I had to do this. I had to really pay a lot of attention to this after a couple of very destructive relationships that I was in in my younger years. That left me devastated on many levels of my heart. Chakra was almost completely blocked because that love was so painful. So if you've been in a situation like that, I won't be surprised for you to tell me that you've discovered your heart chakra is blocked. So, though it can become blocked, it can be brought back to balance through some of these simple tips.

Ivory LaNoue: 10:05

Number one feel gratitude. Keep a gratitude journal, or just add your gratitude to the journal you have. You don't need a journal for everything Writing down three things a day or more that you feel grateful for, or I like to say them out loud. I say it first thing in the morning. Usually, I say five things I'm grateful for. Some of them remain constant, like my daughter, my work, my friends and family, but the other ones, you know I rotate through and sometimes I add a few more. I also do it at night before I go to sleep, just because those are very powerful times for our mind.

Ivory LaNoue: 10:45

Next, practice backbends of any sort. You wouldn't have thought of this, would you? There are some yoga poses that will be helpful for this. You can start with a simple and subtle when, such as Cobra pose. You can look these up online to see what they are. If you don't take yoga, then try the more intense upward facing dog pose, a bridge pose and fish pose, and when you're warmed up then you can maybe try something called wild thing, bow pose and camel pose, any kind of backbend work. And if you have back problems, like I do, what I do for this is I'll put a few pillows on top of each other and I will just sort of slowly lower myself down so I'm arched over the pillows, but I still get the same benefit. And you can too. You can use rose, quartz and other heart opening crystals. Hold them, put them over your heart chakra, drink heart-opening beverages like rose tea and cacao. That's not the same as hot chocolate, so just be aware there's medicinal cacao.

Ivory LaNoue: 11:57

Practice heart-opening affirmations, and I'm going to give you a lot of them in a moment. Watch my guided meditation on YouTube. It's one of them and it's called Opening your Chakras Fully. My YouTube channel is my name, ivory Lanue, and you can click on the playlist tab and then on guided meditations to find this specific one. It's just under 10 minutes and it has beautiful visual videos with it to help you really get into the meditative state and it's going to open all of your chakras. You can't just open your heart chakra and be healthy. All of them need to be open, so it's good to work on all of them. I keep my guided meditations pretty short so it's easy to fit into your busy day. It's best to do them first thing in the morning, but whenever you can carve some time out for yourself.

Ivory LaNoue: 12:51

So here are some heart chakra affirmations. First I want to tell you a little bit about that. Affirmations, if that's new to you, are statements that you want to be true about yourself and your life. When you begin saying them, it's possible you may have difficulty getting the words out or even cry. I've had times I even choked on the words because I just didn't feel it. It's okay, it's part of the process. Keep going. It's happening because your heart knows how untrue that affirmation is for you currently. It also knows how much you need to embrace that affirmation. So don't give up because you have an emotion To heal your heart chakra.

Ivory LaNoue: 13:32

You can repeat heart chakra mantras out loud or in your headspace daily and during meditation. You may also choose to write down your affirmations to send powerful vibrations out to the universe using the law of attraction, it's helpful to write them down and post them in a place you will see frequently. I post mine. I tape in a little index card on the bathroom mirror so I see them morning and night and it reminds me ah, do your affirmations? Yes, even though I've been on this intense spiritual path since 92, I still do affirmations, because we're all in a process of growth. We're all trying to grow our soul. The journey never ends. Just what our affirmations are just change.

Ivory LaNoue: 14:19

The most important thing to note about practicing heart chakra affirmations is that you need to truly embody them Any affirmations really. You need to focus on tuning into the energy associated with the words you say. It's not enough to just say the words and not feel them to be true. You need to try and connect to their energy throughout the process. So look in the mirror, look into your own eyes and say them with conviction, as if you mean it. A little acting may likely be involved in that in the beginning. Pick one to three affirmations that you resonate with most and your fit, your specific situation, and stay consistent with those before moving on to others. When you say them and realize hey, I mean that, then you can cross that one off. You don't need that one anymore For me. I usually wait till I only have one left on my card and then I move that to the top of a new card and add two more. But hey, you do you.

Ivory LaNoue: 15:20

Here are some of my favorite heart chakra affirmations for opening up your heart chakra specifically. Pick a few. My heart is open. My heart is filled with joy and gratitude. I am ready and open to receiving love and blessings. Now I want you to know I'm saying these like I mean it. I'm saying it the way I want you to say it my natural loving nature attracts love to me like a magnet. I am letting love into my life.

Ivory LaNoue: 15:54

The more love I give, the more I receive. There is a beautiful loving light inside of me. My heart is a wellspring of love, compassion and kindness. I radiate love and warmth, attracting love and positivity into my life. My open heart is a magnet for joy, abundance and meaningful relationships. My heart is a source of empathy and understanding. I let the beauty of the world touch my heart deeply every day. My heart is a sanctuary of peace. I release any emotional barriers preventing my heart from expanding with love. I allow my heart to expand with every breath. I trusted the infinite capacity of my heart to love and be loved. I am worthy of the purest love. I am fully open to giving and receiving love.

Ivory LaNoue: 16:57

I choose love every single day. It is safe for me to love and to be loved. I create loving and supportive relationships. I attract good, loving, kind people into my life. I give my relationships the attention they deserve. I have wonderful and supportive friends. Loving friendships come easily to me. I choose to be involved with kind-hearted people. I am attracting trusting and loving relationships. I embrace vulnerability as a path to deeper connections and love. I am making space for love to flourish in my relationships. I communicate with love, empathy and understanding in all of my interactions. I nurture authentic connections in my life.

Ivory LaNoue: 17:56

So again, it's not so important about you saying the exact words I do. You can listen to this later and I'll tell you I'm going to be posting these as an attached document when I post my podcast ad-free on my Patreon page, and so if you want to go there and you can download that document and you'll have all of these, but pick a few and then put them in your own words or make them more relevant to your personal situation. You may have self-esteem issues from childhood trauma, or it could be more recent. The next set of affirmations addresses releasing anything that keeps your self-esteem low and helps build it up to the highest level possible. So many people need this, and if that's you, I'm really hoping you find a few in here that just sound great to you and jump into this. You don't want to feel this way one moment longer than you must. So these are affirmations for self-love, which is also self-esteem.

Ivory LaNoue: 18:59

I direct love and light towards myself. I love myself unconditionally. I choose to see myself and others in a compassionate light. I deeply and completely love and accept myself. I love myself to the fullest. I am beautiful. I am good enough, just the way I am. Real love starts with me. I am worthy of the compliments I receive. I am worthy of love and care. I love myself and am open to love. Loving myself is my top priority. I am a priority in my own life. I am worthy of limitless compassion. I am worthy of kindness. I embrace my imperfections. I am at peace with who I am. I treat myself with the same love and respect I offer to others. I release self-criticism and replace it with self-love. I cherish the unique and beautiful person that I am. I am open to receiving love and care from others. My love for others starts with the love I have for myself. I am whole and complete.

Ivory LaNoue: 20:22

I mentioned earlier that holding on to anger and grudges also leads to your heart chakra becoming blocked. If this is an issue you know as pertinent for you, then this next set of affirmations is a great place for you to begin your healing. These are affirmations for forgiveness and healing. I release all resentment. I forgive myself for my mistakes and grow from them. My heart is free from past hurt. Mistakes are proof that I am learning and improving. I let go of negative experiences. I am moving forward with my life. I am stepping away from the prison of resentment into freedom. I let go of all the negative thoughts that affected my past. I am trusting the phases of life and releasing the past with ease. I forgive myself and others, allowing my heart to heal and open. I see the goodness in myself and in others. I forgive with love and acceptance. I release all grudges and open my heart to forgiveness. I am healing old wounds and embracing inner peace. Forgiveness is an act of self-love and I choose to love myself fully. I am letting go of the past, making room for new and loving experiences. My heart chakra is a sanctuary of healing and forgiveness. I am free from the burden of carrying grudges and my heart is light and open. I am a forgiving and compassionate soul. I feel grateful for the opportunities to forgive and heal, as they strengthen my heart. My heart chakra is a space of forgiveness, love and profound healing. My heart is healing.

Ivory LaNoue: 22:26

I remind you again, it's not important to say the words that I say. It's about the intention of the words. So pick out a few of these affirmations that speak to you and rewrite them in your own words, if you wish. You may prefer to begin saying the words that I gave you, and later you'll feel moved to make changes. That's fine. Whatever process works for you. What is important is that you're telling your brain what you want to be true within yourself and in your life, and that's what becomes true. Your brain believes what you tell it. So, in conclusion, just know that healthy and balanced chakra energy is vital for our mental and physical well-being. Our heart center relies on an open Anacada chakra for free-flowing love, compassion and empathy. So when you feel stuck in these areas. You can balance this energy center with simple tools given to you in the show today to open your heart to the love and beauty always surrounding us.

Ivory LaNoue: 23:34

Thank you so much for listening today and just know, next topic next Sunday is becoming a minimalist. We're going to talk about that. That's become quite the thing, and there's different levels of being a minimalist. I've been talking to some people in my personal life who are minimalist and I'll be sharing some of that information with you of their personal journey. What took them there? In the meantime, know that again, these affirmations will be posted on Patreon as an attachment to my podcast. There you can enjoy my everything on my Patreon site for free for seven days, and after that you can even stay for free and enjoy some material, because I want everybody to be able to benefit from it. In the meantime, may your angels surround you. May your angels protect you every moment, every day of your life. I'll see you next week.