I have been working on creating a recorded yoga series focusing on balancing the chakras. I began with focus on the heart chakra as it is my personal chakra needing the most attention. In writing and practicing my class, I reflected on the journey I have been on in the past year or so, and the struggles I continue to deal with as a result. During my Yoga Teacher Training, my teacher used a quote that really resonated with me:

This quote has been playing in my head for the past few days, and I have been processing the significance of how much of the negative emotion we struggle with in our heart center is purely from grasping, from ruminating, from closing ourselves up and holding on. I reflected on my worst days, and found this to be absolutely true. When I was in my darkest moments, it was solely due to me getting in my own way; my fear of feeling what was inevitable was blocking the flow of energy and causing me even more distress.

Getting rid of negative emotions is not a healthy goal to strive for; being angry, annoyed, sad, or nervous are natural human responses to situations in life. Balance in life requires the lows as much as the highs, but one does not need to get stuck and suffer longer than is necessary. The trick is to work to keep the heart open,  allow the energy to flow freely, and experience fully the emotions as they move through you. The emotions cannot last longer than  the energy feeding them, so if you sit with them long enough for them to move, you will experience relief.

Emotions linger and escalate when we try to block them. If I tell you not to think about a pink elephant, chances are you’re thinking about a pink elephant right now. If you set your mind to not feeling the anger/sadness/anxiety/fear that is caused by your situation, you’re effectively putting a cork in your heart and bottling that emotion to brew and intensify. By opening your heart, you take the cork out and let the emotion express its way out of your body which can take many forms and only you will know best how to work it out. Follow your impulse (as long as it’s safe): if you feel like you need to cry, cry. If you want to run away, put on your sneakers and go for a run. If you feel like you want to rip the situation up- write it down and tear it to shreds. If you feel like venting, call a safe friend and tell them you just need them to listen without feedback for a few minutes. Do whatever you can to let it out, sit with it, feel it, and then cleanse yourself with a few deep breaths once you feel it slip away.

This process is easier said than done, and I continually work myself to keep myself open. Doing chakra-specific meditations and yoga helps to physically and mentally align the energetic centers of the body. A Reiki energetic healing session can also help in balancing the chakras. You can also simply set an intention to keep an open heart, and be mindful of unintentionally blocking when you feel negative emotions coming on. Finally, you can use this mantra either written where you can see it, mentally, or saying aloud to help to stimulate the heart chakra:

“I am grateful, courageous, and willing to open my heart to unconditional love.”