You know how your heart melts when you hold a puppy or see a baby laugh? Or how your heart aches when Sarah Mclachlan belts out, "In the arms of the angel..." for an animal cruelty commercial?
Your eyes are seeing it, your brain is registering it, but your heart is doing all the feeling.
That's because every human heart has its own brain that functions independently from the brain in our heads. And heart health is just as if not more important than mental health.
In fact, the heart's electromagnetic field, emanating from your heart chakra, radiates energy upwards of 5 feet from any given heart. That's how powerful our big-little heart brains are. And all the more reason to take great care in maintaining its optimum performance.
If your heart chakra is blocked, your feelings may be low, you might exhibit unloving behaviors, you could be harboring negative thoughts, you may not be experiencing joy like everyone around you seems to be. You can say you love someone, but how do you express it and do you feel the same level of love you desire in return? Your heart might literally ache, feel heavy in your chest, you might even have respiratory issues, or a heart condition.
It's an "easier said than done" situation to unblock a heart chakra to get your energy positively flowing. Because of that heart-brain, it takes only conscious thoughts and positive emotions to remove blockages. It's turning a frown upside down and thinking about love and happiness as opposed to anger, fear, and worry.
Training your heart-brain to break free from negative thought patterns happens the very second you commit to opening up your heart chakra. Instead of dwelling in your feelings of hurt and pain, think about people, places, things you do love or go out and do the things you love to do. Meditate daily to help you focus on what your heart truly desires; what a better use of time envisioning what fills your heart with love and joy instead of sitting mad, stressed, having an attitude, or being grumpy to everyone around you.
Put devices down or step away from people or places that lead you to or contribute to negative thoughts and feelings. If you have to mentally prepare yourself to engage with a particular person in your life, whether it be a parent, a friend, a co-worker, limit engagements with them as much as possible for your own heart health.
I love my mother with all my heart, but with her devout Catholic upbringing, the mere thought of a chakra is like a foreign language to her. Although I know she loves me as her only daughter, she also says some pretty damaging stuff to my face or in a text. So I limit my engagements with her to lessen the opportunity for her to tear me down. I don't let her words or opinions affect me or bring my energy down. I respond with love by providing the contrary positive perspective of her very negative perspective or I just completely ignore her statement and get about my merry day.
Here is a piece of one of her texts regarding getting a job, her answer to all my problems, "...leave some of your mouth at home (your being talkative) sometimes it cause trouble." I literally have a degree in Communications from one of the top communication programs in the country.
In addition to meditating, I microdose with medicinal mushrooms on a weekly basis and I express gratitude every day for the amazing family I am surrounded and unconditionally loved by. My three youngest kids are fun, my two oldest fill me with pride, and my husband is a pillar of peace and harmony. We spend quality time as a family and we consciously consume that which brings only positive benefits to our bodies, such as a plant-based diet.
Whenever an inkling of stress or worry attempts to sneak in my heart-brain, I banish it immediately with a vision of my goals and dreams, knowing that the thoughts I think are radiating out from me and formulating in reality. I fill my mind with love as much and as often as possible. I control and breathe through anger and frustration, then release it as quickly as possible.
It takes a lot of mental strength and diligence to put your heart-brain before your brain-brain. Contrary to popular belief, your thoughts and feelings matter. They matter so much, the rest of your body is counting on you; think and feel negative, your body inside and out will reflect such. Think and feel positive, you will naturally make healthier conscious choices.
We as humans are manifestations of light and we're not here to dwell in the dark. When we are full of love and joy, our hearts physically emit an energy so positively charged it can be measured, tracked, charted and felt by others nearby. An open and free-flowing heart chakra allows love to flow free, keeping both big brains in alignment and balance.
Love keeps us shining, so open and maintain your heart chakra wide open to endlessly radiate from within.
How do you keep your heart chakra pumping radiantly?