The Heart Chakra: Adventures in Pursuing Anahata Chakra Gone Missing

This is what I know about the Heart Chakra, the Sanskrit name is Anahata which means “the unstruck sound”. Associated with the element of air and when balanced and aligned brings feelings of unconditional love, compassion, connection and joy.

Location- (supposedly) in the center of the chest, a sphere of spinning light in the center between the heart and the spine-said to be the easiest one to feel out of the seven chakras; sounds lovely.

If you have one, which I was sure I did not.

In my opinion Location should have been listed as Unknown, On the Lamb, Gone Missing, or at the very least Out of the Office.

Adventures in Pursuing Heart Chakras Gone Missing

It has been about a year since I graduated from my 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training with a minor in Resisting Meditation. After a year that had been a little rocky…to put it mildly… somehow I found myself sitting at the bus station in Boulder Colorado waiting… once again for the bus up the mountain to Nederland. This time I didn’t smoke a cigarette, I had given it up by then.

I occasionally enjoyed smoke after a particularly rough day (which was pretty much everyday) until one evening my husband at the time said “How do you plan on being a yoga teacher that smokes? It seems like it doesn’t really work…just sayin…” I looked at him a little pissed that he was calling me out…and then we laughed because he was 100% right…(and I hated when he was right) but seriously the idea was absurd. Just about as absurd as it was for me to be hauling my tired, sad and sorry self back up the mountain for…wait for it….Level One Meditation Teacher Training!

Are you freaking kidding me? answer: I am not.

That’s right! I signed up for a 30 hour immersion Meditation Training at Shoshoni. It still seems hard to believe that out of all the options to continue my study of yoga I picked this…but what is done is done. I can’t believe they even accepted me into the program…I don’t have a meditation practice, who the heck did I think I was? I’m not going to be able to teach this… I don’t even have a heart chakra!

Easiest one to find and activate…yea right…

Adventures in Pursuing Heart Chakras Gone Missing

I must have been having a very weird day when I booked this, but that is no surprise…It had been one hell of a year.

When I returned from Colorado following my 30 day leave of absence from life, I dragged my suitcase full of bullshit back down the mountain and home with me where I proceeded to unpack it and ruthlessly purge its contents. This activated a complete Shit Storm of everything in my life completely falling apart. I won’t get into the gory details at this time but it was more than just a series of unfortunate events.

At dinner that evening when I arrived at Shoshoni, sitting by the wood stove in the “good seats” surrounded by my new classmates and teachers we all shared a little of what we had been up to. I was pretty quiet, I didn’t feel like unloading too much upon arrival so I shared the very abridged version. One of my teachers looked at me and said “Wow, Annmarie…sounds like you have had a strong year…a little purification”… well, that’s one way of putting it, I thought to myself as I smiled and nodded politely.

In hot pursuit of Heart Chakras Gone Missing

5:30 am- Meditation- Fire Temple..breakfast…class time…meditation, yoga, lunch…class time, yoga, meditation …dinner…meditation…personal practice…bedtime

Day in day out, one failed attempt after another to find the elusive heart chakra…infuriating!

Everyone else had one, they all floated around  happy and content, enjoying their meditation practice. Yes they were ENJOYING this! I could scream….

Day 6- Same story…still nothin. At lunch I sat next to a woman who had just arrived for a different training which was about to start as the Meditation Training was wrapping up. We chatted a bit about her travels and I realized I had met her the year before, she had been taking the Level One Meditation Training which started the day of my graduation. She remembered me too and we settled into enjoying our meal.

So…How did you like the Meditation Training…? I asked with hesitation, “oh I loved it, it really strengthened my practice…and I love teaching the Meditation practices we learned in the training!…” she answered excitedly…how about you? I could no longer hold back the the tears, I don’t know if they were the product of sadness, frustration, rage, fear…or another form of “purification” but there they were free flowing.

I can’t find my heart chakra, I whispered through the tears…I don’t think I have one. She looked at me with a mixture of concern and humor “of course you have one” she said…”everybody has one!”

Adventures in Pursuing Heart Chakras Gone Missing

She then shared a technique with me that I now call the Love List.

The Love List is a tool that I used to finally feel my heart chakra. Now don’t get too excited here, yes it was a break-through but it lasted for maybe…one or two seconds…but it was proof that I had one. It was not a lost cause. I was not a lost cause…or a cold hearted woman as some may have suggested.

Truth be told this is not easy work…especially if you are in the midst of a “strong” year…but if you are open to the possibility and you are looking for a little more unconditional love, compassion, connection and joy in your life… I have some tools to help you in your pursuit of Heart Chakras gone missing.

Here is my short list:

1. The Love List- this is exactly what it sounds like…make a list in your journal of 5-10 things you love. The list can include anything, people; pets; locations; food; material possessions it doesn’t matter what it is, it’s about evoking a feeling here… that feeling of deep love that can’t be put into words, sweetness and pure joy. I have heard mothers say that this is how it feels when you have a child…I do not have children so I picked my dog…Maybe you pick your grampas famous red sauce…you get the idea.

Meditation for the Hot Pursuit of Anahata Chakras Gone Missing

Now that you have your list lets put it into practice-

Set a timer for 5 minutes. Sit comfortably and relax the body, allow the breath to be natural and soft in and out through the nose, close the eyes and begin to visualize something on your list, take your time enjoy painting the picture in your mind, hold that image and allow yourself to fill with with the love you feel for your chosen item, place, person, animal, etc… if your mind wanders off …its OK just pull your focus back to the image you have chosen to represent your love…maybe you are there in the image with your item, pet, person, in that place, etc… enjoying the experience of that special love…let this joy and love fill you and travel into the heart space (supposed location as previously discussed) let that feeling swim there in sweetness… when the timer goes off, gently open your eyes and give gratitude to your love list and to yourself for showing up for your journey.

So did you feel it!? …No? Me neither… and I still don’t feel it all the time… but I do some of the time. Its the possibility that keeps me going…and whether I ever get my heart chakra to spin or not I will never regret the adventure of pursing it.

2. Another item for your tool box… Rose Quartz – this beautiful pink stone has a feminine energy…inspires beauty…love and healing. Also said to ….yes you guessed it, open the heart. I find holding a piece of Rose Quartz in my hand while doing my heart chakra searching can be very helpful in maintaining focus. It gives you something tangible to hold on to during your practice.

3.Essential Oils such as Rose, Neroli, Melissa, Cypress, or Ylang Ylang are all in alignment with this work. I like to a drop or two of Neroli Oil on my wrists and heart (I would recommend diluting the oil with coconut oil or another carrier oil as pure essential oils can cause skin sensitivity) adding these oils to my Heart Meditation Practice has helped me to set up a pre-meditation ritual. Rituals, no matter how small help to set the tone to signal to the body and mind that now we will meditate. The powerful scent of the oils adds another layer to this as now the sent you chose will be related to this work…to love.

4. A fairly quiet space where you can be alone…I say fairly quiet because lets face it…we all live in the real world and quiet can be hard to come by. Alone can be another obstacle, a woman once told me that she would do her mediation in the morning in the bathroom before she showered…it was the only place no one would bother her…funny, but we do what we can to make it work. I don’t have to go quite to those measures but I do get up at 4am everyday to make time for myself and my practice before anyone else is awake…the dog isn’t even up yet. Give yourself the gift of five minutes at a minimum.

5. Trust…trust in yourself and your ability to love and be loved…stay in the hot pursuit for the Heart Chakra Gone Missing.

If you resonate with this and Yoga isn’t your thing, but you want to learn more about the Agni- the powerful fire of radical transformation within you, Inner Journeys- Meditation for Seekers Program can help you uncover your spark.