Getting Unstuck

The translation of the Heart Chakra, Anahata, is unstruck. It refers to a time before we learned to guard our hearts, before we were struck by the difficult and painful life experiences that everyone faces in one form or another, i.e., loss and rejection. These experiences taught us to close down a bit in our heart area and to create boundaries around our openness and vulnerability, which is sensible. Some of us experienced more loss and sadness around relationships and love than others, and due to this we can become unbalanced energetically in this chakra and aspect of life.

I have also heard Anahata translated as Unstuck, and this makes a lot of sense to me. The element of the Heart Chakra is air. If we have dealt, from young, with loss, rejection, abandonment or abuse, we can develop deep pain and fear around our hearts, and a broken sense of self. It feels like a heaviness — the opposite of the light and free qualities of air.