Glossary · chakra
Anahata
Also written the heart chakra
Anahata (‘unstruck’, after the sound that is made without striking) is the heart chakra, at the centre of the chest. Its element is air, it is drawn with twelve petals, and its seed sound (bija) is YAM. It is the fourth of the seven chakras, the middle point between the three below and the three above.
It is about love and belonging: giving and receiving care, forgiving, and feeling part of something.
In balance and out of balance. In balance, warmth flows both ways: you can give without keeping score and receive without feeling in debt. Out of balance, the heart either guards itself, giving a great deal but taking nothing in, or loses itself in pleasing others and in jealousy.
Its planet is Shukra (Venus), the planet of love, beauty and relationship. Venus changes sign about once a month, and roughly every eighteen months it turns retrograde for about six weeks, a season when old relationships and unfinished feelings come back for review. This pairing of planets and chakras is a modern bridge between yoga and Jyotish, not a rule from the classical texts, and the familiar rainbow colours are modern too.
A simple practice. Take ten slow breaths into the chest, letting the ribs widen, and sound YAM on the last.
Questions
Which planet rules the heart chakra?
In the pairing used by withAshoka, Venus (Shukra) rules the heart chakra, Anahata: the planet of love and relationship for the centre of love. The pairing is a modern bridge, not a classical rule.
What is the seed mantra of the heart chakra?
YAM, sounded gently with attention at the centre of the chest.
How does Venus retrograde affect the heart chakra?
Read through the chakras, Venus retrograde turns the heart back towards the past: old loves, unresolved feelings, what you value and why. It is a time to review rather than to begin.
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