The Key To Fixing A Broken Heart

Overcome Grief By Strengthening Your Heart Chakra

By Alicia Parks

It’s been nearly a decade since I broke up with my boyfriend. Well, actually it’s been more like 8 months, but it’s certainly felt like an eternity. As time continues to pass and the wounds struggle to heal I’m becoming impatient with how long it’s taking to just get over it already! Is there a cure for a broken heart – other than time?

Strengthening Heart Chakras

There are the temporary fixes: ice cream, drinks with friends, a shopping spree (be it electronics or clothes), more drinks, more ice cream, and the random cute rebound. Or, the less than classy approach: angrily cutting up the pictures, burning gift and mementos into a roaring bonfire hoping the smoke will cloud the present and blur the past.

Then today in yoga, the instructor focused on the heart chakra. We moved through a series of heart openers to create space in the heart center: space to give and receive love. By my third back bend I had lost it. I gave in and let the tears flow. I felt a sudden moment of peace for the first time in months.

The heart chakra is the center of our harmony. When this energy point is balanced we feel loved and able to give love more freely. When this energy is imbalanced we feel closed off to love. The body can actually physically begin to draw more inward to close off and protect the heart center when this energy is low. However, when this energy point is balanced the heart center will open and the sternum will lift, shoulders will draw back thus allowing the energy to flow more openly.

Chakras are seven energy points within the body from the tail bone to the crown of the head. Each point is a spinning wheel of energy and depending if the energy is low, high or balanced, the spinning wheel will either be low and small, or increasingly fast and large.

The first chakra resonates at the base of the spine and is the color red. This is the center for being grounded. The second is the center for nourishment and is housed near the genitals below the navel. Its color is orange. Next is the yellow energy wheel in the solar plexus and the center for intention. The heart center is a green color. Above that is the throat chakra which is blue in color and where we find expression. The third-eye point , insight, is purple in color or depending on text could be a light blue color. Finally, the crown chakra-believed by some to be a white or clear energy or a purple color is where enlightenment, wisdom or higher spiritual knowledge is housed.

Since chakra energy is simply about finding balance, when our heart chakra is suffering from heart-ache, loss, grief or a recent breakup, perhaps focusing on charging this energy could be an alternative to time. Though many of us seek quick fixes to pain or inconvenience, a lesson in patience could be welcomed relief.

After a series of yoga classes in which I continued to focus more on the heart center through spine-strengthening sequences like cobra, locust and floor-bow to heart openers like camel and backbends I was able to let more and more go each time. Though I still have some healing to do, I believe very much that I gained a huge edge on my path to healing my heart. We may never fully understand why some relationships work and some don’t but at least there’s another option to healing.

Heart Openers

There are several beautiful options in yoga for opening the heart center. It’s simply a matter of leading with the heart, strengthening the core and spine and releasing tension hidden in the neck and shoulders. The simplest way to open the heart is proper posture-ensuring that shoulders are drawn away from the ears and down the back while pulling the naval to the spine (engaging the core).

In a standing series, taking a slight backbend while in Tadasana (Mountain Pose) is a simple and gentle option. Backbends are an effective way to open the heart as well as bring a bounty of energy into the body (which is why heart openers are best served in the morning and not before bed).

My breakthrough heart opener was in Urdhva Dhanurasana (wheel) and my continuous challenging heart opener is Ustrasana (Camel). It’s important to ensure the body is properly warmed up before engaging in heart openers since these poses require good core and spine strength. Opening the hips first (with poses such as Eka Pada Rajakasana (Pigeon)) will allow a more gentle and deeper benefit from heart openers. Other options include Dhanurasana (Bow Pose), Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose), Bitilasana (Cow Pose), Matsyasana (Fish Pose), Salambhasana (Locust Pose), Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose) and even Urdva Mukha Svanasana (Upward Facing Dog).

For a gentle sequence after waking I recommend beginning with a few Sun Salutations starting with Balasana (Child’s Pose) moving on to Cat-Cow movement and on to plank pose. From there draw back to Audo Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog). Take a few deep breaths through the nose and slowly arrive to Uttanasana (forward fold). Slowing arrive to Tadasana (Mountain Pose) and take a gentle back bend. Release to Uttanasana then back to Tadasana with a back bend and flow through this a few times. From Uttanasana step back to high plank pose again and then release all the way to the ground on the belly. Inhale into Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose). Exhale to release and then inhale into Salambhasana (Locust Pose). Exhale to release and flow through these two poses a few more times. Take time between each movement and then release back Balasana (Child’s Pose) to focus on the breath and the energy in the heart chakra. Come back to Cat-Cow movement and then come to standing on knees. Close the sequence with a long, slow flow into Ustrasana (Camel) pose. Take up to six full inhalations and exhalations before letting go and slowly find a seat with eyes closed. Absorb the energy created and released around the heart center. Acknowledge any emotions that may have come up and know that which no longer serves no longer has a hold on the heart center.

“Learn, grow, live… And then write about it!” Alicia started her path to wellness and environmental leadership at Wild Oats, following college graduation with a degree in journalism. Her passion for natural living, environment, and wellness set the foundation for a future with Aveda where she is currently a marketing manager and manages the yoga program for staff and students. She is a certified yoga instructor and received her training through Core Power. Her favorite pose is handstand, though she is still working on mastering it. Her writing is a continuous practice, much like yoga, and began when she published her first book at age 12 called, “What Mothers and Fathers Do Best.” She is a proud mother of a 6-year-old boy, Tyler, the source for her inspiration to live in the moment-be mindful-be gracious and flow. Tyler is currently publishing one book a week, his latest being the “ABC of Animals.”

Read Alicia’s other article, “Getting Back to the Yoga Mat“.