Yoga Glossary · Chakras
Heart Chakra (Anahata)
The fourth chakra, at the center of the chest — love, openness, connection. Element: air.
Anahata means 'unstruck' — the sound not made by two things striking together. It sits at the heart center, in the middle of the seven chakras, bridging the earthly lower three and the upper three. Its element is air, its color green, and its seed sound Yam. It is associated with love, compassion, grief and the feeling of spaciousness in the chest.
Heart-chakra practice is chest-opening practice: backbends like Cobra, Bow, Camel and Wheel, plus the quieter work of breathing into the back of the ribcage. Because the posture of protection — rounded shoulders, collapsed chest — is its physical opposite, teachers use heart openers carefully and pair them with grounding, so openness feels supported rather than exposed.
In practice
- Backbends are the headline poses; expect them to feel vulnerable as well as strong — that is traditional, not a problem.
- Traditional seed sound: Yam. Color: green. Element: air.
- Try breathing into the back of the ribs in Child's Pose — the heart center opens from behind too.
Poses linked to this chakra
Related terms
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The Yoga Glossary is an educational study reference. Definitions are standard yoga and anatomy knowledge in plain language; nothing here is medical advice.