Category: Articles

The Heart Chakra and Our Spiritual Growth

The heart chakra, or Anahata, represents the core of love, compassion, and emotional balance within us. Linked to the air element, the heart chakra governs our capacity to give and receive love freely, forgive, and connect deeply with others. When Anahata is in balance, we experience unconditional love and kindness towards ourselves and others, as well as a harmonious relationship with life’s ups and downs. A balanced heart chakra allows us to grow spiritually by opening our hearts to deeper connections and profound compassion.

However, physical and energetic blocks in the heart chakra can limit our ability to cultivate self-love, trust, and empathy, which are all essential for spiritual growth.

What Constricts the Heart Chakra?

Various life experiences and emotional states can restrict the natural energy flow in the heart chakra. Heartbreak, loss, trauma, or unresolved grief can create blocks in Anahata, leading us to close off from feeling vulnerable or from fully connecting with others. Fears of betrayal or rejection may also cause us to unconsciously guard our hearts, preventing the free expression of love and compassion.

Cultural and personal beliefs around love, self-worth, and trust also have a strong impact on the heart chakra. If we carry limiting beliefs about our worthiness or the safety of opening up, it can impede our ability to experience the fullness of the heart chakra’s energy.

The Impact of Cellular Memory on the Heart Chakra

Cellular memory refers to the stored remnants of past emotions, traumas, and unresolved experiences that linger within our energetic and physical bodies. The heart chakra is especially susceptible to these memories, as it is our emotional center for love, forgiveness, and trust. When cellular memory becomes stagnant or heightened in Anahata, it manifests as difficulty in forgiving, reluctance to trust, or self-imposed emotional isolation.

These stored memories of past hurts or disappointments may lead us to become overly guarded, sometimes resulting in tendencies toward self-sacrifice or an inability to set healthy boundaries. As this stagnant energy accumulates, it can create a cycle of inner pain or isolation, further blocking the heart chakra. This, in turn, may hinder our ability to open up and embrace the healing power of compassion, both toward ourselves and others.

The intensity of these effects depends on the depth of unresolved emotional energy and our willingness to engage in heart-centered healing practices.

How Physical and Lifestyle Choices Impact the Heart Chakra

According to Ayurveda, lifestyle choices significantly affect the balance of the heart chakra. As Anahata is associated with the air element, foods that bring warmth and grounding, such as root vegetables, leafy greens, and foods rich in natural oils, can support heart chakra health. Excessively processed foods, sugary treats, and stimulants can disrupt the energy of Anahata, making it challenging to maintain emotional balance.

Physical activities like walking in nature, heart-opening yoga poses, or breathing exercises such as pranayama encourage a healthy flow of energy through the heart chakra. Engaging in acts of kindness and practicing gratitude are powerful ways to keep Anahata open and balanced, allowing us to release old emotional blocks while cultivating a sense of connection and love. Those with a predominant Kapha dosha may particularly benefit from heart-centered practices that help them break through emotional stagnation and maintain a harmonious heart chakra.

Balancing the Heart Chakra for Spiritual Growth

An open and balanced heart chakra is essential for spiritual growth, as it nurtures our capacity for compassion, forgiveness, and empathy. By working to keep Anahata free of blockages, we cultivate a profound sense of love for ourselves and the world, which is a vital foundation for experiencing peace and unity. Practices that promote forgiveness, self-love, and gratitude are key in sustaining a balanced heart chakra, allowing us to let go of past pain and open ourselves to new, positive experiences.

Through heart-centered practices, emotional healing, and mindful lifestyle choices, we can embrace the power of Anahata to guide our spiritual journey. A balanced heart chakra enhances our emotional wellbeing and fosters the loving relationships and inner peace essential for personal growth and spiritual transformation.

The root chakra, or Muladhara, serves as the foundation of our entire chakra system and spiritual growth journey. Representing the earth element, it grounds us in physical existence, providing stability, security, and a deep connection to the world around us. Through the energy of the root chakra, we connect with the earth’s nourishing support, which enables us to experience peace, resilience, and a sense of belonging.

When our root chakra is balanced, it fuels our ability to feel safe, rooted, and spiritually aware of our place within the greater whole. However, energetic blockages within this chakra can impact our spiritual growth and overall wellbeing.

What Constricts the Root Chakra?

Many aspects of our lives and experiences can restrict the natural flow of energy within the root chakra. Traumas, unresolved fears, physical instability, or even environmental factors can disrupt its balance, leaving us feeling ungrounded or insecure.

The root chakra is also directly linked to our basic needs—food, shelter, and physical health—so imbalances may arise from a lack of physical stability or a feeling that our basic needs are unmet. Social and family dynamics can influence this chakra as well; experiences that undermine our sense of belonging or safety can create blocks within this energy center.

The Impact of Cellular Memory on the Root Chakra

Cellular memory refers to the storage of past emotions, traumas, and experiences within our physical and energetic bodies. Because Muladhara is our foundation, it is especially sensitive to the remnants of unprocessed memories and patterns of fear and survival. When cellular memory is stagnant or heightened in the root chakra, it contributes to feelings of insecurity, hypervigilance, or difficulty trusting others.

These unresolved memories of past physical or emotional traumas can lead to imbalances manifesting as a tendency toward control, withdrawal, or a fear-driven approach to life. This imbalance can ripple out into our relationships, creating a pattern of mistrust or a need to feel in control to create stability externally. The depth and intensity of these reactions depend on how much unresolved energy we carry within the root chakra and our ongoing inner work.

How Physical and Lifestyle Choices Impact the Root Chakra

Ayurveda emphasizes the profound connection between our lifestyle choices and our chakra health. The root chakra, being our center of physicality, is directly impacted by our habits, diet, and environment. Grounding foods, like root vegetables, are beneficial, while excessive stimulants like caffeine can disrupt the calm, grounding energy that Muladhara requires.

Regular physical practices like walking in nature, grounding meditations, or simply connecting barefoot to the earth help to balance the root chakra, releasing stagnant energy and promoting a sense of stability. For those with a predominance of Vata dosha, balancing routines and practices are especially vital, as their natural tendencies may lean toward imbalance in the root chakra, manifesting as anxiety or restlessness.

Balancing the Root Chakra for Spiritual Growth

Muladhara is the foundation of our spiritual growth. When this chakra is balanced, we are able to face challenges with calm resilience and expand our spiritual practice with a grounded sense of self. By addressing the energies within the root chakra, we begin to stabilize our journey of self-discovery, opening the doors to higher spiritual growth.

Regular cleansing practices, mindful lifestyle choices, and intentional inner work on resolving fears and unprocessed memories can help us create a solid foundation within the root chakra. As we nurture this energy center, we not only enhance our sense of security but also create a steady base from which our spiritual aspirations can flourish.

by Dr. MaryJo Cravatta

Successful Weight Loss – 8 Ayurvedic Keys will assist you in achieving your weight loss goals. Are you wondering which diet is right for you? Paleo, Vegetarian, Intermittent Fasting, Ayurvedic, Detox, Gluten Free, Vegan are just a few that you have to choose from. The mind spins just thinking about all of the dietary choices. My helpful tips will assist you with any diet you plan to use.

What if it was not so much about the food but about how and when you eat the food? Implementing these proper diet plan while incorporating some practical recommendations will enhance the diet plan of your choosing. Try including these 8 suggestions on a daily basis. These ayurvedic principles are designed to enhance whatever diet plan you may choose.

Focus On The Food For Successful Weight Loss

Allowing yourself to be distracted while eating draws your awareness from your stomach and into your head. This increases your probability of eating a few bites too many. Perhaps you are not greatly over eating, but it can be the calories from those few extra nibbles that interfere with shedding those extra pounds. Recommendation: Do not use your phone, watch television, use the computer, drive your car, or talk excessively while eating. Sit quietly and listen to what your body may be telling you. This suggestion is one of the most important of the 8 keys to successful weight loss.

Avoid Cold Food Or Drinks

A strong burning Digestive Fire is necessary to properly process your food. This fiery catalyst is composed of gastric juices, enzymes, HCl, and bile. Putting anything cold into your mouth will dampen the fire and decrease your chances of complete digestion. Your body will store this as toxins and excess weight. Recommendation: Do not have iced drinks while eating or ice cream for desert. Wait several hours between meals if you feel the need for something cold.

Always Sit Down To Eat

Eating while standing up or in a moving car will snuff out your Digestive Fire. Think of holding a burning candle and what happens if you jump up and begin to walk or run – poof, out goes the flame. Recommendation: Resist the urge to get up and down while eating and remain seated for at least 5 – 10 minutes after you are finished.

Eat Your Main Meal At Lunch For Successful Weight Loss

This gives you many more hours in the day to fully digest and burn off these calorie rich foods. Nature’s daily cycles support a brightly burning Digestive Fire in this active, middle part of the day. Recommendation: Best to eat animal protein and fatty foods during lunch. Choose lighter foods for the evening meal.

Do not eat after 7pm For Successful Weight Loss

As the sun is beginning to set, the digestive fire within us is waning. As evening approaches, we are preparing to settle down for the night. Ideally, dinner will be finished by 7pm. Many times, if we desire to snack after dinner, it is due to restlessness or dissatisfaction and not because we are hungry. Recommendation: Eat a smaller portion of easily digested food for the evening meal – you will have deeper sleep and increased energy the next morning.

Only eat when Hungry For Successful Weight Loss

This may sound obvious, but many times we eat out of habit, boredom, or because others are munching. Hunger in the belly is an indication that we have true Digestive Fire. Be aware that your head may try to convince you otherwise. Recommendation: When you “think” it is time to eat, sit quietly and ask yourself if your digestion is really stoked – many times, drinking some water is all that you may need.

Drink Ginger Tea With Meals For Successful Weight Loss

Having a delicious cup of ginger tea with or after meals will maximize your ability to completely digest your food. Many cultures have used this fiery root over the centuries with much success. Recommendation: Use a ginger tea bag or ½ tsp of fresh grated ginger in hot water. Let steep for 5 minutes and enjoy either during your meal or as a soothing desert.

Stop Eating Before You Are Full For Successful Loss

Our last of the 8 keys to successful weight loss is easy if you follow the other 7. The sense of satisfaction may be delayed for several minutes as the signals are relayed to your brain. If you eat until you are full, within just a few minutes, this may turn into slight discomfort. Ideally, finishing the meal will a little extra “space” within the stomach will allow for ease of digestion. Recommendation: Resist the urge to be part of the “clean plate club”. Be mindful of how much you are eating and listen to the bodily may be communication.

The human body is a miraculous combination of our brain, nervous system, digestive system, respiratory system, cardiovascular system along with many other vital organs. One of the primary players is the liver which is key to our health and vitality. Continue to read more about Ayurveda and the Liver.

Ayurveda and the Liver Functions

The liver, a major organ located in the upper right quadrant of the abdomen. Essential duties of the liver include detoxification of our blood and other organs, synthesis of numerous biochemicals such as the making of proteins, hormones, and a wide variety of enzymes necessary for bodily and mental processes. Our metabolism is greatly influenced by liver health as it governs the regulation of glycogen storage and when needed releases glucose into the blood to maintain blood sugar levels. The production of cholesterol and triglycerides are performed by the liver. Bile is necessary to begin the digestion of fats. All and all, there are approximately 500 different bodily functions managed within these three pounds of special tissue. 

The Liver is a Pitta Organ

In Ayurveda, the liver is known as Ranjaka Pitta one of the 5 Subdoshas of Pitta Dosha. Those of us who have a bit of Pitta in our Ayurvedic Body Type will have a greater tendency to have a Ranjaka Pitta imbalance. However, anyone could develop an imbalance in the liver / Ranjaka Pitta. The liver is related to the Navel chakra and the Fire element. 

Inflammation of the Liver

The liver is adversely affected by our choices in food, lifestyle, chemicals, alcohol, prescription medicines, stress, malnutrition, air pollution, and negative thoughts / emotions. This variety of liver stressors will increase inflammation within this essential organ.

Toxins in the Liver

Food choices, food coloring, food additives, preservatives, byproducts of metabolism are among the toxins that will inflame or harm the liver. 

Ayurveda and the Liver Quality of Life

When the liver is inflamed, the numerous functions are adversely affected. This can slowly develop over the years. On day, you realize that you are not feeling well. Your reproductive hormones may be affected along with your thyroid hormones. Blood lipid levels, blood sugar levels, liver enzymes, along with respiratory, clarity of thinking, skin issues, sleep, energy levels, digestion, immunity, auto immune diseases, are just a few aspects of your mind / body that might be affected.  As everyone is an individual, we will all respond in our own way with differing symptoms. One thing is evident, the quality of life and ability to age gracefully will be decreased. 

What Can We do to Balance the Liver?

Shaktiveda Liver Group Cleanse is designed to address the effects of the variety of stressors and inflammation within your liver. 

Our group cleanse is designed for everyone to benefit. We offer several options so that it can be customized for your particular concerns and needs. We will be offering our Shaktiveda Group Cleanse 3 times per year – Winter, Spring, and Autumn. The cleanse is offered in two parts with both parts being 14 days. You may choose Part 1 or Part 2 depending on your cleansing needs or decide to join both parts. Most people will join Part 1 (liver cleanse) if they will only be doing one part.

Liver Cleanse and Liver Flush

Ranjaka Shodhana (Liver Cleansing) herbalized oil is taken for the first 5 nights to loosen and release toxins and imbalances from the liver – both physically and emotionally. We are now offering the option to add a liver flush aspect to our liver cleanse. You will need to begin taking our Liver Assist formula and Guggulu at least 10 days before the cleanse begins to soften and loosen the fatty deposits in the liver. Most cleansers do the liver flush aspect of the cleanse and you may also do a second liver flush if you also attend Part 2.

We believe that it is important to not only have a healthy liver to create balance, but also to have balance within our hormones – thyroid and reproductive. During her informative cleanse conference calls, she places an emphasis on sharing information on these and other topics to assist you in creating health and wellbeing within your life.