The heart chakra, or anahata chakra in Sanskrit, is located at the center of the spine at heart level. Anahata roughly translates to, “unhurt.” Accordingly, the heart chakra acts as the individual’s center of compassion, empathy, love, and forgiveness. This chakra governs one’s senses of trust, fearlessness, peace, generosity, gratitude, and connectedness, as well as change and transformation, healthy boundaries, depth in relationships with others, emotional control, and love for oneself.

The heart chakra has a feminine energy and is symbolized by a green six-pointed star within a 12-petaled flower. Elementally, the heart chakra is associated with air, and its mantra is, “I love.”

The heart chakra is special because it is the fourth of the seven chakras, making it the exact halfway point of the system and the unifier of the physical and spiritual chakras. By connecting the lower three chakras — the root, sacral, and solar plexus — with the upper three chakras — the throat, third eye, and crown — the heart chakra acts as the bridge between the earth and spirit.