The Joy Exercise for Invoking Love from Your Heart Chakra

How long have you been seeking the secret to happiness? Well, there isn't a single formula, yet there is a singular place to look.

Remember how Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz always had the means to go home on her feet? (No, I'm not asking you to examine your shoes, even if they're bright red.) The mechanism for joy—what would truly create happiness for you personally—lies within your heart. Your heart chakra, that is. And in this article I'm going to present you with a simple exercise so you can keep unveiling the happiness within, no matter how "negative" you're feeling, or what circumstances are occurring.

Chakras are subtle energy centers that regulate most of reality. By "most" I mean the 99.99-plus percent of the universe that is composed of quantum or invisible energy.¹ This fact means that the underlying causes of joy aren't usually as measurable or describable as the world might assert. Money, good sex, the perfect weight, a big house, lots of vacations, food fit for a connoisseur. Sure, you might think. If I had all of that I'd be totally happy.

I get it. We would all like to manifest that list for ourselves, and our commercially based culture keeps presenting us with the keys to doing so. Like…according to three out of four dentists, their toothpaste will make all your dreams come true. Yet, Dan Buettner, researcher and the founder of the Blue Zone approach to happiness, asserts that meaning is not derived from substances like money. Rather, the happiest people on Earth live in places that emphasize factors including literacy for children, whole health endeavors, trustworthy leadership, and equality. The activities that lead to true joy including filling your home with light, loving your work (and continuing to work as long as possible), getting a dog, socializing, moving around a lot, and getting enough sleep.²

Of course, you might prefer the sunlight of the desert rather than that over the mountains, or creative expression versus physical work. Maybe you'd rather adopt a hamster instead of a dog. Then again, happiness isn't only about what we desire. In the end, it's about….love.

The heart.

For example, when I was growing up, every Friday my family bought ice cream cones. My mom ordered pistachio. I went for rocky road. I thought that the gooey creaminess was my source of joy, and it was in the immediacy of those moments. Since my mother's death, however, I now pick my late mother's preference. I still adore the chocolaty mess of nuts and marshmallows, but my selection makes me feel closer to my mom, and that delights me. In other words, my choice leaves me feeling a rush of love, which is the core quality of the heart chakra.

Named anahata in Sanskrit, your fourth or heart chakra is anchored in the center of your chest. It is physically rooted in cardiac plexus and the heart, the latter emanating the strongest electromagnetic field of any other bodily organ, including the brain. Psychologically, this chakra regulates emotions involving love, while it spiritually assists with healing, or experiences that increase our sense of wholeness. As is fitting, the Sanskrit translation of anahata is "the unstruck sound." What is that but love?

Love really is like an unheard tone. You know it's real but can't usually verbalize why. You're assured of its continual presence, even when the concrete sources of it have fled. But always, love always adds light to the shadows and purpose to the inane.

Because of love, leaves can reach for the sun even when the skies are storming, and new life can emerge after the coldest and greyest of winters. Because of love, we can turn our minds to joy.

One of the reasons that we often fail to feel joy is the predominance of "non-happy" feelings, like depression, rejection, illness, loss, neglect, fear, betrayal, and shame. Then again, there truly aren't any negative emotions, even though we think there are.

As explained by David Brooks, an opinion columnist for The New York Times, every emotion is of equal value to all other emotions. In fact, every feeling presents an opportunity to create a better reality. Anxiety can keep us from taking dangerous risks. Disgust can enable us to reject immoral behavior. When we're sad, our memory improves, and we can make clearer choices.³ The challenge is that we assume the worst of feelings that don't "feel good," which means we're missing out on love and joy.

It seems human nature to run away from our difficult emotions rather than embrace them. When we examine an emotion through the lens of love, however difficult that feeling might seem, that emotion opens us to joy. Likewise, when we peer into a life circumstance through a facet of love, we'll automatically begin to appreciate it. In turn, we become happier. To accomplish these goals, I'm going to introduce you to The Joy Exercise.

This exercise assumes that there are as many versions of love as there are flavors of ice cream. Ultimately, love is the essence of every spiritual quality. The qualities are also often labeled as virtues, values, or the Names of God in the Sufi and Abrahamic religions. These aspects of love are constantly available within the heart chakra.

As you move through the following exercise, know that the more often you practice it, the more frequently you'll be able to appreciate all of your emotions, and create happiness no matter the circumstances.

The Joy Exercise
Take a few deep breaths, relax, and become still. Center in the middle of your chest or heart chakra and sense the peace that lies within this inner chamber of "unstruck sound"—or love.

Consider your current state. What feelings are you experiencing? Be good with whatever is present within you. How are you evaluating a present life experience? Again, be truthful with yourself. It's okay to be aware of a not-happy emotion or your dislike for a not-preferred situation. Simply accept what seems true in this moment and then review the qualities of love on the provided list. You can also google search other virtues or come up within one that springs into your mind. Then, simply focus on whichever version of love seems to make you tingle.

Amazement
Attentiveness
Awe
Balance
Blessedness
Blissfulness
Cheerfulness
Compassion
Confidence
Decisiveness
Deliberateness
Diplomacy
Ecstasy
Ethicalness
Fairness
Faithfulness
Forgiveness
Fortitude
Healing
Healthiness
Hopefulness
Gratitude
Kindness
Patience
Practicality
Realism
Reasonableness
Regulation
Relief
Robustness
Self-awareness
Serenity
Tolerance
Trust
Trustworthiness

Once you connect with at least a single of these streams of love, invite it to rise from the depth of your heart chakra. Invite that beam of love to flow throughout the rest of your chest and then into every corner of your being. Washed away are judgments about your current life circumstances or the feelings you haven been labeling as "bad." If you feel ready, you can then allow this edition of love to transform your situational perceptions, and with that, reveal the gift of whatever emotions you are aware of. Remain in this alchemical process until the only emotion present is joy—the joy that is birthed from love, then return to your everyday life.

You can use this exercise any time you want. In fact, enhance it. Make your own list by adding to this one. The depths of your heart chakra are always readied to be plumbed, and in extraordinarily loving and happiness-inducing ways.

1. Ali Sundermier, "99.9999999% of Your Body Is Empty Space." Sciencealert, September 23, 2016. https://www.sciencealert.com/99-9999999-of-your-body-is-empty-space.
2. Blue Zones, "The Link Between Happiness, Health, and Literacy," https://www.bluezones.com/2018/06/happiness-lessons-from-around-the-world/.
3. David Brooks, "You're Only as Smart as your Emotions," August 15, 2024, New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/15/opinion/emotions-feelings-intelligence.html.