Bare Your Heart

So much has been said these days, about 'heart opening', 'leading with the heart' or 'soften the heart'.  Spiritual teachers emphasise on opening the heart to allow ourselves the opportunity for growth and transformation.  Many yoga styles, like Anusara Yoga, for example, focus on 'Opening to Grace' as their first of five Universal Principles.  Even Bollywood movies have the heroes wearing their hearts on their sleeves (as apparent in every song and dance).

In our daily lives, it's natural to build invisible walls around our hearts to protect us from betrayal and hurt... the old 'trust has to be earned' mantra.

In our daily yoga practice, how much do we actually know about opening our hearts... learning to forgive... letting go of resentment...and most importantly, releasing fear?

Backbending asanas have a direct relation to opening the heart, physically.  It also sets the foundation of baring your heart, surrendering to and trusting in God or the Universe.  My heart always pounds furiously when I stay in Ustrasana (Camel pose) for longer than 2 minutes.... crossing this threshold also means the demons in my mind come out to play....taunting me with distractions and crazy emotions....wreaking havoc on my breathing and concentration.... sometimes even causing an unexplainable outburst of tears.

I received a copy of the Moondancer Sequence today... a gentle yet powerful heart opening practice.  (The Universe really has a funny way of delivering, as I was indeed mulling over this week's affirmation for my classes, "To Be Free, I Will Lead with an Open Heart").

So, as we step onto our mats this week, may we all learn to lead our lives with an open heart, release useless emotional baggage, and experience more love, laughter and joy.

Namaste.