This late summer vibes practice was all about finding some joy, while exploring the many dimensions of heart energy – physical, emotional, and spiritual. We’ve had a pretty spectacular summer this year, which has been fantastic and can now feel the nudge of Autumn.
As we started this practice, it reminded me of the courage it takes to begin again. Start something new and step into the unknown, daring to be seen. Pretty much what we do over and over again in life. It reminded me of watching the Wizard of Oz as a kid and the lion wishing for his own courage.
We were building trust and confidence in our bodies as we stepped in this practice and I’m not going to lie………………… I threw a lot at you in this one. And look how far you’ve come. Amazing!!!!
The geek in me loves a fact or two so here’s a few about the heart.
- Energetically, the heart generates the biggest electromagnetic field in the body which can be measured up to several feet away.
- It sends more information to the brain than the other way round.
- Its magnetic field is massively greater in strength than brain waves.
- The heart is often described as the bridge between the body and the spirit/soul.
I love this kind of information. It really does show us how our heart is our own internal sat nav, with wisdom beyond measure. The subtle heart language is often overrun by the minds noise, often the loudest thing in the room. But as I’ve said before, “Quieten the mind and the heart will sing.
One of the questions I asked was – What do you listen to?? Heart? Head? Both?
We moved in class with more awareness of the chest space. Where our physical heart and energetic chakra (Anahata) reside. We discussed softening around the heart area can be the foundation for building self-compassion. Softening, maybe where there was pain. Often, we are so much harder on ourselves than on others. An interesting point to consider.
We reflected on our own holding onto stuff – anger, judgement, resentment of ourselves and others and posed the question, “Why do I carry this within me?” and perhaps resolve and understand ourselves on a deeper level. For me, this is Yoga in its truest sense. It challenges us to confront what we withhold. It highlights our own BS. It calls us out, if we have the courage to take a look and sit in the messy stuff. To go deep. To shine the light that is always present.
We then looked at the phrase “Heart as your compass.” We were looking into cultivating heart intelligence. Moving from love, not logic.
Another question – Where is your heart guiding you? Learning to trust the wisdom of our own heart.
Finally, we were giving the heart some space to fly, with movement and breathe. Leaning into the joy of our own body and its unique shape and flow. What it feels like within our own bodies and how the ability to move on our mats can allow joy to bubble to the surface as we move with presence. The heart radiates joy when it feels free, light, and unburdened and this flow, was a full-spectrum heart journey.
I hope you might have felt a connection to your own Joy in this practice.
And as always, thank you for coming to class.
KP xxx
Some quotes from class
- Joy is a vitamin for the soul. Have a little every day.
- Joy is a really brave decision about how you are going to respond to life.
- Make your heart the most beautiful thing about you.
- When the heart is at peace, the body is at ease.
- The heart that opens to love opens to life.