Opening the Heart to Infinite Love

I encounter many people, who like myself, need to practice and learn how to have an open heart. That can mean so many different things…feeling loving towards yourself and others, compassionate, open and receptive are all aspect of it. However we often overlook the physical component of having an “open heart”. Think for a moment about the anatomy…the physical heart, lungs, sternum, ribcage, diaphragm, all of those big and small muscles, cartilage, tendons and ligaments. There is a lot going on in there. When we have had the same patterns over our lives (for whatever reasons, illness, trauma, just life) some of that anatomy is not at its optimal functional capacity, thus making an “open heart” difficult on both a physical and energetic level. Physical structures are restricted from misuse or neglect. If someone feels threatened, by anything real or perceived, the ironic response to feel protected is to hold the breath or shallow breathing. We acquire defensive and erratic breathing patterns that restricts the normal movement of the diaphragm and in the worst cases trigger the secondary breathing muscles to kick in and become the norm.
A simple practice that I encourage for clients working on opening their hearts both physically and emotionally it to sit in Reverse Prayer Pose or Pashchima Namaskarasana, “An offer of gratitude and contentment.” This posture helps to open the chest, heart and lungs and strengthening the wrists and arms. This posture makes the connection between both heart chakra (Anahata in Sanskrit means unhurt, unstuck or unbeaten) and from the Chinese Medicine perspective both the heart and its partner the small intestine channels (each running along the arm to the little finger). Ideally, in this posture the little fingers are resting directly along the spine in between the shoulder blades engaging both energetic systems as well as literally opening the chest by rolling the shoulders down and back. This is a position that most of us do not normally engage. If this posture is difficult at first remember that the most important aspect of the posture it to open the chest. If you need to begin by simply holding your wrists behind your back start there. Keeping in mind the shoulders need to be down, imagine if you will someone gently placing their hands on your shoulders to lower them down away from your ears, then roll your shoulders back so that you feel the shoulder blades engage, turning inwards towards the spine. Hold this posture for a few minutes daily while focusing on your breath, setting your intentions to have a clear, open and receptive heart. Making the connection between the giving and receiving aspects of our heart chakras creates balance and harmony. As you continue the practice notice your mind and heart begin to clear as you realign the physical aspects included in this posture.

When I started, and I mean REALLY started this journey of healing there were things that were painful to do. I was grossly overweight, had a slight curve in my spine from scoliosis and curved shoulders (kyphosis) from being asthmatic. Those things combined made seated meditation very, very uncomfortable and postures in yoga that are described as relaxing or restorative like child’s pose were painful enough to almost bring me to tears. Looking back I can see that those physical adaptations of my body also affected my energy bodies and chakras. I was committed to meditating at least twice a day for at least 20 minutes each session (thankfully, I was part of a group and could use my perceived “peer pressure” to keep on with the process). I wanted to experience the “bliss” or meditation but could hardly sit still. I felt such discomfort in my sternum and exactly opposite it on my back that I wanted to crack my spine to alleviate the pressure. My instructor told me the discomfort I was experiencing was from my heart charka trying to open. In an attempt to alleviate the pressure I began to sit for portions of my meditation in reverse prayer position. This posture helped to align my spine and straighten my back, and as I continued this practice I also began to notice the emotional aspects of my heart begin to balance. From one perspective I was learning to become ‘selfish’ by putting my own needs of healing first. I stopped worrying about everyone else and the desire to try to help and fix them and focused on helping and fixing myself. I began to give from a space of love, not need or desire, just love AND more important I learned how to receive. I learned that my desire to want to help everyone needed to start with myself and being open to receive the love and help from others around me. When it comes down to it we are all simply energy and we are all connected…and in that most simple of concepts, if we are all connected than the best thing we can do is find the space in ourselves of an open and happy heart allowing our own bliss to be the vibration and energy we are sharing allowing others to match our state of well -being.

*Keep in mind the Reverse Prayer Pose should be avoided or modified by those that suffer from a wrist, shoulder or elbow injury. Always listen to your body!

 Photo: valerielavigneyoga.tumblr.com/ I thought it would be nice to include a picture so I searched google images…and much to my surprise I found unexpected images… It seems that reverse prayer is a very popular bondage position – just a warning if you go searching for images!