Your Heart is Waiting

Well, kids - we're technically only half way there on this Chakra series, but in terms of my motivation for the series...

We've ARRIVED! Your HEART is waiting!

I started thinking about all this as the Holidays came sneaking upon us back in November, and it started because the Holidays are all about giving and receiving love. So I thought it appropriate to mention our heart center, where we conceptualize love...

But before there is access to this central point of our nervous system (literally, this is where your spinal cord connects with all the nerves around your heart and thoracic region), in yogic thinking and approach to the body, we start with the ground / root / bottom and work our way up. The chakras all line up with different energetic points along the spinal chord. So three weeks ago we had Muladhara the root chakra at the base of the spine, governing the basic survival functions. Two weeks ago was Svadhisthana the sacral chakra in the abdomen governing the reproductive organs and pleasure. Last week was the Manipura solar plexus chakra located on the soft spot of our bellies above the naval and below the breastbone, governing our digestion and sense of self and personal power.

And so we've gone from our primal selves... to our ability to reproduce.... to our basic sense of "self" as intelligent creatures. And now we come to our power and ability to love. To give love and receive love. The heart Chakra Anahata.

As I have said more than once, I believe this is where we start to to designate ourselves from our friends and relatives the animals.

We have the ability to feel compassion, and love, and empathy. 

We can give and receive love as long as our previous three chakras are being well taken care of. Being able to give and receive love freely is a tricky thing, because it requires that we are taking care of ourselves enough to have enough reserve to give away. Love is not wearing a white dress, or getting a gift, or even spending time, if that is all done without being willing to freely give our love away with no expectation. This is our privilege as humans. It is not what we are owed. It is what we are lucky enough to experience.

Sooooooo, get ready to open up some FEELINGS on the mat this morning ya'll. I can't wait :)

Yoga with Calley at Yoga Garden Minneapolis:

Sundays @ 10:00am - Abbreviated Ashtanga (great for beginners!)