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WHEN INTRODUCING THE IDEA OF HEART OPENINGINTO A YOGA POSE ROUTINE, MANY PEOPLE THINKFIRST ABOUT ROMANTIC LOVE. Yet there are

many forms of love, and in many cases the mostimportant is self-love. Finding love for the self at thedeepest level is what allows us to give and receive lovefor and from others. In his book, The Four Loves,author CS Lewis distinguishes need-love (such as thelove of a child for its mother) from gift-love (epitomized byGod's love for humanity), all the while acknowledgingthat any attempt to define love is more complicated thanit seems. As a result, he divides love into four categories:Affection (familial love) Friendship (love based on commonexperience), Eros (romantic love) and Charity (neighborlylove). At any given time we may find ourselves deficientor overflowing in one of these areas, and a yoga practicecentered on awareness of the heart can help us tounderstand and work with these imbalances.

In a heart opening practice, the traditional emphasis ison opening the chest or physical area around the heart,but in this flow I am encouraging you to explore boththe front and back of the heart through movement andholding. The front of the heart is where we give love,and the back of the heart is where we receive it. In reality, any pose can be a heart opener, just by bringingthe attention to the area and the energetic expansionsand contractions in that area. Use this flow to get yourawareness centered on the heart and find a way in, andthen use your own intuition to take your practicewherever the heart leads.

GETTING STARTED: Meditation on Anahata (Heart Chakra)Take a few moments to sit in acomfortable meditative seat,noticing your breath and slowing it down into a deepeven rhythm. Bring both handsto heart center in Anjali Mudra(Prayer Seal). Visualize a greenlight in whatever form it comesto you and then allow it to settle deep into the heart space.

Yoga Theory | by Kristen Butera

With your inhalations let the breath expand the light,and with your exhalations let the muscles in the chestsoften and relax. If one of the mantras below resonateswith you, repeat silently or out loud if it helps. You canalso bring the mantra practice into your poses if youfind it to be a helpful tool.

Mantras: I allow myself to give and receive love, Itrust in the loving heart of the universe, My heart isopen, I accept myself as I am, I love myself, I am whole.

WARM UP SEQUENCEBall Hugging: Can be done fromseated, kneeling or standingposition. Bring the arms toshoulder height and bend theelbows out to side (fingertipslightly touching, palms turnedtowards the chest) to create thesense of hugging a ball. Withan inhalation, open the armsand start to draw the shoulderblades together, lift the heart

skyward and open the throat. When opening thethroat, try to lengthen the neck out of the shouldersinstead of collapsing the back of the neck. With theexhalation start to bringthe fingertips backtowards each other,slightly rounding theupper back to expandthe space in between theshoulder blades, chinfalling to chest. Repeat10 – 20x.

Cat/Cow: Come to a table position,hands underneaththe shoulders, kneesunderneath the hips.With the inhalationlet the abdomen dropand the tailbone tilt,

HEART FLOW YOGA:Poses that Open

“There is a light that shines beyond all things on earth, beyond the highest, the very highest heavens.This is the light that shines in your heart.” – Chandogya Upanishad

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creating a smallcurve in the lumbarspine. Let the gazecome skyward andthe heart open ener-getically forward.With the exhalation,let the tailbonecarve under and bow

the upper back, relax the back of the neck and let thecrown surrender towards the earth. Repeat 10 – 20x.

Cobra Undulations:Come to lay on theabdomen, bringingthe palms to theearth and lining upfingertips with shoulders. With an inhalation press thepalms into the earth bending the elbows and drawing

the shoulder bladestogether, taking the gazeslightly up and shiningthe heart forward. Exhaleslowly lower yourselfback to the earth. Repeat10 – 20x.

POSE SEQUENCEAnahata (Heart Melting Pose):From a table positionwalk the hands out sothat the arms are extendedin front of the shoulders.Keeping the buttocks up in the air, start to sink thechest and chin down to the earth. If the chest and chindo not come down easily to the floor, let the foreheadrest on the earth instead.

Standing Yoga Mudra: Cometo standing with feethips width apart andwith the exhalation startto fold forward with along back, leading withthe heart as the upperbody surrenders to gravi-ty. Let the arms sweeppast the legs and the fingers come to interlace,

resting on the low back. Either stay here with the armsor start to take them overhead, drawing the shoulderstowards each other and breathing into the heart space.Modify by holding onto a strap with the hands to create more room for the shoulders. To release, let the

Yoga Theory | by Kristen Butera

hands come apart and arms extend next to the ears.With the inhalation come up with a long back andreturn to standing.

Note: From a symbolic perspective, in this pose thinking mindis surrendered below the feeling heart. Meditate on this conceptwhile in the pose – what does it mean to you?

Vrksasana (Tree Pose): From astanding position, bring yourweight over to one foot. Find afirm standing foundation byspreading out the toes and feeling all four corners of thefoot on the earth. Draw up onthe kneecap with the thighmuscle engaging the entirestanding leg. Bring the oppositefoot to the calf or thigh, makingsure that it is above or belowthe knee joint. Firmly press leginto foot and the foot back intothe leg to create stability. Bringthe hands to heart center and let the eyes softly focuson something that is not moving.

Note: From an archetypal perspective one might see the treeas the essence of giving and receiving. Trees breathe life-givingoxygen into the world and transform everything around themin the exchange of carbon dioxide for oxygen. Try to connect tothe essence of the pose while holding it.

Utthita Parsvakonasana (Extended Side Angle):with sweeping arm variation. From a standingposition, open lengthwiseon your mat with the feetanywhere from 2 – 4 apart.Bring the left foot toface the side and the right

to point towards the end of the mat. Bend the right kneeand bring it over the ankle and let the right elbow rest onthe right thigh. Ground into the outer edge of the left footand extend the left arm over the left ear, turning the palmdown towards the earth.Start to bring movementinto the extended armsweeping it in a circularfashion. When the armcomes back focus on spiraling the heart skyward.Repeat arm movement10 – 20x and then takethe pose to other side.

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Trikonasana (Triangle/Bound Triangle): FromExtended Side Angle, bring upthe torso and relax the arms.Extend the bent knee leg. Inhaletake the arms up to shoulderheight. Exhale hinge from the backhip, lengthen the side body andreach forward. With an exhalelet the front hand come to lightlytouch on the leg above or below

the knee joint while the back arm reaches up for the sky.Stack the shoulders and square the hips. Turn to lookup and the extended hand if it feels ok for the neck.Broaden out the heart space by reaching into the top armand activating the fingertips.Take the extended arm backand around, letting it rest onthe low back or reach for theextended leg thigh. Imaginethe heart opening towardsthe heavens. Hold for a fewdeep breaths and then repeaton the other side.

Ustrasana (Camel Pose): From atable position, come to standingin the knees. Bring the handsto the lower back for support,palms on the back and fingertips pointing towards theearth. Draw the shoulderblades together by bending theelbows and bringing themtowards each other. Gentlystart to press the hips forward

and arch the low back. Let the throat open and theneck lengthen out of the shoulders (try not to collapsethe back of the neck). If the low back is tender or tightstay in this version, if it feels right to go deeper start tobring one hand and then the other down to the heels,continuing to press the hips forward and heart skyward.If the arms are too short, turn over onto the balls of thefoot and reach for the heels that way.

Adhomukhasvanasana (Downward Facing Dog): From a tableposition walk the hands forward a bit, paying closeattention to yourhands. Spread thefingers wide, cup thepalms and gentlybow the fingers.Turn your toesunder and bring the

Yoga Theory | by Kristen Butera

bent knees off the ground. Keeping the knees bent,start to press away from the hands and guide the torsotowards the thighs. Start coming into the legs by bending one knee at a time eventually moving into anupside down v-shape. Let your heals sink towards theearth and breathe. To fine tune the pose, let the crownof the end extend towards the earth in line with thearms. Draw up on the inner arm muscles and back anddown with the shoulder blades. Slight inward rotationof the thigh muscles if you can isolate them.

Note: You can repeat Camel Pose and Downward Dog as apairing several times if it feels right for your body.

FINISHING UPSupta Baddha Konasana (Supported RecliningBound Angle Pose):Fold and stack 1-3blankets firmly. Bringa pillow to the top ofthe blankets that is 1-2 shorter than the blanket stack.From a seated position, line the blankets up with thesacrum and bring the soles of the feet together andopen the knees out to the side (use rolled blankets, pillows or blocks underneath the thighs for support).Lay back onto the stacked blankets with the spine andlet the arms open into a T shape to encourage passiveheart opening. The throat can open and the headshould be supported just below the edge of the blanketstack. Stay in the pose 1 – 5 minutes, focusing on aslow, deep breath expanding the heart space. To comeout, bring the knees together and roll slowly over toone side and off of the blanket stack.

Balasana (Childs Pose):From hands and knees,lower the buttocksback towards the heelsand the foreheaddown towards thefloor. Let the torso

drape over the thighs and the arms come to rest longby the sides. If the forehead does not touch the floor,bring the arms around and stack the fists to let theforehead rest. If the buttocks cannot touch the heels,bring a blanket in between the buttocks and the heelsfor support. Focus on your breath opening the back ofthe heart. �

CLOSING OFFERING:

I bow to the heart, my inner teacher.

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