Heart and Soul Yoga
We wore a red dot on our shirts representing each our heart centers; we chanted mantras about how the heart is the source of happiness; and we pulsated our bodies to remind us of the physical and spritual heart present within us. If anyone who registered missed the essence of Shiva Rea's "Expanding our Heart's Field Within Yoga" class, it's because he or she overslept.
Shiva is a master at setting the tone for her classes. Everywhere in the room, were reminders of what we were hear to do: expand our heart centers.
When you put your heart and soul into anything you get a lot more enjoyment and fulfillment out of it. Of course, this is one of those things people sometimes say without really thinking about it, but Shiva made some pretty convincing arguments that scientific reasoning backs this up.
In our culture, we tend to be brain-oriented, Shiva said. (Perhaps, that's why we had to have a scientific based talk on the heart instead of philosophical.) But our brains are overworked and overwhelmed because we're designed to do some thinking with our hearts, too.
She said our hearts emit an electromagnetic field of energy, which can be measured by scientists. Interestingly enough, the heart's electromagnetic field measures much higher than the brain's. So maybe we really should allow our hearts to guide us more.
Our hearts' energies are constantly reaching out to evaluate people, "like dogs sniffing each other." So anytime we're not really meshing with someone else, it's usually because something doesn't feel right within your heart's energy field.
All of this was amazing and thought-provoking, but when we put it into action through asana I really began to feel my heart's energy radiating out. I think I could feel other people's energy, too, when we got moving. (The room was really warm, and Shiva joked that we'd be able to smell our neighbors' energy, too.)
When I started to get tired from Shiva's strenuous Vinyasa sequence, which obviously consisted of backbend after backbend, the sound of drums beating reminded me to ride my hearts energy wave and I was able to keep going. This was all it took to give me a new appreciation for my body's most vital organ.
Photo by Susan Slattery
Shiva Rea explores the art of yoga in practical, creative and life transforming ways. She is known for bringing the roots of yoga alive for modern practitioners through the integration of movement meditation, yogic philosophy and art, nature's vitality, and spontaneous humor and joy. She is a leading teacher of vinyasa flow yoga worldwide, writes for Yoga Journal, and is the author of home practice CD's, videos, and DVD's.