Lead with your heart
In high school physical education classes, we did exercises to limber up. Sitting on the gym floor or the field, with legs extended, we were coached to do repeated forward bends. The prompt was, “Kiss your knees.”
In yoga practice, we sit on our mats, with legs extended, and do forward bends. The prompt is, “Fold from the hips, leading with your chest.” The spine is to remain straight. No knee-kissing!
Leading with the chest is leading with the heart. Many yoga postures are designed to open up the heart, the center of compassion.
It takes confidence to go through the day with an open heart. At the postural level, it requires holding the body in a particular way.
To prompt proper alignment for postures, yoga instructors will say, “Move your shoulders away from your ears.” In standing postures, they advise, “Lower your shoulders!” or use the metaphor, “Tuck your shoulder blades into your back pockets.”
In practice, and during my day, I began taking time to notice, “Where is my heart?” Pulling my shoulders back and down, I felt my shoulder blades acting like a tray to hold up, and present, my heart.
Try this:
Hold your hands in front of you, palms facing forward. Link your thumbs, holding your palms and fingers out, so that your hands look like a butterfly or a bird in flight. The thumbs represent your heart. The wings that frame the heart so nicely, giving it a lift, are your shoulder blades.
Too often we hold tension in our shoulders, or we use our shoulders to hide our hearts. We lift the shoulder blades high, round them, curve them in, constricting the heart and lungs. You can see this with your hand model. Hunch the “wings” over, and your model looks like a wounded bird that cannot fly.
Often we hunch our shoulders as we look at our phones, pore over our paperwork, hold a video game controller. With our posture, we hide our hearts, limiting or avoiding interaction as we go about our errands. Round-shouldered, we lead with our heads, not our hearts.
There is research indicating that the act of smiling has physiological effects that lift one’s mood.
I find that practice of keeping shoulder blades where they belong, lifting and supporting the heart, helps a loving, compassionate spirit to shine.
In yoga practice, we sit on our mats, with legs extended, and do forward bends. The prompt is, “Fold from the hips, leading with your chest.” The spine is to remain straight. No knee-kissing!
Leading with the chest is leading with the heart. Many yoga postures are designed to open up the heart, the center of compassion.
It takes confidence to go through the day with an open heart. At the postural level, it requires holding the body in a particular way.
To prompt proper alignment for postures, yoga instructors will say, “Move your shoulders away from your ears.” In standing postures, they advise, “Lower your shoulders!” or use the metaphor, “Tuck your shoulder blades into your back pockets.”
In practice, and during my day, I began taking time to notice, “Where is my heart?” Pulling my shoulders back and down, I felt my shoulder blades acting like a tray to hold up, and present, my heart.
Try this:
Hold your hands in front of you, palms facing forward. Link your thumbs, holding your palms and fingers out, so that your hands look like a butterfly or a bird in flight. The thumbs represent your heart. The wings that frame the heart so nicely, giving it a lift, are your shoulder blades.
Too often we hold tension in our shoulders, or we use our shoulders to hide our hearts. We lift the shoulder blades high, round them, curve them in, constricting the heart and lungs. You can see this with your hand model. Hunch the “wings” over, and your model looks like a wounded bird that cannot fly.
Often we hunch our shoulders as we look at our phones, pore over our paperwork, hold a video game controller. With our posture, we hide our hearts, limiting or avoiding interaction as we go about our errands. Round-shouldered, we lead with our heads, not our hearts.
There is research indicating that the act of smiling has physiological effects that lift one’s mood.
I find that practice of keeping shoulder blades where they belong, lifting and supporting the heart, helps a loving, compassionate spirit to shine.
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