Indeed time does put all things into perspective. The pitta in me can manifest its beastliness to such an extent that I become blinded by what's "out there" instead of focusing on what's right in front of me. Still in the process of assimilation to life in San Francisco, I went to a workshop yesterday on how to Lighten Your Heart. The workshop was called Lighten Your Heart! Change Your Perspective! It's as if the universe knew exactly what I needed at this moment in my life and placed it right there in front of me. The last few days have been going fairly well here in San Francisco and yesterday's workshop solidified my understanding that time is all it takes. The workshop, led by Brenna Geehan was exactly what the doctor ordered for Da Sooz. Lately my yoga practice seems somewhat stale and every time I go to a yoga class it feels like I'm simply going through the motions. I needed to find a new way to connect. The point of this workshop was to remove the darkness, the heaviness, the "dirtiness" and thus the pessimism we come to accept as normal that resides within our hearts. The idea is that after the baggage you consciously or subconsciously carry around with you is eradicated the "channel" between you and the rest of the world is clear. In other words, when we feel dark on the inside we cannot let anything else in... we lose the ability to foster our own needs and passions and relationships. This was exactly the issue I’ve been struggling lately. I was tired of feeling isolated and alienated in a foreign city. I created a wall between myself and everything and everyone else here; no wonder I seem more cynical than usual.

How do you remove darkness from the heart you ask? Well, first of all let's not take this so literally. Several different techniques were utilized in the workshop to achieve "lightheartedness." Asana is of course the first approach. Moving through a sequence of postures that are conducive to opening is the most assessable way to illicit change. Hear openers are mainly backbends so we moved through a sequence that incorporated a lot of back-bending and circling our arms over our heads. Opening up the shoulder girdle and working with the thoracic spine, creates more space and support for the heart. The next technique had to do with energetics. Energy cannot be created or terminated; it can only be transferred (think back to high school physics). Therefore, we did an exercise in which everyone lies down in savasana (corpse pose) and brings awareness to the subtle sounds in the room. Then we turned our attention to our inner sounds... Brenna asked questions like "can you hear the sound of your heart?" because sound and light are both forms of energy. Next, we discussed the heart chakra. Chakras are energetic wheels of energy within the body. Air is the element associated with the heart chakra, also referred to as Anahata Chakra. So in lightening the heart, we want to create more air, more space so that we can make room for all the things in life that bring us joy. Next we explored visualizations during our practice. We imagined a clear radiant and vast blue sky as our heart center. Of course our minds wander and when a thought arose we would simply witness it as a passing cloud. Then we practiced witnessing the witness, which sounds crazy and maybe it is. The best way I can describe this practice is like having an out-of-body experience. Seeing yourself outside yourself. Lastly, we practiced two different pranayama or breath techniques. The first is kapalabhati, which is a purifying and heat building technique done through short and powerful exhalations through the nostrils. The second technique is called cathartic breath. In this technique we took 12 deep breaths and on each exhalation would audibly sigh the breath out. All of this physical and energetic work is done in the name of experiencing Anahata Nada or “sound of the heart.” But it goes deeper than that. Sure, if you listen you can hear your heartbeat; the Anahata Nada, however, is experienced in a deep state of meditation as the subtle vibrations of prana or energy. With the mind internalized, one can hear an "unstruck sound." In other words, the experience of the Anahata Nada does not require an external instrument to hear it. It’s a totally quiet experience in which no pain can enter [the heart] allowing the individual to remain unaffected by circumstance.

This workshop was a re-awakening for me in my personal yoga practice. In a way it brought me home. So much clutter had accumulated inside of me over the last couple months that I wasn’t experiencing things as clearly as before. Think of it this way, its like dusting off an old wooden table that had been left in the basement for many years and polishing it to the point where you can clearly see your own reflection.

YOGI TIDBIT TO TRY:

Stand at the top of your yoga mat with your feet no wider than hip's distance apart. Take a big inhale as you sweep your arms overhead like giant wings. When your arms are overhead, stop for a moment, close your eyes and pretend you are grabbing a beach ball over your head. Keeping the eyes closed, on your exhale push the ball of energy down the center line of your body as you visualize yourself revitalizing your heart center...the Anahata Chakra. Repeat this ten times with genuine awareness on the vastly radiant blueness you are cultivating within your heart.