{"id":23425,"date":"2021-02-12T13:49:23","date_gmt":"2021-02-12T13:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sayloveyoga.com\/blog\/2021\/02\/12\/heart-opening-yoga\/"},"modified":"2021-02-12T13:49:23","modified_gmt":"2021-02-12T13:49:23","slug":"heart-opening-yoga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sayloveyoga.com\/blog\/2021\/02\/12\/heart-opening-yoga\/","title":{"rendered":"Heart Opening Yoga"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Tiptoe fish pose \u2013 one of my fave heart openers. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All photos by Larry Stanley Photography<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s that time of year again\u2026 yes, Valentine\u2019s Day is upon us. I have mixed feelings about this holiday \u2014 warm memories of getting Valentines in grade school, delicious chocolates, dinner dates are now layered with an adult skepticism. Is there any pure love remaining beneath all the commercialism?<\/p>\n

The short answer is yes, if we\u2019re willing to open our own hearts and see it. Like anything else, we can use this event as a catalyst for good \u2014 that choice is ours.<\/p>\n

On our Cowgirl Yoga retreats<\/a><\/strong>, I talk a lot about having an open heart around the horses. One of my 2021 goals is to deepen my horse coaching skills, so I\u2019ve enrolled in a certification program.<\/p>\n

Something that keeps coming up in the curriculum is the concept of emotional incongruity. Humans are masters at masking our emotions, especially if we perceive them to be \u201cbad\u201d or \u201cweak\u201d (e.g. anger, shame). Think of how often you say \u201cI\u2019m fine\u201d when you\u2019re really not. That does not compute for horses, who are the masters of being attuned to emotion and energy. They teach us that whatever comes up, we should be honest about it. This alignment breeds trust with both horses and humans.<\/p>\n

An open heart is a vulnerable, yet powerful thing to have.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lifting your heart in a wide-open yoga pose is a very different feeling than protecting your heart with arms crossed in front of your chest. It\u2019s freeing and a bit scary \u2013 kind of like flying, or galloping on a horse. Yet more grounded.<\/p>\n

Take the risk, and you\u2019ll be rewarded with purer emotion, compassion and forgiveness. Being honest with your emotions is an incredibly healthy way of being \u2014 so lead with your beating heart! (And not just for Valentine\u2019s, but it\u2019s a great time to start.)<\/p>\n

Read on for a few of my favorite heart opening yoga poses. Keep in mind that some of them are deeper backbends, so be sure to warm up properly before practicing those. As always, use your best yogi judgement.<\/p>\n

Cat-Cow<\/h4>\n
\"\"
Cow pose<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Cat pose<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the best-ever back releases and gentle heart openers is Cat-Cow. You can\u2019t do cow without cat, or vice versa. (It\u2019s like peanut butter without jelly \u2014 just wrong!) I like to inhale as I drop my belly and lift my heart in cow, and exhale as I arch my spine in cat. Repeat as many times as feels good before moving on.<\/p>\n

Puppy Dog Pose<\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Say hello to Downward Dog\u2019s little brother. Make sure your hips line up over your knees, and keep your belly button pulled in towards your spine (i.e. don\u2019t dump your belly). Visualize your heart melting as you reach forward and release your forehead to the floor. Hold for 10 deep breaths, and then take Child\u2019s Pose.<\/p>\n

Cobra Pose<\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

You can keep it simple and stay low. Or, if your back allows, make it fancy by lifting higher (notice how my elbows are soft vs. straight) and bending your knees. Lift your gaze without<\/em> straining your neck. Hold for 5 deep breaths, then take Child\u2019s Pose.<\/p>\n

Low Lunge<\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Any variation of Low Lunge is beneficial. You can take your arms overhead and lean back, or interlace your fingers over your front thigh. The important thing is to lift your chest \u2014 your heart.<\/p>\n

Bound Pigeon Pose<\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Pigeon pose is a great \u201chome base\u201d for heart opening. Make sure your hip opener is stable before you bind. Use the leverage of your shin moving back to gently pull your arms \u2014 and open your chest wide.<\/p>\n

Supported Fish Pose<\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve tried many variations of this, and my favorite is still the one block version (placed sideways just underneath the shoulder blades). Hold the block to the bottom of your shoulder blades before<\/em> you lay down \u2013 don\u2019t try to lay down on the block.<\/p>\n

If your head doesn\u2019t reach the floor, be sure to put a blanket under it to bridge the gap. Hold for 10 deep breaths. Push off your elbows and bring your chin towards your chest to come out of the pose.<\/p>\n

Bridge Pose<\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Push off the floor and lift your heart to the sky! You can keep your arms straight, or interlace your fingers to go deeper. Hold for 5-10 breaths and then slowly lower down.<\/p>\n

Dancer Pose<\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

If you follow along with me on social media, you\u2019ll know that dancer pose is my favorite to take everywhere. I suggest you do the same. It\u2019s a heart opener that feels and looks beautiful.<\/p>\n

I hope this flow will help you open your heart (and mind) during this season of love. If you\u2019d like to open your heart to new experiences this year, we\u2019d love to see you in Montana on retreat<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Love, Healing, and Namaste.<\/em><\/p>\n

Whipped this up while humming Madonna\u2019s \u201cOpen Your Heart,\u201d in my unicorn pants<\/a>!<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

P.S. ~ One of my other goals this year is to incorporate Ayurveda into my life. Living Ayurveda<\/a><\/strong> is one of the more accessible ways to do this. The book is a beautiful gift to yourself (Valentine\u2019s or otherwise!). If you want to truly commit to some Ayurvedic lifestyle changes, do yourself a favor and schedule a consultation with Claire via her website Vidya Living<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The post Heart Opening Yoga<\/a> appeared first on Big Sky Yoga Retreats<\/a>.<\/p>\n

All photos by Larry Stanley Photography. It\u2019s that time of year again\u2026 yes, Valentine\u2019s Day \u2026
\nThe post Heart Opening Yoga appeared first on Big Sky Yoga Retreats.Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tiptoe fish pose \u2013 one of my fave heart openers. All photos by Larry Stanley Photography. It\u2019s that time of year again\u2026 yes, Valentine\u2019s Day is upon us. I have mixed feelings about this holiday \u2014 warm memories of getting Valentines in grade school, delicious chocolates, dinner dates are now layered with an adult skepticism. Is there any pure love remaining beneath all the commercialism? The short answer is yes, if we\u2019re willing to open our own hearts and see it. Like anything else, we can use this event as a catalyst for good \u2014 that choice is ours. On our Cowgirl Yoga retreats, I talk a lot about having an open heart around the horses. One of my 2021 goals is to deepen my horse coaching skills, so I\u2019ve enrolled in a certification program. Something that keeps coming up in the curriculum is the concept of emotional incongruity. Humans are masters at masking our emotions, especially if we perceive them to be \u201cbad\u201d or \u201cweak\u201d (e.g. anger, shame). Think of how often you say \u201cI\u2019m fine\u201d when you\u2019re really not. That does not compute for horses, who are the masters of being attuned to emotion and energy. They teach…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[91],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sayloveyoga.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23425"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sayloveyoga.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sayloveyoga.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sayloveyoga.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sayloveyoga.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/sayloveyoga.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sayloveyoga.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sayloveyoga.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sayloveyoga.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sayloveyoga.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}