Open your Heart Chakra

Green is the colour of life, renewal and nature. This hue supports growth, harmony, fertility and new beginnings. The Green Chakra 'Anahata' is located at your heart's centre and is where you feel most connected to Self and others. It's energy is of deep calm, allowing for the letting go of ego and welcoming in the unifying power of love.

A deficient Anahata will present as a fear of intimacy, judgement and isolation. When our Anahata is in an excessive state, we can have feelings of codependency and feel desperate for love and attention. A balanced Anahata will be radiant, joyous and generous. 

The element of Anahata is air. It is soft and has no boundaries, yet like the wind, can have immense power. Below we look at how we can use air, our breath, to bring spaciousness into body, assisting muscles to soften and release. When we are full of breath, we are full of inspiration.

• Begin to drop inwards and rise above your thoughts.
• Find a comfortable position on your yoga mat. You can use a cushion to feel comfortable. 
• Breathe in through the nose to a count of three seconds. 
• Hold for two seconds.
• Release through the nose for a count of five. 
• Hold for two seconds.
• Repeat this sequence of breath for a few minutes.
• Once you feel more connected to body through breath, you can begin to move into some simple yoga shapes.

Below, we explore 3 poses that will work to heal, expand, nurture and balance the body at it's heart's centre - the Anahata. These poses are expander chest openers, shoulder openers and backbends. When we create space within the body, we can then create spaciousness in life, to allow and welcome love and support in.

Extended Puppy Pose ( Anahatasana)

• From a kneeling position, walk your hands forward on the mat, keeping your wrists inline with your shoulders.
• Press fingertips into the floor to better tone arms and lift armpits.
• Keep your hips directly above your knees and position knees hip width apart. Notice that thighs are straight and perpendicular to the floor.
• Stretch arms forward as far a possible and lower forehead or chin towards the floor.
• Allow exhalations to become longer with each breathe. Set an intention of softening the body and disarming the heart.
• Feel the energy of this deeply peaceful posture. Find stillness and stay until surrendered.

Cobra Pose ( Bhujangasana)

• Begin on your belly, facedown. Place hands alongside your shoulders, with elbows bent.
• Move your legs together and pull abdominal muscles inward.
• With inhalation, roll the shoulders back, lifting the head and chest from the floor.
• Extend your arms, pushing the floor away to rise upper body from the floor.
• Hold this position for several breaths.
• Slowly, move up and down several times, exercising the muscles back muscles, using breath as a guide
• Upon exhalation, release and come out of the pose. Turn your head to one side, place arms by your sides and with gratitude, relax.

Bridge Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana)

• Lie on your back with hands alongside the body. Position feet hip-width apart and bend your knees. Keep heels towards fingertips.
• Press your feet into the floor, pushing through the core of each leg. Feel the solidity of earth's support beneath you.
• Slowly lift your hips off the mat, continuing to push your legs into the floor. Us the floor to push your hips higher.
• For a stronger pose, roll your shoulders toward each other and with extended arms, clasp your hands together on the mat, beneath your centre body.
• Release stored energy within the front hips and feel into your chest expanding.
• Hold for as long as possible.

Anodea Judith, writes in her book, Chakra Yoga, 

'It is said that you take many journeys in life, but perhaps the most difficult are those eighteen inches between your head and heart. If the body is too contracted, then there is leaving no choice but to live in your head. By expanding and softening the body, you open a place in the deep interior of your being that can receive the divine spirit that you are.'

Em