Heart Opener

This one is called puppy pose and also heart melting pose. The first time I did this pose, I cried.

Heart openers; meant to release fears in the body and help us consider where we might need a little freedom in our lives. The instructor that day spoke to us while we held the pose for 3 minutes. “Suffering,” she said, “It’s temporary”. As are most things in life, including death. Lying chest down on the floor, heart and shoulders wide open, I breathed into the awareness that the physical construct of this pose was drawing out fear and discomfort in my emotional body. There was nothing else for me to do but sit in the feeling, to notice it, and then to breathe into it. The three-minute “suffering” ended, and I found myself in child’s pose with my arms clenched together over my heart. Tears poured down. I’ve spent my life protecting this heart. I’ve been holding in all that is sacred in fear of vulnerability, rejection, disappointment, disapproval. And then consequentially finding myself longing for deeper connections. It’s in these illuminating moments when you remember: Courage. Courage to hold your heart open and then let in all the people who can hold your heart just as well. Courage to live a life free and connected, even if that means taking risks. Courage to expand. Courage to unapologetically 𝕊ℍ𝕀ℕ𝔼