Revitalize your Heart Area
"Your relationship, your understanding, your values, your virtues, how you smell, how you look, all that is nothing but it's the fourth Chakra, the matter of the heart which gives you art to win and science to realize." Yogi Bhajan 1-14-80
Revitalizing the Heart area opens loving feelings. There's nothing better than loving feelings. You start to feel more compassion and sensitivity towards others and you are kinder and more loving to yourself. A lot of our problems are due to emotional defensiveness so naturally, fortifying your heart center will give you the energy and security you need to be open, radiating, and expanding. We're going to practice a meditation that revitalizes the heart area and gives you access to higher awareness and self realization.
In the Kundalini yoga system, the Heart Center is also referred to as the Fourth Body. We have 10 bodies; one is physical, 6 are energetic, and 3 are mental. The Heart Center/Fourth body is the balance between the negative (protective) mind and the positive (projective) mind. We call it the meditative mind and so it stands to reason that you strengthen the heart center/fourth body with meditation. You know how people look at life either as a cup half-full or a cup half-empty? The heart center/meditative mind looks at the cup as being FULL.
The Heart Center will make you a winner! It's the secret in any success story. When something "has heart", it's truly something special. When you eat food that was prepared with love, you can taste the difference. The Fourth chakra takes everything to another level because it's also the gateway to higher consciousness.
When the Heart Center is shut down, the Kundalini energy cannot rise to the higher centers. You have trouble giving and receiving love. You lack compassion and empathy. It also affects your breathing (lungs), your immune system (thymus) and the physical health of your heart. When your Heart Center is strong and open, you are a good listener, and you are a good communicator, too. Do you know anyone who you just love being around, so much so you don't even have to say much at all? Those people have a meditative mind and an expanded heart and it's a state that beams outward and affects others in a positive way. YOU CAN BE THAT PERSON! Yogi Bhajan referred to this state as the "cup of prayer".
Some of our most restless and agitated thoughts come from a lack of calmness and feelings of desperation and fear. People who breathe shallowly have a tendency to feel panic. Yogi Bhajan said that the heart has the power of 108 suns, so tapping into the tremendous power and strength of the heart will give you access to be your very best and most present fearless self. Even depression can be alleviated by the practice of pranayam or breath exercises. The more prana in your system, the less likely depression will take hold of you.
If you want to become strong, then meditation is the key. Subconscious patterns will rise to the surface and you'll have to deal with them. Sometimes, the issues will get bigger and seem impossible to conquer, but through determination, you'll dissolve them gradually. Meditation trains the mind to be more conscious and responsible so that when things come up, you deal with them then and there. The meditative mind/ the heart center, is your closest ally and will always have your back.
Breath and mantra will draw you into a meditative space faster than anything! This combination changes your blood chemistry very quickly and it's hard to resist that feeling of peace that washes over you. Changing the chemistry of the blood and the chemistry of the brain are the effects of yoga and meditation. Adding the navel power to any mantra or pranayam (when indicated) will vastly increase its effect.
"Correctly practicing this kriya can benefit those you have any kind of tension or heart problems or who have very poor circulation. It is good for those who are depressed also but must be accurately done. You must use the strength of the navel point; it must go in deep when you exhale" - Yogi Bhajan
What a blessing that you are able to reach elevated states of consciousness and awareness, along with an expanded and revitalized heart through the practice of this short but powerful 8 minute meditation.
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| Intro to "A Deep Breath of Sage Sense" |
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| Revitalize your Heart Area |
Sit in Easy Pose with a straight spine. Place the fingers of the right hand against the mounds of the corresponding fingers of the left hand and lock the thumbs to hold the position. With your elbows straight, extend the arms sixty-degrees up and as far to the left as possible while keeping the upper body facing straight forward. Close your eyes and concentrate on the breath. Inhale powerfully through the NOSE and exhale powerfully through the MOUTH, using the navel point to press the air out. 8 minutes.
TO FINISH: Hold the position, stretch the elbows, while making sure the angle of the arms is correct. Inhale deeply, exhale completely, and hold the air out for 20 - 25 seconds. Relax.
"The elbows will want to bend, don't let them. Keep the 60 degree angle. It will hurt at the shoulder, it will hurt at the elbow, there are a lot of meridian points that will hurt. It hurts in those places where something is adjusting and correcting itself. It doesn't matter how strong you are, the glandular system is adjusting itself, and you are going to feel very weak (in this posture). You will feel a little bit hot. You've got to reach the point of sweat. Correctly practicing this kriya can benefit those people who have any kind of tension or heart problems or who have very poor circulation. It is good for those who are depressed also, but it must be accurately done. You must use the strength of the navel point, it must go in deep when you exhale." Yogi Bhajan
