Heart Chakra Vinyasa Flow: Opening Up To Self Compassion

This heart chakra vinyasa flow is a gentle, intentional practice to help you reconnect with self-compassion, release emotional tension, and soften into a more open-hearted space, toward yourself and those around you.

We’ll begin with a short heart chakra awareness meditation to ground your energy and invite in loving presence. Then you’ll move through a slow, flowing sequence designed to unblock stuck energy in the heart center and support emotional balance, forgiveness, and ease.

If you’ve been feeling emotionally tight, self-critical, or disconnected, this is your space to come back home to yourself.
While some vinyasa experience is helpful (as there are no visual cues), this flow is accessible to all levels. Move at your own pace, honor your body, and let this be a healing reminder to your heart that you don’t have to earn rest, softness, or love.

Transcript

Hey friend,

Welcome back to my chakra flow series.

Today we are focusing on the heart chakra.

This will be an all levels vinyasa flow.

We're gonna get a little playful today.

Of course,

Modify however you need to.

And if you are new to me,

Hi,

My name's Ali Temple.

I'm an international yoga and meditation teacher,

Retreat leader and yoga teacher mentor.

So go ahead and find a comfortable seat and I'll meet you there.

So for the heart chakra,

Let's chat about this for a moment.

We'll drop into a little meditation before we bring all of the movement into our bodies today.

Your heart chakra is connected to,

You guessed it,

Love,

Love and compassion,

Not only for others,

But really self-compassion as well.

So if you have a blocked heart chakra,

You might be feeling a little bit emotionally closed off.

You might be having a hard time forgiving others or even holding a grudge.

You could have a lack of compassion and that could be self-compassion as well.

So this will be a nice practice to open up the heart chakra,

Create some space around that area and have a little fun.

So in your comfortable seat,

Let's just take a moment to drop into stillness.

Rest your hands where it's comfortable,

Ground your seat down,

Lengthen your spine.

Soften your shoulders.

Observe your breath.

And then bring your attention to that space around your chest,

Your heart.

Front of the heart,

Back of the heart,

That whole area.

This chakra often known to be connected to the color green.

So you might even imagine a green color in that space and just observe how you feel today.

Are you feeling open and connected and compassionate?

Or are you feeling a little more closed off?

Maybe even some feelings of bitterness or resentment.

Whatever comes up,

Don't be hard on yourself.

Just observe it and be open to shifting it around if you are in kind of those lower vibrational emotions today,

Let's take a deep breath in,

Big exhale out.

And let's come through to a hands and knees position.

If you have a block today,

You could set that off to the side,

Maybe coming back to it later.

Spread your fingers wide,

We'll start with a cow pose.

Drop your belly down,

Peel your chest up,

Inhale.

As you exhale,

Round your spine,

Chin to chest.

Back to a neutral spine,

Now reach your right arm out and up to the side,

Opening up the chest and shoulder.

Inhale,

As you exhale,

Thread your right arm under your left,

Hover your cheek on the mat.

We'll keep flowing through this.

Again,

On your inhale,

Reach up and out to the right.

Exhale,

Thread under,

Hover.

One more time,

Inhale.

Exhale,

This time to land,

Right cheek to the mat.

Left hand can stay or slide your left hand behind you to your outer right hip.

Left hand grounds back down,

Last one,

Reach your right arm up,

Place your right foot down on your exhale,

Other side,

Inhale,

Left arm reaches up.

Exhale,

Thread under,

Hover.

Two more,

Inhale,

Reach up.

Exhale,

Down.

Inhale,

Up.

Exhale,

Down to land,

Left cheek down,

Maybe the right hand to your left outer hip.

Right hand back to the mat,

Left arm rises up as you inhale.

Plant your hand as you exhale,

Curl your toes underneath you,

Breath in.

Downward facing dog,

On your breath out,

Press your hips back and down.

Pedal through your heels,

Stretching the back of the body.

We'll ripple it forward to a high plank on your breath in.

Knees down,

Exhale,

Lower with control all the way.

Cobra pose as you inhale.

Through the knees to a wide knee child's pose.

As you exhale,

Hips to heels,

Forehead to the mat.

Staying here,

Walk your hands to the top right corner of your mat,

Stretching the side body.

Other side,

Hands to the top left.

Back to center,

Roll through hands and knees,

Cow pose.

Drop your belly,

Lift your chest up,

Inhale.

Curl the toes under,

Go right back to downward dog as you exhale.

High plank again,

Inhale,

Ripple forward.

Exhale,

Lower the knees,

Lower all the way,

Belly,

Chest,

Chin.

Cobra pose,

Inhale.

Through the knees up to downward dog.

As you exhale,

Take a deep breath in.

Exhale,

Let something go.

Lift your heels,

Bend your knees.

Step to the top of your mat.

Halfway lift,

Breath in.

Fold as you breathe out.

Root to rise,

Inhale,

Sweep your arms up.

Hands connect at your heart as you exhale.

Feeling your chest rise and fall,

Connected to your thumbs.

And staying open to create space across the chest and in the heart today.

Chair pose,

Sit your hips down,

Reach your arms forward and up.

Knit the ribs in,

Shift your hips back.

Strong legs,

Breath in.

Let it go and fold on your breath out,

Hands down.

Halfway lift,

Palms to shins as you inhale.

Plant your hand,

Step just your left foot back.

As you exhale,

Drop your knee down to the mat.

Keeping your left hand down,

Let's twist here.

Reach your right arm up,

Opening up the heart.

Draw your top shoulder back.

Left fingertips could be tented or palms flat.

Couple of breaths.

Look down to your mat,

Plant your hands,

Step it straight back to a high plank.

Full inhale through the knees or chaturanga halfway down,

Exhale.

Cobra or upward facing dog,

Breath in.

Downward facing dog on your breath out.

Feet together,

Lift your heels,

Bend your knees,

Step or float to the top.

Halfway lift,

Inhale,

Fold as you exhale.

Root to rise,

Inhale,

Arms up.

Exhale,

Hands to your heart.

Chair pose again,

Inhale,

Reach the arms up.

Sit lower as you exhale.

Another breath in,

Sit a little lower.

Breath out,

Let it go,

Fold forward.

Halfway lift,

Inhale,

Plant your hands,

Exhale.

Step your right foot back,

Knee to the mat.

Right hand stays,

Lift your left arm up,

Opening the chest,

Creating some space in the upper body as you breathe into that space and open through the hips.

Look down to your mat,

Plant your hand,

High plank,

Full inhale through the knees or chaturanga,

All flows are optional.

Move with your breath,

Cobra or up dog,

Lifting your heart,

Press it back,

Downward facing dog.

From your down dog,

Reach your right leg back and up three-legged dog,

Inhale.

Bring your knee to your nose,

Round your spine,

Exhale,

Charging up the core.

Inhale,

Kick it back again.

Exhale,

This time knee drags across to your left elbow.

Inhale,

Kick it back,

Look forward as you exhale,

Step between your hands for a high lunge.

Let's rise it up,

Arms lift,

Back knee is lifted,

Inhale.

Spin open to warrior two as you exhale.

Land here,

Ground through your back foot,

Stretch through your arms.

Reverse your warrior,

Right arm up and back,

Inhale.

Back to warrior two as you exhale.

One more of those,

Inhale,

Reverse.

Exhale,

Warrior two.

Straighten your knee,

Triangle pose,

Reach forward.

Right hand comes down,

Left hand up.

Maybe the bottom hand lands at a block.

As you give yourself some time and space here to really open up across the front of your body.

Soften your knees,

Rise back up,

Hands to your hips.

Pivot to face the left side of your mat.

All 10 toes,

Lift your heart,

Inhale.

Hinge forward as you exhale,

Wide-legged fold.

Hands come down to the center.

Breathing here,

Roll your inner thighs back and lengthening the spine.

Inhale.

Bend your knees,

Crawl your hands to the top of your mat.

Pivot to face the top of your mat.

Drop your back knee down and let's walk your right foot a little wider out to the edge here.

Come into the twist you did before,

Reach your right arm up.

You can stay here or bend your back knee,

Reaching toward the outer foot.

Maybe you catch it,

Maybe you don't,

It's all good.

Find what works for you and breathe into it as we create space.

Release your foot,

Plant your hand,

Curl your back toes under.

We're coming back to three-legged dog.

So right leg sweeps all the way back and up.

Keep it here,

Bend your knee to roll your hip open.

You can stay just as you are or flip to wild thing,

Sliding your chest forward,

Land your right toes outside your mat,

Lengthen through the left leg,

Roll to the outer edge of your left leg,

Reach your right arm up and overhead.

Everything is optional except for your breath.

Look back to your mat,

Plant your hand.

Let's come back to a downward dog.

Optional flow here,

I'll let you be guided by your own breath or just hang here in down dog,

Grounding and centering.

Deep breath in,

Big breath out.

Here we go,

Left leg back and up,

Inhale.

Knee to nose,

Exhale.

Again,

Kick back and up.

This time knee across right elbow,

Exhale.

Kick back and up,

Inhale.

Look forward,

Step forward,

Exhale.

Arms rise up,

High lunge,

Breath in.

Warrior II on your breath out.

Land here,

Feel your feet,

Hug your thighs in.

Flip your front palm,

Reverse your warrior,

Inhale.

Warrior II,

Exhale.

One more time,

Reverse.

Back to warrior II.

Straighten your leg for triangle,

Reach forward.

Left hand down,

Right hand up.

Draw the top shoulder back.

Feel the space across the collarbones and chest from one shoulder to the next.

Soften your knee,

Let's rise it back up.

Pivot to face the right side of your mat,

This time interlacing your fingers behind you.

Lift your chest and you'll start to hinge forward again in a wide-legged fold.

Pressing into the balls of the feet.

If this grip doesn't work,

Just let it go.

But drawing the shoulder blades toward one another is giving a little more space in the chest here as we stretch the back of the legs.

You release your hands down to the mat and crawl your hands forward,

Your left foot is in front facing the top of your mat.

Drop your back knee down,

Heel-toe your left foot wider up.

Right hand stays with your left arm up.

Stay here or bend your back knee,

Reaching toward the outer foot.

Slow deep breaths,

Finding ease even when the shapes feel intense or uncomfortable.

Okay,

Release your foot,

Plant both hands onto the mat.

Three-legged duck,

Sweep your left leg way back and up.

Inhale,

Stay,

Bend your knee as you exhale.

Stay here,

Of course,

Or come into wild things.

Slide your heart forward,

Left toes land outside your mat,

Outer edge of your right foot.

Top arm reaches up overhead.

Lift through the hips and the back of the heart.

Look down to your mat,

Plant your hand back to a downward-facing dog.

Deep breath in,

Big breath out.

Spring your knees down to the mat and come to the top of your mat,

Knees wide,

Big toes together for reclined hero.

If you know this one and you wanna do the opposite,

Knees together,

Feet apart,

Feel free to do that.

Otherwise,

Lean back into your hands from here,

Stretching the whole front body,

Especially the legs.

So if you feel that here in the thighs,

Stay.

If not,

You could move it further back.

Maybe coming to your forearms or all the way to the shoulder blades and supporting the back of your head.

Just a few breaths.

And reach towards your shins,

Let's rise it back up.

Come back to a downward dog,

Just a nice big stretch to counter that.

And then come down onto your shins for camel pose.

So we'll bring the hands to the glutes behind you,

Feet and knees are about hip distance,

Hips stay over your knees.

Start to look up and back as you lift your heart,

Nice big back bend here,

Nice big heart opener,

Creating space to cleanse out that heart chakra.

Maybe you tuck the toes under and reach back to the heels.

Wherever you are,

Make sure there's still breath with you.

Hands to glutes,

Slowly come back up and then take a seat,

One hand on your belly,

One hand on your chest and just breathe.

All right,

Let's shift around to lay down on your back.

Option for one more back bend here.

I'm gonna speak to bridge today.

We've done a lot of back bends in a short amount of time.

If full wheel is in your practice and you can safely move into that,

Go ahead.

For bridge feet and knees are about hip distance,

Ground through your feet,

Lift your hips up,

Wrap your shoulder blades underneath you and with your interlaced fingers,

Press your arms down as you rise through the hips,

Belly and ribs.

Gently lower it back down.

Just bring the knees together,

Feet apart,

Give your body a little space to resettle.

Let's drop the knees side to side and then come in to thread the needle or figure four right ankle crosses over your left thigh.

Interlace behind the left leg,

Flex your right foot,

Ground the back of your hips.

Keeping your legs in this shape now,

Let's shift the hips to the right and let your legs fall to the left.

Couple of options here.

You can stay here stretching more into the side body.

You could come into a more traditional spinal twist if you'd prefer or you can take one of my favorite names of a yoga pose,

Cat pulling its tail.

You'll reach your right hand behind you toward the top of your left foot.

Maybe you catch it,

Maybe you don't and then extending your left leg straight out to the side,

Left hand to the outer thigh,

Calf or foot.

Wherever you are is all good.

Just breathe.

Feeling the space across the chest.

Unravel that slowly,

Take your time back to center.

Figure four on the other side,

Left ankle crosses over your right thigh.

Catch the back of your foot.

Stay heavy in your back body.

A little pressure where your ankle and thigh connect,

Press them together.

And same thing for this side,

Shift your hips to the side.

Lift your hips to the left,

Legs fall to the right.

Stay here or a spinal twist or a cat tail left hand reaches behind toward the top of your right foot.

Left leg extends out to the side,

Catching the outer thigh,

Calf or foot.

And as you really anchor down through the back of your shoulders,

You'll get an even sweeter opening across the chest.

Let it go,

Bring it back through center,

Happy baby.

Bend your knees,

Reach through your legs to catch your outer feet,

Little rock side to side.

And let's come into final Shavasana.

Extend your legs out,

Arms by your side,

Take up all the space you can.

Maybe once more,

Placing a hand on your belly,

A hand on your chest to bring your attention,

Your awareness back to the floor.

Bring it back to the front of your body into the space around the heart,

The heart chakra.

Observing how you feel.

Notice any shift that's happened physically or mentally throughout the short practice.

Let your arms fall to your sides and just breathe.

And you're welcome to stay here as long as it serves you.

If you'd like to finish off back up in a seat,

Take whatever movement feels good to wake your body back up.

And then when you're ready,

Slowly roll through one side of your body,

Come back to a comfortable seat.

And again,

Take whatever time you need to arrive here and to be seated in a still position.

I wanna thank you for having the courage to show up and find peace within.

I'll see you next time.

Namaste.