Gentle Heart Opening Yoga

This Gentle Yoga session was recorded live from the Valentine's day yoga class here on Insight Timer. Focus is on the Heart Center and it's qualities of expansion and softness. In this Gentle Hatha practice we'll use the breath and certain poses that focus on the upper back and shoulders to invite more softness and opening into this area. We begin to release tightness and tension, so we can more comfortably explore a gentle opening around the heart center. Air Koshi chimes are played during most of the Shavasana. All Levels welcome including Beginners. *Props: 2 Blocks, 2 Blankets, 1 Yoga Strap
Background Licensed music during the initial meditation is "Exotic Meditation 4 min loop".

Transcript

So you'll need two blocks,

A strap,

One or two blankets,

Maybe socks for later.

So let's begin in a comfortable seat.

Any position for your legs that works best for you.

Just invite that nice tall spot.

You want to have that natural curve in your low back.

Hands and arms,

Wherever they feel comfortable to you.

You can gently close your eyes or find a soft gaze down in front of you.

And begin to tune in.

Tune into this moment.

Tune into your body.

Notice your feet and legs.

Notice your hips.

Maybe the sensation of the mat or other props beneath you.

And invite your lower body to sink into that support.

Bring your attention to your heart center.

You might place one hand or even two hands on top of each other over your heart.

If you're just doing one hand,

You might have your other hand palm up in a receptive gesture or if you prefer,

Palm down.

Begin to bring your awareness to your heart.

The fourth chakra,

Anahata.

Two of the qualities of the heart chakra are expansion and softness.

The element of the heart chakra is air.

So as we focus on our breath,

We're embodying that air element.

And we'll be noticing the qualities of expansion and softness.

So imagine your heart is breathing you.

As you inhale,

Notice the expansion in your lower belly,

Your chest,

Wherever you notice.

And as you exhale,

A gentle,

A little bit longer exhale.

Notice the softness of your exhale.

Breathing in and out through your nose if that feels comfortable for you.

You might have a soft Ujjayi where you can hear the gentle sound of your breath.

And see if you can invite an inhale to be about five or six seconds long.

And the exhale to be just about two counts longer than your inhale.

Continue with that rhythm.

And as you inhale,

Again notice the expansion.

As if your heart is breathing you and you're filling your whole body up with prana,

Life force.

Like you're filling up a balloon.

Expanding that prana within your body.

And as you exhale,

Notice the softness.

As if the air around your body is giving you a soft,

Gentle hug.

Continue this pattern for a few more rounds of breath.

And as you do so,

Bring to mind something you appreciate.

Something you're grateful for.

It can be small or big.

And hold that in your heart.

Allow your breath to come back to a natural rhythm.

And thoughtfully release your hands back onto your legs or whatever is comfortable for you.

Take another nice,

Expansive inhale through your nose.

And this time gently exhale through the mouth like a soft sigh,

Letting go.

Gently open your eyes when you're ready.

And notice how you feel.

Take an inhale,

Reach your arms out and up.

Hands touch.

Exhale,

Bring your hands down to your heart.

Anjuli mudra.

Thumbs might gently touch your heart center.

And maybe just give a little thank you for you taking this time today.

Self-care.

Your practice.

Being mindful.

And grateful.

And then inhale,

Open your arms out wide.

As wide and maybe back a little bit as far as feels appropriate to you.

And then hands to opposite shoulders.

Notice which arm is on top and give yourself a little hug.

You might feel a gentle stretch in your upper back.

Again,

Inhale,

Open your arms wide.

A little lift of the heart.

And switch which arm was on top.

Hands to opposite shoulders.

Again,

If it feels appropriate,

A gentle squeeze.

Giving yourself a hug.

Feel that stretch in your upper back.

It should feel pretty good.

Inhale,

Open your arms once more.

And then bend your elbows.

Elbows below your shoulders.

You're making a W shape.

And take your arms back just a little bit.

As you inhale,

Feel your shoulder blades coming closer together.

And as you exhale,

Bring your arms forward.

You can either have your palms facing each other or towards your face.

As you bring your hands towards each other and your elbows towards each other.

Forearms may or may not touch.

Notice the sensation of stretch in your upper and mid back.

And then again,

Inhale,

Open your arms.

Shoulder blades come closer together.

Exhale,

Squeezing in.

Shoulder blades moving away from each other.

And your elbows may or may not touch.

Be mindful of shoulders.

Again,

Inhale,

Open.

Exhale,

Squeezing in.

Inhale,

Open.

Extend your arms out.

Lower your right hand down beside you and reach up through your left arm.

And then as you exhale,

Side bend over to your right.

You can choose your gaze.

You might look straight ahead.

You might lift your gaze up.

Or you might release your neck and look down.

Breathe here.

Notice where you feel this stretch.

On your next inhale,

Come up thoughtfully.

And as you exhale,

Lower your left hand down.

Reach up,

Lengthening through your right side.

Exhale,

Over to your left.

Breathe here.

Notice how this stretch feels.

Choose the gaze and position of your head that feels best to you.

Inhale,

Coming back.

Nice tall spine.

Exhale,

Twist to your right.

Lower your hands and arms down wherever they make sense to you.

Lengthen through your spine as you gaze over your right shoulder.

Hands might be on your mat.

One hand on the opposite leg.

Inhale,

Coming back up to center.

Arms might come up or just parallel to the floor.

Exhale,

Twist to your left.

Again,

Hands wherever they make sense to you.

Inhale,

Lengthening through your spine.

Exhale,

Gentle twist to your left.

On your next inhale,

Unwind,

Coming back to center.

And then lower your arms and hands down.

Transition off of whatever you're sitting on.

And bring yourself into table pose.

Hands and knees.

Knees about hip distance apart.

Wrists about shoulder distance,

Maybe slightly wider.

You can have your toes tucked or relax your feet.

Whatever feels best to you.

Lengthen through your spine.

Press gently into your hands.

And find variations and modifications as you need to.

On your next inhale,

Slowly draw your heart forward.

Heart arching into cow.

Looking forward.

Exhale,

Navel to spine for cat.

Looking down towards the mat.

Inhale,

Draw your heart energy forward.

Exhale,

Navel to spine.

Open the upper back.

The back of your heart.

Widening those shoulder blades away from each other.

Continue with your breath.

Inhale,

Cow.

Exhale,

Cat.

Invite the movement to begin at your tailbone.

And move up your spine.

You might use your ujjayi breath.

That soft ocean breath.

Where you can hear the soft sound of your breath.

And then come back to neutral table.

And just find a little bit of movement.

Into the upper back and shoulders.

And then come all the way down onto your belly.

Forearms parallel.

Elbows just about under your shoulders.

Coming into sphinx.

Widen your legs.

Feet towards the corners of your mat.

Palms flat on the mat.

Activate the upper back and shoulder girdle.

So you can feel like you're lengthening through your spine.

And avoid any turtle neck or slouching.

Lengthen through your spine.

Through the neck.

Activate the legs slightly.

Press into your hands and forearms slightly.

Like you're trying to pull yourself forward on the mat.

Keep the back of your neck long.

Gaze is in between the thumbs.

Or towards the front of your mat.

Shoulder blades again are going towards each other.

That same activation we did earlier.

With the W shaped arms.

So engaging in the upper back and shoulder girdle.

As you invite your heart to shine forward.

Breathe here.

Think of lengthening out of your lower back.

Lengthening through your mid-bow.

Lengthening through your upper back and neck.

On your exhale.

Thoughtfully release.

And bring your hands.

Either just under your shoulders.

And then you can move the hands slightly forward.

So that your wrist creases slightly.

Just about in line with your shoulders.

And see if you can sort of just hover the hands.

Keep your legs wide.

So hands down again.

Keep your legs wide.

Engage your core.

Lengthen through your legs until they start to lift.

Pointing through the feet and toes.

And then maybe hover the hands.

Look straight down towards your mat.

Feel those shoulder blades activate again.

You can keep your hands here or you can keep them on the mat.

Or you can straighten the arms.

Palms down.

Like airplane wings.

Gaze is down.

Core active.

Upper back and shoulder girdle active.

Lengthen and then lift.

And then release.

Stack your hands,

Elbows out.

And rest your forehead on the back of your hands in Makrasana.

Relax completely.

Notice your breath.

On your next inhale.

Lift your head.

And we'll move into Bhujangasana Cobra.

Hands just about under your shoulders.

You can move them a little forward or back.

Whatever feels best to you.

Elbows pointing towards your feet.

Not out to the sides.

Keep your legs wide.

It's better for your sacrum.

Draw your navel towards the spine.

Lengthen your side body.

And then inhale.

Coming up.

Inviting your heart to shine forward.

Exhale.

Slowly lower down.

Brief pause at the top of your inhale.

Two more times.

Inhale,

Lift.

It might be a very baby cobra.

That's okay.

Exhale,

Slowly lower down.

Listen to your body.

One more.

Inhale,

Rise.

Exhale,

Lower down.

Push up into table.

Knees can be wide.

Feet touching or if you want to get into your hips a little more.

Widen your feet.

Sit your hips back.

And come into your child's pose.

Any variation you prefer.

Arms might be active or you can relax the arms.

Just make sure your head feels supported.

And your neck is comfortable.

Breathe here.

Softening into your shoulders and upper back.

Notice your breath.

On your next inhale,

Lift your head.

Coming back up to table.

And bring yourself to a seat.

Pause for a moment.

Notice any sensation.

So we're going to get into a relaxing pose.

It's a gentle heart opener.

So if you have blocks,

You'll use your blocks.

If you don't have blocks,

You can use blankets.

And we're going to place the props so that your upper back will be on this block that's closest to the center of your mat.

And maybe about 5-6 inches away the other block for your head.

And position it however it feels good to you.

You can also use blankets instead at whatever height works for you.

So you'll want to sit in front of the blocks.

And I'm going to have an option if you want to get into your hips as well.

So if you have blankets you can use them to help support for the option.

I'll show that in a moment.

So first you want to make sure that your props are in the right position.

So with your knees bent,

Feet flat on the mat,

Hands beside you,

Lower down onto your forearms.

Position yourself so you feel the first edge of the block just about at your mid-back.

One hand behind your head and then reach your other hand for the other prop and make sure it's at the right height that feels comfortable to you.

So you might want the block under your head at the medium height or the low height.

I'm going to have it at the medium for the moment.

And you want to feel like your shoulders are in between your props like they're melting towards the earth.

So you can encourage that gentle heart opening.

If you just want to focus on the upper back and shoulders you might just straighten your legs and be here.

Legs relaxing wherever they want.

And if you're comfortable there,

That's where you're going to stay.

The other option,

Once you know the blocks or props are where you want it without moving your hips so you don't change the position of where you are.

Thoughtfully hand behind your head,

Come back up to a seat.

Move your feet a little further away but bring them together.

And then take one of your blankets opening it up into sort of a rectangle shape.

And from the long folded edge start to roll it until you get a nice long rolled blanket to place over your feet and then tuck it under your lower legs so that as you open your legs out you have support with the blanket so that your legs don't go too far.

If you want to go deeper into your hips,

You may not even want the blanket.

So if that's an option you would like to try,

Position the blanket come back down onto your elbows make sure the block is where you want it support your head,

Come back into that position and allow your legs to go out into like a butterfly supta baddha konasana arms out to the side,

Palms up and we'll be here for several breaths inhale,

Notice where you feel the expansion and as you exhale encourage your shoulders and upper back to melt towards the earth,

Softening and releasing notice where you might invite more softness with each exhale notice where you feel the expansion of your inhale is it in your lower belly your upper chest where can you invite more softness gentle release with each exhale feel free to use those soft sighs of an exhale to encourage release releasing holding and tension letting go and at any time if you're using the blanket and you're ready to just sort of push it aside you can bring your knees up and with one or both feet just sort of push the blanket aside and then thoughtfully straighten one leg and then the other and notice sensation one more nice full inhale here and sigh out your exhale let it go thoughtfully bring your arms in a little closer to your body bend one knee and then the other feet flat on your mat bring one hand behind your neck support your head as you lift your head up and then just thoughtfully roll over use your hands and arms and bring yourself up to a seat and pause notice sensation notice how you feel so set your blocks aside maybe towards the front of your mat and we're going to come into either a downward dog or a modified down dog so from table pose pause,

You might just tuck your toes move your hands a couple inches forward on your mat and then lift your hips up and back for Adho Mukha Svanasana downward facing dog if down dog doesn't work for you if your wrists don't like this position you could be more forward,

Hips over ankles hands might come onto blocks and you might be here for your downward dog or any other variation that you prefer notice your breath you can pedal your feet if you're in a traditional down dog grounding into your hands and feet lengthen through your spine bend the knees a little bit and take your heart towards your toes keep your neck long and then walk your feet towards your hands come up halfway,

Hands at your shins forehead blocks,

Pause here and that halfway lift and then on your next exhale hinge from your hip crease and come into a forward fold hands where they make sense to you either on blocks or your mat or your lower legs or feet keep your spine long avoid any flexion in your spine that rounding think of lengthening the crown of your head away from your sacrum bend the knees more if you need to notice your breath Uttanasana forward fold inhale,

Come up halfway hands at your shins or blocks bend your knees hands can be on your thighs or at your heart shift your weight to your heels look forward and slowly come all the way up press your hands together and Samasthiti equal balance pose notice your breath and then release your arms hands by your side palms forward,

Mountain pose,

Tadasana ground into your feet feel your legs activate lengthen through your spine crown of your head reaching up to the sky have that sense of openness across your heart like there's a hand on your upper back gently supporting you as you draw your lower ribs slightly in notice how this mountain pose feels and then relax shake it out let's get our straps so hold the strap about 3 feet wide and in your hands so that you can slide it wider as you need to come into a mountain pose,

Feet about hip distance or even shoulder distance apart and be mindful of your shoulders here so if shoulders complain,

Don't go as far so start with the strap about 3 feet wide and bring it up over your head only as far as feels appropriate to you if you have any shoulder issues or injuries you may not want to go very far you might just stop here and then widen the strap as you bring your hands or the strap back behind your head or upper back until you feel like you're getting a nice stretch if you need to,

You might have to bend one or both arms if your shoulders complain too much but it should feel like you're getting a good stretch breathe here and if you have an injury in your shoulder where you're like,

Oh I cannot do the strap or if you don't have a strap you can come back into that W shape arms and just bring your arms back a little bit until you're feeling a good stretch there or just have your arms out and take them back whichever you prefer on your next inhale,

Bring the strap back up and exhale,

Slowly lower your arms down and just relax for a moment shake it out a little bit and then widen your feet about shoulder distance apart find a gaze a drishti to focus on a point to focus on and then slowly take one ear towards the nearest shoulder doing a stretch on the opposite side of your neck keep your shoulders level on your next inhale,

Slowly bring your head back to center and then take the other ear over to the nearest shoulder keep your shoulders level and notice this stretch side of your neck slowly bring your head back up to center and any movement in your shoulders maybe lifting them up and dropping them that feels good to you bring your feet back into mountain pose and again,

Hold the strap about 3 feet wide inhale,

Bring the strap up and again,

Exhale,

Widen it as you need to,

Bringing the strap behind your head or neck breathe here you might feel zings of sensation you shouldn't feel anything that's a sharp sensation that would indicate your shoulder is not happy there find the variation that feels best to you and then inhale slowly bring the strap back up and exhale,

Lower it down shake it out so the next one we're going to do you can either do with the strap or without so I'm going to show without the strap first I'm just going to have the strap over my shoulder for a moment so bring your right arm straight up to the sky and then bend the elbow so that you're reaching your right hand towards your upper back like you're trying to scratch your back and then take the opposite hand on top of that elbow and just gently guide that arm like you're trying to help that hand reach the upper back and breathe here so this is option 1 option 2,

If you want a deeper stretch is to use your strap,

Holding it in half holding it in your right hand straighten your right arm and then bend the right arm so the right arm is again in the same position like your right hand is reaching towards your upper back and then take your left hand palm away from you at your lower back and reach your left hand up to hold the strap as close towards the other hand that feels comfortable to you so this is Gomukasana Arms Cow Face Arms some shoulders don't like this you might have that left hand lower on the strap and just very gently like you're trying to see if the strap is stretchy just engaging slightly couple breaths and then thoughtfully release the bottom arm if you're using the strap and bring the strap up onto the nearest shoulder relax your arms down and notice sensation and then other side so again the other option without the strap is just to bring your left hand towards your upper back left elbow up and the right hand on top of your left elbow or left hand reaches for that strap straightening your left arm up to the sky and then bending the elbow so your strap is hanging down your back and reach your right hand towards the lower strap Gomukasana Arms but if shoulders complain find a modification or variation that works for you one side is probably going to be a little different don't force anything just notice where you're feeling the stretch and notice how you might feel a little lift of your heart breathe here might feel awkward notice what you're feeling and then again if you're using the strap,

Release your right arm down and thoughtfully if you're using the strap,

Set it aside both arms down by your side come back into mountain pose and notice sensation notice your shoulders and upper back so we're going to get a little more into the legs and hips and we'll come into goddess pose let's just take a wide stance feet parallel turn your toes out,

Heels in and bend your knees begin with your hands at your heart goddess pose we're going to find a little movement here you decide how deep you bend your knees and before we find that movement make sure that your knees are tracking in the same direction as your toes you can widen your feet more or less I like to have my knees just about over my ankles on your next inhale reach your arms out and up rise up off your knee bend arms come up,

Hands touch exhale,

Re-bend your knees,

Hands to your heart back to goddess again,

As you inhale,

Reach out and up like you're gathering energy exhale,

Bring that energy down to your heart once more inhale,

Reaching out and up rising up off your knee bend exhale,

Hands come back to your heart breathe here pinky fingers and thumbs stay together open your middle fingers and curve the palms of your hands you're making a mudra called padma mudra or lotus mudra like you're holding your heart's energy in the palms of your hands holding this beautiful energy on your next inhale,

Straighten your legs straighten your arms and send that beautiful energy out into the world as you come into five-pointed star lift your heart,

Lift your gaze stretching in five directions if you need to,

Adjust your feet you can look straight ahead or look up exhale,

Slowly release your arms down parallel your feet and make sure that you're just about in the middle part of the long part of your mat turn your right foot away from you,

Towards the short end of your mat take your left heel slightly back bend your right knee and bring your hips towards that short end of the mat that your right toes are pointing towards warrior one,

Virabhadrasana one if you feel like your feet are sort of on a balance beam instead of skis toe heel your right foot out to the right edge of your mat,

So you can bring your hips more forward,

You can take the back heel back a little more same hand position,

Start with anjali mudra at your heart so front knee is bent heart shining forward same direction as your right toes and again,

Imagine your heart's desire in the palms of your hands separate the middle three fingers curve the palms of your hands holding your heart's desire and on your next inhale,

Release it out into the world arms lift and straighten gaze lifts,

Ground into the outer edge of your back heel as you lengthen out of your lower back and lift your heart warrior one,

Virabhadrasana one breathe here exhale bring your hands back to your heart or by your side,

Straighten your right leg bring your left heel in,

Bring your right toes around adjust your feet again so they feel like they're more even,

And we'll do the other side turn your left toes towards the short end of your mat,

Right heel goes back slightly,

Bend your left knee toe heel your left foot out a little wider so you can bring your hips around a little more back heel might go back a little bit,

Make sure you feel like you're stable in your legs and feet front knee bends hips come around,

Same direction as your left toes heart shining in the same direction hands at your heart warrior one,

Virabhadrasana one again,

Holding your heart's desire in the palms of your hands opening the middle three fingers,

Coming into padma mudra lotus mudra pinky fingers and thumbs touching curving the palms of your hands and when you're ready,

Send your heart's desire out into the world,

Straightening your arms opening up,

Sending that energy as you come into your warrior one virabhadrasana one find your variation,

Lengthen out of your low back tailbone going towards your back heel breathe here exhale hands to your heart,

Straighten your front leg bring your left toes in adjust your right foot,

Release your arms heel toe,

Heel toe bring your feet back into mountain pose and pause release so we're going to come into one more standing pose,

A standing forward fold so bring your blocks take another wide stance on your mat,

Maybe about three feet wide,

Feet are parallel and place your blocks along the long side of your mat in front of you there hands at your hips engage through your core and as you exhale,

Hinge from your hips bring your hands down either onto the mat or you can have your hands on blocks whatever setting works for you pause here lengthen through your spine legs are active,

Spine is long and then if you would like,

Hinge from your hips and you might come a little deeper into the pose lots of options here you can just stay with your hands supporting you or you could position your blocks maybe on the tall setting for a little rest of your head you might place the blocks at different heights keep your hands still where they're supportive resting the head as long as the neck is comfortable and be really calming to the nervous system find your variation and breathe here notice where you feel expansion and where you can invite softness and also just keep your neck long if you're deeper into the pose just letting gravity release your head and neck you might gently turn your head side to side if that feels appropriate and stay where you are or option move your hands further away from you maintain your hips in line with your ankles you're not letting your hips come forward you're almost letting your hips go back as you reach your hands forward maybe on blocks or the floor almost like a downward dog so you're inviting that melting heart position with your upper back lengthening through your upper back arms straight this is a deep stretch into the upper back and shoulders find your variation it's almost like a little baby back bend so be mindful thoughtfully come back with your hands underneath your shoulders bend your knees heel toe your feet a little closer together and make your way down onto your mat set your blocks aside and come to a seat with your legs out in front of you and just pause notice how you feel bend your right knee and cross your right foot over your left leg make sure that feels appropriate left leg is active,

Toes to the sky reach your right hand behind you for support,

And left hand to the outer right knee lengthen through your spine and then exhale,

Twist to your right again,

Imagine there's a hand on your upper back gently supporting you inhale,

Unwind come back to center straighten your right leg out pause,

Notice what you feel and then bend your left knee cross your left foot over the right leg right leg is active,

Toes to the sky left hand behind you for support bring your right hand to the outer left leg inhale,

Lengthen through your spine exhale,

Twist to your left inhale,

Unwind exhale,

Straighten that leg and pause notice how you feel so now we're going to move into our shavasana and I'm going to make just a suggestion for the blankets which is just coming into a little gentle support for the upper back and can feel really nice so if you have two blankets,

You'll do the same thing with each blanket you can also use towels so from here,

I have the blanket opened so it's folded in half and then folded long ways in half again and then from the long folded edge I'm going to fold it in thirds like a letter,

Folding it long ways and then like an accordion I'm going to fold it like this it's a little more complicated to get into but it will be worth it the fringe edge of the blanket will go off your mat if you just have one,

You can just use one if you have two blankets,

Do the same thing fold it long ways like an accordion and place the second blanket right on top of the other blanket so the top blanket is going to be just about an inch away from the center of the mat so that it's like a little stair step and this little stair step makes it really comfortable for the low back and then from here,

Sit in front of the blankets if it's not on top,

Lower down and reach your hands under the first blanket and sort of scrunch it up to have a nice support under your neck and head shoulders are going off the edge of the blanket and then straighten your legs this should feel lovely and if you're not sure,

Just find what feels good to you if you just have one blanket,

You might use a block under the blanket so that you're lifting the blanket up and have some support under your head so settle in invite your whole body to be heavy and soft notice the expansion of your inhale softness of your exhale letting your whole body melt over the props beneath you letting your legs be heavy softening your shoulders letting go and settling in for your final resting pose,

Shavasana Namaste

Reviews

I have never appreciated mountain pose as much as I did after the heart opener. ❤️
Absolutely wonderful class! Thanks Pamela!