Most of us can relate to that one drawer in the kitchen that has zero organization and is filled to the brim. It’s filled with all kinds of things we have had forever and are now dust-covered, but that we are sure we might use again. The proverbial junk drawer. Sometimes, we wistfully imagine it all pristine and shiny, with just a few tasteful Pottery Barn items organized with military precision. But then we consider the daunting task of actually going through the mess, parting with some items, finding homes for other items and actually organizing what’s left. That’s about the time the whole endeavor is abandoned and we decide we’ll just admire those kinds of drawers in magazines. The funny thing is that our heart can be a lot like that junk drawer. We’d like it to be clean, spacious and ready for lovely new things, but it just feels like too much work to rid ourselves of the clutter, of the things we no longer need. So we just leave it as it is wondering why nothing new and wonderful can find a tiny square inch of space to take up residence.
Did you know: That when you are lying on your right side, your heart is on top, as its rests a bit more to the left side of your chest? This is one of the reasons you are cued to roll to your right in a yoga class.
Theme: As you breathe throughout your practice today, with each exhale, consider letting go of something in your heart. Maybe it’s the scar of an old wound. Maybe it’s a scrap of anger, a crumpled up bit of hate or a dust bunny of worry. Whatever is in there, let it go, breath by breath, until your heart is spacious and open to all the wonderful things ready to come your way.
Breath
As you inhale, feel the breath wash over your heart like opening a window on a glorious spring day. As you exhale, visualize something you no longer need in your heart, dislodge it and let it go.
Theme Pose
Restorative heart opener: sitting with your legs in baddha konasana, lie back with a block on its medium height at the lower edge of your shoulder blades and another under your head. You can adjust the blocks so you are comfortable, moving the lower block until it feels just right and maybe having the block under your head a bit higher than the one under your heart. Feel the heart opening outward as you let your shoulders and arms fall away on either side. Place blanket rolls under your thighs to ease the stretch on your legs.
Cuing
Feel your heart lift with each breath, buoyant atop the lungs. Notice how it feels when your heart is open and lifted. Notice how it feels when you heart is tucked in and secure. Let your brain quiet and listen to the voice of your heart; let your awareness follow your breath. Create space, potential, for new things to enter.
Meditation
Visualize your lungs as the ocean, the tide moving to the ebb and flow of your breath. The heart, buoyant, bobs along on top, clear and spacious. Connect with your heart, feeling if the space is clear and open or if there is murkiness anywhere. Breathe into the murkiness and clear out the clutter as you exhale. Let the pure love held deep in your heart radiate out, shining out from every pore. As you see your body, as if from above, see the radiant light shining outward into the space around you. See the heart as open to welcome in new emotions and experiences as you move through your week.
