Posts In: heart

by Monique Minahan

I place my left hand on my heart and on top of that layer my right.

I don’t move until I feel that familiar thump-thump beating under my hands, as subtle or as strong as it may be. I don’t move until I connect with the aliveness within me.

Anahata, the heart chakra, reminds me of my need for love and my true capacity to love. It asks me to stretch my heart open not just for my friends or family but for every human being on this planet – a major paradigm shift from the more prominent fear-thy-neighbor mentality that threatens to tear our world apart.

This is why I must connect with myself first. I cannot find compassion for anyone else until I find compassion for myself. I cannot welcome another’s pain until I have welcomed my own.

Onto the physical connection of hands to heart, I layer sound. A soft reverberation of anahata’s seed sound yam starts at the middle point of my sternum, this chakra’s kshetram, or front-body location. It travels through my body, piercing the spine, emerging on my back at the actual chakra point, a deep blue flowering like a tattoo over my upper back.

I repeat that cycle until it feels complete, letting the sound shape-shift, becoming a groan or a song or a wail until it naturally tapers into the quietest, softest syllable, matching the beat of my heart.

Alone with my heart I ask her what she has to say. Then I step back to allow her to answer:

Love bigger, she says. You know you can.

She is right but I stay silent. I listen as she questions why I don’t. I give her all my reasons and tell her that the world makes it hard to love sometimes. She reminds me that when I block love from exiting, I also block love from entering. Like breathing out and breathing in.

I begin bhramari pranayama, the humming bee breath. The gentle buzzing sound allows me to listen to my heart without my head thinking of a reply, a response, a defense.

This practice draws me out into the deep waters of vulnerability, the only state of being where I can receive and offer love fully.

As my humming drifts into silence I become aware of akasha, the heart space, and how it shrinks and expands proportionate to my level of fear or love.

I choose love. Not the small love I only offer to those who love me back. The Big Love that does not require reciprocity. The love that is enlarged by our differences instead of threatened by them. The love which the world needs so desperately.

Part 5 of a 7 part series. You can find part 4 here: Manipura, The Navel.

Monique Minahan
Contributing Writer

Mo is a writer and yoga teacher who believes in peace over happiness and love over fear. She likes to set her sights high and then take small steps to get there. You’ll find her walking the dirt path behind her house with her little fluffy dog, practicing walking her talk by keeping her head high and her heart open. Contact: moniqueminahan.com

by Monique Minahan

Where is your sacred space? How does it receive you from the world? How does it release you back into the world?

I’ve come to understand sacred space as anywhere we offer or receive love, listening, beauty or life. Sometimes that space has walls that hold us and sometimes it has arms.

The word sacred shares the same root as the word sacrifice. Sacrifice, as in making an offering, not as in being a martyr. In our sacred spaces sometimes we offer up and sometimes we receive.

Sacred space is wherever I feel held; by the earth, by another human, by the walls, by the trees, by open sky, by open minds.

It’s wherever I hold; the earth in my hands, my baby in my arms, the polarities of life in my heart.

It’s wherever I feel listened to, validated, encouraged, seen.

It’s where reality is respected, fear is faced and the impossible becomes possible.

It’s where grief is practiced, vulnerability is nourished and love is planted.

It’s bigger than a church, a mosque, a synagogue, a yoga class or a cluster of crystals and talismans.

It receives me however I am, wherever I am. It releases me back to the world equal parts human and being, with my own unique offering alive and beating in my heart.

This piece originally published on The Huffington Post.

Monique Minahan
Contributing Writer

Mo is a writer and yoga teacher who believes in peace over happiness and love over fear. She likes to set her sights high and then take small steps to get there. You’ll find her walking the dirt path behind her house with her little fluffy dog, practicing walking her talk by keeping her head high and her heart open. Contact: moniqueminahan.com

When Mantra Mag asked Yoga One studio owners Amy and Michael Caldwell to define love, they didn’t disappoint!

“Love is cheering for and chaperoning a newly hatched sea turtle along its perilous journey to the sea, swatting away the horde of predatory birds while conscious that I am depriving them of breakfast. Love is doing what feels right in the moment with an awareness and appreciation that there are other equally valid, often opposing, viewpoints.” – Michael Caldwell

“A friend said, ‘Love is an action of deeply paying attention to your life.’ For me, conscientious love also means continually opening our hearts when life is easily flowing and amidst challenging circumstances. Love in the context of close personal relationships allows us to practice. Through our experiences of connection, hopefully we remember love is our true nature.” – Amy Caldwell
Thank you Mantra Mag for the feature!

 

Heather writes: This mix is called the Funwick Flow because it’s inspired by my family, the Fenwicks – when we get together it’s good times all around! This mix wraps me in the warmth of my loved ones and instills good vibes to anyone who hears it – I can literally see the happiness seeping into my students as the songs roll on! Paul Simon is a family favorite of ours since childhood, and I love how the idea of “Hearts and Bones” actually relates to the practice of yoga in the physical body and in the yogi’s heart.

My brother Will acquainted me with “Heart it Races” over Christmas break and it’s a fun, pop-y, motivating happy tune to start getting the gears shifting. My partner Will introduced me to “Space Walk” by Lemon Jelly, which inspires an uplifting, heart-opening vibe. My brother Matt has influenced my music findings for years and brought me to The xx, The National, Wilco, Local Natives, and Groove Armada, which ends the set with a salty-dreamy-floaty retake on an old jazz tune.

Nina Simone’s “Here Comes the Sun” is a tribute to the newest member of the family, my nephew Jack, whose innocence and ridiculous cuteness has melted all of our hearts and brings a ray of sunshine wherever he goes.

It’s not your typical “new age yogi mix,” but I love playing this set at Yoga One because it’s a place where anyone who enters can be footloose and funky!

Hearts and Bones – Paul Simon
Change of Time – Josh Ritter
Intro – The xx
Tides – The xx
Secret Meeting – The National
Heart it Races (As Played By Dr Dog) – Architecture In Helsinki
Jesus, Etc. – Wilco
Space Walk – Lemon Jelly
Stranger Things – Local Natives
Sweet Child O’ Mine – Luna
Bermuda Highway – My Morning Jacket
Here Comes the Sun – Nina Simone
At the River – Groove Armada

As we count down the final hours of 2012, we wanted to share with you our teachers’ beautiful resolutions and intentions for the new year! May our words inspire you to write down a resolution of your own and if you do, please share with us in the comments. May this new year bring you peace, love and more yoga!

Arati – I want God to be present a whole lot more! I believe in magic! I’ve got a lot of work to do within myself… inner yoga, like communication, parenting and work goals. And I will evolve the universe and the goddess divine and all to support my efforts and provide light!

Wren – One word: Relax!

Mara – My resolution is rather than resolving any issue or imbalance or perceived lack – I will choose to continually re-cognize (change my mind) to value and appreciate how the world comes to me.

Sarah – To practice connectedness. To be present and flexible in the moment.

Katie – I resolve to:

Rest in my safe heart
Eat until I’m happy
Spend more time in nature
Observe more daily kindness
Love every stranger like my dad
Venture into uncomfortable spaces to grow
Evoke compassion from everyone around me

Lauren – The resolution for this new, beautiful, adventurous year is acceptance. To accept whatever happens on a day-to-day, moment-to-moment basis. To accept all circumstances sent my way and to know when to let go. To not hold on to anything that may sadden or damage my soul and energy. To realize that everything happens for a reason and to be content with the way things are. Clarity. Acceptance.

Amy F. – From last year, I want to carry over my intentions for compassion and connection. This year I’m adding courage, which always reminds me of heart in French (coeur) and Latin (cor). Definition: mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear or difficulty.

I want to live and speak more from my heart, my whole heart. Adding to that – encouragement (instruction does much, encouragement does everything!) And a final intention for community: establishing and maintaining a deeper connection to community.

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” – Nelson Mandela

Terri – My 2013 New Year’s Resolutions:

• to learn something new, either salsa dancing or belly dancing
• do my best to cut down on sweets (to me this means only eating sweets 1 or 2 times a week, verses nearly every day like right now)
• I think 2013 is the year I finally master forearm stand in the middle of the room; I’ve been so close for so long!

Robin 

• Be present
• Breathe deeply
• Practice more yoga
• Read more
• Spend more time with loved ones
• Travel
• Continue to learn new things
• Find more ways to to bring happiness to my life and others!

Jennifer – Be present and enjoy all the fun and changes in my life. Have lots of gratitude. Add more hobbies into my life; things I love such as music and art.

Laura – My resolution this year is to walk more softly on this earth. I want to let go of my desires for more and to cherish what I have, both in the material and emotional sense. I want to let go of fear more often and more readily. I resolve to live in the present moment and to do more yoga!

Shawna 

• Try at least one new thing every day (especially stuff that scares the **** out of me…skydiving, surfing, etc. are on the list)
• Have a super toned and fit “yoga body” 🙂
• Read 1 book per week and journal daily

Amy and Michael – Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu, may all beings be happy and may our thoughts and actions contribute to that happiness for all!

Join us on Sunday, July 1st, for a fun-filled and challenging practice with Jo Zukovich from 3 until 5pm. Jo has been teaching yoga for over 30 years and has taken five journeys to India to study with the Iyengar family. She recently moved back to San Diego from Hawaii and she’s excited to offer this workshop at Yoga One. Be sure to sign up soon because space is limited! $35 in advance, $40 at the door. To register, follow this link and click on the “workshops” tab.

To entice you even further, here’s a little bit more about Jo and her upcoming workshop:

Jo writes, “I love yoga and I love teaching yoga as an art. My own practice feels like an art form to me. My teaching comes from my heart and it is full of joy. During the workshop, I hope to introduce you to better alignment and more freedom in twists and standing forward bends. Yoga is a journey and just like the journey of life, it’s important to have some fun along the way!

“I started my journey with Iyengar yoga in 1979. Almost immediately, I was sure I would practice yoga the rest of my life. The impact it has had on my own life is amazing. I feel so blessed to have had such truly great teachers and mentors to help me along the way. Yoga is something that opens you to new experiences. The work may start physically, but travels to the mental and spiritual. It is with great gratitude for B.K.S. Iyengar that I teach and practice. I hope we can all become more compassionate through the practice of yoga.”

To know Michael and Amy Caldwell is to know Yoga One and to know Yoga One is to know Michael and Amy, whether or not you’ve ever attended one of their classes. So much of who they are is expressed in the studio itself. I started out writing a class review for Michael’s mixed level flow on Fridays at noon and found that I couldn’t adequately write about his teaching style without also writing about Yoga One as a living place. But first, more about Michael!

If you subscribe to the idea that doing something well, simply and gracefully, is better than doing something difficult or impressive poorly, then you’ll understand what I mean when I say Michael teaches yoga with simple elegance. This idea has permeated the food world and it’s something San Diegans really understand. Food that comes fresh from the farm, simply and expertly prepared, is so much better than any creation from a fancy restaurant that tries to twist and coerce the ingredients into something more complicated. Michael’s yoga classes follow the same principle. He takes the simple ingredients of asana (the physical postures), pranayama (breath control), pratyahara (sense withdrawal) and mindfulness and creates a seamless class experience – challenging enough to make you break a sweat and slow enough to focus on alignment and find ease in every posture.

There is a light-heartedness in Michael’s voice that makes you feel as if you were having a conversation with a friend in their living room. He’s not afraid to make a joke or laugh at himself. Kindness emanates from him. As with many great teachers, it’s not the middle of class that you remember the best, but the end. This was especially true on Friday. At the end of class, he had us lie in savasana with our heads towards the center of the room so that, in his words, we could share with each other our highest energy. Somewhere in that skylit room I felt as though there were a small glowing orb, suspended in mid-air, the very heart of Yoga One. While we lay there in that final pose of complete surrender, the floating heart of Yoga One grew bigger, reaching out to everyone in the room.

You see, for me at least, the studio is a living creature and all the teachers that inhabit the space contribute to its life. When they teach from the most authentic part of themselves, the heart grows and fills the room, allowing the yoga to do its work unencumbered. This is perhaps the greatest challenge of any teacher: knowing when to get out of the way and let the yoga speak for itself. Michael is the kind of teacher who understands this and provides that space for his students. Yoga, in this sense, is more than just a series of physical movements, it is the entire experience of class and the wider appreciation for the inter-connectedness of body and breath, mind and spirit that stays with you long after you’ve left the studio.

Some of you will not believe me. Some of you will no doubt think that places having a heart and energy of their own is silly. But to anyone who has ever loved a place – your childhood home or the town where you met your first love – you understand that a place can have a life and character all its own. That the best kind of places take on the life force of the people that inhabit them. If you’ve never taken Michael’s class, treat yourself this Friday at noon, you won’t be disappointed!

Michael also teaches on Tuesday evenings at 6pm. Click here to check out the full schedule online.