Opening Up the Heart Chakra in Yoga Practice

The heart chakra is known as 'anahata' which means unstruck in Sanskrit. The striking of a bell produces a sound or a

movement, but nothing is needed to strike the heart and start a beat there. The heart vibrates with its own energy and this energy is our essence. It is what gives us life and it is what gives you your personality. Some of the ancient scriptures describe anahata as the tiny flame that resides within the heart.

The heart chakra is described as a lotus flower with twelve petals in green and grey. The two colours signify balance. The grey represents compassion for yourself and the green represents compassion for others. The sense of balance you experience at the heart chakra also relates to the balance between your masculine and feminine sentiments. Meditating on the shapes and colours of the heart chakra awakens the dormant feelings of compassion and love within you.

Anahata has the beej mantra sound of 'yam'. The beej mantra is the root sound and chanting this sound awakens the vibration, the energy of that chakra. In this case, the sound you think of when your attention is focused here on the heart, the sound 'yam' is one of calm, serenity and non-violence.

In terms of asana practice, backbending is often used to open up the heart chakra. Camel pose, bridge pose and the wheel are examples of backbends. When you practice these postures in yoga you attain the feeling of your heart releasing and the energy and compassion expanding outwards.

If you want to be able to express how you feel or if you want to connect with your feelings, practice backbending first.

Opening the heart chakra awakens you to other qualities too - mercy, forgiveness and love. It also awakens you to the feeling of charity towards others. You learn to be in touch with your feelings. Opening up anahata helps you improve your relationships with others.

The Lotus Sutra of Buddhism talks a lot about anahata, the heart chakra. We observe through these teachings and the teachings of Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras that the heart chakra is the first chakra within us where we are connected with our higher senses. In line with these teachings then, the correct thing to do in life is to 'listen to your heart' as your heart's desire is not based on lower faculties or emotions. Your heart chakra's desire is concerned with the 'right thought, right actions, right words' and so forth that are talked about by the Buddha. If we follow this then we live a life of attaining good 'karmas' or actions.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7891532