Heart openers for new beginnings

New beginnings are easier done when we can approach people and situations with an open heart and mind. It is not uncommon for us to build walls over time – learned behaviours and reactions that we have developed as a way to protect ourselves. However, in order to truly build the life we want, we will often have to confront and deal with these defence mechanisms to encourage openness + to invite opportunities in. The article below discusses how heart opening asanas can help you along this journey.

Just as you can practice heart opening in your thoughts and emotions, you can also experience opening the heart space in your physical body.

For many, “opening your heart” implies receptivity to love and intimacy in a romantic relationship ring on the candy and flowers. However, everyone, including single yoga practitioners, can experience heart opening in other kinds of relationships: with caring friends and family members, pets, teachers and mentors, and with our own students.

With deep introspection and honesty, you can also practice heart opening in more challenging situations, such as your relationships with difficult people or those with whom you disagree philosophically or politically. As you visualize and practice opening your heart in your various relationships, you’re learning ahimsa, or compassion, which is number one on the list of yamas and niyamas.

Know Your Physical Heart Space

Just as you can practice heart opening in your thoughts and emotions, you can also experience opening the heart space in your physical body. Your heart resides within the thoracic cavity, which is surrounded by a bony cylinder, the rib cage, comprised of 12 ribs on the right and 12 on the left; your sternum (breastbone) in the front; and the spine in the back. The bones are held together by soft tissues, including muscles large and small; cartilage between the vertebrae in the spine, between the three parts of the sternum, and as part of each rib as it attaches to the sternum; and by ligaments, which join bone to bone. There are ligaments, for example, between each pair of vertebrae, and ligaments holding each rib onto its adjacent vertebrae. Your diaphragm, the dome shaped muscle that separates the heart and lungs above from the digestive and reproductive organs below, forms the floor of the thoracic cavity.

Ideally, the soft tissues supporting the bony cylinder remain resilient for a lifetime, so the cylinder is able to expand freely with each breath and the rib cage doesn’t become a rigid and restrictive container for the heart and lungs. You might picture a stiffened rib cage like armour: The lungs won’t be able to expand completely to receive a deep, full breath; and the rigidity may also limit blood flow to and within the heart. An immovable rib cage is also a limiting factor in Pranayama and many yoga poses, especially twists (which require rotation) and backbends (which require spinal extension), because its rigidity prevents the thoracic spine from moving through its normal range of motion. The lack of thoracic extension in backbends can contribute to lower back and neck pain caused by the lumbar and cervical spine hyperextending (overarching) to compensate for the lack of midback movement.

Conscious work with the breath is one of the best ways to improve rib cage mobility, gently stretch thoracic soft tissues, and open the heart space. Any time people feel threatened, be it by pain, challenge, or pressure to perform, the need to guard or defend oneself usually results in holding the breath or breathing in shallow, erratic patterns. These defensive breath patterns cause muscle tightness in the very areas we’re trying to open, as well as gripping in the upper abdomen, which restricts the normal movement of the diaphragm. By teaching your students to practice slow, gently expansive breathing (while avoiding aggressive action, such as pushing or forcing the breath, which generates more inappropriate muscle tightness), you’ll help them start to break up rib cage rigidity and the armor of tightly gripped chest, back, and abdominal muscles.

Simple Positions to Open the Heart

To avoid setting off guarding mechanisms while practicing breathing that expands the rib cage, it’s best to use simple, pain-free positions. To open the chest and abdomen, a wonderful position is a gentle and supported backbend. Try it while lying over a rolled blanket or towel (use a smaller roll for very tight students), placing the roll crosswise under the thoracic spine (the midback, where the ribs attach) and resting the arms in an open position, with palms up. This position gently expands the front rib cage and upper abdomen with each inhalation. Keep the knees bent and place one to two inches of support under the head to help prevent lumbar and cervical hyperextension.

Simple twists invite expansion of the side ribs. Try lying on your right side, with your knees pulled up toward your chest to create a 90-degree angle at the hips. On an inhalation, open your left arm behind you while turning your head to the left. Don’t let the left arm dangle in mid-air. Place just enough support (a block or blanket) under the left arm so you feel some stretch but no pain in the chest and/or side ribs. If your midback, including the space between the shoulder blades, is tight and flat, practice Balasana (Child’s Pose) with arms overhead or beside your calves. People with stiff spines and hips may not be able to get their heads to the floor and so will need support under the head in this pose. Usually a block or folded blanket under the head provides enough height to support the weight of the head, so the neck muscles can relax.

Whether opening the chest in a supported backbend, the side rib cage in a twist, or the thoracic spine and rib cage in Child’s Pose, talk to yourself or to your students about breath patterns. Invite your inhalation to gradually become a little slower, smoother, and deeper, again avoiding any tension-producing forcefulness. Then bring your awareness to the part of the rib cage you want to open (such as the front ribs in supported backbends and the side ribs in twists). It may help to place a hand on the area so you can feel the expansion from the outside as well as the inside. Let the inhalation gently expand and open the ribs, then relax and surrender to gravity with each exhalation.

Practice breathing in each position for two to three minutes, a few times a week if not every day. You’ll be rewarded with deep relaxation, improved breath awareness, opened heart space, and if you so choose a life-altering practice of ahimsa.

Article source: https://www.yogajournal.com/teach/opening-the-heart/
Article author: Julie Gudmestad

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Meet our Teacher - Jourdi Bleu

Teachers can play such a fundamental role in our yoga journey and as part of our community. We can feel a connection to them, a warmth, despite often knowing very little about their background or story! So, we interviewed one of our very own This is Yoga teachers, Jourdi Bleu, to give you an insight into her beautiful journey.

What led you to start practicing yoga? What makes you passionate about the practice? 

My mom introduced me to yoga when I was 16 years old. I was going through some hard times, and she thought it would help ground me. I have to admit, I didn’t fall in love with it right away, but I knew that I always felt better after I practiced.

With a gymnastics background growing up, my body was naturally good at the poses, so I kept coming back to it purely for physical activity. It wasn’t until I was 21 (8 years ago) that I really fell in love with the practice. I remember the exact class that made me have that “AHA” moment - I walked out on a bliss cloud and it finally clicked for me that there was something else happening on the mat, on a much deeper level than just the physical practice. For the next couple years my true love for yoga developed and then I finally did my teacher training in 2016 at BodyMindLife. It was then when I learned about why this practice made me feel the way it did, and how it was shifting many aspects of my life. I wasn’t quite ready to start teaching right away, so the next few years I dove deeper into my own practice with my newfound knowledge, and a transformation began.

When I travelled to India in 2019 and practiced more traditionally in many different ashrams, I felt in my soul that I was ready to start sharing this sacred practice with others. So, when I got back to Sydney in 2020, I began my journey as a teacher. It has been the most amazing experience, one that lights my soul up. There’s nothing I love more than students coming up to me after a class telling me how great it made them feel, or that yoga has changed their life. There’s not a doubt in my mind that I was definitely put here in this lifetime to share my knowledge of this ancient practice. To me, it’s so much more than just a practice, it’s a whole way of life and thinking, and that’s what makes me so passionate about it. Yoga has definitely shaped me into who I am today, and I am so beyond grateful that it is a part of my life.

Do you do any other activities or exercises to compliment your yoga practice? 

I compliment my practice with strength and gymnastics work at the gym, and cardio sessions like HIIT and spin classes. I feel like those drills make the bigger poses easier to access.

Can you tell us; a favourite pose, a pose that challenges you and a pose you are working towards?

My favourite poses are handstand and Warrior 2, and the one that challenges me the most is Uttkatasana (chair pose). I am working on tougher transitions like crow - headstand - crow and my press to handstand.

What can students expect from your classes?

If you come to my classes, I usually like to take it slow and strong, so you can really embody each pose and move with your breath. My sequences are always creative and fun (planning classes is one of my favourite things to do) and I promise you’ll have a laugh as I let my bubbly, light - hearted personality shine through. I’m so excited to dive deeper into the teaching realm, as it’s morphing my relationship to yoga to a level that I didn’t even think was possible. 

Author: This is Yoga

To book a class with Jourdi, check out our timetables below!

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The Yogapod Sydney - Interview with Katy Graczer

We sit down with the legend that is Katy Graczer - founder of the Yogapod Sydney. You may have been to one of Katy’s classes at TIY and we are now lucky enough to be stocking her beautiful, high quality yoga mats! Read more about Katy and the Yogapod mats in our interview below.

Can you tell us a little bit about The Yogapod Sydney and your yoga background?

I have been a yoga enthusiast for over 20 years. The Yogapod Sydney was created when I became a teacher, to offer yoga options and info to those who want to start their journey. 

Now it is a hub, connecting students with teachers and studios through healthy holidays and retreats, we also feature workshops and a podshop where you can buy what you need to meet your yoga and travel needs.

What made you decide to design and create yoga mats? What did you take into consideration?

Finding a high quality mat which is affordable, comfortable and sustains both a yin and yang practice is tricky to find. I also wanted to ensure our branded mat is unisex, easy to clean and multi-purpose so you can use it for HIIT, roll and release and floor pilates if you want. 

What do you feel is special about the Yoga Pod mat? 

I think our mat is unusually comfortable for a 5mm 🙂 You can't feel the floor underneath it and it feels soft (but firm) under your hands, feet, head and spine. 

Do you sell any other accessories?

At The Yogapod shop, we also stock luxury cork mats and blocks alongside a range of locally owned sustainable accessories from great brands such as Wobble Yoga, Bondi Wash, Naked Soul and Destination the Label.

Your beautiful mats are stocked at This is Yoga?

Our Yogapod polyurethane mats are stocked exclusively at This is Yoga!

Find out more about Katy and the Yogapod Sydney here, or check out the Yogapod mat in studio!

Author: This is Yoga

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Moving Beyond Asana with Morgane Stroobant

Morgane TIY’s very own Bhakti Yogi. She has been practicing yoga for 15 years and shares her learnings and discoveries beautifully with her students. We sat down with Morgane to find out more about her practice and the passion behind it.

Can you tell us why this is an area you are passionate about and want to share with others? 

That could be written in a book, or many books. For me, although I need the physical practice to get into my body, the practice has never been just about the physical asana. So like everyone, I need the asana but I am not attached to it, I never really was so I don’t have this obsession that students can commonly have like ‘I need to nail this pose’, ‘I need to nail that pose’, ‘I need to go deeper’. 
I do the work and I do strong practices. I practice with Ari for that reason, because I need to get into my body and my breath and do a practice that makes sense and that actually allows you to go deeper into the asana practice, so you can let go of the asana practice. It’s one of the sutras - steady, effort, ease and surrender. We do the part that we need to do, we practice, we welcome all the limitations we face on our mat and we get excited about that. We encounter all the physical limitation in the asana but also the mental, emotional and spiritual limitations. These will present on your mat pretty obviously if you are open and curious, that is what I get excited about - how can we use the practice to welcome those limitations and beyond so we can live the yoga outside of the studio. That's where life happens, that's where pandemic happens, that's where losing jobs happen, relationship issues happen. So if we can’t take the practice beyond the mat and asana, we are not going to feel that peace and freedom when life gets messy, and it does all the time. I think finding tools to go beyond the asana, beyond the mat is how we find that peace. The asana is one tiny part of the picture so we can have all these tools in the box meaning we not only have the physical practice but we can also tune in to the breath, mantra and meditation at any time. Tune back in to that space of higher self - that inner wisdom, that internal landscape and when you're in a meeting with your boss, or driving, or dealing with drama/ trauma you're not going to break into an asana practice but you have these other tools ready to come and support and bring you back to peace, freedom and equanimity. You can use these in any situation and you can hopefully share that with others as well. There’s that ripple effect, like when you meet others who have this grace and wisdom, like Ari and some of my others teacher, they practice their yoga and they embody the yoga off the mat and practice what they teach, that’s what I try to do but it’s not easy, it’s difficult.

So many people can’t tap in to meditation and I wasn’t able to for a long time until I found mantra so it’s just giving people an awareness of what other tools are out there. I am excited to share what I love most and what works for me and to support the community and to help provide the tools to stay curious and work through stuff with strength and grace and wisdom. A lot of people feel they don’t have it but it’s there, we just need to tap into it.

For many, the physical asana practice is what draws them to yoga - as you touched on earlier. Why do you believe it is so important to grow beyond that?

For those who are attached to the physical practice, I think it is good to understand that as westerners, this helps us to find yoga because we need to move, it is important to move the body. When we move the body we can tap into the breath and it is much easier to breathe when sitting down than when the muscles start to shake or the mental constructs come into play e.g. I'm not flexible enough, I need to do more, I should push more, I'm not bendy enough, why is this person in a deeper backbend than me etc. So for those who love the asana practice, it is a great way to introduce you to yoga and then find out through that the tools that may lead you to something that is a bit more holistic.

It will still be a strong physical practice and we need to move, we need to be in our body and to get the breath and energy going, so that will be a big part of it. We’re not ignoring the physical part at all, we are just using it as our point of departure and then we see if we can go a little bit deeper, a little bit further than that.

Is tHIS PART OF THE PRACTICE SUITABLE FOR everyone?

Yes it is accessible to everyone, anyone with a curious mind. Whether you love a progressive class or you want a slow flow, there will be that, whether you have touched on meditation and mantra or not, there will be that as well. It’s worth mentioning that mantra is not religious, it is accessible to everyone, regardless of our background or culture. It was not religious the way I was taught it and that is how I teach it. We use mantra to transcend the mind, to go beyond the thinking mind, using sound to go back to that inner sound, that place of stillness and silence and equanimity. That is the mantra practice itself. They say it is the fastest journey to that space because we are using this practice that goes right deep in to the cells and parasympathetic nervous system, that’s why there's always silence after we sing or chant. That's what students have told me as well, for the 60 minute asana practice they have still been caught up in their head but then comes savasana and they hear me sing or chant and can just let go. So it is powerful but not religious. Pranayama is self explanatory, it's how to come to your breath. Meditation is the nectar, what happens after all of that. The asana practice should be accessible to everyone because I teach in a similar way to Ari, who is my teacher and mentor so we have a similar sequencing style in that you can choose if you want a more chilled practice or to spice it up.

What exactly is meant by ‘the higher self’?

The higher self is that space of, well, some people call it love, soul, spirit, higher consciousness. Something that is greater than the self, greater than the personality, the body, the meat suit in this lifetime and that is something that we try to connect to. That's the practice of yoga, the practice of connecting to oneness. Whatever we want to call it - soul, love, god, universe. We have our personality in this lifetime, our karma, our purpose, but we also have this place of oneness, connection to something greater. Something that is divine without being religious, if you get what I mean. So you don't have to be religious to understand that there is something a little greater, you may be connected to the earth, the ocean, just that place that is bigger than us and that we reconnect to, where we step out of our way and find a little peace. Once you connect to that space you find more freedom and equanimity and that's the space where there's no fear, anxiety, wishing, resentment, holding on to the good stuff. That's the higher self.

is there anything else you want to share?

As we know, the asana is only one tiny 8th of the yoga tree. I want students to gain the tools they can explore further and that have hopefully I made an impact on them to take their practice beyond the asana. Also understanding that the physical practice doesn't matter in the end, it's how you breathe and how you sit. The point is to come back to silence and that space in between where there is peace and freedom, which is definitely not relying on your level of asana practice or whether you can get into a handstand, do full splits or a deep back bend. It’s not about what you see on Instagram. It's about how we can bring the yoga into our lives when things get complicated. That's the yoga and hopefully these tools can support students in their lives and perhaps make them a little less asana obsessed in that if they can’t make it to their mat for whatever reason, they understand that there are still other ways they can practice yoga regardless.

Click here if you would like to learn more about Morgane!

Author: This is Yoga

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