Namaste my fellow yogi/yoginis!
This month we focus on our center of peace, the still center point of our energetic body–the Anahata (Heart) Chakra. This peaceful, loving, compassionate energy is reflected by the Golden Rule: Treat others as you would wish to be treated. Love yourself, as well as your neighbors. What you wish upon others, you wish upon yourself. Where in your life are you being less than any of this towards either yourself, or others?
The element associated with the Anahata Chakra is air. Air is most commonly associated with expansive knowledge, openness and spaciousness, freedom to breath and a sense of lightness. This love is empathic, compassionate, and is experienced within us as a state of being which is not based on need or desire. We will work with prana (breath), back bends, and chest openers to help us connect with some of these elements.
For your meditation practice, I offer you the seed (bija) sound for the Anahata (Heart) Chakra: Lam. Repeat this seed sound silently to yourself as you gently follow the rise and fall of your breath with your attention. You might also envision a green, glowing light centered in your chest. Feel this essence of compassion, drawing it in on the inhale, and radiating it out on the exhale.
An interesting side note: The translation of Anahata from Sanskrit is “sound that is made without any two things striking.
A couple updates to my teaching schedule:
1) I have stepped out of the Saturday morning Vinyasa class rotation at the Palo Alto Family YMCA. The class will continue to be taught by the remaining teachers on a rotational basis. Check the online schedule at: http://www.ymcasv.org/paloalto/html/downloads.html
2) The Friday Breath & Meditation class at Breathe Together Yoga is at a new time: 2:30-3:00pm beginning Feb. 17th.
See you on the mat!
Claudia Fountain Fitness + Yoga 