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Week
4: Strong Center, Open Heart
This week I'd like to introduce an idea that will be central to many of the
practices we explore in this class. It is the idea of a strong center and an open
heart. Inner strength gives us the ability to remain open: to others, to
experience, to adventure, to joy, to grief, to the unknown.
Inner strength is different from self-control. Inner strength is a kind of
support, not a restraint. It has something do with trust that you will be able to
handle anything that life offers. It is not about asserting your needs and
desires on everyone else and your environment.
At a physical level, you can experience the difference between control and inner
strength this way:
1. Contract your abdominal muscles as if you were trying to squeeze into a pair
of jeans two sizes too small. Notice what that feels like. Or contract your
abdominal muscles as if you were anticipating being punched in the stomach.
Notice what that feels like. How does it influence your ability to breathe? Try
this action in an asana, such as utkatasana (chair pose/fierce pose) or
virabhadrasana A (warrior A). Notice what it feels like. How does it influence
your ability to breathe? Would you call this action inner strength? Or more like
outer armor?
2. Lift your deep abdominal muscles in and slightly up, as if you were trying to
"kiss" the front of the spine (or lower back) with your belly. Do just enough to
feel the sensation of connection between the belly and the lower back - not
enough to compress the abdominal area or change the shape of the spine. Let the
action be fluid - don't feel like you have to contract once and hold. Instead,
let the action grow stronger with the exhalation and more gentle with the
inhalation. Notice what this feels like. How does it influence your ability to
breathe? Do you feel the breath move upwards, as if it were radiating out from
the heart and not just the belly? Do you feel the breath slowing down or perhaps
pressing out at the areas of your body (upper back, chest) that sometimes feel
frozen? Try this action in an asana, such as utkatasana (chair pose/fierce pose)
or virabhadrasana A (warrior A). Do you feel the difference between this kind of
gentle inner strength that supports you, and the kind of forced "core strength"
that inhibits you?
Some of you will be familiar with this more subtle abdominal lift as the practice
of a gentle uddiyana bandha. If you practice uddiyana bandha during asanas,
think about it from the broader perspective of an inner strength that supports
openness. Pay particular attention to this action in asanas that are considered
"heart-openers" - standing poses with arms uplifted (like chair pose, warrior A,
or tree pose) and backbends (like bridge pose, wheel pose, cobra, or
upward-facing dog).
In these kinds of heart-opening asanas, notice what happens if you let go of that
subtle inner strength and lift. If you try to open your heart without the
balancing action of inner strength, you will notice that your heart actually
doesn't open that much (although from the outside, it would appear to be opening
more, especially in backbends). Instead, you offer up only your vulnerabilties
(lower back, shoulders, neck). Your vulnerabilities get strained and compressed
and your heart stays closed.
I think that this idea is very relevant to the discussions happening on our
discussion board, both about giving too much too soon, and about fear. Try to put
this concept into the body first; we can explore the psychology through
discussion (online) and guided reflections (in later weeks' emails).
Those of you interested in exploring this idea through asana can take a look at
the notes from a workshop I taught on this idea. It provides an outline for a
practice session, but leaves a lot to your imagination and self-guidance.
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