In our last Yoga in the Park practice we created the intention to be more open to signs and serendipities. Can we notice them if they were staring us in the face or are we too much in auto drive to notice. Keep reading below for more information as to how we can use mindfulness in our postures to relate with the heart and lungs to help us feel more open and aware through the day.
As part of my journey into understanding the habitual thoughts and emotions that we go through unconsciously each day. Our brain leads us to think; predictability keeps us safe and our bodies have inherited this habit of auto-functioning even though it could potentially be self sabotaging in the long run. But because we have been conditioned into thinking a certain way, this habit is hard to break. It becomes who we are.
Being Aware
Trauma. From the time we were given birth our lung tissue and surrounding nerves are opened for our first breath to kick in. This is the first radical shock for the lungs and diaphragm as we emerge from incubation. Our first breath was traumatic – a moment of life or death. This is the start of the pain body. In life we go through other traumas like loss of a loved one, war, abuse – for some it’s worse then others.
The chest is the body’s primary location for vibratory rhythms; pulses that can be felt through the entire body. Our hearts and lungs are not only structurally interwoven as the body’s primary repository for sentiment; they also filter emotion. Residues of emotional pain confine the heart and lung and inhibits the subtle body.
In our awareness practice, we know that our experiences are equal to our thoughts. Freeing up our body from past emotional stress is a daily practice. Let’s delve further into understanding how emotions effect our heart and lung function and ways we can bring awareness to these areas in our movement practice.
The Lungs
Lung tissue are extremely light and fragile due to the capillary membranes to be fine enough to permit gas absorption into the bloodstream. We are vulnerable to not only smoke and air-pollutants, our lungs also filters atmospheric moods. Feelings especially grief and sadness imprint into the lung tissue. Adults that withholds emotions does not allow their lungs to release strain. Just like watering a tree by the roots, it is important to irrigate the lungs with oxygen with mindful breathing. Practice some mindful breath into the ‘top leafs’ (bronchus) of your inverted tree first and gradually bringing it up to the middle and finally to the upper lungs (crown of the lungs) where it lifts your upper chest and shoulder blades. Exhaling the same way you inhaled from the top to the bottom letting that diaphragm draw inward into the the cavity of the ribcage in your exhale. Do this 8-10 breaths and then find your normal breath and centre your awareness to your chest centre for 5 minutes.
Thoracic Outlet
From the image above you can see that the upper thoracic cavity is heavily trafficked with both blood and nerve. A considerable amount of blood flows through the region at the top of the chest and the base of the neck. Facing threat, our breath can get constricted at the top of the lungs around the area of the collarbones and the delicate muscles of the throat. Relieving the tension in the upper chest is important to allow the flow of blood and energy to run through the meridian of our arteries and nerves. Great postures that stretches and release the inside arm and improves blood and lymph circulation from the heart are postures like handstands, downward facing dog or plank / side plank postures.
“Slumpasana” & The Sternum
We all are familiar to this posture. When I see us (🤚🏽 guilty) in slumpasana I think about how we are still genetically structured to endure tough physical circumstances because when we are at rest, this is the posture our bodies go into automatically to conserve energy. Problem is, we are in this posture most of the day! It has become our bodies ‘in everything’ posture. With the ventral drag of our shoulders, we tend to pull on the chest causing the sternum to topple and compress into the ribs, intercostal muscles and joints in the sternum. Posterior chain activating postures counters this “slumpasana” posture that our body habitually moulds into in times of sadness, stress or boredom. Try bringing your fingertips of opposite hands to touch behind your back using the strength of your back while keeping your elbows straight. Hold it for a 10-15 seconds as you continue to breathe normally keeping the tension. To release, reverse your palms by turning them away from each other and externally rotate the shoulders – feel the rush of blood flow down your hands all the way into your fingertips. Lower your arms and relax.
This butterfly shaped muscle below is called the transversus thoracis muscle spans from your second to sixth rib of the frontal chest. Although this muscle work like an accordion contracting the ribs together, in our asana practices, we encourage making sure this muscle remains wide enabling breath to flow freely into the lungs creating space for the sternum and heart to lift.
The Pericardium & Heart Organ
The heart is the lead organ of the body. The true mandate and purpose of a human being to be in our hearts. To fulfil the mandate of our hearts as the organ network that opens our connection to the light of spirit. The mission of the mandate of the heart is finding the creation of unity and keeping that line open and not live in the line of separation. The function of the heart is to being in love with the divine.
Pericardium (The Heart Protector – “The secret to the secret”) Just like the synovial fluid protecting joints, the pericardium is protects the heart, keeping it lubricated as the heart moves up and down through deep breathing practices.
I cannot be more fascinated with the pericardial sac. Firstly because this is the first time I’m introduced to it’s existence and second, digging deeper into it’s purpose – duh! It’s to protect the heart. Just imagine a fetus living growing within an amniotic sac. It serves as a protection agains shock and trauma amongst other things; temperature control, regulates blood flow, lubricant, infection control etc. etc.
Just like the pericardial would protect the heart from physical trauma, as we know emotions can effect a growing foetus and in this case emotions are transpired into the heart, the pericardial sac protects the heart from emotional trauma and shock and in contrast also helps in the physical expression of true joy from the heart! – The heart opener and heart protector. The meridian of the pericardial runs down the inner arm down through the centre of the palm to the tip of the middle finger. I like to remind my students that sometime it’s hard for people to extend our hand out in open arms. But with some awareness and gentle coaxing to allow ourself to feel safe enough to embrace what’s is and what’s to come. Lie in savasana and allow your palms to open up 60degrees to the sides of the body. Draw your awareness where you feel any tightness or constriction. Accept and try to not analyse this, just allow it to just be. Accept that your body is holding on to tension and let yourself know that it’s safe to let go as you keep your breath natural and calm. Tension isn’t something you can force away, it should fall away naturally on it’s own.
Inner peace of the heart cannot happen because literally the outer layer of the heart is inflamed and it doesn’t have it’s outer coolness. The mirror image of what’s happening in nature is literally being transpired within us. Irregular heartbeat in the body is very much related to pathogens or anxiety making it’s way to the pericardium. Take it as our bodies way of telling us something. The pericardium is the secret (hormonal switch) to get the heart to work well. I hope with our practice continuing in the focus of the heart and lungs our old habits and emotions will naturally fall away bringing new insights and adventures into our world. – ✌🏽💫
Credits & Resources
- Yoga of the Subtle Body – Tias Little
- The Pericardium Organ Network of Chinese Medicine – Classical Chinese Medicine.org
- Pericardium Podcast
- “Slumpasana” – Noah Maze
- How to Take the Perfect Breath – theguardian.com