Heart Opening Poses For Cultivating Love, Acceptance & Compassion

We are constantly reminded of love, especially in the month of February, thanks to St Valentine’s Day. In the practice of yoga, the centre of the chest is represented by the Heart Chakra (or ‘Anahata’, in Sanskrit). Chakras mean “wheel”, and being the fourth of seven Chakras that sit along the energetic pathway of the spinal column (Sushumna), Anahata is represented by loving vibrations, kindness, self acceptance, empathy and compassion, when energy is flowing freely.

Backbending asanas, be it restorative or dynamic, are often called “Heart Opening” Poses as they create a sense of liberation…physically, mentally and emotionally. Approach them with an open mind, and witness the ebb and flow of physical sensations and emotions that arise. Practise safely, and warm up well with a few rounds of Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutations) and standing asanas. Use props where necessary, and always consult a yoga teacher if you are new to the practice, have a medical condition or are pregnant.

START by rolling out your yoga mat, sit in a comfortable position and be still for a moment. Witness your breathing, and let your focus drop beneath the neurotic chatter of the busy mind, and into the cave of your heart. Set the intention for your practice (for example), “By accepting and loving myself, I am compassionate to others”.

1. Restorative Chest Opener (with blocks) : place one block beneath the shoulder blades and one to support the head. This restorative pose gives a lovely myofascial release of the thoracic area whilst keeping the neck free from strain. A great relief after a long busy day at the office or with the kids. Soften into the space, and release your weight onto the block. Stay for 12 long, deep breaths, or even a few minutes if you can spare the time.

2. Anahatasana (Heart Chakra Pose or Puppy Pose) : From an all-fours position, place your chin on the mat and extend your arms forward. Sink your chest onto the mat whilst keeping the breath smooth. Option to place your forehead on the mat if this variation is too intense for your neck.

3. Setu Bandhasana (Supported Bridge Pose) : Lie on your back, bend your knees, and place your feet hip width apart. On an inhale, lift your hips up, and interlace your fingers, stretching your knuckles towards your feet. Keep your thighs parallel, and feel like you are lifting up to bring the chest towards your chin. Stay for 12 deep breaths, and on an exhale, release your hands, and lower back down onto the mat.

4. Ustrasana (Camel Pose) : Come to a kneeling position with your knees and feet hip width apart. On an inhale, lift the chest up, up and up whilst arching and lengthening the whole spine, and place your hands lightly onto your heels. Tailbone is slightly drawn towards the pubic bone, and only if you are comfortable, drop the head back. Stay for 12 even breaths and enjoy the expansiveness of the front of your body. Option to tuck the toes for a more accessible modification.

5. Chakrasana (Wheel Pose) : From Setu Bandhasana, place your hands by your ears, with the fingers pointing towards your feet, and elbows parallel to one another. On an inhale, lift up into Chakrasana, with your arms straight. Keep your legs engaged by gently hugging your inner thighs to your midline. Breathe well and on an exhale, bend your arms and legs to lower back onto your mat. 

Come into Balasana (Child’s Pose) as a counter-pose, followed by Savasana for a few minutes.

End your practice with gratitude and love, to yourself and to others.

Namaste.

Angeline Liew is a Yoga Teacher-Trainer and Co-Founder of Prana Yoga KL. To connect with her for yoga tips and inspirations, follow her on Instagram @angelineliewyoga or practise with her at www.pranayogakl.com

The Heart of Summer

In Chinese medicine, the season of summer signifies expansion, growth, activity and creativity. It is ruled by the Fire element and governed by Heart.

Summer is considered the most Yang time of the year, meaning there is an increase in outdoor activities, our energy moves upward and outward and, the Spirit feels light and joyful. Summer days are about creating joy and laughter with family and friends, soaking in longer daylight to enjoy al fresco dinning or a nice walk in the park after work and, spending a relaxing weekend on the beach or exploring nature. On the contrary, summer can also cause damage and harm. Continuous days of high temperature and sweltering heat can cause heat-strokes and sleepless nights, taking a toll on the body and mind. And the potential of bush fires that threaten wildlife and people living in areas prone to it.

In Chinese medicine, a person’s constitution is governed by both Yin and Yang. Some will tend towards more one or the other or some will have a good balance of both. A person with a Cold constitution (constant cold hands and feet, takes a long time to warm up, dislikes winter), is more Yin in nature. They are the ones that look forward to summer and gravitate towards heat the most, which is Yang in nature. On the other end of the spectrum, a person with a Heat constitution (loves winter, feels the heat instantly, dislikes heat), is more Yang in nature and tends to struggle in summer. They will find the summer heat unpleasant, there will be lack of interest to participate in outdoor activities and have a preference to stay indoor to avoid the heat.

The Heart, the Organ that belongs to the summer season stores the Spirit (Shen). According to Chinese medicine, the Heart is responsible for ‘appropriate behaviour, timely interactions, being respectful, helpful and thoughtful’ (Kaptchuk, T., (2000). The Wed That Has No Weaver, p.88). As the Heart is ruled by the Fire element, it can be easily agitated by heat, generating Heart-Heat resulting in insomnia, anxiety, inappropriate or bizarre behaviour. Joy is the emotion of the Heart. Enjoying summer festivals with abundance of alcohol and food, laughter and gatherings can increase joy to the Heart. However, too much joy can also damage the Heart especially when we overdo it with without having sufficient rest and recovery in between activities. In Chinese medicine, we always advocate moderation and balance to generate a harmony between Yin and Yang, rest and activities and, excitement and calmness in the body and mind.

The warmer months provide us with produce that are vibrant in taste and colour and are cooling in temperature. Eating with the season is important as nature has a way of providing what is essential for the body to function during the season. Lighter meals are appropriate and suitable for the summer season and, prepared and cooked using simple and fresh produce. Food such as meat, eggs, and excesses of nuts, seeds and grains should be reduced in consumption to avoid sluggishness. Bitter, the flavour of summer is recommended to be consumed in small amount to cool the intensity of Fire/Heat in the body and, to nourish and settle the Heart (Spirit) during the warmer months.

Bitter foods:

Bitter - alfalfa, bitter melon, romaine lettuce, rye

Bitter & pungent - citrus peel, radish leaf, spring onion, turnip, white pepper

Bitter & sweet - amaranth, asparagus, celery, lettuce, papaya ,quinoa

Bitter & sour - vinegar

Summer nourishing foods includes:

Grains & seeds - amaranth, rice, quinoa, lotus seed, pearl barley

Beans - mung beans, bean sprouts

Vegetables - cucumber, asparagus, bamboo shoots, bok choy, broccoli, Chinese cabbage, corn, mushrooms, snow peas, spinach, summer squash, watercress, seaweed, romaine lettuce, celery, lettuce, bitter melon, scallion, radish leaf, wax gourd, lotus root

Fruit - apricot, cantaloupe, rock melon, watermelon, strawberries, nectarines, mango, peach, lemon, papaya, tomato

Protein - fish, prawns, crab, mussels, octopus, scallops, pork, chicken, tofu

Species - mint, coriander, dill, anise, basil

Surviving The Festive Season

The silly season is fast approaching. Champagne popping, canapes all around, decadent meals and the surplus of chocolate and sweets to tempt and arouse the senses, and the never ending of Christmas shopping and preparations to do. As the countdown begins to Christmas day, the intake of food and alcohol will progressively increase culminating on Christmas day and New Year’s Eve. The cooking, feasting and jolly making is wonderful however, the aftermath of this overindulgent and silliness does take a toll on the body. This often manifest as bloating, fatigue and a general ‘I feel like crap’ feeling after having too much to eat and drink.

Here are 5 suggestions to avoid subjecting your body and mind through over eating, drinking and stress

• Moderate - I believe that you can eat anything you want as long as you understand the quantity you have. It is not about stuffing your face but to nibble on small morsels of variety of food and to enjoy the taste, texture, smell and look of a dish. Moderation is key.

• Chew - It is quite remarkable how often people don’t chew their food. By consciously chewing your food instead of shoving it down makes a huge difference in signalling to your body how much food you need. Research shows that it takes about 20 minutes for the body to register that you are full. By consciously chewing your food, your body will send the signal to your brain telling your stomach that you have had enough and you are full. Thus reducing the amount of food that you would consume over the festive season.

• Hydrate - I don’t mean hydrating your body with fizzy, coffee or tea, or other caffeinated and high fructose and sugary drinks. Hydration is about consuming plain water. I understand that some of you may find drinking plain water rather boring and difficult. Perhaps adding a slice or slices of lemon and a pinch of salt or adding some cucumber or seasonal berries to water may make it palatable. Aim to drink at least 1.5 to 2 litres of water per day especially now that we are heading into warmer weather. Drinking water makes us feel full, therefore decreasing our appetite and, it is a vital source for the body to flush out toxins especially after the consumption of alcohol.

• Pause - Stress in unavoidable during festive season. There are Christmas presents to buy and wrap, lunches and dinners to attend or organise and, meeting those ridiculous end of year deadlines at work. I find taking a 15 minutes break away from the stressful situation often helps. But before you reach out for that second or third coffee for the day and/or sugary treats, think of other alternatives that do not increase additional stress to your body. For example, going for a walk in the park, meditation and conscious breathing or plugging into some chill out music to take your mind away from the cause of the stress has longer lasting effect on your body and mind to de-stress better.

• Disengage - We are constantly wired up on social media and the bombardment of Christmas sales and offers. It may be extremely difficult to completely switch off but giving up social media for one day of the week can make a huge difference to the mind and body. By reducing that constant stimulation, we have a better chance in coping with stress during this festive season. Some would make a conscious effort to completely switch off all social media during the summer break so that they can focus back on themselves and be present with family and friends. Try it! It is quite refreshing to be disconnected from social media.

I hope that these suggestions are useful in helping you cope with this festive season. Alternatively, if these suggestions seem too much of a hassle and you cannot cope both mentally and physically, acupuncture is highly effective in reducing stress, strengthening the digestive and calming the nervous system. Let us assist you during this festive season so that you may enjoy and celebrate with family and friends without having to feel burnt out and struggling with digestive problems.

Wellness Series - Floor Series for the Tech Neck

We have collaborated with a registered yoga teacher, Angeline Liew from Prana Yoga Kuala Lumpur to give you some useful tips in this Wellness series called the "Tech Neck".

Do you spend hours in a fixed position, slouched in front of a computer, spine rounded, neck sticking out like a turtle craned towards your screen, wrists and jaw tensed without you even realizing it?  Do you complain of constant stiffness in the neck and upper back? I often find that these are the main culprits for clients that come in to the clinic for neck and shoulder tension and pain which can lead to temporal and/or occipital headaches.  In Chinese medicine perspective, aches, pain and tension is related to Qi and Blood Stagnation in  meridians.  In thes case of the "Tech Neck" meridians that are affected are the Bladder, Gallbladder, Large Intestine and Small Intestine channels.   Qi and Blood stagnation can also be exacerbated by stress, lack of exercise, and a sedentary lifestyle.

Here are a few simple yet effective yoga sequence designed by Angeline to ease tension in the neck and shoulders, and relief compression in the front body, whilst stretching out those tight knots, to enable more range of motion, and hopefully help to minimise the occurrence of headaches.  She highly recommend doing the Tech Neck series at least once a day.

1. Extended Puppy Pose - a delicious and deep chest & upper back opener. Modify by placing your forehead on the floor, instead of the chin, and let gravity assist your chest to sink to the floor.
2. Shoelace Pose for the Arms - stretches the deep muscles between the shoulder blades (#rhomboids), posterior and lateral deltoids and upper arms.
3. Intense Shoulder Stretch - one of my fave stretches to target the front muscles of the upper arms. By squaring the hips, you'll also get a nice upper back twist. Do support your head so that you don't end up straining the neck.
4. Gomukhasana (Cow Pose arms) - works on increasing range of motion in the shoulders, as the top arm is externally rotated, and the bottom arm is internally rotated. Remember to switch sides, and use a towel or strap if you can't bind.
5. Supported Chest Opener - one word : "Yummy"! Seriously, I can fall asleep in this pose, as it helps to deepen and regulate the breathing too. Block is placed at the bottom tips of your shoulderblade .
6. Trigger Point Therapy for the Neck : Very gently turn the neck side to side, to self-massage the tightness in the neck.
7. Trigger Point Therapy for the Arms : tension in the neck travels down the arms too, causing limited mobility. Here, I use lacrosse balls, but you can use tennis balls too. Target the front of the shoulders and #pectoral muscles (avoid the collar bones), and slowly move down the upper arm.

Remember to relax, and breathe deeply to allow your body to receive maximum benefit from the practice. (*Avoid lying on your belly if you're pregnant, and consult your teacher for alternatives), and if symptoms persist please seek professional help to remedy your condition.