‘When you begin to touch your heart or let your heart be touched, you begin to discover that it’s bottomless, that it doesn’t have any resolution, that the heart is huge, vast, limitless.’ - Pema Chödrön, Start Where You Are
How many idioms can you think of with heart in them? Our very language is filled with the qualities we ascribe to the heart. We can be hard-hearted or open-hearted; we can find that our hearts are made of stone. We can be all heart or discover that our heart is no longer in it. We can learn words that inspire us by heart, or follow our hearts, we bare our hearts and we break our hearts. Pema Chodron tells us our hearts are huge, vast, limitless. It would seem our hearts are the seat of strong emotion and carry a heavy symbolic burden.
Yet, what is the truth in our idioms? What does it actually mean to have a limitless heart? And, can our hearts be too open? Too vast? Finally what on earth does this all have to do with a movement practice and why should we care?
The Heart-Mind
In the West, we pitch the head against the heart. We suppress our feelings and try not to be led by our hearts, but rather listen to the sense of our heads. In Eastern traditions though, the line between head and heart is not so clear but rather the heart is often understood to be the ‘heart-mind’. In yoga philosophy the mind and thought patterns - what we might term the ‘head’ is not a single thing but has four parts (Buddhi - intellect, Ahankara - identity, Manas - memory and Chitta - heart-mind). Each is nuanced and chitta is sometimes translated as cosmic intelligence. When we begin to explore this possibility: that the heart carries its own intelligence to be heeded then, it makes greater sense to follow our hearts and to listen to what our hearts are telling us, because by doing so we are able to tap into our innate joy. I have a habit of following my heart rather than my head, and I tend to do this when my heart is no longer in something. In reality, though, I have come to understand the extent to which the heart can hold paradox - how you can simultaneously hold something in high regard and also be frustrated with that. Our hearts can break at the cruelty of the world and yet at the same time rejoice in the beauty we see around us.
The heart, summer and the element of fire
In Chinese Five Elements each organ is associated with a season and an element. The heart is considered the supreme sovereign of the body. It is responsible for supporting us to find both connection and boundaries. The element of fire, associated with this organ governs joy and excitement. It is interesting to note though that Chinese Five Elements also recognises that a state of too much excitement can make our hearts feel unbalanced. A burning passion can result in anxiety. What our hearts long for is ease. Picture how the best bits of summer feel for you: warm, connected, easy and fun.
Tapping into joy
Recently, I was listening to a talk about joy. Somehow, joy felt like a lot to summon at the time and it got me to thinking about how, perhaps we do brace against feeling joy sometimes, or pleasure. There is a lot to disturb us in the world. And yet, what if we did tap into the joyful. What would happen? In Buddhism, mudita, or sympathetic joy is one of the Brahma-Viharas or qualities of the heart and is a quality to be cultivated. Sympathetic joy, means delighting in other people’s wellbeing which can be a source of our own delight.
What delights you?
In March 2020, as the UK went into lockdown, many of us rediscovered the things that delight us and that give us joy. Over a year on, many are finding it difficult to discover the same sense of delight. Perhaps our hearts have lacked the nourishment, calm and ease they need to flourish. Yet our hearts are resilient. In ‘The Book of Delights’ poet Ross Gay decided that ‘it might feel nice, even useful, to write a daily essay about something delightful… It didn’t take me long to learn that the discipline or practice of writing these essays occasioned a kind of delight radar. Or maybe it was more like the development of a delight muscle... I felt my life to be more full of delight. Not without sorrow or fear or pain or loss. But more full of delight’
I have been inspired by this, to note my own delights. And, not only am I noting them and telling others about them and sharing them. I’m exploring practices of joy and ease through movement and meditation. So often, the things we do for our leisure and pleasure and wellbeing, become one more thing to achieve, or get done. We begin to strive and not look for rest and joy and ease.
Limitless Heart Summer Programme
I’m offering Limitless Heart, six live streamed classes to tap into the playfulness of the season. This includes three breath led yoga flow classes, two restorative yoga classes and a qigong workshop all of which will explore the qualities of the heart and moving into a sense of greater ease. For dates, times and more information click here.