The Anchored Heart

My heart and your heart are friends.

~Be strong then enter into your own body,

There you will find a solid place for your feet."

~ Kabir ~

I always wished that yoga was apart of my life when I was young Mom. I found yoga in my life when my four daughters were very young and I was struggling with mental illness. I did not know that I had mental illness, I just knew that I was really unwell and needed a break from my life. My daughter's were from ages three to nine years old, I was living at our very busy and hectic business and basically just going through the motions of life.

I did not understand at the time that I was not living from my heart. I did however recognize this when I had returned from my very first yoga vacation. I was sitting in our living-room in Sicamous and my younger daughters were playing. They were practicing the yoga poses I had taught them and they were simply adorable and so sweet in their attempts of tree pose, down-dog and eventually just making up their own poses.

Angie, my five year old daughter, sat down and sitting cross-legged decided to show her little sister Samantha how to meditate. Both girls began to breath deeply and then sang out the word OM. This became a game of who could OM the longest, and both girls ended up rolling around on the ground in a fit's of giggles.

I too began to laugh, and it was a laugh that came right from deep down in my belly. Both girls stopped and looked at me in shock. Angie looked at me and said, " Mommy you are laughing!" I did not realise that it had been so long that I had not laughed and brought in sadness that my daughters had noticed this about me too. When I began to look sad both girls came to me and snuggled in on my lap. I told them that I was so sorry but I was feeling so much better and how much I loved them.

This time in my life was a blur but that MOMENT I truly remember. It was a time of awakening, I was once again awake. The way we live is so important. I recently hosted a workshop of Yin & Affirmations with my new friend Jewel who wrote a book called True Gifts. This book resonated to me because it speaks to living your life through the wisdom of your heart. I am also a 400RYT Heart Yoga teacher through Karuna Erickson and this too is the practice of Bhakti yoga. Heart yoga is a style of yoga that is grounded in and flows from the compassionate heart—compassion and kindness towards ourselves, each other, and our world. The time is now to one again noticing our hearts desires and dreams. Finding ways to come back to the essence of "The Anchored Heart."

In preparing for the Yin & Affirmations mini workshop I felt that i wanted to focus on the Heart Chakra. This past year felt like I was dragged from one thing to the next, it was challenging but I also had to take time to remember joy.

We know that when our heart chakra is balanced we live in the heart space of love, compassion and joy. The one thing that really stood out to me is what happens when we are not balanced in the heart chakra. The list of these symptoms explain our lives as we navigate our way through the on-going spread of Covid and the new variants that follow.

The following symptoms are what are experienced when our heart chakra is blocked and not surprisingly explains are current situation with the worldwide pandemic.

• You may tend isolate yourself excessively.

• You feel lonely.

• You give up on love.

• You do not trust yourself or others.

• When misaligned, poor circulation, high or low blood pressure, and other heart and lung conditions can result.

• Issues that can occur in the body can also include infections of the lungs, bronchitis, and circulatory problems.

You’ve probably heard about chakras, the seven wheels of energy in the body that start at the crown of your head, and travel down the body to the base of your spine. When spinning properly, each chakra allows Qi energy to flow through the body. If these wheels of energy become blocked by stress, anxiety or emotional upheaval, your well-being can suffer. The fourth chakra, called Anahata, is located at the heart. If it becomes gummed up or blocked, you may find it hard to develop and keep healthy relationships. (1)

The Anchored Heart is a polar opposite to how I was taught to live. I grew up in a time when you worked hard now and played later. This way of living literally shuts down your dreams that you used to dream of when you were a child. For me this happened early in my child-hood. My parents were loving but after moving to a new country they truly struggled financially and I grew up understanding what "scarcity" meant.

My parents and older brothers all worked to help provide the basic needs for our family, being the youngest I was not expected to do this but was always left alone. My responsibilities were to keep the home tidy and I learned how to cook meals for our family. It was a time when families lost their homes, you never waisted food, you only used so many squares of toilet paper and you always turned off the lights when you left a room. One thing I do remember is feeling very lucky for is that every Sunday I got the first bath because I got to stay in a bit longer and the water was full of bubbles and clean!

I write this post on December 31 and it is the time when I begin setting intentions for the new year. I imagine the yoga gifts I want to offer, a vacation I want to plan, and setting up the heart space for that next few months. I prepare the next few weeks in the intention to follow my dreams and passion.

I have stopped saying resolution and decided " the statement of setting goals" do not relate to me as these words may to others. I have the intention to begin once again to explore what I am good at, explore my gift and lovingly engage to this from my heart.

" There is a difference between knowing what you are good at, and loving engaging in it from the heart. When you engage in what you love this way, the energy changes."

~ Jewel Veith ~

I wish you all a Happy New Years and extend this invitation to you too to join me to explore our dreams and gifts. A journey where yoga can lead us together to connect to what our heart whispers to us, a practice that I know with yoga we can trust. We can trust the seat in yoga, the wisdom of your hearts as the world moves on around us.

Listen to your heart's dear friends because our hearts know our truth and can bring us back to our true nature.

The Anchored Heart Series is a yoga series will start your new year with a journey into tending your gentle Heart. This is an online ten day yoga series from Monday to Friday starting on January 17 @ 5:45PM.

The focus is to explore yoga and healthy way to balance your chakra energy which is vital for our mental and physical well-being. Our heart center relies on an open anahata charka for free-flowing love, compassion, and empathy. When you feel stuck in these areas.

Throughout the ten day series you will begin to find simple tools to balance this energy center to open your heart to the love and beauty always surroundings.

The Anchored Heart Series over the ten days will include:

• Yoga; Gentle is the new advanced! Explore yoga everyday 45 minute practice to ground but also open the heart chakra. Recording of the class for future practices.

• Practice gratitude & heart connection: Keep a gratitude journal, writing down three things a day that you feel grateful for.

• Meditation: a loving kindness meditation, shake meditation and walking meditation.

• Heart Affirmations: Practice heart-opening affirmations.

• Connection: Connect with Georgina and other guest teachers. You will also create a community connections and "Like-minded" souls.

REGISTER HERE: https://www.georginakylloyoga.com/service-page/the-anchored-heart-10-day-series

Resources:

Yoga Journal:

www.https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/intro-heart-chakra-anahata?

Heart Yoga:

www.karunayoga.com

Jewel Veitch:

www.https://www.innercorecoach.com/

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