Yoga for the heart chakra in Varkala
Open your heart to yourself and others.
Heart classes center on Anahata, the fourth chakra, placed in this framework in the middle of the chest and traditionally linked to the air element. They usually mean chest openers, gentle backbends and a softer, kinder tone.
No classes scheduled in the next two weeks.
What Heart does for you
You open across the chest and shoulders, exactly the places that fold in after hours at a laptop. Backbends and arm stretches leave the front of your body feeling broad and easy to breathe into. Many classes add a short loving-kindness meditation, and people often say they leave feeling warmer toward themselves and others. It tends to be the most tender class in a chakra series.
It suits you if
- your shoulders round forward from desk work
- you want backbends with plenty of preparation
- you are going through a loss or a big change and want a gentle space
- you like classes with a meditation built in
Read the full guide to HeartWhat a class is like, your first time, history and the words you will hear
What a class is like
Classes run 60 to 90 minutes at a moderate pace. Expect a warm-up for the upper back and shoulders, then cobra, sphinx, bridge, camel and sometimes wheel, balanced by forward folds and twists. Many facilitators include a guided meditation with hands at the heart, or a short partner exercise. Green imagery and the seed syllable 'yam' are common, music is usually soft, and the final rest often runs longer than usual.
Your first time
- Wear a top that stays put when you lift your chest and arms.
- Use a block and a strap if the studio has them, as they make backbends far more comfortable.
- Arrive a few minutes early to tell the facilitator about neck, shoulder or back issues.
Good to know
- Backbends can feel intense in the lower back and neck, so take the smaller version and tell the facilitator about any spine or shoulder injuries.
- Some classes include partner work or eye contact; you can always ask to work on your own.
- Opening the chest brings up emotion for some people, which is common and fine.
Where it comes from
Anahata means 'unstruck'. The name points to the unstruck sound (anahata nada) that yogis describe hearing in deep meditation, a sound not made by two things striking each other. In the Sat-Cakra-Nirupana, the tantric text Purnananda wrote in 1577, it is a twelve-petaled lotus in the heart region holding a six-pointed star of two interlaced triangles, the sign of air, with the seed syllable 'yam' and a black antelope as its animal. In that text its petals are a deep red; the green most studios use is a modern addition.
As with the other chakras, the older texts do not agree on one system, and they describe the lotuses as images for meditation rather than anatomy. English readers met this one through Arthur Avalon's The Serpent Power (1919), the work of the British judge Sir John Woodroffe, and then through Theosophy, notably Charles Leadbeater's The Chakras (1927).
The green color and the themes of love, compassion, grief and connection come from the Western system that formed over the 20th century, drawing on color therapy, Carl Jung's 1932 seminar on kundalini yoga, the human potential movement and the New Age movement. Some writers also tie it to the thymus gland, a modern correspondence. Anodea Judith's Wheels of Life (1987) presents the heart as the balance point between the three lower and three upper centers, a framing many facilitators use.
Many heart classes also borrow metta, the loving-kindness meditation of the Buddhist tradition, which comes from a separate lineage. In Berlin the theme shows up in chakra series, heart-opening workshops, partner and community classes, and gentle evening practices.
Words you will hear
- Anahata
- Sanskrit for 'unstruck', the name of the fourth chakra in the center of the chest.
- Yam
- The seed syllable (bija) traditionally chanted for the heart chakra.
- Ustrasana
- Camel pose: kneeling and arching back, often with hands on the heels or lower back.
- Bhujangasana
- Cobra pose: lying on your belly and lifting your chest with the support of your hands.
- Anjali mudra
- Palms pressed together in front of the chest.
- Metta
- A Pali word for loving-kindness, and a meditation of silently wishing yourself and others well.