Musings

Reflections on life lived by a coast

  • Home
  • Travel
  • Yoga
You are here: Home / Yoga / Opening Our Hearts for the Holidays

Opening Our Hearts for the Holidays

November 12, 2012 •

Warrior-1I some­times won­der if yoga teach­ers work from the same play­book when decid­ing which themes or asanas to focus on in their classes. Over the past week or two I’ve prac­ticed with sev­eral teach­ers. Curi­ously, each teacher has cho­sen back­bends as her “theme pose” for the day, with the class inten­tion of “open­ing the heart.”

Why is that? Is there some kind of syn­chronic­ity that per­me­ates the yoga com­mu­nity? Do teach­ers’ hearts all beat to the same yogic cadence? Do they respond sim­i­larly to a com­mon source of inspi­ra­tion?

Using Yoga to Prepare for Thanksgiving

Today’s teacher talked about the many joys, but also the stresses asso­ci­ated with the major hol­i­days we’ll cel­e­brate over the next month or so. She talked about the need to open our hearts, pre­pare to bear more weight on our shoul­ders, carry more of a lov­ing bur­den over the next few weeks. (Back­bends are a way to build up our strength and flex­i­bil­ity while putting those ideas into prac­tice, it seems…)

It’s an inter­est­ing per­spec­tive to have about Thanks­giv­ing — and yet, there’s no doubt hol­i­day feasts entail a lot of prepa­ra­tion and work for both hosts and guests.

Not to men­tion the rela­tion­ship strains that can emerge when peo­ple who haven’t seen each other for months, or maybe even years, come together to feast at a time of height­ened expec­ta­tions. These issues can be aggra­vated when the host fam­ily has self-esteem issues over their cook­ing skills, menu plan­ning or tim­ing — lots of things can go awry when you’re not prac­ticed at putting on com­plex meals.

I remem­ber Thanks­giv­ing meals that faced unex­pected chal­lenges due to snow­storms, peo­ple get­ting lost en route, delayed flights, and so on… It’s com­pli­cated.

My hus­band and I are blessed to come from fam­i­lies that don’t erupt into fights or reignite long-sim­mer­ing hos­til­i­ties over the hol­i­days. We look for­ward to hol­i­day meals, whether they are shared with friends and/or fam­ily.

What­ever the rea­son that inspires these Seat­tle area yoga teach­ers, I’m grate­ful to their coach­ing on back­bends, as these poses are never easy.

Every­one can use encour­age­ment and help­ful guid­ance when it comes to open­ing the heart. What­ever the sea­son.

About This Blog

Reflec­tions on life, travel, books, and yoga. Think­ing out loud about the pur­suit of mind­ful­ness and well-being.

Learn­ing how to recover from the loss of a beloved spouse, and then to find a trans­for­ma­tive path for­ward.

About Me

Semi-retired marketing exec, transitioning from a career in high tech. Now "managed" by two Tonkinese cats. Missing travel and friends on the West Coast. Avid reader and foodie. Staying active with long walks, biking, kayaking and yoga.

Recent Posts

  • Wet Sand, Wet Boots, Birds
  • Living with Vintage Items
  • Slowing Down
  • Reflections on My Camino
  • Going Off the Beaten Track in France

© 2020 by Christine Thompson. All rights reserved. • Log in