Darling Valentines,
In Lady Yoga fashion, it is my goal to look back in history to see where we have come from, find the yoga in the moments past to keep us rooted in the present and passionate about where we are going in the future.
On that note...
The history of Valentine's Day — and its patron saint — is shrouded in mystery. It's surrounded by romance and contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition.
Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the middle ages, and the oldest known Valentine card is on display at the British Museum. The first commercial Valentine's Day greeting card produced in the US were created in the 1840's by Esther A. Howland. Howland, known as the Mother of Valentine, made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as 'scrap.' And the rest, is Hallmark history.
Today, as we are practicing yoga, I'd like to celebrate the heart within, not the romance outside of it.
And, being that it's Grammy weekend and Lady Yoga is attending the Grammy's, I'd like to add some delicious quotes from my favorite musicians as we travel through practice.
The heart chakra is called the Anahata. It's the fourth Chakra up from the root. It's seed or root sound is Yam like Yum. It means, unstruck.
A balanced heart chakra is in acceptance of the self and others, their and thine own personal values and ethics. Balance propels us toward our unique direction in life and so it is in accordance that we 'strike's such a balance in breathing, stretching and sounding out our bliss.
It's expansion provides freedom and growth.
The color it represents is green. It symbolizes harmony, creativity, health, abundance and nature, combining yellow for the soul and blue for the spirit. Kind of like a zip lock back of love to share with others.
A strong and open heart chakra offers new energy and revitalizes tired nerves. It extends the lungs, arms and upper back, so it is not uncommon to celebrate in practice with a myriad of backbends aka heart openers.
Whether you are reading this blog, taking my Hot class in the style of Bikram or my level one class at Liberation, everyone can feel a lil' somethin' somethin' so enjoy....
It's a think line between love and hate - The Pretenders
The hardest part of ending is starting again. - Linkin Park
Love is designed to build and destroy, then rebuild again.
Love is a ride from passion to hurt then back again. Where can I buy a ticket?
Where there is great love, there are always wishes. - Willa Cather
To love abundantly is to live abundantly, and to love forever is to live forever. - Henry Drummond
Love is the flower you've got to let grow. John Lennon
Come live in my heart, and pay no rent. Samuel Lover
If you have only one smile in you give it to the people you love. Maya Angelou
Where there is love there is life. Mohandas Gandhi
Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold. Zelda Fitzgerald
Love is when you meet someone who tells you something new about yourself. Andre Breton
All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt. Charles M. Schulz
If love is the answer, could you please rephrase the question? Lily Tomlin
We don't believe in rheumatism and true love until after the first attack.
What the world really needs is more love and less paper work.Pearl Bailey
The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing. Blaise Pascal
At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet. Plato
very being and extends slowly to embrace all that shall be.
Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired. Robert Frost
Love conquers all. Virgil
Kisses are a better fate than wisdom. e. e. cummings
Love and desire are the spirit's wings to great deeds. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Love will find a way through paths where wolves fear to prey. Lord Byron
Loving is not just looking at each other, it's looking in the same direction.
Who, being loved, is poor? Oscar Wilde
Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs. William Shakespeare
It is better to have loved and lost than never to have lost at all. Samuel Butler
Don't hide yourself in regret, Just love yourself and you're set - Lady Gaga
We're all just walking each other home. - Ram Das
Love rests on no foundation. Is is an endless ocean, with no beginning or end. - Rumi
Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air. I know I can count on you. Sometimes I feel like saying, Lord, I just don't care. But you've got the love I need to seem me through.
You've got the love
Got the love
Got the love
You've got the love, got the love,
to see me through (Candi Stanton/Florence and The Machine)...
So, thanks and...right back atcha!
Lady