Emotional and subtle heart

Studying an anatomical system bridges me to it somatically, felt in the subtle body. Bridging from the Digestive System to the Cardiovascular System has been complex for me on many levels. The pull of my life force, my heart and who I truly want to be in the world was not able to move forward until I came to terms with traumas inside me.

Subtle body holds unresolved traumas

Scary breathing issues that highlight involuntary muscles alerted me to the power of the body, and how it's subtly in charge, more than the mind or herbal remedies and lifestyle. While studying, I asked my yoga practice to guide me, to lead me out.

The cardiovascular heart and blood moving through me are involuntary too. It's what I feel most activated with my Ashtanga yoga practice, bridging each breath to my emotional heart but subtle and physical blood system too.

My yoga practice handed me my next physical ailment to somatically get the most out of my studies: a muscle pull in my pectoralis minor or rib attachment right atop my heart. The muscle strain was off to the right a bit, while the heart is off to the left so I had a subtle vantage point from which to see and feel it (for, metaphorically, sometimes it's easier to see something from a distance, not smothering it up too close).

This minor muscle pain affected me in most of my yoga practice, forcing me to adjust the sensitive alignment of muscles so that I could protect the muscle, and heal it properly by keeping it warm, stretched, contracted and relaxed. This is an integral part of my daily Ashtanga Second Series in its entirety, modified by me in small ways. Most importantly, to protect myself, I went slower, deeper and as a result am more internal psychologically and spiritually.

The most valuable intention is a more focused, long inhale and exhale breathing up into my rib cage. To heal in yoga, we give the area more breath. I do this intuitively as it also physiologically soothes the discomfort. And so, it also opens my emotional heart, and my involuntary physical heart beats on circulating my blood.

The answer is to relax my heart on all levels.