"David Cameron needs a change of heart - and some fire in his belly" I saw this headline the other day on the English newspaper, The Telegraph! Wow! I don't know if the author of the article, Allister Heath, is a yogi or not, but apparently he speaks Prana Flow.
At the end of Savasana, corpse pose, Shiva Rea asks us to place one hand on the heart and one heart on the belly, connecting with the two main fires in the body--the fire in the belly and the fire in the heart.
We even have entire practices that are designed to stoke the fires in the heart and in the belly.
Why? What's the big deal about the heart and the belly? These two fires are not only super important in an asana (yoga poses) practice, but also for LIFE off your mat.
I'll tell you why: Your BELLY FIRE is in charge of your...
*self-confidence *courage *action *ability to reach goals *your ability to realize your dreams The person with a healthy flame in the belly carries him or herself through life in a very different way than a person whose flame is nearly extinguished.
This person has a healthy sense of self-confidence, takes action, reaches goals, and realizes his or her dream.
Nice, right? The person who doesn't maintain a healthy flame...
well, you can guess.
Of course, on could have an uncontrollable forest fire going in the belly, which has certain effects on the person, but we'll save that discussion for another time.
And THE HEART FIRE? It's pretty clear that the heart is the center of-- *love *passion *connection What's a person like who has a lovely warm fire in the heart? Yes, we all know this person--full of love for everyone, living out his or her passions, feels connected with other people and with life in general.
Mmmmm...
we want a hug from this person.
Makes me think of the hugging saint, Amma.
The person with a cold heart? We all know this person as well-fairy tales are full of these characters.
THE BELLY AND THE HEART ARE CONNECTED They bring out the best in each other.
The heart needs the belly: Imagine that I'm passionate about something--that's the heart fire.
But, if I want to live out this passion, if I want to see my passion in action in my life, I'll need some fire in my belly in order to take action and do something concretely, something real out there in the world.
That's what we all want, right? To live out our passions, not to keep them locked up inside! Without action the heart can not express itself.
When the heart doesn't express itself...
it's a major catastrophe--think heart disease, for one.
The belly needs the heart: If I have a strong fire going on in the belly, but a cold heart, I'll take action, probably a lot of it, but for what purpose? To take it to an extreme, think about the infamous dictators in human history.
They had/They have plenty of fire in the belly, they take plenty of action, but it's pretty clear what's going on in their hearts.
HOW TO STOKE THE FIRE? Simple! For the belly: Core Cultivation-ie ab work For the heart: Backbends and Pushups Really.
It's that simple.
Do you feel a little bit (or a lot) of resistance to push ups and abs? I invite you to do a little introspection to see what that's all about, now that you have knowledge of the heart and belly fires...
Imagine your life with a change of heart and a fire in the belly! Imagine the possibilities! As for David Cameron, I'll write him an ab, pushups, and backbends prescription.