Yoga Matters: The Light of the Heart
By Karen Allgire, MFA, RYT

Another translation comes from Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood in the book How to Know God, “Concentration may also be attained by fixing the mind upon the Inner Light, which is beyond sorrow.” Their commentary quotes the Kaivalya Upanishad, saying “The supreme heaven shines in the lotus of the heart.” The heart center is said to be the abode of the soul, or atman. Focusing on the heart center helps us to cultivate a state of mind that is free from desire and grief. It then becomes possible to recognize our true nature, which is blissful and pure, luminous and clear like the sky. It is as if the heart is a silent shrine within the noisy city of the body. The mind becomes calm, like a vast ocean without any waves.

You can work with this sutra in a formal way and also in a spontaneous way in everyday life. In formal practice, you can sit quietly and place your attention in the center of your chest. This is a quieting and joyful practice. You can attempt to keep the mind silent, or you may recite the sutra silently or aloud. Another approach is to consciously cultivate a positive inner state. Try recalling a deeply relaxing or joyous moment or a feeling of gratitude for the blessings in your life. With this joyful feeling within, return to silence. This type of practice pays off in everyday life in what could be called informal practice. In a tough moment, place your hand on your heart to bring your awareness to that area. This is immediately calming and supports dealing more patiently and lovingly with the situation at hand. The ability to use this method in the moment is based on the practice time that it has been given on the mat. Another lovely time to put this sutra into practice is during your last conscious moments in bed at night. Putting attention on the heart helps to quiet thoughts about the day and creates a calm state that brings deep, refreshing sleep.

The effects of various yogic techniques, such as focusing on the heart, are being scientifically confirmed through current research on meditation and the body-mind connection. One research and educational organization that has focused on the brain-heart relationship is the HeartMath Institute (www.heartmath.org). In the introduction on its website, it explains its mission: “At the Institute of HeartMath (IHM) Research Center, we are exploring the physiological mechanisms by which the heart communicates with the brain, thereby influencing information processing, perceptions, emotions and health.” Through scientifically rigorous research, the HeartMath Institute has found that positive emotions create increased harmony and coherence in heart rhythms and improve balance in the nervous system. They have learned that when attention is brought to the heart, people experience shifts in perception and improved ability to deal with stress. They believe that the heart has a profound influence on how we perceive and respond to the world. “The heart is, in fact, a highly complex, self-organized information processing center with its own functional "brain" that communicates with and influences the cranial brain via the nervous system, hormonal system and other pathways. These influences profoundly affect brain function and most of the body's major organs, and ultimately determine the quality of life.

The HeartMath Institute has developed a number of techniques that help people to bring the heart and brain into a synchronized rhythm that they call coherence. The first of these, which they call Freeze-Frame, is remarkably similar to Patanjali's teaching in Sutra I:36. “Freeze-Frame, the most basic of the HeartMath echniques, in essence allows people to disengage from draining mental and emotional reactions in the moment by shifting their attention from the mind to the area around the heart and self-generating a sincere positive feeling state such as appreciation, love or care. This process prevents or reverses the body's normal destructive stress response, and changes the bodily feedback sent to the brain, thus arresting physiological and psychological wear and tear.” The HeartMath Institute uses this technique to teach people to change their perceptions and reactions through conscious placement of awareness in the heart and by cultivating positive emotional states. It is encouraging to learn that ancient teachings and modern science agree.

Most of us who are committed to yoga do not especially need scientific validation of the effectiveness of its practice. Our experiences speak for themselves. Yet it is fascinating and deeply confirming to learn that science is acknowledging the power of consciousness, the brain-heart relationship and the profound shift that occurs in consciousness and experience when we focus on the heart.

Karen Allgire, MFA, RYT, is a Certified Iyengar Yoga Instructor. She has been teaching dance and movement since 1983 and yoga since 1998. Karen is co-director of Green Tara Yoga & Healing Arts in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. You can reach her at info@greentarayoga.com or (216) 382-0592.