Happy Valenhalves Day!

What if for Valentine’s Day there were cracked, broken hearts everywhere? No, wait, stay with me here! They could still have sparkles and ribbons. But here is the kind of cracked heart I propose, and the sentiment that would be stirred within us when we saw one, no matter our relationship status. My friend Geffen sent the following to me years ago when I hadn’t been able to sit down for a year and must have been acting particularly pissy.

“I tell you this

to break your heart,

by which I mean only

that it break open and never close again

to the rest of the world.”

This quote is from Mary Oliver, the newly gone from the world beloved Poet/Guru. Oh, and this one:

“You have to keep breaking your heart until it opens.”

That one is from long gone from the world Rumi, no less a Poet/Guru.

Pain, sorrow, suffering of any kind, tends to close us up. Don’t I know it! We get somehow smaller and forget to celebrate ourselves and those who love or have loved or will love us. Whether we suffer wounds to our body or our self worth and confidence, the best medicine is to not shut down, but to open up.

I have been exploring this idea again, as I recognize more and more that the body and the mind and the breath and the personality and the emotions are very intrinsically connected. The more I crack myself open and allow my whole self to soften, letting the seams around my seals go a bit, letting the love and care of others seep in, the better I feel. And since the goal of yoga is to feel better, I will keep practicing this technique.

Okay, now, how about this? For Valentine’s Day, you could buy a gigantic heart shaped box of chocolates and cut that fucker in half and give one half to someone you love and KEEP THE OTHER HALF FOR YOURSELF!

Xxo