Heart Chakra Healing & Balancing Kundalini Yoga Set

Kundalini Yoga Kriya #4

Purpose of Heart Chakra Balancing Kundalini Yoga Kriya:

The following set of Kundalini Yoga exercises opens, clears and balances the Heart Chakra (energy vortex), which is the 4th Chakra, of the Tantra Kundalini 7 Chakra System.  This Chakra is called the Anahata Chakra, meaning “unstruck sound”.  It is located on the spinal cord directly in line with the center of the chest. The Heart Chakra governs the respiratory and circulatory organs and systems and is associated with the attributes of love, compassion and forgiveness. 

This kriya activates the Heart Chakra and overall is excellent for improving and strengthening the heart and lungs.  It promotes better circulation and helps detoxify the system.  It also helps soften one’s character and makes one more loving and kind.  Even though the yoga poses and exercises in this kriya are not complex, the set itself is not the easiest, so take more rest as required and Do Not Overdo it.

(From Free Yoga Videos, yoga video #4, Heart Chakra Balancing Yoga Video)

Description of Heart Chakra Balancing Kundalini Yoga Kriya:

1. Chest Fly Kundalini Yoga Exercise:

a. Guided Instructions for Chest Fly Kundalini Yoga Exercise:

• Sit up straight with your legs crossed (sukh asana).
• Bring your arms out to the side with the palms facing forward.  Arms are parallel to the ground.
• As you exhale rotate your arms forward, keeping them straight almost to the point where the palms meet (but don’t clap).  The pectoral chest muscles will contract.
• Now rotate your arms back as you inhale thus expanding and stretching your chest area.
  
• Start off slowly at first to stretch and warm up your shoulders, then find a good rhythm and continue at a comfortable pace.
  

b. Duration for Chest Fly Kundalini Yoga Exercise: 1-5 minutes.

c. Benefits of Chest Fly Kundalini Yoga Exercise:

• Works on your chest muscles, shoulders and upper back.
  
• Activates and balances the Heart Chakra.
• Improves lung capacity.
  

d. Practice Tips for Chest Fly Kundalini Yoga Exercise:  For all the Kundalini Yoga exercises in this kriya that require you to sit in sukh asana, you may want to keep a firm cushion or rolled up blanket under your buttocks so your hips are raised above your knees.  This will help take the pressure off you lower back, hips and knees.  Yes you will be sitting a lot :-).

2. Ringing Bell Kundalini Yoga Exercise: (Variation of Rajju Karshanasana)

Free Online Yoga Video of Breath of Fire

(Required for this exercise and other yoga poses below)

a. Guided Instructions for Ringing Bell Kundalini Yoga Exercise:

• Sit with your legs parallel and extended in front of you.
• Now lean back and look upwards.
• Begin the Breath of Fire Breathing Exercise.
• Now reach up and pull down with alternating hands each time pretending you are pulling a bell rope to make a bell ring.  As you reach up make a fist around the rope and pull down so your fist ends by your waist.  When you reach up straighten you arm.  Remember you are reaching up grasping pulling down with one hand, as that hand is coming down you should be reaching up with the other.
• You should go at a moderate to fast pace.
  

b. Duration for Ringing Bell Kundalini Yoga Exercise: 1-5 minutes

c. Benefits of Ringing Bell Kundalini Yoga Exercise:

• Works on your chest muscles, shoulders and upper back.
  
• Cleanses the Heart Chakra.
  
• Loosens the shoulder joints.
  

d. Practice Tips for Ringing Bell Kundalini Yoga Exercise:  Use the Breath of Fire Breathing Exercise to help get you through the early points of resistance.

3. Relax in Yoga Corpse Pose: (also called Shav Asana)

a. Guided Instruction for Yoga Corpse Pose:

• Lie on your back and have your arms out to your sides about six to twelve inches away from your body.
• Turn your palms slightly upward.
• Relax your body and breath.
  

b. Duration for Yoga Corpse Pose: 1-3 minutes.

c. Benefits of Yoga Corpse Pose:

• Allows the body to consolidate the gains from the previous exercises.
• Helps the body heal and rejuvenate itself.
• Promotes relaxation and peace.
  

d. Practice Tips for Yoga Corpse Pose: Try to consciously relax your entire body.  Release all your tensions and worries and stay in the present moment as best you can.  

4. Double Arm Rotations Kundalini Yoga Exercise: 

a. Guided Instructions for Double Arm Rotations Kundalini Yoga Exercise:

• Sit up straight in sukh asana.  Bring your chin back and in slightly like a soldier at attention, you should feel a slight tension in the back of your neck.
  
• Extend your arms out in front of you.
  
• Make a fist of both hands, with your thumbs inside your fist.
  
• Begin the Breath of Fire Breathing Exercise and keeping your elbows straight make big circles with your arms.  The circles should be big, but kept in front of you.  The right arm is moving clockwise, while the left arm is moving counter clockwise.  The arms should move at a moderate to fast pace.
  
• The arms should move in sync — outward together and inward together.
  

b. Duration for Double Arm Rotations Kundalini Yoga Exercise: 1-5 minutes.

c. Benefits of Double Arm Rotations Kundalini Yoga Exercise:

• Awakens and expands your Heart Chakra.
  
• Improves respiration and circulation.
  
• Oxygenates your blood and gets your energy going.
  
• Develops your shoulder and upper back muscles.
  

d. Practice Tips for Double Arm Rotations Kundalini Yoga Exercise:  Don’t give up at the first sign of discomfort.

5. Kundalini Yoga Camel Pose: (The following article has Illustrations of Kundalini Yoga Camel Pose).

Picture of Modified Kundalini Yoga Camel Pose

Picture of Kundalini Yoga Camel Pose

a. Step-by-Step Instructions for Kundalini Yoga Camel Pose:

• To start this yoga pose, come up onto your knees and have your feet hip distance apart, with toes extended.
  
• For modified Camel pose have your hands, fingers pointing downward supporting your lower back and arch back as far as comfortable.
  
• Now tilt your head back and such that you are facing the ceiling.
• You should be pressing forward with your hips and also expanding your chest region, by pressing your elbows back.
  
• In the full version of Camel Pose, drop your hands back and hold on to your heels.  Again you should arch your back, press your hips out and expand your chest.
  
• Begin Breath of Fire Yoga Pranayama, in either pose.
  

b. Duration for Kundalini Yoga Camel Pose:

• 30 seconds – 7 minutes
  

c. Benefits of Kundalini Yoga Camel Pose:

• Excellent yoga posture for overall health and wellbeing.
• The pose expands the abdominal region, helping digestion and elimination.  It helps to heal and balances the Navel Chakra.
  
• Opens and heals the Heart Chakra by expanding and stretching the chest region.  Excellent for the respiratory and circulatory systems.  Bestows softness of character.
  
• Releases tension in the ovaries and helps the immune system by working on the lymphatic system.
  
• The posture, activates and balances the Throat Chakra, and works to heal and rejuvenate the thyroid and parathyroid glands.
  
• The exercise opens up the hips and builds strength in the thighs and arms.
  
• Stretches and strengthens the shoulders.

d. Practice Tips for Kundalini Yoga Camel Pose:

• Start with the modified version of Camel Pose and work your way to doing the full version over time.
• If the Breath of Fire makes you dizzy or uncomfortable, just switch to normal breathing instead. 

6. Shoulder Fly Kundalini Yoga Exercise:

a. Guided Instructions for Shoulder Fly Kundalini Yoga Exercise:

• Sit up straight with your legs crossed (sukh asana).
• Bring your arms out to the side with the palms facing up.  Arms are parallel to the ground.
  
• As you exhale rotate your arms up, keeping them straight almost to the point where the palms meet (but don’t clap). 
• Now rotate your arms back down to the starting position (out to the side and parallel to the ground)  as you inhale.
  
• Find a good rhythm and continue at a comfortable pace.
  

b. Duration for Shoulder Fly KundaliniYoga Exercise: 1-5 minutes

c. Benefits of Shoulder Fly Kundalini Yoga Exercise:

• Works on your shoulder muscles and upper back.
• Balances the Heart Chakra.
  
• Improves the functioning of the lymph nodes and strengthens the immune system.  Good anti breast cancer exercise.
  
• Draws the energy upwards to the higher centers.
  
• Improves lung capacity.
  

d. Practice Tips for Shoulder Fly Kundalini Yoga Exercise:  This is the last tough exercise in this kriya and since you have come this far, why not finish well.

7. Relax in Yoga Corpse Pose (#3 above) for 2-5 minutes:  While in Shav Asana, try this simple Heart Chakra Meditation.  With every inhalation feel more and more love radiating from your heart center and flowing through your system.

This concludes the Heart Chakra Balancing Kundalini Yoga Kriya.