One of my routines that I missed while we were on the 2 Grandsons in 2 Weeks Tour was going to yoga. It's a practice that helps with balance, flexibility, strength, and keeping me grounded. I took my mat with me with the intention of signing in to the livestream classes but there's that quote, "The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry."
In yoga, there are seven chakras or centers of energy in the body, one of them being the heart. The heart serves as our center of love for oneself and others, compassion, empathy and forgiveness, compassion, and joy. An open heart chakra allows us to see all of the beauty and love around us, and truly connect to ourselves, our loved ones, and the natural world.
There are yoga poses that are called heart openers and usually involve different kinds of back bends or poses that pull your shoulders back. There are simple and subtle backbends that are just as effective as the more intense poses. As we age, our shoulders tend curve forward, we have tightness in the back and neck, and exercises specific to this area strengthen those muscles, may alleviate the pain that comes from bad posture, and help maintain that balance-a-book-on-your-head posture. The goal is to keep your shoulders from slouching and to let your heart shine.
My grandma was a tall, slender woman who carried herself with grace and was a big believer in good posture. She was always fussing at my grandpa, "Willard, straighten up. You're crunching your heart." That Illinois country girl knew nothing about yoga but she had an idea that keeping your heart open instead of crunched was good for one's heart and appearance.
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