Heart Yoga

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Some of my yoga friends have been hearing about Tibetan Heart Yoga and having experienced a bit of it at Diamond Mountain recently, I decided to come to New York for some teacher training. Besides, with no job, what better way to use my time? Here’s what I’ve learned so far, but please forgive the unrefined and technical nature of this explanation.

This yoga style was created by Geshe Michael Roach and Christie McNally, relying on ancient Tibetan Buddhist texts for sequencing suggestions as well as inner work.

And it’s this inner work that really sets THY apart from the other yoga practices I’ve experienced. Not that the other forms don’t have it, but Heart Yoga really emphasizes it. And it blends it with Buddhism which shares roots with yoga.

Let me explain, with a little history, as told by the two teachers. Back in the day, say, about 1500 years ago, the yogis in India used Hatha (forceful) yoga to bring themselves toward enlightenment. They did postures and cleansings and other external, physical practices and as they advanced, they worked toward more subtle practices as outlined by Master Patanjali in his famous Yoga Sutra. Yoga started with observation of the Yamas and Niyamas, the ethical basis of living peacefully. Then around 800 AD, the Mohguls, an Islamic-based faith, invaded India and all the yogis went underground. Some of the practices migrated to Tibet and were preserved by the ancient cave-dwelling yogis who passed the practices to one student at a time. But once in Tibet, many of the body-based practices of Asana and pranayama were de-emphasized and the focus turned more toward meditation, though the first two limbs of yama and niyama remained.

So yoga essentially split. The Tibetan Buddhists worked from the inside out as the Yogis worked from the outside in. Both followed Patanjali’s 8 limbs, they just approached the order differently.

Heart Yoga works to reunite the two, understanding that by working from both directions, we can travel the path more quickly. What that means for more modern yoga practitioners is active meditations, numerous visualizations and incorporating more of the mind practices into the body. Not that these elements haven’t always been part of the program, they’re just more emphasized now.

Here’s the philosophy behind that: It comes from the subtle body anatomy of yoga science and focuses on the ‘inner winds’ also called vayus.

These winds are energetic forces that move in the body. The thoughts of the mind piggyback on the winds, like a rider on a horse. So as the winds go, so go the thoughts. Wild winds create wild thoughts. And vice versa. (Anyone who has been angry knows the feeling that comes in the body) But the breath is also tied to the winds. So calming the breath calms the winds. And not incidentally, living life by paying close attention to the yamas and niyamas also helps calm the mind.

The winds themselves move through the body, but primarily through the two side channels, known in Sanskrit as ida and pingala, translated as moon and sun. The moon channel is feminine and thoughts of ignorant desire (raga) course here. The sun channel, the male side, contains thoughts of ignorant aversion, devesha. Each channel holds half the duality, but with practice, they can be diminished, and the thoughts directed at the central channel, sushumna.

Heart Yogis pay a lot of attention to ethics. Many of the students here pause six times a day to ‘do a book’. This is a tantric practice in which practitioners stop what they are doing through the day to reflect upon one of the vows they’ve taken. At a minimum, there are ten vows similar to the ten yamas and niyamas and throughout the day, people ‘check in’ with their morality. I’ve been keeping a book since I began studying at Diamond Mountain and I can tell you it’s a very practical way to notice what I am doing.

Another element of the practice is giving. This is the “Karma and Emptiness” element that is fundamental to all of the teachings of the lamas, as Geshe Michael and Christie are called. The quick and dirty idea relies on emptiness, that is, every action we perform has no ‘good or bad’ quality from its own side. Getting a speeding ticket may seem like a bad thing, but if it stops us from hitting another driver, then it’s a good thing. Thus, it is empty of quality. Its quality comes from the view we impose on it. With that in mind, practitioners spend significant effort thinking of others, giving in small ways and working to keep in mind that every action can be holy of the intention behind it is imbued with good wishes. So when performing asana, a student turns the mind toward giving away the benefit of any action to someone else. In this case, the good feeling that comes after a steady practice is dedicated to someone or something else.

Additionally, my understanding of the law of karma is that ‘whatever we want for ourselves, we must first give to others.’ So for each of us seeking joy, love and compassion, we have to create that for someone else. This is the same principle explored in the recent movies “The Secret” and by What the Bleep. But it differs in one significant way. While those films emphasize turning our thoughts to what we want to create, they leave out the factor of first giving it to others. They’re talking about emptiness, but without exploring karma. I think the Heart Yogis night characterize this like a bird, it flies better with both wings.

In the last week, I took Heart Yoga Series Three. If you are familiar with Ashtanga, you know all about the Primary Series and how you don’t get to the following sequences without a strong foundation in the first. Heart yoga has five, but one can dive in anywhere. The asana is different, but not progressive. The series themselves differ by mental focus. Series Three works the Four Infinites. Based on Sutra I.33, it suggests we deliver Love, Compassion, Joy and Equanimity to all beings. (Maitri, Karuna, Mudita, Upeksha). One of the lamas’ strengths is in their interpretation of the sutras. Both Michael and Christie have studied Sanskrit extensively and Michael is fluent in Tibetan. They’ve drawn on ancient texts in both languages and have translated not just the sutras but also books like the Hatha Yoga Pradipika (I’m currently taking evening classes with them, exploring Book 2 of the Pradipika). Having read a few translations of the sutras, I’ve found them to be quite literal. The Lamas have gone further, I think, to offer not just a literal translation, but a deeper and more meaningful explanation which is probably not without some criticism from other scholars. (You can find the sutra book at Amazon, etc.)

Series Four promises to explore the five vayus, the winds that I referred to above. And that comes this week. I’ll let you know how it goes. Meanwhile, please remember that any mistakes in the above work are mine, based on my limited understanding. I’m still learning!

Till then, may you enjoy love, compassion, joy and equanimity.

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