The heart is the engine of our body, the rhythmic beat of our life, the centre of our being. There are many ways of understanding the word: heart. It is an organ, as much as a symbol of love. Let us start by understanding the importance of cardiovascular health, the health of the organ called: heart.

“The heart is a muscular organ found in all vertebrates that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions. The term cardiac (as in cardiology) means “related to the heart” and comes from the Greek καρδιά, kardia, for “heart.”” Encyclopedia-

The heart as an organ, being a type of muscle basically is trainable, adjustable, and improvable, just like your biceps or hamstrings. Many of the yoga poses are directed to stretch the muscles of the heart. Including Balancing Stick (Tuladandasana) and Half tortoise pose ( Ardha-Kurmasana) in Bikram’s series of the 26 hatha yoga postures.

It is incredible how one big step forward; rotating on your hip, stretching forward and kicking your leg back can actually raise your heartbeat and provide a perfect cardiovascular exercise. Practising “balancing stick” pose raises your heartbeat as much as running does.

The heart is also a symbol, and if we look at it as the symbol of emotions, its health deserves even more attention.

“All practises of yoga, including meditation, breathing techniques, ethics, postures, and devotional practices bring the practitioner into contact with the core of the heart. Along this path of the heart one is sure to find obstacles. One cannot work with the body without also working with the mind, because when we work with the symptoms of discontent, we begin to see that physiology and psychology are inseparable. “

Namaste.