The first seven years of my love affair with Yoga was sporadic and recreational at best. It is in the past three years that I began really practicing it spiritually, and with more commitment.

I feel a deep love and connection to the philosophy and language of Yoga. I find a sort of reverence to the ancient Sanskrit words. It fosters a humbling quiet in my mind.

In Kundalini Yoga philosophy there is a belief that we have seven spiraling energy wheels within our body’s called chakras. In Sanskrit, the fourth chakra, considered the love centre, is called Anahata Chakra. The meaning behind the word is “unstuck” or “unhurt.”

In the book True Balance, other words listed as being connected to the heart chakra are: Empathy, generosity, compassion, forgiveness, nurturing, understanding, listening, acceptance, tolerance, affection, kindness, patience, and laughter.

Inspired by Jamie, I’m going to read the words and correspondingly write what freely comes to mind to their left.

Empathy: work
Generosity: sharing
Compassion: warm
Forgiveness: freedom
Nurturing: feeding
Understanding: pace
Listening: active
Acceptance: peace
Tolerance: conflict
Affection: snuggles
Kindness: tokens
Patience: slow
Laughter: joy

I like taking the time to sit with these words. Contemplating each word somehow brings me a little closer to having all that positivity within myself.