Ten Minutes of Pure Heart

So, last night was going to be the largest yoga class ever. Yoga On the Great Lawn was an amazing gathering of people- 10,000 of them- in Central Park all there to share a yoga practice as a community on the Summer Solstice.. Here is are a few links about it, just to give you the scope of the event.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/23/yoga-world-record-set-in_n_622891.html

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-463846

Anyway, my friend and Certified Ansuara yoga teacher Elena Brower was the main teacher for the event and so I have been following the event's progress with a fair amount of interest ever since she told me about it at the Teacher's Gathering this year. Yesterday morning I texted her to let her know I would be thinking of her. As the hour approached, Twitter was full of excitement and so forth and about 10 minutes into class some tweet came through that the class had been cancelled due to rain. Legally, they were not allowed to be out there in the rain and so 10 minutes into class, the class ended.

An hour or so after that I texted Elena and said, "Are you okay?"

She wrote back, "AMAZING!"

I told her I heard the class was cancelled and was worried about her.

She said, "It was great. I gave them 10 minutes of Pure Heart."

I responded, "That's all we need anyway. 10 minutes of Pure Heart can change your life."

So I have been spending a little time tonight catching a bit of the footage and seeing my friend in action, and that has been awesome. Really, that's the thing with her- she probably has one of the Purest Hearts of anyone I know. She is a great mom, an awesome friend and dedicated practitioner and teacher and most of all, the thing with Elena is, she is always examining herself. She is always looking for a doorway in. In--to her heart, in--to a deeper connection, in--to some corner of herself she has avoided seeing and needs tending to and in that watching, in that self-examination she continually touches a very holy place. She not only invites others to do the same for themselves, but she makes it safe for them to do the sometimes frightening work of Looking Inward. Really, she is a great person.

So watching her connect 10, 000 people in Central Park to the essence of the practice in a rainstorm is pretty freaking cool. There's a lot of shakti in those video clips. A lot. She rocked it. She really did.

But also, I am really taking a great lesson away from her response. "AMAZING...I gave them 10 minutes of Pure Heart." Think about it. What if for 10 minutes of everyday we did just that? What if for 10 minutes we didn't blame our past or present circumstances for the ways we hold back our Love? What if for 10 minutes we gave from the Purity of our Heart without fear of being hurt or rejected? What if for 10 minutes we took a stand for the Light that is at the very essence of who we are and what if for 10 minutes we did nothing but reflected that Light back to those around us and took a stand for theirs? What if for 10 minutes a day we gave ourselves whole-heartedly, with no apology and with utter abandon? What if for 10 minutes we just went for it?

So, anyway- 10 minutes of Pure Heart can change your life. Think about it.