Transform Your Yoga: Connecting with the heart space
What changes when heart opening begins with support rather than effort?
Heart opening begins long before we move into a backbend. It begins by meeting the body where it is and becoming aware of the relationship between the pelvis, spine, rib cage, shoulders and breath. When the body is appropriately supported, space can begin to emerge without lifting, pushing or holding the chest in a particular shape.
In this practical workshop, we’ll explore how the Buttafly can support a range of gentle and more active practices around the heart space. Through thoughtful positioning and guided awareness, you’ll be invited to notice how the support beneath one part of the body influences the response elsewhere — how the ribs move with the breath, how the shoulders relate to the upper spine and how the pelvis provides a foundation for movement.
Rather than asking the body to reproduce an external idea of a heart-opening pose, we’ll explore how comfort, breath and appropriate support can create the conditions for expansion to emerge from within.
Suitable for all levels of yoga practitioners, from beginners to experienced teachers.
Join live or watch the recording
The workshop will be held live online via Zoom, giving you the opportunity to learn, ask questions and explore the practice together.
If you can’t make it live, or would simply like to revisit what you’ve learned, everyone who books will receive access to the workshop recording for 7 days.
There will be opportunities to ask questions during the live workshop. If you’d like personalised guidance specific to your own body or practice, one-to-one consultations are also available.
This workshop forms part of Transform Your Yoga, a series exploring the relationship between the spine and the rest of the body — and how support, awareness and curiosity can change the way we experience yoga. Each session brings together accessible anatomy, imagery, movement and guided awareness, inviting you to notice your own patterns and understand your body more deeply through your own experience. Each workshop can be enjoyed on its own or as part of the complete series.
About Loulou James MCSP
Loulou is a Spine Health Specialist, retired physiotherapist, yoga teacher, educator and founder of the Buttafly. Drawing on more than 40 years’ experience, her work explores how the body’s innate intelligence expresses itself through the spine, and how the right conditions can support greater ease, adaptability and balance.
Don’t have a Buttafly yet? You’re still very welcome to join. You’ll gain a deeper understanding of how thoughtful prop use can support your practice and help you decide whether the Buttafly is right for you.