In the work of yoga, and the relaxation that accompanies it, the mind empties. Cares fall away. And sometimes, even more remarkable things occur; as on this occasion.


It was the 4th morning of Hart Lazer's first week of master classes (6-9 AM) (see the yogamontreal events page for the schedule for this year).

I was feeling good about being there at that unfamiliar time. But I also had a growing anxiety: I had taken an echocardiogram test that week, and while the results were still not in, I was beginning to focus on the possibility that something was wrong.

I had a name for the condition: aortic stenosis. Internet research helped me understand the condition in general, but left a very wide range of possibilities. It could be a mild problem: occasional shortness of breath, and no more. Or it could be so severe that I was in danger of keeling over dead at any moment. In the absence of definitive information, the mind is free to manufacture its own, and mine was working overtime.

But in the work of yoga, and the relaxation that accompanies it, the mind empties. Cares fall away. And sometimes, even more remarkable things occur; as on this occasion.

Hart Lazer led the group through visualizations; work to improve the body-mind connection, and induce a sense of well-being. To my surprise, Hart's visualizations focused on the heart, and specifically the aorta. He described the aortal valve becoming wider, blood moving more freely out of the heart, and a cleaning of the surfaces in this area. Somehow my private anxiety, which I had not shared with anyone, was being addressed directly. I was deeply touched, felt a sense of ease in the heart region, and felt I could stop worrying for awhile.

Two weeks later, with the test results in hand, my doctor explained a situation that was neither negligible nor immediately alarming. While there was no present danger, a congenital deformity in the aortal valve was reducing the efficiency of blood flow out of the heart, and growing calcification will make the symptoms more severe in time. I remembered the visualization, which had described this situation even better than I had known at the time.

So thank you Hart, for your visualization, and for a sense of healing that came to me that day. Maybe you wondered why you found yourself discussing this particular part of the body in such detail -- the aorta, its valve, and the plaque deposits on the valve. I can't explain how you came to it, but I certainly can attest to the value of that excursion.

And since I play with words, inevitably the eponymy of this moment came to me: a teacher named Hart Lazer focusing in with laser-like precision on the aortal valve of my heart, when I really needed this support and positive vision of healing.

So thank you Hart, and please continue to trust your instinct and intuition.

Eponymy: "Of, relating to, or being the person after which something is named." - Wiktionary