I wouldn’t make a good Poker player. “Keep your cards close to your chest” they always say.

“Wearing your heart on your sleeve” is another good analogy. Taken from medieval times when Knights in shining armour, jousting in competitions, would wear the handkerchief of the Lady that held them favour on the sleeve of their armour.

I always thought it was a good thing to wear my heart on my sleeve, I even have a cool tattoo to show it. But I’ve learned recently that it isn’t such a good idea to have an open heart and tell everybody everything.

It’s a bit silly of me really. My good friends know what I’m like and accept me for it, but for others that don’t know me so well it can be tricky.

In business definitely, it’s not a good thing to tell everybody everything. Competitors may steal all your good ideas if you happen to share them.

And in our personal lives, even more so. I’ve never been so good with women. I make friends easily and I have lots of close friends that are women. But for the ones I may be attracted to, sharing all of my deepest, darkest, fears and secrets, is not a good thing.

I guess that’s where it goes back to the Poker analogy again. The fun of the game is in not being sure what the other players are holding. That’s what makes the game so interesting. To show your cards to everyone else, completely destroys the game.

Yoga wise, we look to open our hearts wide and full. Our courage sits in our chests and all of the back arching and chest opening, makes us compassionate and powerful. All right brain stuff.

The left brain’s job is to act as a valve for us. So that we can be open, loving and compassionate, but also able to filter the feelings of the heart and not let too much out, to say what needs to be said without gushing everything out.

Words are a powerful thing and need to be controlled. My Guru always said to me that I talk too much “Not so much talking, just teach!”

I finally understand it this week. Keep your mouth shut and just be who you are and everything else will fall into place. So many words really aren’t needed!