As we enter the Early Summer season, you may notice more and more emphasis on the latter, restorative part of classes. You may experience a slightly longer Savasanah, additional supported or yin shapes toward the end of practice, or funny breaths like radiator, straw and left nostril breathing [sitkari, sitali and chandra bedhana respectively]. The intention behind this shifting emphasis is to support rest after exertion or movement and to nurture your connection to a spacious sense of the world inside and out. 

Embodied processes of transport and movement are supported right now. Often we think of what we can DO to heal, work out, feel better, keep fit. We are entering a 4 month period during which - alongside feeling our bodies in exertion, movement and challenge - remembering that NOT DOING is as - if not more - powerful as the doing it comes after. The quiet after the symphony has played its last booming note might actually be the point. All the crescendoes and waves and twists and turns find their ultimate expression in the open awareness when they have just dropped away. How do we prolong that experience? 

One of the principles of Healing Yoga is to be guided by sensory experience of your the internal landscape. Your teachers offer multiple methods into this experience called interoception. When it feels safe enough to sense our bodies on the inside, this one moment of paying attention can have a profound effect on our body’s ability to “down-regulate,” or shift out of stress response. The stress response is never in and of itself negative. What makes all of our responses powerful is our ability to ride their waves. Surfers are acutely sensitive to waves and can surrender to the power of a moment. They are also holding the wide variation of the waves, the sky, the distance to shore and the wind all in a greater awareness that cannot cling to one scintilla of sensation. The awareness must be open, spacious, nimble to register and continually respond to minute variations, perhaps even before they are fully conscious. 

In psychology, this is called resilience. Paradoxically, psychological stability has less to do with remaining the same in characteristics and qualities and more to do with our ability to respond from a place of connectedness. The focus on sensing the inside of your body in small, accessible, safe ways in Healing Yoga supports your nervous system’s resilience. 

Want to experience this for yourself? You’re guaranteed this experience at the end of each Yin and Restorative class, and the likelihood in other classes is greater at this time of year. For a personalized, more complex experience of Yoga Nidra and its application you might also schedule a private yoga session. There are also multiple apps and even youtube videos (though YouTube are pretty hit and miss in quality, there are many excellent ones). I personally use one called “Yoga Nidra: Deep Relaxation Practice” and my favorite, “Yoga Nidra: Sacred Sleep,” the “Deep Healing and Energizing Practice.” We look forward to facilitating your experience of being, spaciousness and connectedness with Yogic Sleep (Nidra) - schedule your next yoga class and put YOU on your calendar!

In two weeks: Yoga Nidra Procedure Breakdown