Uniting Mind, Body, and Soul
Yoga Nidra and Yin Yoga
What is Yoga Nidra
YOGA NIDRA (Yoga sleep)is an age old practice of Yoga, described in ancient texts. It is not new but an ancient practice. It is the practice of deep meditation far deeper than normal meditation, however unlike other forms of meditation, it is practiced lying down, following a guided meditation. It is an effortless state of being. Although Yoga Nidra translates to Yoga sleep, in fact it is not a sleep but an awakening, a state of awakened sleep.
In our modern society, many of us are accustomed to doing more to get more. Even when we want to relax, we ask " How do I do that? Relaxation doesn't happen by doing more, yet this is how most of us go about it. Yoga Nidra is not about doing more, it is about doing less, it is about releasing the struggling and striving to get somewhere. It is the art and practice of doing nothing to arrive exactly where you want to be
It is like floating. Floating is not something you do, it is something that happens in the absence of doing. It is the experience of being held, being carried....but it can only happen when you stop struggling to keep yourself upright. Stop doing and floating happens. Stop "efforting" and sleep happens. When you let go of any doing, everything gets done. This concept is so foreign to the Western mind, we can hardly fathom it!
There is a reason stress is at epidemic levels in the west and its because we don't know when or how to stop. Our waking hours have taken over our sleeping hours, most people don't sleep to be rested, to revitalise and nourish themselves, they sleep so they can get up and do more the next day. Most haven't mastered the art of none doing.
What if there was a way we could experience being carried by the waters of life? A way to feel held and supported in the midst of life rather than struggling to keep our heads above water. This is exactly what Yoga Nidra is designed to do. Through the practice of Yoga Nidra you learn to relax as deeply as in sleep while awake.
Yoga Nidra takes your brain waves states where the organs and systems of the body are nourished and regenerated. It also slows the rate at which you age and keeps you looking younger, longer.
The body is its own healer: it knows how to heal itself. However it needs the right environment to do so. Yoga Nidra can free the healing potential of the body to do just that it also accesses your creative potential.
Yoga Nidra helps, Anger, Insomnia, stress, depression, anxiety, chronic pain, addictions, Trauma, PTSD and everything in between!
Yoga Nidra can help with end of life care.
Who can Practise Yoga Nidra
Everyone!
Why should I practice Yoga Nidra
TOO MANY REASONS TO LIST!
Yin Yoga
Very much like the pace of life, Yoga practices have become about 'striving' and sometimes loses the true essence of Yoga. Unlike other Yoga, which include more movement are energy based Yoga practices. Yin is the opposite and is a slow, thoughtful and mostly mat based practice. Yin poses are generally held between one and five minutes allowing the body to let go and the muscles and soft tissue to loosen their grip on the body allowing a softness and openness to evolve. After these long holds comes a feeling of balance, calmness and acceptance. In practicing Yin Yoga , we attempt to find our own balance.
"It is like those old transistor radios, the turning of the dial to tune into where we actually are right in the moment. Not where we would like to be, nor where we have been in the past but right in the moment, a tuning in, a turning on. In doing this, there can be a dropping inwards and perhaps a dropping away of some of the stuff that we carry: plans and preoccupations, projecting's and ambitions, identities and frustrations" by Norman Blair, Yin Yoga teacher and teacher trainer.
Having scoliosis and other back conditions, I have found Yin to be the one thing I can rely on to 'smooth me out' my body feels normal and my mind calm when I leave my Yin practice.
Yin Yoga is suitable for total beginners to advanced.
Please contact me if you would like more information or are unsure this is right for you. Georgina
