Just Relax!
Just relax! I’m sure someone has said this to you at some point in your life! As if the ability to relax is like flipping a switch and something so easy you can just do it spontaneously at any time. When we were growing up, did anyone ever teach us how to relax? Do you know how even now? From my experience teaching yoga since 1995 and practicing yoga since the early 1980’s, I know that relaxation can be difficult to achieve, and few people have a method that supports them to become deeply relaxed. Today this podcast will have a brief introduction to the practice that I’ve done and taught for decades and then you will be guided through that practice! Yes, this podcast is primarily a yoga practice! But if you are listening while driving, please do not do the practice until you are in a safe environment where you can lay down, or at least lean back in a way that the head and arms are fully supported. The name of the practice is Satyananda Yoga Nidra. Most people come to this practice to learn to relax. However, the practice can develop into a form of meditation over time. The name, yoga nidra, comes from the word yoga meaning union or bringing all aspects of you into cohesion, and nidra meaning deep sleep. The kind of sleep that is restorative to your body and mind. Not that you are meant to sleep during the practice, although many do fall asleep, and this is why you DO NOT do the practice while driving! When I began teaching yoga nidra, hardly anyone else was teaching it, but now there are many variations of this original form that was brought into modern times by Swami Satyananda, the guru of the yoga lineage with which I am associated. I will go over the format of the practice we will be doing. The practice will begin with establishing a comfortable and supported position of the body and then settling into stillness. The guidance will then help you move your awareness from the world around you and become centered in yourself. Next you will rotate your awareness through the body in a very systematic way that provides relaxation without ever using the word relax! After the body rotation, the awareness is brought to the breath. You will be asked to follow the breath without changing it in any way and to count the breaths. Lastly, the awareness will once again be connected to the environment around you, and you will be asked to begin to move and gradually get up. If you would like to learn more about this technique, please go to an earlier podcast called, “Awaken Your Potential with Yoga Nidra.” And if you wish to listen to this practice again and again, you can fast forward through this introduction to the 4 3/4 minute mark and start there. The practice will be about 15 minutes. The practice will now be guided. (The script of the practice is not included. The practice is to be done with a recording to allow the mind to rest.) Thank you for participating.