Online Yoga Nidra Workshop

Hello Everyone!!!!

I will be holding a 90-minute Yoga Nidra workshop this Wednesday April 14 at 7:00 pm. Whether you are a veteran at Yoga Nidra or brand new to this deeply nurturing practice, this workshop is for you. We will take a deep dive into the background of stress-relieving, sleep-inducing meditation. What you will learn:

• How to help reduce stress and be more well-rested
• How to feel relaxed and centered
• Basic principles of Yoga Nidra
• Yoga poses for preparing the body for deep meditation
• Practice Yoga Nidra

Register for the workshop here

April Schedule

I have adjusted the schedule down to just one Yoga Nidra class on Monday night at 7:30. If you are unable to attend on Monday nights, please reach out to me directly so we can find another time that suits more people for this additional class. Monday night's Yoga Nidra offering will remain.

Register for tonight's Yoga Nidra class here

Doing No Harm

The principle of ahimsa is translated from Sanskrit as non-violence or non-harming. (Satchidananda, 2012). It is the first in the 8 branches of yogic philosophy. The first branch is known as the yama or 5 restraints. Or as I like to call them: words to live by. Ahimsa is the very first word to live by.

Ahimsa is love for ourselves and love for others

To live without doing harm to yourself or others is a difficult and lifelong undertaking. For example, a yoga pose such as tabletop, when one is on the floor on all fours would be a non-harming pose for some, but for others such as those with knee injuries, surgeries, or difficulties getting up and down from the floor, tabletop is contraindicated. You listen to your body, to show this love or non-harming.

How do we live life by not harming ourselves and others?

First, we listen to our bodies. What is our body telling us when we feel discomfort, when we feel pain (there is a difference between the two, but I will leave that for another time.) Listening to these messages is how we avoid harm to the precious temple that is our bodies. Another way to not harm our bodies is eating the right foods for whatever is appropriate for our life situation and well-being.

Not harming others in our family, clan, or social circle means taking care of each other through personal responsibility. Whether it be simply sending someone good wishes for a happy birthday or doing something for that person that makes you go outside your comfort zone. For many of us, getting vaccinated is a way to prevent harm to ourselves and others. This is living ahimsa. Love for ourselves and love for others.

All things are our relatives; what we do to everything, we do to ourselves. All is really One. --Nicholas Black Elk

Resources:

Neihardt, J. G. (2014) Black Elk Speaks. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press

Satchidanananda, S. (Translator). (2012). The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Buckingham, VA: Integral Yoga Publications.