It is recommended that this practice be done is a comfortable, reclined position in a quiet space that is free from distraction. The practice can serve as a reliable source of support and guidance when a feeling of deep rest or meaningful connection is needed. Helpful times include within the hours of 4-8AM (sattvic time), before bed, to mark the transition between work and home-life or around the time of the New Moon.
 

Yoga Nidra

25 minutes

Rooted in the ancient Tantra Yoga Tradition, Yoga Nidra is a guided relaxation practice designed to bring you to a place of “deep yogic sleep.” Often referred to by contemporary scientists as the “hypnogigic state,” this is a state of consciousness between wakefulness and sleeping.

By systematically guiding you through deeper and subtler levels of consciousness, Yoga Nidra helps you transcend the linear dimensions of logic, reason and memory and realign with that part of yourself that exists beyond the intellect.

On a surface level, this practice is a reliable tool for rest and relaxation, heightened creativity, increased memory and greater equanimity admidst the flow of Life. In its essence, the practice brings you to a state of samadhi, inviting you to realign with your very essence and experience a depth of insight and awareness that can otherwise lie dormant.

It is recommended that this meditation be used on its own, or integrated during the first few minutes or the last few minutes of any period of sitting. This inquiry may feel particularly useful to connect with as a regular touchstone as a means of realigning our thoughts, words and actions with what matters to us the most.
 

Meditation: looking deeply into the heart

5 minutes

To meditate is to look deeply. This meditation looks deeply into the anandamaya kosha, the essence of the Self which resides in the Heart.

Looking deeply into the Heart can serve as a re-membering of our own innate goodness. The more connected we are to this part of ourselves, the easier it is to remain steady and at peace amidst the inevitable waves of pain, discomfort, happiness and sorrow that Life brings.

This meditation is recommended for beginners new to meditation. A concentration practice with labeling can also be useful to experienced practitioners as a means of stilling the mind during the first few minutes of a seated practice and/or for the duration of practice when the mind is particularly active or difficult emotions are arising. 
 

Meditation: Breath Concentration Practice with Labeling

15 minutes

Referred to as “Dhāranā” (“dha” is “to hold”) in Yoga, the intention with this practice is holding the mind’s focus in one direction. In cultivating a one-pointed focus, we practice stopping the mind’s habit energy from constantly running into the past or future or jumping from one thing to the next. Labeling is offered as a tool to help practice this pattern of concentration. Cultivating a concentrated mind is the first step towards deeper stages of meditation (Dhyāna, Samādhi). 

Once the mental fluctuations have stilled, we open up our capacity to truly see. Imagine you had a desire to see something very beautiful or important to you lying at the bottom of a freshwater pond. It is only until the water becomes quiet enough for the currents to still and any sediment on the surface to fall, that it becomes possible to accurately perceive your object of focus – what which is resting on the bottom.

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