I tend to get into my head a lot and forget to breathe, which in turn can lead to anxiety and overwhelm. Over time, if not attended to, this can develop into chronic stress!
One of my go-to self-care tools for managing my stress is taking 5 minutes to relax and breathe. As a yoga teacher, I’ve learned a lot of different breath techniques over the years, but the one I come back to again and again is Equal Parts Breath or Balancing Breath.
How to Practice Balanced Breathing / Sama Vrtti:
Sit in a relaxed yet upright posture, or lie down with supports under the head and knees, if needed.
Tune into the natural rhythm of your breath.
Breathe into your belly – not forcefully, but focus on expanding the belly like a balloon on your inhalations.
Breathe in to a count of 3 or 4 seconds, and breathe out to a count of 3 or 4 seconds.
Gradually lengthen to count to 5 or 6 seconds per inhale and exhale, if it is comfortable.
Come back to your natural rhythm of breath if you need to at any time.
This simple breath exercise has been proven to improve heart rate variability, which is a measure of our resiliency to stress. Give it a try – when you’re sitting in the car, about to have a difficult conversation, when you first wake up or right before bed – your nervous system will thank you!
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Give yourself permission to relax and rest, while setting intentions for personal growth and exploring the deeper self.
Yoga Nidra is a guided relaxation practice that includes a systematic sequence of breath and body awareness exercises that naturally calm the mind and nervous system. Tune into the the peaceful vibrations of authentic Himalayan singing bowls.
Bring your yoga mat, pillow, blanket or towel, and any other props you’d like to use to create a comfortable reclining posture. Chairs are available if sitting is preferred.
the Park Ave Room is quiet
Research shows that Yoga Nidra can reduce stress levels, help you sleep better, and improve overall well-being. Himalayan Singing bowls introduce a healing harmonic sound wave that helps dislodge stagnation on the cellular level and bring the body and mind into perfect tune.
“Set your intention and the sound will carry it to the divine,” Suren Shrestha, Master Teacher at the Atma Buti Sound and Vibrational School
Instructor Bio: Ann MacMullan, E-RYT 500 Yoga Therapist Candidate and Breath Coach, has been joyfully sharing the gift of yoga since 2015. Ann is trained in Yoga Nidra and the Atma Buti Method of Sound Healing. Learn more about Sound Healing with Ann.
Give yourself permission to rest for better immune system function.
🛑 Are you having a Red Light day? As we move into a busier season, it’s so easy to take on too much. Here are a few ideas for developing your energy awareness skills in order to build, balance, and restore your energy levels.
Ground Yourself
Start each day by grounding yourself so that your energy doesn’t dissipate as easily – simply bring awareness to your connection to the earth through the feet or seat. Move the feet and legs! Notice the whole body, the container of your energy.
Try Yoga for your feet as a grounding exercise each day.
Energy Check-In
Practice an “energy check in”- just sit and feel the pulse of energy moving in your body, your breath. Choose a number from 1-10 that represents your energy level. If numbers aren’t your thing, try the traffic light approach.🚦 Determine whether you’re having a red, yellow or green light kind of day – and make decisions based on that.
Notice and Document – What Depletes Your Energy? What Feeds It?
When do you typically have the most energy? Schedule activities accordingly. Begin to notice the activities, environments, and people that drain your reserves, and budget a counter activity that helps you fill up your energetic well. If it drains your energy – write it down! If it feeds your energy – write it down! I personally journal every day. It’s like leaving bread-crumbs for your future self to navigate life more gracefully, creating a Users Guide for your own body, mind and spirit.
Build Energy or Prana – Breath, Movement, Awareness
Build your prana or life force through breathing, movement like walking or yoga, mudras, and awareness practices. Remember, “where awareness goes, energy flows.”
Inhale – feel the energy expand and rise.
Exhale – allow the energy to ground into the container of your body and the earth below.
Eat fresh nutritious foods high in prana – whole foods, fruits and veggies as close to their origin source as possible. Avoid frozen foods, and alcohol.
Drink plenty of water.
A cup of hot herbal tea goes a long way in my opinion. What’s your favorite?
Some old-fashioned things like fresh air and sunshine are hard to beat.
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Fill Up Your Well – Rest and Relax
Give yourself permission to rest, supporting better immune system function. Remember “all healing begins in rest.” You are being productive by allowing your body to rest!
Try nourishing practices like Body Scans and Loving kindness meditations, Yoga Nidra, and restorative yoga postures like Supported Bound Angle, pictured here.
Get Outside Support
Ask for help! Don’t be a hero and try to do it all. You don’t have to be perfect. Schedule a Private Yoga Wellness session with me to learn new ways of managing your energy in a supportive and therapeutic environment.
⬇️ Head over to my Insight Timer page for some guided support! ⬇️
Or visit me on YouTube to take exquisite care of yourself!
Like my free videos and recordings? ☕️ Buy me a coffee to say thank you!
Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what type of day you’re having – is it a red, yellow, or green light day? What activities, environments or people drain your energy? Which fill your well?
Thanks for reading! And please, take exquisite care of yourself.
If you’ve ever been asked to form an intention during a yoga class or meditation exercise, and found yourself floundering or resisting the request, you’re not alone. Me too, friend. Once I tried Yoga Nidra, however, I was hooked on intention-setting. I learned that the purpose is not to manifest your wishes out of thin air, but to create strength in the structure of the mind. Studies that used such intentions during meditation have shown that cognitive restructuring processes are stimulated.
While it’s better to try and find your intention (or sankalpa) in the relaxed state, some of us can get very distracted trying to find the right one during practice. To assist my Yoga Nidra practice, I sat down and did some journaling to get me started. Here’s what I came up with:
Step by Step: Finding the Seeds of Intention
Close your eyes and think of your current daily life.
Create a list of “wants” and “needs” — stay away from the trivial, go for the deep.
Take a break from your list and come back to it a day later.
When you come back to that list of wants and needs, what stands out as the most challenging, or maybe even a little scary? (Mine are highlighted in pink.)
Create an intention that is short, positive and present tense surrounding that.
REST AND MANIFEST – meets live on Zoom once a month
While you can set intentions at any time, they are more effective when they’re planted into a very relaxed mind. That’s where Yoga Nidra comes in. Yoga Nidra contains a systematic sequence of body awareness and breathing that can activate the parasympathetic nervous system and increase the amount of alpha-waves in the brain – a perfect time to plant those seeds! That little bit of pre-journaling work you did while in a more conscious state might help you refine your intention once you enter alpha states.
A Few More Examples “in the Moment”
If you experience stress and frustration: “I am calm and patient”
If you are scattered: “I am present”
If you experience illness or disease: “I am healthy and whole”
If you’re feeling vulnerable: “I am safe”
If you feel isolated: “I am connected”
If you experience turbulent emotions: “I am content”
If you have trouble sleeping: “I sleep soundly and wake refreshed”
You can use the same sankalpa for a while, and then because we are ever-changing, over time your sankalpa may change too. If you’re stuck in a rut, maybe Yoga Nidracould help. I’m not promising personal transformation, but it’s just possible that like me, you have never really explored your subconscious and practiced opening up your mind-space, allowing it to wander. Plant your intention into this open, liberated mind-space, and trust that the suggestion will take root and grow.
Join me for a live Zoom session once a month, on second Sunday of each month at 4pm Eastern Standard Time. FREE for health care workers and those affected by Waldenstrom’s.
Mentor Marc Nelles, C-IAYT, E-RYT500, YACEP, founder of Mankind Yoga
Personal Practice while guided by Yogi Charu, Karen Nourizadeh, Julia Abramova, Marc Nelles
Through the practice of yoga nidra, we are not only relaxing, but restructuring and reforming our whole personality from within. Like the mythological phoenix, with every session we are burning the old samskaras, habits and tendencies in order to be born anew.
