Yoga Nidra

I have been quite interested in yoga during the last two or three years. My favorite classes have always been those that were vigorous and strength-building. It’s amazing how you can work up a good sweat even though you don’t look like you are doing much. Lately, I have been exploring classes of a more therapeutic nature. The deep, long-held stretches of yin yoga have really helped my hip/sciatic problem. This week, I attended my first yoga nidra class which translates into “yogic sleep.” Seems like I can never get enough sleep so that sounded like the perfect class to try.

I arrived at class with an open mind, unfurled my mat, and gathered a couple of blankets and a bolster. The room filled with more people than I’ve seen in the other classes. We lined up in two rows with our mats about 18” apart. I fought back the feeling of claustrophobia; I’m not used to sleeping so close to complete strangers. Everyone settled and the instructor explained the class format.

She made it clear that while some people may fall asleep during the class, traditional sleep was not the goal. She would guide us in meditation which would help us fall into a conscious sleep-like state. We lay down in the corpse pose position, covered with blankets and listened as she began the meditation. Within probably the first 5 minutes I had fallen asleep but awoke when I heard her saying, “Do not fall asleep.” Oops! I believe I stayed awake for the remainder of the hour in a dreamy relaxed state of consciousness.

A couple of nearby people snored softly and I started to wish I had a pillow because the folded up blanket beneath the back of my head was feeling rather cement-like. I had no idea how much time had passed and my ability to lay so utterly and completely still without fidgeting surprised me. Without giving away all the secrets, when the instructor brought us out of our nidra I was astonished an hour had already passed. I found the experience to be a good one and will definitely attend another yoga nidra.

Snow angels

Winter landed early and I couldn't wait to get outside and play. At 7 a.m. I started bugging my husband to get the skis out of the rafters in the garage so I could ski around the neighborhood while the snow was still fresh and nice. I glided for about 90 minutes in car tracks and then took a jaunt into the field. But the knee-deep snow made gliding too hard. Afterwards, I had more fun knocking the snow out of our trees and those of our neighbors to help keep the limbs from breaking and also did a little shoveling. I think we've seen the worst of this storm but to be honest, I'd love to get snowed in for a few days! :)