Meditation and Yoga Nidra Sessions
Yoga Nidra and Meditation Sessions are now being offered in two ways.
1:1 or Private session - a fixed price and private to you or anyone you invite.
Community sessions by request - email beth@bethcyr.com - Cost is on a sliding scale basis from $5 - $20. You can email to request a time/day. When we figure out a time that works, you pay ahead of time, commit to showing up and everyone on my meditation email list will be invited as well. It might be just you or others may show up too.
Sign up for the email list to get the notifications and links to the Community zoom sessions or general updates for offerings.
New to Yoga Nidra? The Practice
Yoga Nidra can sometimes be called deep relaxation or non-sleep deep rest. It is a way to systematically release tension, move through, and witness all layers of your being.
The way I teach it follows this process:
- Moving through the physical body, stretching tensing and releasing the major muscle groups.
- Imagining a wave of energy washing through the body - this energy can be called or visualized how you would like. I often use the terms: relaxing, healing or rejuvenating
- Watching the breath, nothing but watching
- Watching the mind, without judgement, giving yourself permission to let thoughts drift away, for just a few minutes
- Find that internal sense of peace or light that is the Self - the part of you that is beyond the body, breath and mind.
- Then some quiet time and gentle instructions to lead you out of the stillness.
While I feel like yoga nidra could be described as a type of meditation, I do think of it differently and it is usually practiced lying down.
The meditations I will offer can be practiced sitting up, at a desk, on the floor, wherever and whenever.
They usually include some simple breathing to begin and will vary in the type of meditation. Sometimes it may be more like a visualization, sometimes a bit more simple. I'll follow my intuition as to what feels like it may be the most helpful. I am also thinking about offering space afterwards for more community connection - a time for people to come on camera and chat if they would like, while also supporting those that want to just show up, practice and leave.
With yoga nidra, I feel like the practice can go so deep for some, I like to give space for people to stay lying down as long as they like, so closing the room when it is finished feels good to me.
Things you might like to know about sessions
Timing
The room will open a few minutes early and is locked a couple minutes after the scheduled arrival time.
This is not meant to rush anyone, but to be mindful of the energetic space and hold good boundaries for all involved. If you will need time to gather yourself, change clothes, create your resting spot, please do so before the start time or keep your camera off if you need extra time to get settled.
The session will usually fit into a 30 minute window, with the actual practice being 20-25 minutes long with some connection time built in depending on who is there and who might like to say hi.
Your Set Up
I think Yoga Nidra is best practiced lying down, and will be instructed as if you were lying down, however, you can practice this seated. If practicing seated, please be mindful and safe with your surroundings. Generally lying down on the back is the way it is practiced.
I do recommend a blanket as relaxing deeply can have a cooling effect.
I prefer to not use a pillow under my head at all, but that may be uncomfortable for you, so create your cozy set up as needed.
It can be nice to have something (rolled up blanket, pillow, bolster) under the knees if you have any low back issues.
An eye mask or something draped over the eyes can also be really lovely, especially if you're in a brightly lit space.
For meditations, they can be practiced sitting, on the floor, in a chair, at a desk, wherever, whenever (not while driving please! :)
Some Tech Stuff
You are welcome to have your camera on or off. Everyone will be muted for the actual practice.
My goal is to make the space as comfortable as possible to allow for a deeply relaxing experience. By providing an outline of this practice, my hope is that your system will have an understanding of the format and can settle a bit before we even start. I personally find that having some idea of what will happen greatly reduces my anxiety.
These sessions are sometimes recorded - you will be notified if it is being recorded. Any chatting outside of the practice will not be recorded or shared.
Donation/Free
This is being offered on a sliding scale donation basis - between $5-$20 per session requested. If some weeks you need to come and not make a donation, please come anyway! Donations can be made via Venmo @Beth-Cyr or through my site here. You are also welcome to just make a monthly donation if you plan to come regularly.
Sign up for the email list to get the notifications and links to the Community zoom sessions or general updates for offerings.
Meditations
I don't teach one specific type of meditation. Through my training I learned a number of different types of meditation and I really enjoying sharing different types as some work better for some people than others. I'm currently feeling called to some more free form visualization types of meditation for these type of sessions.
Recordings
I do have a yoga nidra recording on patreon that is available to any member at any level, including free members. Also, my partner Cam and I plan to create a new recording with some gentle music/sound involved that I will share with everyone once that is done.
I also have quite a few meditation audios available on Patreon and may soon have some on Insight Timer as well.
Some of my story...
For those of you are new or haven't known me as long, even though I have been a full time artist as my main public facing business, I'm also a certified yoga and meditation teacher. I've been trained as a meditation teacher and in beginner and intermediate hatha yoga and pranayama through Integral Yoga. My main teachers have been my dear friends Manjula Spears and her husband Rich Panico and Swami Ramananda. My first training was in 2009! That feels so long ago. I've practiced yoga and meditation in different forms for more than 25 years.