Author: nadayogi

Opening Meditation & Thoughts to Begin Class

Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths….. Settle into your body. On your next exhale, with a releasing breath, release any feelings of tension … feel a sense of a let-go… do that a few more time as it feels right. Perhaps your intention for this practice is to… just be … here with life … on your mat… just you and your Yoga practice…… When you are ready meet me at seated. Let’s begin.

Cue Words Related to the Theme

• Create a bubble around your mat & within is only the awareness of breath, awareness of sensation. Close your eyes & stay here for a moment.
• Emotions write themselves on our body. Where is the stress of your day imprinted. In your face, shoulders, hips? Let your next breath flow over you, wiping clear the tablet. Each new breath is a reset to the present moment.
• Let your heart melt to the earth, surrendering to yourself. Letting go for a moment the weight of obligation, of schedules, of the things outside of yourself. For a moment lay down the protective armor of perfection and be with you. You are beautiful and perfect. Believe it.

Meditation for Savasana

Slow your breathing… Relax your muscles… You can rest now. Surrender yourself to the space around you, to the mat beneath your body, to the ground beneath your mat. Literally lay down your arms. Allow your mind’s clamoring agitations to melt away. Focus on being. Stop striving, fixing, solving. Simply be. Simply be. Rest in Savasana, when all is still, when all strivings cease. Let go of all expectations, internal and external. Descend through the layers of tension and rest in the release.

Opening Meditation & Thoughts to Begin Class

Let’s become fully present in this room…..on your mat…..connected to you. Pratyahara, the withdraw of senses, the withdrawal of external stimuli, and the turn inward. With your eyes closed, use your senses to explore the the room around you. And then the space of your sanctuary on your mat. Now tuning in to the breath and to you. Feel the breath moving through you….. Bring your awareness to the lift of your heart with your inhale….. Let’s connect to this energy as we move today. Letting our practice lift our hearts with calm, beautiful energy.

Cue Words Related to the Theme

• Feel the beautiful energy you are creating. Let it flow through you.
• Lift the heart and tilt the face up to the sky. Feel the energy flow from you and to you.
• As you move into the pose, glow the heart forward.
• As you reach the arms, feel the heart lift upward.
• Energizing & uplifting breath in, grounding breath out.

Meditation for Savasana

Let your head settle on your mat. Release the weight of your arms and legs. Let the rhythm of your breath rock and soothe you. (pause) Let your dristi move inward. Bask in the experience you have created for yourself today. Let it flow over you, through you and from you. Allow it to heal, revive and rejuvenate…..

Opening Meditation & Thoughts to Begin Class

Come to your back & sway side to side for a moment… eventually finding stillness. Let the eyes close. Let the breath becomes slower and smoother. Let it begin to flow like a wave….. wave flowing in with the inhale and flowing out with the exhale – let yourself enjoy 10 flowing breaths. Through our practice today use the flow of your breath – expansion & release to help you flow a little bit more. Releasing holding. Learning to go with the flow a little bit more.

Cue Words Related to the Theme

• Let energy flow freely through you. Observing any areas where you resist.
• As you hold the pose, scan through the body and explore where you may soften slightly. Where your body is trying to hold you up, but doesn’t really need to.
• Is your mind resisting the pose more than your body. What does it look like for you to let that go?
• Full breath in and let everything go with your exhale.
• Safely rooted to the earth, release and let go.

Meditation for Savasana

Slowly release any last holding or gripping with each exhale out. Release holding in the hands & the feet. Observe your legs and arms and where you feel yourself still holding try to let that go. Release the tightness you hold in your face and the back of your head. And lastly release any last gripping in the belly and chest. As you become more free, visualize yourself floating on a lily pad in a calm pond. You may feel we want to control the direction you travel. Instead release that and allow yourself to be gently guided by the soft breeze. Taking pleasure in the different areas of the pond. The sights, the habitat in different parts of the pond. The different sensations and temperatures as you move in and out of the shade. Enjoying letting go of control and just allowing yourself to experience the moment.

Opening Meditation & Thoughts to Begin Class

As you begin to follow the breath, take a few moments to unwind. To ease into your practice today. Releasing anything weighing you down. Releasing the busyness of life. Slowly arrive at your practice. Every time you make it to your mat, you continue your journey. Today’s leg of the journey is to allow in peace & healing to body, mind & soul. Let’s begin to welcome that in together.

Cue Words Related to the Theme

• Breathe in healing. Release out the unusable.
• Explore how you may adjust to find the pose more soothing.
• Feel your heart uplift with your inhale. Feel it be soothed with your exhale.
• The breath is a balm, soothing and nourishing your nervous system. Let the gentle movement soothe you.
• Take a moment to find stillness, tapping into the peace and tranquility of the pose.

Meditation for Savasana

During your practice you have warmed the body and moved to transform mobility. In savasana we cool the mold in a healing pose of rest & restore. Becoming aware of your breath. Feeling your belly rise and fall. Soften your face; soften your shoulders. Follow the rhythm of your breath. Soften your arms, your legs, and your feet. Release every muscle to your mat as you find stillness and serenity. Let yourself rest and allow yourself to be healed.

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Opening Meditation & Thoughts to Begin Class

Close the eyes & begin to draw inward. Let the breath guide you there. The breath flows in like a wave and out like a wave. Slowly & Smoothly. (pause) You find your center of calm – the place where you feel grounded and centered. Before movement we will come to center.

Cue Words Related to the Theme

• Before movement come to center.
• Find stillness and connect to the calm within you.
• Use your breath to dissolve any busyness. Let that go with your exhale, and as you center, find your balance.
• As you find focus through the breath, move into your pose.
• Find your dristi, soften the gaze. As the mind centers, the body finds balance. Let that focus take you into the pose.

Meditation for Shavasana

Allow your body to settle. Begin to tune into your breath. Following the rise and fall of the belly with each breath. Allow the full weight of your body to sink into your mat as every muscle in your body softens, your bones become heavy.

Observe where you feel yourself breathing. Maybe it’s in movement of air in and out of the nose. Maybe it’s the rise and fall of the chest or the belly.

Maybe you want to allow awareness to move between the spaces you feel the breath. Or perhaps you want to focus on one area where you feel the breath most. There is no right or wrong, just exploration of the breath. Rest & restore in the centering of your breath.

Opening Meditation & Thoughts to Begin Class

Gather anything you carry with you into your practice today. Anything you carry in the heart or mind. Gather it all up……… And with your next exhale let it all go. Let’s do that again…. releasing the weight of it all.

Maybe you notice that you feel a little lighter? Let’s continue through our practice today to bring release and lightness to heart, mind & body.

Cue Words Related to the Theme

• Observe how you may find more lightness into the pose. Can you release more?
• Is it letting the ground do a little bit more work for you? Is it making a slight adjustment?
• As you lift the heart, feel everything become lighter.
• With your breath out, feel yourself become lighter.
• With your exhale, feel your body & mind become lighter.
• Where you feel heavy in the pose, with your next breath, invite in lightness.

Meditation for Shavasana

Close the eyes or soften the gaze and allow the full weight of your body to sink into the mat. As your muscles release maybe your heart feels a little bit lighter. Maybe you have more space to breathe. Feel the beauty of just resting and breathing. Any thought, sensation or emotion that comes in that doesn’t feel light, let it go with your next exhale. Let your body rest here in tranquility.