As we are gradually emerging from a year of the pandemic, our nervous systems are re-adjusting to a new way of being in the world. Deepening our connection to a sense of an unchanging Inner Resource can help us feel a sense of safety.
Finding Safety in a Changing World
iRest® Yoga Nidra with Karen Soltes
Six-week series
3 May - 14 June 2021
Mondays at 5:00pm CT (1 hour)
(No class on 7 June)
As we emerge from a year of the pandemic, we are resuming life in the world and moving into a different version of uncertainty. Our nervous system, wired first and foremost for survival, may still be processing the world as a potentially unsafe place. The practice of iRest Yoga Nidra, and the connection to an unchanging Inner Resource of peace and ease, can help us re-connect to a sense of calm, as we venture out into the world. Practiced little and often, the Inner Resource builds resilience in our mind and body.
iRest Yoga Nidra is a form of mindfulness meditation that is easily learned and practiced. iRest invites us to connect to the deeper stillness that is always present. This series will focus on one of the fundamental steps of iRest, the Inner Resource. It is the inclusion of an Inner Resource that distinguishes iRest from other forms of Yoga Nidra.
When we establish our own individual sense of an Inner Resource, we connect to the sense of unchanging safety, ease, and well-being that is ever present, even when it may be obscured by the changing conditions of our lives. This course will focus on the connection to the Inner Resource, learning to “exercise” this muscle of well-being, so that the strength of it can support us throughout the day, and throughout life.
Meet Karen on Meditation Happy Hour: Tea, Talk, and Truth with Karuna. Or watch the video below!
Inner Resource Instructions-from Brian Andreas’ book Something Like Magic:
Here’s what you ARE going to do. It’s actually quite simple:
Close your eyes.
Remember your favorite place. This doesn’t have to be real. I have a favorite place that’s a field of grass & a mountain & a counter with an endless supply of treats & there is always a breeze & sun & there are always one or two friendly clouds. So, what’s your favorite place? What’s it ook like? What colors are there? What does it smell like? What are you wearing? Really be there.
Now, listen. You’ll hear something. Maybe a song I a little girl’s voice. Or a hum, like bees.
Whatever that sound is, I want you to let it slip inside you until your bones start to vibrate with it.
When you are vibrating inside, almost like you are a tuning fork, let your skin disappear so there is nothing between you & the sound & your favorite place.
This is you all the time. This is the you that you forget. This is the you that hears the music in raindrops & the sound of sunlight & the secret whispers of the rocks & trees. This is the you that has never forgotten that magic is at the heart of the world.
Trust this. Start now. (Yeah, I know. This can be hard. But not as hard as not trusting it. The magic is in this exact moment. Go & be joyful in it….)
About Karen Soltes
Karen Soltes, LCSW, MA Ed, iRest® Yoga Nidra certified teacher, supervisor and senior trainer. She served as the Director of the Therapeutic Yoga Program at Circle Yoga in Washington, DC and was on the teaching faculty of the MUIH Yoga Therapy Master’s Program. Karen taught iRest at the Washington DC VA Hospital as part of the Integrated Health and Wellness Program for 8 years where she observed firsthand the benefits of iRest in alleviating the symptoms of PTSD, Substance Abuse, Anxiety, Depression, and Chronic Pain. In addition to her work at the VA, she was a founding partner of Warriors at Ease, whose mission is to train yoga and meditation teachers to work in military communities. She currently resides in Durango, Colorado where she hikes, bikes, and savors the outdoors.
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