Yoga Nidra
Thursday, April 20th 2:30 pm - 3:10 pm
The cost is $8 per person.
We welcome Keri Knutson – yoga teacher, Official Yoga Instructor of the Rockford Ice Hogs, Rockford native, and 20 year practitioner of yoga. Keri is trained in and currently teaches Vinyasa Flow, Hatha Yoga, Restorative Yoga, and chair/therapeutic yoga in Rockford/Rockford area. Her journey has included studying the history, lineage, philosophy, and systems of traditional Hatha and Raja Yoga, Anusara, Bhakti, Iyengar, and Integral Yoga – focusing on Vinyasa Flow to deepen her own practice. She also teaches several workshops and events throughout the year and is an activist for implementing yoga in schools and working with those who live with chronic conditions, injury, illness, and disease.
Yoga Nidra means Yogic Sleep; a state of conscious, deep sleep where we learn to relax consciously. Yoga Nidra is deep relaxation with an inner state of awareness. In Yoga Nidra, the body, mind, and intellect are completely relaxed and the practitioner appears to be sleeping. In the state of Yoga Nidra, however, the consciousness functions at a deeper level and the subconscious and the unconscious realms of the mind are more open. Yoga Nidra is a very deep form of relaxation and has been found to reduce stress, tension, and anxiety; is beneficial for insomnia and to calm symptoms of chronic pain, headaches, depression, high blood pressure, heart disease, autoimmune disease, helps to balance the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous Systems – balancing the left and right hemispheres of the brain, and has been shown to help those in recovery from addiction. Yoga Nidra calms and clears the mind and has the potential to heal psychological wounds, provides emotional healing, and restores our body senses and mind to their natural functions. It is said that 1 hour of Yoga Nidra is equivalent to 4 hours of sleep.
One of the most important and personal aspects of the Yoga Nidra practice is the repetition of your own Sankalpa – your intention/focused resolution. A Sankalpa is a short statement in which you silently declare your deepest desire, goal, or intention to fulfill your life’s purpose – your Dharma. Your Sankalpa is a goal you want to fulfill or accomplish in the next 6-18 months. Your Sankalpa serves as communication from your conscious mind to your unconscious mind. In this meditation practice, we’ll plant the seeds of intention and water them so that they can grow.
**Please bring a yoga mat, a blanket, a small pillow, or small blanket/or towel (for underneath the head) and I recommend dressing in layers as the body temperature does lower.**
**Also, plan to arrive 10 - 15 minutes early so everyone can get situated and the class can begin on time!**