"When Things Fall Apart" By Pema Chodron. A Reading & Yoga Nidra To Awaken Your Peaceful Warrior

This is one of my most listened to episodes from my Spiritually Fit Yoga podcast recorded on May 31, 2020. The meditation is inspired by a reading from "When Things Fall Apart" by Pema Chodron. It begins with a short talk about the current situation followed by a short meditation, reading, then a Yoga Nidra to awaken your peaceful warrior and practice loving kindness. It ends with an invitation to sleep or awaken on your own. No ending bell or music. Peace, Amelia

Transcript

Hey,

It's Amelia Andaleon here,

Yoga and Meditation teacher,

And it is May 31,

2020,

And we're in the midst of a civil unrest.

And it was important for me to offer tonight's episode,

Which is a reading I will share from Pema Shodron,

As well as a Yoga Nidra,

Because I had several students reach out to me,

Either in text or on social media,

On DMs,

Saying they just felt lost.

They didn't know what to do.

And I feel the same.

And one thing that has helped me to cope during this situation and frazzled nerves is to meditate and to connect to my inner calm,

To read books and seek out the writings of leaders,

Which gives me some sense of something bigger,

Something,

There's something bigger that's happening to invite a trust,

Whether you call it the universe or a god or goddess,

Whatever it is for you.

Because right now I don't have the solutions,

The solutions for the big picture.

But I feel like for myself,

One of my personal solutions is to practice kindness and to spread peace.

So if you would like to join me and join us in this Yoga Nidra,

Get yourself ready,

Either take a seat or lay down,

And I'll be right back.

One of the books that I seek comfort and spiritual fortification from is by Pema Chodron.

It's called When Things Fall Apart,

Hard Advice for Difficult Times.

And it felt like an appropriate book today and during these times,

Which many of us have never experienced something like this from,

Some of us have even forgotten about COVID-19,

The civil unrest for this justice for George Floyd.

So here we were in shelter in place,

And that was already challenging enough.

And then when we were seeing some light at the end of the tunnel,

Thinking that we were opening up for business and maybe seeing somewhere in the future,

Some sense of normalcy,

At least some hope,

And then there are the riots that are happening.

So the intentions for peaceful protests appear to be,

Now they're overshadowed by these riots.

And it's such a sad situation.

And I know I share with some of you that I have shed my tears.

And for me,

I've had to take a step away and a detox from the news,

The news which appears to repeat itself over and over.

And that's one thing that I would invite to all of you is if you are feeling overwhelmed by fear or anxiety or panic,

Please take a break from the news.

And just experience for one hour or maybe longer.

And then in this yoga nidra,

In this episode,

I'm offering at least 30 minutes here for you to step away and take a big breath.

Feel it.

And take a big sigh.

Release empty.

And would you place your left hand on your heart and your right hand on your belly?

And observe your breath.

Connect to the reality of the inhales and the exhales received in the body and releasing from the body.

Notice the physical sensations of your body.

What are you touching?

Whether you're sitting or whether you're laying down.

Notice the weight of your bones.

Notice if the muscles seem tight or the joints seem tight.

So taking the time to study yourself,

To observe.

Check in and ask yourself,

How are you doing in this moment?

And as if you are talking to yourself as a kind friend or someone that you look up to for comfort.

And ask yourself,

What is it that you need right now to experience calm?

And notice in the body,

The physical sensations of the body.

Despite the sensations of calm,

Relaxing the muscles and the skin.

And check in if there are any deep seated emotions,

Especially if there are tears or maybe there's even something at the back of the throat that needs to be released.

And can you give yourself permission and allow yourself to empty,

Empty the tears,

Empty the moan at the back of your throat?

Maybe there's even something louder than that.

And maybe there's even something physical in the body that could use you shaking in the body or moving in the body.

Because you might be like I have been holding on,

Trying to hold it all together.

And then it might seem like so much when you feel like you're in a space when things are falling apart.

And that might be true outside of you,

What we don't have control over.

But right here in your body,

In your mind,

Your emotions,

Your heart,

Breathe,

Move,

Shake,

Release,

Scream,

Connect in.

Give yourself permission to release.

There's an invitation to enter a primal space.

And this may be uncomfortable.

This may be new for you to connect yourself in this way.

Especially if you're used to being in control,

To holding it all together,

To making it look like everything is okay.

And there could even be a fear of once you allow one tear to drop,

That it could be like a waterfall,

That you won't be able to stop at all.

And trust yourself that it will stop.

That there's a possibility with the emptying out and a clearing out,

That there's a possibility of an inner peace.

And let go of any destination.

Let go of needing to know if you're doing it right.

Is it working?

And just be,

Just knowing that as you connect yourself,

Connect to the sensations,

That that is enough.

And you might be experiencing a sense of peace and calm.

And welcome that in.

So please stay connected to the body,

Stay connected to the breath.

Now I invite you to open up your mind,

Open up your ears,

Open up your heart.

And I'm going to share this passage from this book,

When Things Fall Apart.

And these words,

They may seem and sound radical.

I know when I first read them,

I felt like it was radical,

You know,

In a space of panic.

And when things are falling apart,

How can I connect to inner peace?

And my offering to you is to share what I'm learning from my master teachers to why not,

Why not give it a try.

So please open up your heart,

Your mind,

Your ears.

And you can keep your hand on your belly and your heart or relax your arms,

Whatever allows you to receive and listen.

Life is a good teacher and a good friend.

Things are always in transition.

If we could only realize it,

Nothing ever sums itself up in the way that we like to dream about.

The off-center,

In-between state is an ideal situation,

A situation in which we don't get caught and we can open our hearts and minds beyond limit.

It's a very tender,

Non-aggressive,

Open-ended state of affairs.

To stay with that shakiness,

To stay with a broken heart,

With a rumbling stomach,

With a feeling of hopelessness and wanting to get revenge,

That is the path of true awakening.

Sticking with that uncertainty,

Getting the knack of relaxing in the midst of chaos,

Learning not to panic,

This is the spiritual path.

Getting the knack of catching ourselves,

Of gently and compassionately catching ourselves is the path of the warrior.

We catch ourselves one zillion times as once again,

Whether we like it or not,

We harden into resentment,

Bitterness,

Righteous indignation,

Harden in any way,

Even into a sense of relief,

A sense of inspiration.

Every day we could think about the aggression in the world,

And right now our world seems close,

Close to your home,

Close to my home.

All over the world,

Everybody always strikes out at the enemy and the pain escalates forever.

Every day we could reflect on this and ask ourselves,

Am I going to add to the aggression in the world?

Every day at the moment when things get edgy,

We can just ask ourselves,

Am I going to practice peace or am I going to war?

So whether you're literally in the midst of the civil unrest or watching it from the sidelines in the comfort of your home and watching it on TV,

The invitation is to ask yourself,

Am I going to practice peace or am I going to war?

And my invitation to you is to practice peace.

And my invitation to you is to heed this lesson this evening from Pema Chodron,

Is to consider that this is our spiritual path,

That it may seem wrong to be in so much discomfort,

But this is your opportunity,

My opportunity to awaken your peaceful warrior.

And I am with you if you're experiencing fear and anxiety and even a sense of helplessness and not knowing what to do and wanting this all to stop.

And the spiritual path is right here in this transition for you to discover the power and the strength for you to connect your breath,

Connect to I choose peace.

Invite peace into your forehead and your cheeks,

Into the eyelids and your jaw,

Invite peace in your tongue and your mouth,

Invite peace into your throat,

Into your words,

Invite peace into your ears,

Your neck,

Your upper back,

Your middle back,

Your lower back,

Invite peace into your lungs,

Into the rise and fall of your chest,

Invite peace into your belly,

Invite peace into your right arm,

To the bicep,

Into the forearm,

Into the wrist,

Invite peace into your fist and your hand by opening your hand to surrender,

To receive peace and to offer peace.

Invite peace into the left arm,

The left bicep,

Elbow,

Forearm,

Wrist and into your left palm,

In your left hand,

Opening that left palm to receive peace and offer peace.

All ten fingers soft,

Entire face soft and tender,

Upper torso relaxed and then look into your own heart and invite peace and picture the color green.

The color green is the color of the heart chakra.

Imagine that green blooming and glowing,

Expanding,

So within your body and expanding out into the world.

Invite peace into your hips,

Into your right leg,

The right foot,

The sole of the right foot,

The toes of the right foot.

Invite peace into the left leg,

Peace into the left foot,

The sole of the left foot,

The toes of the left foot and with softness in the left and right feet.

Inviting peace as you stand and step and walk in this world with peace.

Invite peace into the foundation of where you sit or lie down.

Experience the softness of what is supporting you,

The tenderness of what is holding you and invite the light of your source,

Your source of inspiration,

Your source of peace,

Your source of life.

Back to what is sacred and divine.

So continue in this yoga nidra,

In this meditation in silence.

Invite peace.

In your mind and mind.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Gaze at your third eye,

The space in between your eyebrows.

And in your mind's eye,

Picture whether it's a real person or the energy of someone that could use your loving kindness.

And know that there's an importance for you and I and all of us that are capable of walking this planet as a peaceful warrior to offer our peace and loving kindness to those who need comfort.

Place your left hand on your heart and then place your right hand on top of your left hand.

And imagine that you're holding space and you're holding energetically the heart of someone who could use your peace and loving kindness.

So from your inner peace,

Offer peace to someone who needs comfort.

To someone who needs to hear,

Everything is going to be okay.

Who needs to hear,

You are not alone.

You are not alone.

I am here for you.

So from your grounded,

Peaceful place,

Offering your comfort and your peace.

And to those of you who feel like you are in need of that comfort now,

I place my hand on my heart and my right hand on top of my left hand and I hold you in my heart and I offer you comfort and peace.

But for those of you that are struggling to experience peace and comfort from the peace within me,

I send you peace,

Comfort,

Healing.

You are not alone.

And I say to you also that I am sorry.

I am sorry for your suffering.

And I feel your pain.

And peace is possible.

Even if it feels like it's impossible,

When you cannot experience peace,

I right now,

I offer you peace.

In this moment,

I stand for you as a peaceful warrior.

And for those of you that will drift into sleep with this yoga nidra,

May you infuse your mind,

Your body,

And your breath with the energy and comfort of a peaceful warrior.

And know that this meditation is here for you to repeat and come back to at any time you need.

My heart goes out to each and every one of you.

Namaste.

Reviews

It it is now 06/01/2025. Our country (US) is again (or still is?) experiencing great turmoil. I grieve for this but I cannot remain in this state. These times require compassion and peace and loving kindness to all. Be well.

What a practice. I can’t emphasize enough how meaningful a meditation this is. Thank you for your teaching! 🙏🏼

💜💜🙏🏻

❤️🙏🕊️

I have been practicing daily for many years, but never tried a practice explicitly stated to be yoga nidra before. I am not a fan of guided body scans as I already spend my days doing body scans due to chronic medical conditions, and I believe I put yoga nidra into that category for some reason.

Given the circumstances of my life, I strive to maximize my resilience and compassion for others, while drawing on my warrior training to not become a doormat for others, either.

Today, I needed this practice to remind me of the balance necessary between the two. The last few days - and those ahead for the next few weeks at minimum - have been very stressful on the household. A relationship I have with one member has ways been contentious, but I realized last night that it has actually become emotionally and verbally abusive, and given the relationship this person has to my spouse, I have kept silent to keep the household peace.

I woke up this morning with such tightness in my chest and throat, and none of my usual breath work nor movement practices were helping to shake it loose. This is residual from a very intense interaction last night, and normally I am able to ground this out within a few hours of it happening. Not this time.

The Universe must have set it up for me to see this practice and decide to try it out. It was the title of the book that caught my attention; the yoga nidra was secondary, but I thought perhaps I could see what it was about at the same time.

I could not release my chest or throat, no matter what I tried. Movement, breathing, visualization, drawing up energy - none of it helped. But in the last few minutes of this practice, something small shook loose. It came when I heard those words, "I'm sorry." Sorry for the suffering. Sorry for what I have gone through. Though clearly unrelated to you personally, hearing those words from someone else released some of the tightness. I felt tears forming and my chest loosening a bit. The tars would not fall, even when I gave myself permission and reminded myself I am alone at home in a safe space to let go. The tightness in my chest eased slightly, nut my throat did not. It is not painful as my chest is though. (IT is not medically-related; I do have cardiac issues and know the different signs and sensations to watch for.)

There was a moment of clarity there that I needed. A recognition of certain elements of the situation I often forget. I do not know how the changing circumstances will affect this scenario, nor even what steps to take next. I just know I need to come fully hone to myself and re-locate my core of power and self for me to move forward with purpose and stability, however things work out.

I am hopeful that in less than a year, this situation will be no longer as it is, physically. Were it not for some unanticipated life events, it would have been already. I feel my chest tightening back up again, and I think back to tge words spoken here, and then to a scene in the movie "Good Will Hunting" when the title character finally breaks down in his therapist's office. As one who has sat in both chairs in a therapist's office (whether my own or someone else's), I can appreciate the disconnect between mind-knowing and somatic-knowing. I struggle with the latter, almost always.

Thank you for the moments of peace this talk and practice provided. I know now the release can happen. Hope is still present. I am still myself, and I am strong, with the ability to choose how I react. I believe my decision, put off for years now, has finally rung true - I need to minimize my contact with this person as much as possible. Their issues are their own, and while trained to be so, I am not their therapist and I do not need to try and help if they are unwilling to accept it after nearly two decades of trying. I am not an emotional punching bag anymore. I choose peace. I choose myself. I choose compassion but from a distance. I choose to allow myself to become whole again. I choose to accept that this process will take time and be uneven, and that is both natural and okay. I choose me. I cannot help others if I am not in a place to hold space for them myself. So I choose me, my safety in all aspects, and feel to the depths of my being that I do not exist for the convenience of others or to meet their expectations. I am enough. I am more than enough. I am gloriously imperfect, the perfect me that nobody else can ever become. I shine my light, and let that light burn away anything that may come at me from others out of any negative emotion. Only love shall enter in, and only love shall come from within. I am not a victim. I have been hurt in many ways, over a long time, but I choose to stop allowing myself to be put in that position anymore. I am so much more than that. And as I write these words, my chest is opening slowly, little by little. There is a small smile starting, too. I can. I can. I can.

In a few minutes I will be ready to begin the day's tasks. I thank you so much for sharing this practice. I am adding it to a couple playlists and bookmarking/saving it as well. I see you and the light within you. Be well. Gratitude. 🤲🏻❤🤲🏻

Wonderful meditation and reading

Thank you, this was very much needed.

Thank you so much!

Good talk - very reassuring and insightful wisdom in these tricky times we live in.