REST: Live Your Best Life With Better Rest

In this lesson, we acknowledge that having a busy mind is part of being human, and we delve into useful, practical tools and tricks to help the mind rest in the present moment. If you are looking for a great mantra based meditation teacher, check out Davidji on Insight Timer.

In this today’s lesson, we're talking about practicing from the inside out. How your mind and thoughts can affect your body, and how you can practice yoga mentally, for times when movement is out of reach. Keep your eyes peeled for the upcoming lesson about practicing from the outside in!

Learn what the Yoga Nidra practice is before you try out the following two lessons, a shorter Yoga Nidra practice, and a longer Yoga Nidra practice. Once you learn what we are aiming for, the practices will make more sense and be more attainable.

Welcome to your first official practice of the course! This is a short and sweet, effective, Yoga Nidra practice. Here, you practice what you learned about in the previous lesson: systematic relaxation of the layers of the body. As you progress through this meditation, you will get more and more relaxed, and into a deeper state of REST. Happy resting!

This is a longer, more thorough Yoga Nidra practice. Here, you dive deeper into the practice of Yoga Nidra. Make note of how this practice feels compared to the previous one. Do you prefer longer or shorter? Would the different lengths serve you differently on different days? Do you notice any change to how you approach these practices?

In this lesson, you learn about what happens EXTERNALLY with every breath you take. We talk about the breath on the outside, the tip of your nose, your chest, belly, even into your hands and the soles of your feet. At the end, we take a moment to feel all that we've learned, and take a moment to find peace and calm, and connection.

In this lesson, you learn about what happens INTERNALLY with every breath you take, conscious or not. We talk about the lungs, diaphragm, abdomen, and pelvic floor, and briefly feel what we've learned. A new realm of the breath to discover

In this lesson, you learn about what happens energetically in your body with every breath you take, conscious or not. We talk about the nervous system, and how the breath plays such a big role in determining our stress levels.

In this practice, we work to extend the exhale. This practice is one you will likely come back to again and again. Don't force your breath, for example, if exhaling longer than 4 counts is uncomfortable, then stay at 4, over time it will get easier, as you relax into it and your lungs become used to this practice. Keep coming back! You got this. Most find this tricky at the start.

"Listen to your body" is a phrase we've all heard, but what does that really mean!? Listening to your bodies is the first step in working with your body. But, it's not always as straight forward as it seems...what are you listening for? What does listening to your body sound like? What is it saying? In this lesson, we unpack what listening to your body means, and how you can actually do it. This lesson involves a body scan so you can truly practice what you learn.

In this today’s lesson we’ll talk about practicing from the outside in. This is the compliment to an earlier lesson, Mind: Part Three - Inside Out. In this lesson we practice relaxing the physical body to relax the mind. When we are fully present with the physical body, when we relax it on purpose, the mind slows and relaxes too.

In this section we talk about the healing benefits of touch in our restorative practices. You get to try a few different massage and touch techniques to help calm the nervous system and bring rest into little moments in your day.

You made it! Now that you know ALL about rest (the mind, breath and body of it all) it's time to try out some full length REST practices. These practices range from 10 minutes to a full hour, and you can come back to these practices again and again. My REST practices layer in all the elements we've touched on so far in the course - breath work, body work and mindfulness. Keep coming back to these practices whenever you want them, the more you repeat these, the more it lands and becomes rooted in your mind and body. The more you bring Rest alive, and into your life, and the lives of people around you.

For this practice you will need a comfy place to practice, whether that's your yoga mat, a folded blanket on the floor, or even your bed, it's totally up to you. This REST practice layers in all the elements we've touched on so far in the course - breath work, body work and mindfulness. Keep coming back to this practice whenever you want to unwind. Remember the more you rest, the more it lands and becomes rooted in your mind and body. Plus, it just feels so good!

For this practice you will need a comfy place to practice, whether that's your yoga mat, a folded blanket on the floor, or even your bed, it's totally up to you. You'll also need a bolster (or pillows from your bed) and a blanket. This REST practice follows the traditional elements of my Saturday night REST class, we do the first half with gentle stretches and movement, then settle into restorative postures. Keep coming back to this practice whenever you want to unwind. Remember the more you rest, the more it lands and becomes rooted in your mind and body. Plus, it just feels so good!

For this practice you will need a comfy place to practice, whether that's your yoga mat, a folded blanket on the floor, or even your bed, it's totally up to you. You'll also need a bolster (or pillows from your bed) and a blanket. This REST practice follows the traditional elements of my Saturday night REST class, we do the first half with gentle stretches and movement, then settle into restorative postures. Keep coming back to this practice whenever you want to unwind. Remember the more you rest, the more it lands and becomes rooted in your mind and body. Plus, it just feels so good!