I talk a lot (or at the very least think a lot) about how yoga is so vastly different. You can go into one studio and get something totally different than your experience the day before at another studio. Even teachers at the same studio teach differently depending on the style and flavor of their teacher. If yoga were an ice cream parlor, it would have more flavors of ice cream than any other ice cream parlor in the world, guaranteed. But sometimes the variety of choice kills the intention to act in the first place.

I consider myself a unique yoga teacher because my training is also vast. I’m a certified power yoga teacher and you can ask my students how much power they get out of 60 minutes with me; based on feedback I’ve received even over the past couple of weeks, I bring a lot of power to the mat. But I also have this other, gentler relaxing side where I trained to teach iRest® yoga nidra. This is also a very powerful practice but in a much different way. This practice tackles power of the mind over power of the body.

It’s taken me a while to figure out how to deliver this practice most effectively to you. I was finally prompted by a good friend to just create a video already. So here you go: you’re very own intro to yoga nidra – Ashley Josephine style.

A few things about yoga nidra:

1. You most commonly practice this lying on your back with your eyes closed

2. Think of it like a guided meditation

3. This is meant to be a deeply relaxing practice but can also bring you up against some of your deepest emotional blocks and fears. This is a good thing. It’s like a cleansing of the subconscious mind.

4. I am not a certified therapist. If this brings up issues that you aren’t comfortable dealing with on your own, you might consider contacting a certified therapist near you to work through these issues more thoroughly.

5. This isn’t meant to scare you!

6. If you fall asleep, that’s perfectly okay.

7. Enjoy!

As always, please let me know what you think in the comments below the video. If you ever have any suggestions for future videos or are curious about something in particular, connect with me on Facebook!

For more meditations, download my yoga nidra guided meditation CD here!

Image credit: no film