Teacher's Practice #5 - Lockdown Stories

"LOCKDOWN STORIES" 
- 10th October 2020

After coming out of lockdown, the BYTA held space for sharing stories about how we had each processed the pandemic summer; the effects it had had on our own practice and on our teaching.

And then we supported the group with a gentle practice of Yoga Nidra.

Opening with a  talking circle, let's take some time for ourselves to decompress and share how the events of this year have shaped us. 

- It may have caused some reflection and deeper understanding.
- It may have had an influence on the evolution of your personal practice. 
- Maybe you were called to rush and respond to the support others needed.
- Maybe you needed to take some time to nourish yourself.

And after we share our stories, Mel Dupres will then replenish us with a 45min ‘freedom’ themed YOGA NIDRA.

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​My Lockdown Story

"In my classes I often speak to life’s constant motion and the importance of giving yourself space to pause - to reflect, to contemplate, to recharge.

During the imposed ‘PAUSE’ brought on by this 2020 pandemic I was forced to confront my own failing to do this in my ‘normal’ life and I realised how depleted I had become.

With kids at home, the addition of a second parent available full time during the lockdown, was a real blessing. The kids were thrilled... and it meant, with that extra support, that I was able to carve some solitude for myself.
With windows of alone time, I very quickly felt the benefit of increased meditations and space to really clearly contemplate where I am in life.
It felt such relief. It took the experience of that feeling for me to realise that I hadn’t been feeling that way all along.

I vowed during lockdown “I’ll renew my devotion to daily practice”… “I’ll read all the yoga books that I’ve enthusiastically bought over the years and have been meaning to read”... classically, my imagined plans fell short.

But what I did find was an ease to let go and release from the expectations of the world. In that silence I felt that I had time to let all the things I've come to know really absorb. In that silence I felt a freedom to really hear my true nature and desires. The answers to my questions of what I need to heal, all seamlessly arose in that empty space.

I paused, I listened, I healed.

I’m very privileged to have the security in my life to find that space, and to have been able to have this positive experience from the lockdown."

- Emma Sloan Cooper

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​Yoga Nidra

'Each of us is universal, unique yet connected, while traveling on our own journey of self awareness.  Through the practice of Yoga Nidra, collectively coming together to rest and unwind in aware sleep, the opportunity presents to peel back the layers of the body and the consciousness by tapping into the true essence of self.  In this lies the secret of self healing which filters into the universe offering the healing of Humanity.'