EP8: Yoga Nidra 101 - Is it Meditation and Why Should I Do It?

Everyday I try and figure out how on earth a person could get through a day without meditating.? I know I couldn't. Well of course I could  but why would I do that? I need a rested body and mind and a nervous system ready to hold up to what ever is thrown at it and there is a lot. It's a never ending battle. I am 100% certain if I can meditate anyone can but hey you're not me right? You have your own stuff going on. You are extremely unique.  However, after a decade or so of teaching, you might be surprised but I hear a lot of the same stories. We are often more similar than you might care to believe. This podcast will be my constant effort to throw meditative spaghetti at you and see what sticks. It just takes one noodle to fill you up.

Listen to some stories, reminders, motivations, facts and skills. Maybe some handholding or instructive baby steps. What ever it is, I will try to lead you down a path where it's your life, but better.

Some shows talk about meditation and then you experience it at the end. I haven't found that works for me or my students so I'm going head first into a new routine. Listen to this podcast when ever you want. Day or night, running or sitting, no rules. Then when you are ready,  I will give you a way to start experiencing the effects of meditation.  In the long run, I refuse to let you be all talk, I want to see action that moves you down the right path. The path that you intentionally set for yourself. No need to wait. Let's dive in. Go big or go home.

Tune in to the first season of getting started down the road to peace.  Each season will last about a month will a consistent theme. We will build this castle one beautiful stone at a time.

Let's be victorious together.

Join me for 31 days of meditation designed to help you slide into a peaceful, dry, healthy January.

One of the number one things we need, when trying to recover from illness, is for the body to rest. But when your sick, sometimes even sleep isn't restful enough. Symptoms and medicines can really make our rest a bit wonky.

Join me for a meditation to help you rest deeply, boost your immune system and help the recovery process.

I am on day 5 of being sick but on the mend. This helped me tremendously so I had to share it with you! 

Life is full of all kinds of pain: physical, mental, emotional. Perhaps you are getting ready for surgery, mending a broken heart or trying to limit your pain medication.  Perhaps your pain is coupled with depression or maybe you just want to feel better. Today we will discuss how meditation can help ease the pain. And in the meantime add oodles of additional benefits to your life.

Link to NPR Article

As we seek to build our resilience you can use this short five-minute guided meditation as your anchor to the present, safe, moment.

Feeling out of sorts, a bit wonky? This pandemic has left a lot of us with a desire to make a change but hesitation or procrastination is affecting our ability to flourish. Let's see how you can move forward in life and make changes a bit more easily. You don't need to change your whole life right now, start small and see big things unfold. We are lacking resilience and it is time to pump it up and find out mojo!

This episode of The Alexa Z Show provides listeners with a Guided Meditation experience called Yoga Nidra. The intention of this meditation is to provide a feeling of peace. Alexa discusses how this 20-minute meditation done once, or better yet, a few times a week, can be just the thing we need during the pandemic to soothe our souls and calm our nervous system.

SUMMARY

This episode of The Alexa Z Show discusses her "list" that causes a whole range of negative emotions within her, and the analogy of riding a horse to go the direction that you want to go.

She talks about taking 5 minutes of calm to control your emotions and avoid negative thoughts from taking over. This short time, every single day, is all you need to overcome your own list of negativity.

QUOTES

05:45 "I want you to get away from all the emotions that are connected to that crappy list I just gave you. The emotions of fear and anxiety and grief and sorrow and, I'm getting all the bad ones, exhaustion, confusion, depression."

06:57 "I had that thought and then I had this feeling and then that reaction happened. Normal, that's the way we think it goes. It's the exact opposite. Your emotions arrive first and your thoughts come later."

08:00 "Do you want to be right or do you want to win?"

09:53 "Take 5 minutes for yourself and realize, scientifically, that you are using that mindful time to calm, make that nerve, make everything that's going up to your brain slow down."

11:23 "You want to guide that horse. You want to guide yourself in the direction that you want to go. You want to not be reactive. You want to build your own path"

------------------------------

HIGHLIGHTS

02:59 Acknowledging your list of negativity

07:23 Control your feelings to control your thoughts

09:36 Using 5 minutes to calm your vagus nerve

Resources : www.alexazshow.com

SUMMARY

This episode of The Alexa Z Show discusses the relationship of courageous decisions and meditation. Alexa begins by acknowledging the rapid changes everyone is dealing with and how to show up with the clearest mind to take action.

She also shares her own thoughts about selfishness and giving up and her determination to make the best decisions that affect herself, her business, and all the people whose lives she touches. Alexa also discusses how the stillness of meditation provides the clarity you need to make sincere and courageous decisions.

QUOTES

00:43 "Any change can be scary. But with the help of a clear head and an open heart, meditation can help you unlock the courage to do just about anything."

02:08 "If you're not healthy, clear, and in touch with your inner self, then the quality of your actions is definitely going to suffer."

03:13 "Quality is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction, and skillful execution. It represents the wise choice of many alternatives." - WillIam A. Foster

06:43 "If you can take explicit action, or at least hope your action is explicit, then whatever the consequences are—good, bad, or indifferent—you can deal with it."

08:01 "You sit and be quiet. The insight will be more insightful and that piece of your body that you are giving restful time and peace, it will give you also that clear, peaceful mind and the courage to make sincere, clear, and intelligent decisions." 

HIGHLIGHTS

01:34 Dealing with change & showing up the best you can be 

05:38 Doing what's best for you & the dealing with the guilt that comes with it 

07:06 Taking care of yourself first

------------------------------

RESOURCES

https://www.alexazmeditates.com/podcast

In this episode, I will shed some light on how meditation can help us stop latching on to stories in our minds that limit our abilities and, ultimately, our success. Are you going back to work, are you still quarantined, are you ready for your kids to get out of zoom class and start living a healthy life? But are you scared? We know the immediate future is far from normal, but with a daily dose of peaceful gumption, you can do it.  Hold tight, and let's figure this out, ok?

Hey there, Alexa Z here, and I am back to work. Not only teaching meditation, but my spa is open, and I am massaging and meditating my way out of a pothole—a big pothole. This hole is big enough that I can barely see daylight, and it smells a bit like I have been in it too long. This pothole holds some miserable stories. Stories like:

I may go broke, trying to get the business up and running.

I am working my ass off and will continue to lose money until we go bankrupt.

I have injuries that I am ignoring, so I will probably need spinal fusion soon.

My employees won't come back.

My husband is going to start to hate me because all I do is work.

I spend the rest of my life working a job I am not sure I have passion for anymore.

Now here is the truth. There is financial distress and hard work ahead, and I need to stay healthy and avoid injury. That is about the extent of the truth in those stories. The rest is made up of exaggerated, bullshit excuses for why I might fail or why my life sucks. What are your stories? I am sorry to say this, but we all have stories filled with sorrow, despair, illness, and sadly even death.

So how is that working for you? I love hearing people's stories, and I love that I can help people through using meditation to sort stuff out, get out of the head and into the heart, blah blah blah. But, I must tell you the truth, I was beginning to get tired of people's stories. I hear young and old people cry and moan over how hard their lives are now that they have to go back to work in this awful life where we have to wear a mask and all I can think is "holy crap you have never experienced hardship have you?" You have a job, and you can perform it? Lucky you. I want to say, "shut the hell up and stop complaining you entitled, lazy little shit." And this is where I said to myself ENOUGH. You don't mean any of that, that is not you, you feel for these people, and you want to help, but you can't even get out of your way because I have become a little selfish shit.

Meditation - calm down, observe your thoughts, let them pass, do not latch on to them. 75,000 thoughts, most mundane, and the ones in the pothole are NOT the ones I want to spend time with. So why do I latch onto them? Because it's easy. It takes no effort to be carried away by a distraction. It just happens to be a shitty distraction.

Lately, my personal practice has surrounded thoughts and letting go, and right now, that is so hard! But every morning I do it like a soldier on a mission. Sit, let go of thoughts, be aware of them, don't get hung up on how many are floating by, and don't get angry they negative thoughts. Just permit yourself for even 5 minutes to let go and hang out. Be with yourself and watch them float by like clouds. By letting go, you gain freedom, and this freedom can last the whole day—the freedom to guide your body mind and spirit to the right place.

This place in your mind is one of peace, productivity, and positivity.

Use your mind to choose where you put your attention and energy. Start small, find the courage to let yourself start over every day like it was a new day because it is a new day, and if you aren't present for it, then it is just another day gone lost not found.

If you are meditating, don't stop, actually do a  bit more. If you haven't started, what is stopping you?

You know this is a meditation motivation podcast, so I know you want to learn. If you are stuck, go to my website at www.alexazmeditates.com and click on a free consult. No strings attached, I do like to help.