I invite you to join me in wishing @Ayla Nova a very happy birthday 🤍 Here's to the one who works nonstop so the rest of us can... rest. 🙂‍↕️🌙 Thank you for the love, generosity, and care you pour into this community and out into the world.

Hi everyone, I'd like to share that I just finished this Yoga Nidra of Ayla's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX1RjH-CC6w I found it particularly strong. When I wake up with anxiety, rather than going into scrolling on the telephone, I put on a Nova Nidra on Youtube and attempt to listen to the tension in my heart, rather than staying with anxious thoughts. I find it easy to listen to Ayla's voice, it rings with authenticity. It is the voice of someone who has really walked the walk. In this session, she talks with great poetry about the way the heart speaks - about its threads of wisdom and song. Listening, I felt all sorts of rushing sensations in my body. It's not like I don't think at all during the yoga nidra, but thinking is vastly reduced, and presence increases considerably. That's the magic. I don't know anything else non-chemical that does such a good job. It feels like the biggest gift I can give myself at least at 4am. In this yoga nidra, especially powerful was the emotional section where we shifted from pleasure to pain and back again until we felt both together. I felt plugged into the electricity - I was breathing deeply in some sort of deep release. The sensations were almost too much to deal with, but I managed to stay with them. The reward was the state of stillness and total body awareness that followed. It was quite blissful. Tears were quietly rolling from my eyes, which is always a good sign. And there was sense of thankfulness and empowerment to face the things that I have to face. And I've managed to totally let go of the 'oh shit, it's 5 am, I've got to sleep so I can face tomorrow. I've done a lot of psychedelics in the past, and the sense of connectedness to the body and through to the universe during yoga nidra, is just as strong. So yes, this is where I go in the night. Btw, when I wake up in the morning I do Tara Brach meditations. She's also wonderful in her way. When I finished this session, I didn't want to sleep and wrote this poem: