Sacred Awakening by Lisa Temoshok

~~~~~~~ SACRED AWAKENING ~~~~~~~

Experience Deep Relaxation Through Yoga Nidra

Yoga ("union") Nidra ("sleep") is a unique practice of alert awareness and deep relaxation. It is one of the most effective ways to connect with your body's wisdom, your mind's natural clarity, your heart's desire and your soul's path. Yoga Nidra is a practice of awakening to the sacred, authentic core of your life.

This CD has been created for you to experience a complete Yoga Nidra practice at home. It contains 45 minutes of instruction in four sections, guiding you through Centering, Gentle Movement, Yoga Nidra, and Closing. Along the way, you are invited to awaken and access your deep subconscious with compassion and clarity. By accessing these deep layers, Yoga Nidra encourages transformation and healing and provides a powerful practice for releasing deeply-rooted habits, fears, and beliefs. If practiced regularly, Yoga Nidra works on the challenging habits of mind that actually create and sustain inner conflict. It also nurtures positive habits of will and discipline through mindful awareness.

Yoga Nidra is best practice while lying on your back - supported, warm, and comfortable. Depending on your body, modifications are always encouraged. The process of Yoga Nidra begins with a series of awareness rotations that gently disconnect you from external sensations and invite you to focus on inner sensations. The practice moves through sound and sight awareness, body awareness and breath awareness to more subtle states. Through consciously observing the breath and the body, the mind enters a sleep-consciousness state. It is a very natural process. When you awaken, the benefits are felt immediately in a calmness of mind, a relaxed body and a heightened sense of mental concentration.

Yoga Nidra can energize your life and enrich your present yoga practice by refining your ability to direct your attention, which is one of the primary skills in meditation, When you are adept at attuning to the sensations of your body, mind, and spirit with compassion and gentleness as offered by the practice of Yoga Nidra, your life's energy (which is generally controlled by the conscious mind) is invited to move freely, restoring the body to a sense of harmony and balance.


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How to use Sacred Awakening

This CD has been created for both beginning and experienced yoga students and can be practiced in a variety of ways. If you are new to yoga, it is best to begin with the complete Yoga Nidra practice by following the CD exactly as recorded. If you are an experienced student, please feel free to pause the CD after Track Two and add your own asana or pranayama sequences.

Not all yoga is suitable for everyone. To reduce the risk of injury, consult your doctor before beginning the practice of yoga. The instruction and information presented in this CD are in now way intended as a substitute for medical counseling.


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Preparing for the Practice

Before you begin the practice, it is best to have everything you need nearby. You will need to have a warm, quiet space where you will not be disturbed. If you are lying on the floor, you will need a mat, a blanket to place under your knees and a blanket to cover yourself. If you are sitting in a char, you will also benefit from a light shawl or blanket to drape over your shoulders.


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Acknowledgements & Thanks

For my experiences in the practice of Yoga Nidra, I am grateful for the book, "Faith" by Sharon Salzberg, the publication "Infinite Awakening" by Richard C. Miller, Ph.D., the recordings "Explore Yoga Nidra" by Tarika Diana Damelio and "Door of Faith" by Krishna Das.

For my mother and father.


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About Lisa

Lisa Temoshok received her professional yoga certification at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Lenox, Massachusetts. She is the creator of Sraddha Yoga and Sound~Yoga. Lisa has studied and practiced yoga, meditation and the healing arts since 1986 in California and New York.