As you know - we live in a culture where care work is incredibly undervalued. Many social workers, nurses, yoga teachers, activists, artists and healers of all kinds are barely getting by in a time that we desperately need the community care that people in these roles are trained to provide. Burnout, hopelessness and despair is becoming alarmingly common among anyone sensitive, anyone paying attention, and anyone in roles of public service and caregiving.

The tides of this time in history are — unsteady, to say the least. That can bring all kinds of instability and turmoil — and it also brings opportunity. What kind of world do we want to create? What systems are crumbling that really needed to be replaced anyways?

What if we truly valued and poured into our healers, community builders and change makers? The time is now…

When we’ve experienced a significant stress, our (beloved) defensive responses can bring limitations to what we can clearly see. This practice can support you in resting and reorienting to the support and beauty that also exists all around you.

Many of us feel guilty for taking care of ourselves when there are so many overlapping emergencies surrounding us. Yet, the reality is that we need nourishment to power the important care work we do for ourselves, in our families, and in our communities. We’re in this for the long haul.

This week’s practice is a Yoga Nidra designed to support your ease, peace and rest while preparing you to receive the abundance and goodness all around you.

Yoga nidra means “yogic sleep” and it is both a practice and a state of consciousness. The practice involves a multi-stage guided meditation designed to guide you to a resting place. The state of consciousness is described as somewhere between waking and sleeping, where deep healing can occur.

For your practice it is important to get as physically comfortable as you can, so please — go all out. Whether you’re practicing on a yoga mat, a couch, or in bed — feel free to grab all the pillows and blankets you can get your hands on. Even an eye pillow (or a towel) if you’d like. We’re embracing softness over here. Your body temperature will often drop in this practice, so please dress warmly.

While yoga nidra is generally a practice of horizontal stillness - you are not stuck. Move and adjust at any time. If laying down isn’t available to you right now, feel free to sit up while leaning against a wall or some other kind of support.