Mmmmm, Zen Sessions.
Sounds delicious, but what exactly is it?
You might be wondering how a Zen Session differs from a regular class, or whether you have to be an especially Zen person to join in, or if you need to have any special knowledge or experience.
In essence, a Zen Session is a gift to yourself. A way to honour all your hard work, all your efforts, all the physical and emotional labour you have given recently, all the difficult things you have been juggling…
In practice, a Zen Session is a longer-than-normal class (two hours) focussing much more on nourishing the nervous system than on increasing flexibility or strength.
How do we do that?
We focus on the breath – even more than normal – and sometimes play with breathing practices that we don’t have time for in a regular class.
We practice mindfulness, loving kindness and self-compassion. This takes the form of defined exercises and/or may be woven through the practice.
We use restorative yoga poses to encourage the nervous system to switch from “fight or flight” mode into “rest and digest” mode.
We use a practice called Yoga Nidra to help recover from lost sleep, tiredness, insomnia.
We bathe our souls in a delicious sound bath – I use swinging chimes over your body, and you lie down and let the vibrations soak deeply in.
Really, it’s a lot of lying down and sighing out, followed by deep relaxation and often sleep and snoring 🙂
No previous experience is necessary. You can be a complete and utter beginner in the yoga world.
You don’t need any special knowledge, experience or equipment. Just your lovely self, a smile and an open mind.
Oh and then we have a lovely cup of tea.
What’s not to love?
