Notice the Journey Yoga

Notice the Journey (NTJ) Yoga is a community centered on establishing, cultivating, and repairing a sense of safety, connection, and social engagement within one's Self and with others, Spirit, and the Earth.

It is a safe and brave space to work on self-regulation and co-regulation, to repair the ruptures and residues of trauma and stress. Below are some of the means we'll use.

The word "yoga" comes from the Sanskrit word "yuj" meaning "to join" or "to yoke." It is a philosophy, a way of seeing and being in the world, that originated in India. It is not a flexy-bendy exercise program.  In the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali, an early text on yoga philosophy, there are very few postures and they are primarily about preparing to sit in meditation for long periods of time.

Let me clearly state again: this is not a physical exercise class. Any movement that we do can be done in a chair or even laying on the floor.

Come back into deep connection, to a renewed relationship within yourself and with others, Spirit, and the Earth.

Learn skills and practices to increase self-regulation and enhance co-regulation with others.

Be equipped with a "gracious plenty" of resources to make the practice your own and achieve your goals of health, growth, and restoration.

Supported Savasana is a special practice I’ve developed over many years to facilitate deep relaxation and restore regulation. It’s a blend of yoga nidra, Āyurveda, mindfulness techniques, traumatology, research on relaxation, and principles of applied polyvagal theory. It is and has been a part of my personal home practice for many years.

Each session will include a +25-minute pre-recorded Supported Savasana. The recording has gentle background music (used with permission of the artist) and my voice.

You do Supported Savasana in as comfortable and supported position as possible, usually supine (laying down). I’ll guide you through a body scan, a series of relaxation techniques, and simple breathing practices. “In the middle,” I bring themes from the session. The hope is, while you are deeply relaxed you are able to “lay goodness and restoration down” in your nervous system.

I’m intentionally utilizing a “community supported” fee structure. So, you select your contribution level for each series:

• Sustainer: $75
• Standard: $60 (use coupon code NTJY60 at checkout)
• Supported: $45 (use coupon code NTJY45 at checkout)

If you need additional scholarship support, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. Please do not let finances be the barrier to your participation.

 Each series (usually 4 weeks) will have a theme (sometimes strongly connected, sometimes gently held) and each session will have a poem or passage for reflection and discussion. Poetry and passage meditation can help to steady and center the wondering mind. The gift of the poet is to turn a phrase that changes your perception, usually to bring into focus what you already know.

In yoga and Āyurveda, prāna is the vital life force; without it, life ceases. It is primarily taken in and animates our bodies through our breath. Prānāyāma is the interaction and control of that life force, generally through breathing practices. From a polyvagal perspective, breathing exercises are a "neural exercise" (Stephen Porges) that helps us to regulate our nervous system.

First proposed by Stephen Porges, polyvagal theory is the neuroscience of safety, connection, and social engagement. Deb Dana, the leading therapeutic translator of Stephen's work, calls it "the science of feeling safe enough to fall in love with life and take the risks of living." Each gathering will be structured through a "polyvagal lens" and have exercises to support health, growth, and restoration.

The practice is highly personal and I encourage approaching each session with curiosity about the experience you are actually having in the moment. The practice can vary significantly from session to session.

It is so worth the time to assemble your pops and supplies, to set your space, and to attend to your comfort. Here are a few basic "set up" suggestions:

• Make sure that the surface you are laying on is comfortable. It does not have to be a yoga mat! It can be a bed, couch, a comforter placed on the floor, a foam camping mat, etc.
• Be sure that you feel safe in the practice space. Where is the door and windows? Which way to you want to point your head?
• You do not have to purchase a bolsters, but they are a glorious luxury and good investment if you are going to regularly practice. You can roll blankets and towels and use various pillows. I even use wash cloths as micro props.
• Eye pillows are great. A cool wash cloth is also wonderful.
• I recommend a blanket, even a thin one, over your body. It might not be for warmth, but for grounding.
• I always bring a journal and tissues. Just in case. 
• "Smells" from candles or oils can help or not. Again, be curious about your experience and sensations.

All these are only suggestions. As ever, make the practice your own.

Here are a few cautions I commonly say:

• Breathing is not automatically a “trauma-neutral” practice.
• Mindfulness is not automatically a “trauma-neutral” practice.
• Relaxation is not automatically a “trauma-neutral” practice.

What I mean is that any of these “supportive” practices can very easily activate the very trauma that you are using them to alleviate. This is not at all uncommon — it is very important to know this caution and to normalize the activation, if it happens.

Knowing this can decrease shame. Nothing is wrong with you.

Knowing this can actually help you “meet the moment” by strengthening your Window of Tolerance AND knowing when to end a practice.

Knowing this can help foster a contemplative curiosity that makes space for creative modifications.

Here’s a little more guidance:

• When doing a breathing practice, if it’s not working for me (usually indicated by irritation, agitation, or anxiety), I pause and attempt a re-approach. I try a modification, if I can. But I very rarely try more than thrice. If it’s not working, I “release the breath” from modification, maybe even from my attention.
• In any practice I notice that I have spaced out or gone numb to my experience, I attempt a modification and re-approach. But same as above, usually no more than thrice.
• In Supported Savasana: any sudden/sharp pain, tingling, or numbing means stop and attend right away. Other types of sensations can be explored.
• In Supported Savasana, what happens happens. No goal, no agenda. You don’t have to “go all the way to the end.” If an insight comes and you want to stop and write, please do so. If you get bored, activated, or fall asleep, then that’s how it is today.

Please remember, all the permission you need comes from within you; you don’t need my permission for anything other than copyrights (grin). 

How to Do Corpse Pose (Savasana) in Yoga Proper Form, Variations, and Common Mistakes 

Ahhhh: 5 Ways to Support Savasana 

The Subtle Struggle of Savasana 

What Your Savasana Can Tell You 

Why Savasana Is the Hardest Yoga Pose

Tempted to Skip Savasana? 10 Top Yoga Teachers Explain Why It’s the Most Important Pose