09:30

Great Effort, Great Rest: A Guided Meditation With Catherine

by Africa Yoga Project

Rated
4.6
Type
guided
Activity
Meditation
Suitable for
Everyone
Plays
86

Great Effort, Great Rest: a guided Meditation led by AYP Director of Teachers Catherine Njeri. Using the transformational power of yoga to instill mindfulness into our daily lives, this practice is ideal for any time you want to get present, clear your mind, and regain awareness.

MeditationEffortRestYogaMindfulnessClarityAwarenessPacingGroundingReflectionSelf ReflectionPosture AlignmentBreathingBreathing AwarenessBreath PacemakerGoal VisualizationsMantrasMantra RepetitionsPosturesPresenceVisualizations

Transcript

Hey everyone,

Let's meditate.

My name is Catherine and find your seat,

Find your meditation seat.

You're sitting in a way that's comfortable for you,

In a way that is empowering for you.

Focus and be still.

Bring your awareness to your breath.

Simply notice your breath and allow it to move in and out naturally.

Bring your awareness to your connection to the earth,

Your sitting bones,

Your feet or your shins.

Noticing the connection between the earth and your physical body.

Sitting up tall,

Extending from the ground to the crown of your head.

Breathe here.

Now consider a time when you moved forward too quickly.

You're bringing a scenario into your mind's eye,

A time when you moved forward too quickly,

Too fast.

Perhaps it was in school or in a relationship.

Maybe it was your yoga practice.

You know driving too hard to learn a new pose.

Bring this memory to your awareness.

And start to notice what does it feel like in your body to go too fast.

Notice your muscles,

Your breath and your heartbeat.

What's the experience?

Consider that we can ruin what we love by taking the wrong piece,

By not allowing for rest and recovery between steps forward.

Especially now,

Especially with whatever is happening around the world,

With a global pandemic,

With movement restrictions.

You know we have to adjust to change.

I've been working so hard,

Moving a lot of my work online and it's very easy for me to forget or to keep resting and allowing myself to recover.

I'm moving too fast.

And what I'm asking you is to find your pace.

Allow time for rest and recovery between steps.

Imagine yourself walking towards your goal,

Taking breaks to reconnect with yourself and your health between each step.

Consider the words great effort and great rest.

The words I've been using is work hard,

Rest hard.

Breathe here and repeat to yourself great effort and great rest.

Repeat to yourself,

I can engage in great effort and I can take great rest.

You are worth taking time to rest and recover.

You You can engage in great effort and you can take great rest.

And now bring your awareness back to your physical body,

The connection between your body and the earth.

Bring your awareness to your breath.

Breathe in one two three four and breathe out one two three four.

Breathe in one two three four.

Breathe out one two three four.

One more time inhale one two three four and exhale one two three four and together we breathe in reach both hands up hands to your heart center as you exhale.

Take a deep breath in take a long breath out thumbs to your forehead.

Thank you so much for meditating with me.

Namaste.

Meet your Teacher

Africa Yoga ProjectNairobi County, Kenya

4.6 (5)

Recent Reviews

Dust9

April 27, 2021

Great guide for addressing the balance between effort and rest

Elle

March 20, 2021

I really enjoy practicing with you, Catherine. Thank you

Yooto’pea

March 3, 2021

Great Recovery 🧘🏾‍♂️🕯📿

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