meditation, teaching, yoga

Leap: My Yoga and Creative Focus Class at NYU

A classical example of a Yoga Nidra class. Image from Pinterest.

On Monday night I taught a class on Yoga and Creative Focus to creative professionals in residence at the NYU Tisch School’s ITP Camp. I have been a long-time fan of the program and was honored to be able to teach there. This session was similar to the class I’ve taught at SXSW but with an added bonus – a guided Yoga Nidra meditation.

Yoga Nidra is a technique that takes people into a “dreamless sleep” meaning that it is an incredibly replenishing practice that allows people to sink into a deeply relaxing state defined by delta wave activity in the brain. I used it as a pathway to help students clear their minds so that their best creative ideas could rise into consciousness.

15 incredibly talented professionals took the class and it was a beautiful thing to witness. By the end of the class their faces softened, their postures were more open, and their gaze was relaxed. The response to the class was overwhelming. This technique can be used as occasional sleep replacement when needed and it can be used just as effectively to reduce anxiety and stress and induce sleep.

What’s next
In the coming months I will put together a set of classes to spread this practice to a wider group of people so that they can take this technique into their lives and into their work. I’ll make sure to announce these classes and workshops where I’ll be offering Yoga Nidra and other meditation techniques that are especially helpful for creative professionals. In addition, I will also be putting together some podcasts of these techniques so that people can give them a try in the comfort of their own homes.

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