Meditation Library - LoveYourBrain: Recent Episodes
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Led by Ramsay Pierce
Sometimes all we need is space to rest. In this yoga nidra guided relaxation, we invite you to set up in the most supportive and comfortable place you can, like in bed or on your couch. You’ll be guided through a longer practice to explore the feeling of leaving obligations behind, so that you can give yourself the space to rest completely. Doing this practice regularly helps create the conditions for restful sleep.
**Ramsay** (they/them) believes yoga and mindfulness are practices that allow us to see truth and come to know ourselves, and as we do, we are able to live with greater accountability and love. Ramsay is an RYT-500, and completed their 300 hour training with Michelle C. Johnson, focusing on the intersection of yoga and justice. They have specialized training in yoga for self-regulation and trauma, and are certified through the Integrative Amrit (I AM) Method as a yoga nidra instructor. They are a Certified Mindfulness Instructor, having trained with Rev. angel Kyodo williams and David Perrin. Ramsay also works to make yoga more accessible to individuals who've been affected by traumatic brain injury (TBI). Ramsay’s superhero is their Nisei grandmother, Sumiko Yeya Mansfield.
Led by Claudette Evans
This guided meditation will help you find steadiness in times of change. Using the timeless image of a mountain, this practice invites you to connect with your inner strength and stability amidst life’s shifting seasons. Through visualization, you’ll explore how to remain centered and grounded, even when overwhelmed. You’ll cultivate a sense of calm, strength, and presence — no matter the "weather" of your day.
**Claudette** (she/her) is a long-time student of yoga, a yoga teacher, and a studio administrator. She is passionate about the study and practice of yoga, as well as the training and mentoring of its teachers. In her classes, she invites curious practitioners toward an experience of greater strength, sensitivity, freedom, skillfulness, and wisdom, so that they can cultivate greater connection in their lives. Claudette's classes create space for self-expression through body and voice, cultivate a clarity of focus, and foster a joy of movement.
Led by RJ Lisander
In this practice, you’ll be guided through a journey of cultivating compassion for yourself and others. By expanding awareness of and connection to life’s joys and challenges, you’ll more deeply recognize that everyone faces this range of experiences and find inspiration for more caring and understanding ways to be in relationship with yourself and others.
**RJ** (she/her) is a mindfulness guide specializing in writing custom meditations opening pathways to ease for clients of all ages. Her work inspires conversations on sometimes difficult topics while allowing space for new insights into mindful actions. RJ has a BA in English, with a minor in Creative Writing and is a Cornell-Certified Wellness Counselor. She holds 200-hour certificates in yoga and yoga therapy. She has worked with LoveYourBrain for several years as a Mindset and Retreat lead and is a member of the teacher training team.
Led by Dr. Tracey Meyers
We all have emotions that continually change, shift, and come and go. The practice of RAIN, which stands for Recognize, Allow, Investigate, and Nurture, helps us to recognize that difficult feelings are temporary. Through this practice, we’ll learn to meet difficulty with gentleness, compassion, and deep care, leaving us better equipped to cope with life's ups and downs. You’ll feel more balanced to navigate change with greater ease and a sense of emotional resilience even in the face of adversity.
**Dr. Tracey Meyers** (she/her) has over 25 years of experience in the fields of clinical psychology and integrative medicine. She works as a clinician for a Lawyer Assistance Program providing psychotherapy and mindfulness and yoga programs to lawyers, judges, and legal firms and agencies along with a private practice including working with TBI survivors and their families. Previously, Tracey worked for the State of Connecticut Dept of Mental Health and Addiction Services as a clinical neuropsychologist working with clients with traumatic brain injury. She is the author of the book: Yin Yoga Therapy and Mental Health and has contributed several book chapters on yoga, addiction, and psychotherapy. She is an E-RYT 500-hour yoga teacher, certified yoga therapist, LYB teacher and Facilitator, MBSR instructor, and iRest and Breath-Body-Mind teacher.
Led by Dr. Sheila Patel
This meditation explores gratitude in the present moment. When you recognize that experiences, emotions, and situations are fleeting, you can find gratitude for what is. When you learn to be aware in each moment, rather than take it for granted, you can express appreciation for your experiences and cultivate a sense of wonder about the world around you. You’ll begin with gentle breath and body awareness, rest in appreciation for what is, and close with a grounding in the present moment to meet the day ahead.
**Dr. Sheila Patel** (she/her) is a board-certified family physician with a passion for shifting the paradigm in health care from one of disease management to one of creating health and wellbeing with the ultimate purpose of maximizing human potential. She currently practices integrative medicine using Ayurvedic medicine, meditation, and yoga as the foundations for a healthy lifestyle. She maintains an outpatient family medicine practice that blends the best of modern medicine with mind-body practices to maximize health and well-being. She believes in a preventive, predictive, personalized, and participatory approach to healing that has the potential to improve not only the health of the individual but the health of society.
Led by Jonathan Prescott
This practice uses simple mindfulness phrases or 'gathas' to support presence, awareness, and care. By anchoring our attention on these phrases, and pairing them with our breath, we return to ourselves and what is true. Through this practice, we will create more space to transform our difficulties into peace and joy.
**Jonathan** (he/him) is a Board Certified Clinical Chaplain and Pastoral Counselor. As a long time ordained student of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, Jonathan’s practice is to support people experiencing illness and end of life, foster effective caregiving, and reconnect people with their innate wisdom and compassion. Jonathan is the founder of Wise Caregiving, a non-profit dedicated to helping people become effective, sustainable, and empathetic caregivers. Jonathan’s background includes hospice, cancer-care, hospital Chaplain, and a spiritual practice as an ordained student of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.
Led by Devi Brown
In this practice, we’ll cultivate awareness and compassion for the full range of sensations—whether they’re tense, neutral, or at ease. We’ll explore offering ourselves compassion and care, and build our awareness of the body. In doing so, you’ll cultivate the ability to choose where to place your attention, offering simple affirmations to build a more compassionate relationship to yourself, whatever you’re experiencing.
**Devi** (she/her) is one of the most sought after wellness educators and creative advisors in the country. As the founder of her namesake company, Devi Brown Well-Being, she is a trusted guide to global corporations, high-impact executives, artists and athletes, and is a compassionate and supportive teacher to her students. Devi’s work with corporate clientele includes JP Morgan Chase, Microsoft, Chopra Global, Google, TikTok, and YouTube. Devi also proudly serves on the board of directors at The Omega Institute for Holistic Studies and The Mental Wealth Alliance. Devi is dedicated to helping people and organizations transform from the inside out, in ways that positively impact and inspire the wider community, especially those with a complex-lived experience.
Led by Abraham Dejene
This guided meditation invites you to use the natural rhythm of the breath as an anchor for presence, self-compassion, and connection. We’ll explore how each inhale and exhale is unique, embodying the constant flow of change and transition in life. With a focus on grounding sensations, softening tension, and observing the breath’s natural cycle, this practice offers a steadying reminder of impermanence and the opportunity to begin again with each breath.
**Abraham** (he/him) is a dedicated mindfulness instructor, yoga teacher, and public health researcher with a Master’s in Public Health and Mindfulness from Brown University. He is currently training to become a counselor through a Master’s program at Northwestern University with a deep desire to unify Psychotherapy with Mindfulness. Abraham has devoted his entire career to expanding mindfulness accessibility for underserved communities. As a teacher trainer at the Brown Mindfulness Center, he has led transformative programs tailored to diverse audiences, while his research advances evidence-based interventions addressing the unique needs of marginalized populations. Abraham’s work fosters equity, well-being, and meaningful connections.
Led by Vidyamala Burch
This simple practice is designed to help release some of the habits we have around tensing against pain and to rest into a more fluid and open experience. We can often experience pain as if it’s a solid thing and start fighting against it, worrying about it — while understandable, there is a different attitude we can cultivate, one that’s softer and kinder by simply dropping into the body and into the flow of presence moment-by-moment.
**Vidyamala** (she/her) is a mindfulness and compassion teacher, coach, inspirational speaker, award-winning author, and co-founder of the leading mindfulness and health charity Breathworks. At age 17, Vidyamala sustained spinal injuries that required multiple surgeries and left behind a complex back condition, chronic pain, and partial paraplegia. After experiencing despondency, anger, and hopelessness, she discovered mindfulness as a way to ease the mental torment associated with her physical pain. Vidyamala is now a global leader who uses an evidence-based approach to empower those living with pain or difficulty to reclaim their lives.
Led by Kyla Pearce
In this practice, we’ll explore how a sense of purpose can be an anchor during times of change. We’ll cultivate a gentleness towards what’s happening in our body, mind, and heart so that we can more clearly see what motivates us to show up for ourselves and others as life unfolds. By exploring what matters to us, we can learn to meet challenge with greater balance and more fully appreciate what brings us joy.
**Kyla** (she/her) serves as the Senior Director of Programs and Research, overseeing the design, implementation, and evaluation of LoveYourBrain programs on a large scale. By turning inward through mindfulness, Kyla believes we learn to be with our whole selves with greater compassion, which is fundamental to wellbeing and inspiring positive social change. Kyla has blended her expertise as a yoga and mindfulness teacher and practitioner, researcher, and advocate to develop evidence-based, TBI-centered yoga and meditation curricula, which she trains yoga teachers and clinicians to deliver in clinical, community, and online settings.
Led by RJ Lisander
This guided meditation uses mindfulness and breath to soothe anxiety, especially during activating times. After brain injury it is common for our sympathetic nervous system - our fight or flight response - to be more easily activated. This serves a purpose when we are in danger, but when this part of us is overactive it means we can feel more stressed and anxious. In this meditation we will soothe these feelings and remember that we are okay.
Having had two TBIs RJ (she/her) understands the challenges and effects of recent and long-term injury. I have worked hard to overcome many of these challenges, yet it wasn't until I found LoveYourBrain that all the pieces fell into place. I am honored and humbled to share this program and witness the growth of each practitioner.
Why LYB: I'm always inspired by the resilience of the human spirit. We can achieve more than we may think with practice, patience and kindness to self and others. I see this in every individual and every class with whom I am lucky enough to spend time on the mat.
Superhero: My hero is always the person who took a risk, tried something new, pushed a boundary for growth (both personal and communal).
Resources: I founded Lotus Seed Lifestyles to offer a space to work with individuals, non-profits, and community groups to offer yoga and meditation as paths to recovery and personal improvement. You can learn more about what I do through my website, www.lotusseedlifestyles.com.
Led by Jivana Heyman
In this meditation, we’ll practice mindfulness and acceptance of our thoughts. Our mind is often hard to turn off. So rather than trying to stop your thoughts, this practice guides you to notice and even celebrate them with the word ‘yes.’ In doing so, we cultivate greater awareness of our thoughts, without judgment, and anchor into the present moment.
**Jivana Heyman (he/him)** is the founder and director of Accessible Yoga, an organization dedicated to increasing access to the yoga teachings and supporting yoga teachers. He’s the author of the books: *Accessible Yoga: Poses and Practices for Every Body*; *Yoga Revolution: Building a Practice of Courage & Compassion*; and a new book, *The Teacher's Guide to Accessible Yoga: Best Practices for Sharing Yoga with Every Body.* His books, classes, and trainings offer support to yoga teachers and yoga therapists in finding ways to bring creativity and collaboration into their teaching while still respecting the ancient yoga tradition. More info at jivanaheyman.com
Led by RJ Lisander
This meditation uses visualization to cultivate feelings of connection. Often after brain injury we can feel disconnected - from ourselves and the people around us. This is normal because so much can change. Through this practice we’ll focus on imaging the people we love as a way to remind ourselves that we belong and there is a community to support us. With community, we are stronger and have greater ability to move forward.
Having had two TBIs RJ (she/her) understands the challenges and effects of recent and long-term injury. I have worked hard to overcome many of these challenges, yet it wasn't until I found LoveYourBrain that all the pieces fell into place. I am honored and humbled to share this program and witness the growth of each practitioner.
Why LYB: I'm always inspired by the resilience of the human spirit. We can achieve more than we may think with practice, patience and kindness to self and others. I see this in every individual and every class with whom I am lucky enough to spend time on the mat.
Superhero: My hero is always the person who took a risk, tried something new, pushed a boundary for growth (both personal and communal).
Resources: I founded Lotus Seed Lifestyles to offer a space to work with individuals, non-profits, and community groups to offer yoga and meditation as paths to recovery and personal improvement. You can learn more about what I do through my website, www.lotusseedlifestyles.com.
Led by Tracey Meyers
Cyclic sighing - also known as physiological sighing - is a breathing technique that you can use to reduce anxiety and stress. It is a very easy technique and has been shown to be even more powerful than mindfulness meditation to reduce distress. By focusing on two conscious inhalations and then a longer conscious exhalation, cyclic sighing is a powerful tool that can create relief quickly in the nervous system after just a few cycles of breath
Dr. Tracey Meyers has over 25 years of experience in the fields of clinical psychology and integrative medicine. She works as a clinician for a Lawyer Assistance Program providing psychotherapy and mindfulness and yoga programs to lawyers, judges, and legal firms and agencies along with a private practice including working with TBI survivors and their families. Previously, Tracey worked for the State of Connecticut Dept of Mental Health and Addiction Services as a clinical neuropsychologist working with clients with traumatic brain injury, providing neuropsychological assessment, group and individual psychotherapy, and positive behavioral support planning. She is the author of the book: *Yin Yoga Therapy and Mental Health* and has contributed several book chapters on yoga, addiction, and psychotherapy. She is an E-RYT 500-hour yoga teacher, certified yoga therapist, **LYB teacher and Facilitator**, MBSR instructor, and iRest and Breath-Body-Mind teacher.
Led by Tracey Meyers
This practice focuses on adding in a gentle focus on taking in love and compassion for ourselves and then extending it out to those who may need support in theirs lives. This practice offers participants a chance to experience the powerful healing effect of self-compassion can help foster a sense of connection with others, joy, and resiliency and decrease negative emotions like anxiety and depression.
Dr. Tracey Meyers has over 25 years of experience in the fields of clinical psychology and integrative medicine. She works as a clinician for a Lawyer Assistance Program providing psychotherapy and mindfulness and yoga programs to lawyers, judges, and legal firms and agencies along with a private practice including working with TBI survivors and their families. Previously, Tracey worked for the State of Connecticut Dept of Mental Health and Addiction Services as a clinical neuropsychologist working with clients with traumatic brain injury, providing neuropsychological assessment, group and individual psychotherapy, and positive behavioral support planning. She is the author of the book: *Yin Yoga Therapy and Mental Health* and has contributed several book chapters on yoga, addiction, and psychotherapy. She is an E-RYT 500-hour yoga teacher, certified yoga therapist, **LYB teacher and Facilitator**, MBSR instructor, and iRest and Breath-Body-Mind teacher.
Led by Tracey Meyers
The 4-4-6-2 practice is a breath-counting exercise that has shown to be useful when you need to calm down quickly when you are scared, panicky, or angry. It involves a slow inhale, a gentle hold or pause at the top of the breath, and even longer exhale followed by a short hold or pause at the bottom of the breath before the next cycle. Done standing or seated, the 4-4-6-2 practice can create a fresh start to the day by bringing balance, energy, and clarity into the body, breath, and mind
Dr. Tracey Meyers has over 25 years of experience in the fields of clinical psychology and integrative medicine. She works as a clinician for a Lawyer Assistance Program providing psychotherapy and mindfulness and yoga programs to lawyers, judges, and legal firms and agencies along with a private practice including working with TBI survivors and their families. Previously, Tracey worked for the State of Connecticut Dept of Mental Health and Addiction Services as a clinical neuropsychologist working with clients with traumatic brain injury, providing neuropsychological assessment, group and individual psychotherapy, and positive behavioral support planning. She is the author of the book: *Yin Yoga Therapy and Mental Health* and has contributed several book chapters on yoga, addiction, and psychotherapy. She is an E-RYT 500-hour yoga teacher, certified yoga therapist, **LYB teacher and Facilitator**, MBSR instructor, and iRest and Breath-Body-Mind teacher.
Led by Tracey Meyers
We all know the simple act of breathing can have a positive effect on us. Mindful breathing teaches core mindfulness by placing our attention on our breath and the sensations of breathing. Mindful breathing can result in a number of proven health benefits such as pain relief, stress, reduction, anxiety reduction, and less negative thinking.
Dr. Tracey Meyers has over 25 years of experience in the fields of clinical psychology and integrative medicine. She works as a clinician for a Lawyer Assistance Program providing psychotherapy and mindfulness and yoga programs to lawyers, judges, and legal firms and agencies along with a private practice including working with TBI survivors and their families. Previously, Tracey worked for the State of Connecticut Dept of Mental Health and Addiction Services as a clinical neuropsychologist working with clients with traumatic brain injury, providing neuropsychological assessment, group and individual psychotherapy, and positive behavioral support planning. She is the author of the book: *Yin Yoga Therapy and Mental Health* and has contributed several book chapters on yoga, addiction, and psychotherapy. She is an E-RYT 500-hour yoga teacher, certified yoga therapist, **LYB teacher and Facilitator**, MBSR instructor, and iRest and Breath-Body-Mind teacher.
Led by Tracey Meyers
Coherent breathing is a form of breathing that involves slowing the entire cycle of breath down to about 5 breaths per minute. Our natural tendency is to breathe at a rate of two to three seconds per inhale and exhale. In coherent breathing, the goal is to extend the length of both the inhale and exhale to around 6 seconds. By breathing in and out more slowly, the body begins to find calm, balance, and stability activating the vagus nerve that helps turn on our relaxation response and reduce stress, anxiety, and a slow down a racing heart.
Dr. Tracey Meyers has over 25 years of experience in the fields of clinical psychology and integrative medicine. She works as a clinician for a Lawyer Assistance Program providing psychotherapy and mindfulness and yoga programs to lawyers, judges, and legal firms and agencies along with a private practice including working with TBI survivors and their families. Previously, Tracey worked for the State of Connecticut Dept of Mental Health and Addiction Services as a clinical neuropsychologist working with clients with traumatic brain injury, providing neuropsychological assessment, group and individual psychotherapy, and positive behavioral support planning. She is the author of the book: *Yin Yoga Therapy and Mental Health* and has contributed several book chapters on yoga, addiction, and psychotherapy. She is an E-RYT 500-hour yoga teacher, certified yoga therapist, **LYB teacher and Facilitator**, MBSR instructor, and iRest and Breath-Body-Mind teacher.
Led by Ramsay Pierce
Set up for this practice in the most supportive and comfortable position you can be in. The body temperature may drop, so be sure to have a blanket or warm clothing. There is no physical movement necessary during the practice.
During Yoga Nidra, we enter a state of complete physical, mental, and emotional relaxation. This is a sleep-based meditation technique used for effectively establishing new patterns in the mind and body and creating harmony. This is the first Yoga Nidra practice of the Mindset Program to promote rest and sleep.
Ramsay (they/them) believes yoga and mindfulness are practices that allow us to see truth and come to know ourselves, and as we do, we are able to live with greater accountability and love. Ramsay is an RYT-500, and completed her 300 hour training with Michelle C. Johnson, focusing on the intersection of yoga and justice. They have specialized training in yoga for self-regulation and trauma, and are certified through the Integrative Amrit (I AM) Method as a yoga nidra instructor. They are a Certified Mindfulness Instructor, having trained with Rev. angel Kyodo williams and David Perrin. Ramsay also works to make yoga more accessible to individuals who've been affected by traumatic brain injury (TBI). Ramsay’s superhero is their Nisei grandmother, Sumiko Yeya Mansfield.
Led by Bonnie Currie
Mindfulness meditation helps us begin to cultivate awareness of, and to untangle from, habitual, conditioned and harmful thought patterns. The mindfulness teacher Pema Chodron, said “you are the sky, everything else is just the weather.” Using the breath as an anchor for your attention, you will be invited to begin to notice, without judgment, the weather patterns of thoughts that float across the expansive sky of your mind.
**Bonnie Currie** (she/her) is the co-founder and owner of Lotus Yoga (www.lotusyogajax.com), a community based yoga collaborative in Jacksonville. She has had extensive training in ashtanga and vinyasa yoga, adaptive and trauma informed yoga, healthy back yoga, insight meditation and mindfulness. Bonnie is a certified facilitator of Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY-F) through the renowned Center for Trauma and Embodiment at the Justice Resource Institute in Brookline, Massachusetts, and facilitates yoga and mindfulness to individuals in recovery through Yoga 4 Change (www.y4c.org) and to individuals who have sustained traumatic brain injuries and their caregivers through the LoveYourBrain Foundation (www.loveyourbrain.com). Her work (as well her own practice) - whether with individuals who have sustained physical and emotional traumas, those with eating disorders or physical limitations, or those simply seeking to cultivate insight and deepen their own practice, has taught her first-hand about the extraordinary healing potential that lives inside the practices of yoga and mindfulness.
Led by Bonnie Currie
In this meditation, explore three techniques to calm, soothe, and ground your nervous system. This practice may be useful if you are feeling overwhelmed, depleted or reactive as a way to replenish your parasympathetic nervous system, the part of the nervous system that helps us rest and replenish.
**Bonnie Currie** (she/her) is the co-founder and owner of Lotus Yoga (www.lotusyogajax.com), a community based yoga collaborative in Jacksonville. She has had extensive training in ashtanga and vinyasa yoga, adaptive and trauma informed yoga, healthy back yoga, insight meditation and mindfulness. Bonnie is a certified facilitator of Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY-F) through the renowned Center for Trauma and Embodiment at the Justice Resource Institute in Brookline, Massachusetts, and facilitates yoga and mindfulness to individuals in recovery through Yoga 4 Change (www.y4c.org) and to individuals who have sustained traumatic brain injuries and their caregivers through the LoveYourBrain Foundation (www.loveyourbrain.com). Her work (as well her own practice) - whether with individuals who have sustained physical and emotional traumas, those with eating disorders or physical limitations, or those simply seeking to cultivate insight and deepen their own practice, has taught her first-hand about the extraordinary healing potential that lives inside the practices of yoga and mindfulness.
Led by Bonnie Currie
RAIN (acronym for Recognize, Allow, Investigate and Nurture) is a mindfulness meditation technique that invites us to begin to untangle from the reactivity that often stems from difficult and challenging emotions by beginning to turn towards these emotions with friendliness, curiosity and care. You are welcome to practice this meditation when you notice a rise of irritability, a critical inner voice or the squeeze of anxiety in your body. This practice might also be useful as a means to meet chronic or habitual doubts and fears with a healing presence.
**Bonnie Currie** (she/her) is the co-founder and owner of Lotus Yoga (www.lotusyogajax.com), a community based yoga collaborative in Jacksonville. She has had extensive training in ashtanga and vinyasa yoga, adaptive and trauma informed yoga, healthy back yoga, insight meditation and mindfulness. Bonnie is a certified facilitator of Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY-F) through the renowned Center for Trauma and Embodiment at the Justice Resource Institute in Brookline, Massachusetts, and facilitates yoga and mindfulness to individuals in recovery through Yoga 4 Change (www.y4c.org) and to individuals who have sustained traumatic brain injuries and their caregivers through the LoveYourBrain Foundation (www.loveyourbrain.com). Her work (as well her own practice) - whether with individuals who have sustained physical and emotional traumas, those with eating disorders or physical limitations, or those simply seeking to cultivate insight and deepen their own practice, has taught her first-hand about the extraordinary healing potential that lives inside the practices of yoga and mindfulness.
Led by Bonnie Currie
Trauma, such as a brain injury, may leave someone feel stuck in feelings of unworthiness, irritability or shame. In this guided Metta meditation, we explore cultivating a heartful, compassionate response to these challenging emotions through intentional offerings of kindness and strength as a means to help us reconnect to a felt sense of worthiness.
**Bonnie Currie** (she/her) is the co-founder and owner of Lotus Yoga (www.lotusyogajax.com), a community based yoga collaborative in Jacksonville. She has had extensive training in ashtanga and vinyasa yoga, adaptive and trauma informed yoga, healthy back yoga, insight meditation and mindfulness. Bonnie is a certified facilitator of Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY-F) through the renowned Center for Trauma and Embodiment at the Justice Resource Institute in Brookline, Massachusetts, and facilitates yoga and mindfulness to individuals in recovery through Yoga 4 Change (www.y4c.org) and to individuals who have sustained traumatic brain injuries and their caregivers through the LoveYourBrain Foundation (www.loveyourbrain.com). Her work (as well her own practice) - whether with individuals who have sustained physical and emotional traumas, those with eating disorders or physical limitations, or those simply seeking to cultivate insight and deepen their own practice, has taught her first-hand about the extraordinary healing potential that lives inside the practices of yoga and mindfulness.
Led by Kyla Pearce
This practice will bring mindful attention to thinking, and then use simple phrases to help the mind stay present. This is important because our thoughts create our experience of life, so if we have a habit of judging ourselves frequently, it’s likely we’ll live with a sense of uneasiness or distrust in ourselves. All thoughts, whether positive or negative, need attention to grow just like a plant in the garden. So, when we notice we’re getting swept away by negative thoughts, we can mindfully acknowledge them and then shift our attention to something more supportive, like our breath. This way, we no longer live inside of our thoughts and their power lessens.
Kyla serves as the **Senior Director of Programs**, overseeing the design, implementation, and evaluation of LoveYourBrain programs on a large scale. She has been part of the Pearce family for years, and, following Kevin's accident, played an integral role in the launch of LoveYourBrain. By turning inward through yoga, Kyla believes we learn to be with our whole selves with greater compassion, which is fundamental to wellbeing and inspiring positive social change. Kyla has blended her expertise as a yoga and mindfulness teacher and practitioner, researcher, and advocate to develop evidence-based, TBI-centered yoga curricula, which she trains yoga teachers and clinicians to deliver through yoga studios and health care facilities across the United States and Canada. She teaches the LoveYourBrain Yoga and Mindset programs and co-facilitates LoveYourBrain Retreats across the country. She is also a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Dartmouth College investigating the impact of yoga and meditation for people with neurological conditions.
Led by Kyla Pearce
In this meditation I’ll guide a practice focused on deepening the trust we have in ourselves. This is important because when we trust ourselves, we can more clearly see our value, and make the choices we need in order to thrive, including things we may want to change. This yoga nidra meditation will integrate all elements that we’ve been practicing - sensing our body and breath, witnessing thoughts, cultivating a heartfelt intention, and welcoming our experience as it is - to bring together all the skills you’ve developed during this series.
Kyla serves as the **Senior Director of Programs**, overseeing the design, implementation, and evaluation of LoveYourBrain programs on a large scale. She has been part of the Pearce family for years, and, following Kevin's accident, played an integral role in the launch of LoveYourBrain. By turning inward through yoga, Kyla believes we learn to be with our whole selves with greater compassion, which is fundamental to wellbeing and inspiring positive social change. Kyla has blended her expertise as a yoga and mindfulness teacher and practitioner, researcher, and advocate to develop evidence-based, TBI-centered yoga curricula, which she trains yoga teachers and clinicians to deliver through yoga studios and health care facilities across the United States and Canada. She teaches the LoveYourBrain Yoga and Mindset programs and co-facilitates LoveYourBrain Retreats across the country. She is also a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Dartmouth College investigating the impact of yoga and meditation for people with neurological conditions.
Led by Jonathan Prescott
We all want a life free of suffering, but we know suffering is universal. In this practice, we’ll explore how to transform our suffering into the freedom that we seek by feeling the fullness of our experience.
**Jonathan Prescott** is a Board Certified Clinical Chaplain and Pastoral Counselor. As a long time ordained student of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, Jonathan’s practice is to support people experiencing illness and end of life, foster effective caregiving, and reconnect people with their innate wisdom and compassion. Jonathan is the founder of Wise Caregiving, a non-profit dedicated to helping people become effective, sustainable, and empathetic caregivers. Jonathan’s background includes hospice, cancer-care, hospital Chaplain, and a spiritual practice as an ordained student of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.
Led by Turi Hetherington
Description
Audio Block Double-click here to upload or link to a .mp3. Learn more As a yoga instructor and holistic health coach, Turi (she/her) helps individuals develop strength, flexibility, and balance in body and mind. She is especially drawn to the quieting practices of gentle yoga and meditation to reduce stress and tension in the body, find the quiet place behind the busy thinking mind, and calm and soothe the nervous system. She enjoys integrating the ancient practices with modern-day science to help individuals on their healing journey connect with their essential nature of wholeness, peace, and ease.
Turi is a LYB-certified instructor and serves on the board of her local Concussion Resource Center. Her other trainings and certifications include E-RYT200, RYT500 and YACEP, Heart of Sound: Mantra and Nada Yoga certified, iRest® Yoga Nidra Level 2 Teacher, and Holistic Health Coach. In addition, she is currently pursuing iRest full certification and a 300-hr Meditation Teacher Training through Mind Oasis.
Led by Turi Hetherington
Description
Audio Block Double-click here to upload or link to a .mp3. Learn more As a yoga instructor and holistic health coach, Turi (she/her) helps individuals develop strength, flexibility, and balance in body and mind. She is especially drawn to the quieting practices of gentle yoga and meditation to reduce stress and tension in the body, find the quiet place behind the busy thinking mind, and calm and soothe the nervous system. She enjoys integrating the ancient practices with modern-day science to help individuals on their healing journey connect with their essential nature of wholeness, peace, and ease.
Turi is a LYB-certified instructor and serves on the board of her local Concussion Resource Center. Her other trainings and certifications include E-RYT200, RYT500 and YACEP, Heart of Sound: Mantra and Nada Yoga certified, iRest® Yoga Nidra Level 2 Teacher, and Holistic Health Coach. In addition, she is currently pursuing iRest full certification and a 300-hr Meditation Teacher Training through Mind Oasis.
Led by Turi Hetherington
Description
Audio Block Double-click here to upload or link to a .mp3. Learn more As a yoga instructor and holistic health coach, Turi (she/her) helps individuals develop strength, flexibility, and balance in body and mind. She is especially drawn to the quieting practices of gentle yoga and meditation to reduce stress and tension in the body, find the quiet place behind the busy thinking mind, and calm and soothe the nervous system. She enjoys integrating the ancient practices with modern-day science to help individuals on their healing journey connect with their essential nature of wholeness, peace, and ease.
Turi is a LYB-certified instructor and serves on the board of her local Concussion Resource Center. Her other trainings and certifications include E-RYT200, RYT500 and YACEP, Heart of Sound: Mantra and Nada Yoga certified, iRest® Yoga Nidra Level 2 Teacher, and Holistic Health Coach. In addition, she is currently pursuing iRest full certification and a 300-hr Meditation Teacher Training through Mind Oasis.
Led by Turi Hetherington
Description
Audio Block Double-click here to upload or link to a .mp3. Learn more As a yoga instructor and holistic health coach, Turi (she/her) helps individuals develop strength, flexibility, and balance in body and mind. She is especially drawn to the quieting practices of gentle yoga and meditation to reduce stress and tension in the body, find the quiet place behind the busy thinking mind, and calm and soothe the nervous system. She enjoys integrating the ancient practices with modern-day science to help individuals on their healing journey connect with their essential nature of wholeness, peace, and ease.
Turi is a LYB-certified instructor and serves on the board of her local Concussion Resource Center. Her other trainings and certifications include E-RYT200, RYT500 and YACEP, Heart of Sound: Mantra and Nada Yoga certified, iRest® Yoga Nidra Level 2 Teacher, and Holistic Health Coach. In addition, she is currently pursuing iRest full certification and a 300-hr Meditation Teacher Training through Mind Oasis.
Led by Turi Hetherington
Description
Audio Block Double-click here to upload or link to a .mp3. Learn more As a yoga instructor and holistic health coach, Turi (she/her) helps individuals develop strength, flexibility, and balance in body and mind. She is especially drawn to the quieting practices of gentle yoga and meditation to reduce stress and tension in the body, find the quiet place behind the busy thinking mind, and calm and soothe the nervous system. She enjoys integrating the ancient practices with modern-day science to help individuals on their healing journey connect with their essential nature of wholeness, peace, and ease.
Turi is a LYB-certified instructor and serves on the board of her local Concussion Resource Center. Her other trainings and certifications include E-RYT200, RYT500 and YACEP, Heart of Sound: Mantra and Nada Yoga certified, iRest® Yoga Nidra Level 2 Teacher, and Holistic Health Coach. In addition, she is currently pursuing iRest full certification and a 300-hr Meditation Teacher Training through Mind Oasis.
Led by Jenni Foltz
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Led by Jenni Foltz
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Led by Jonathan Prescott
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Audio Block Double-click here to upload or link to a .mp3. Learn more Jonathan Prescott is a Board Certified Clinical Chaplain and Pastoral Counselor. As a long time ordained student of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, Jonathan’s practice is to support people experiencing illness and end of life, foster effective caregiving, and reconnect people with their innate wisdom and compassion. Jonathan is the founder of Wise Caregiving, a non-profit dedicated to helping people become effective, sustainable, and empathetic caregivers. Jonathan’s background includes hospice, cancer-care, hospital Chaplain, and a spiritual practice as an ordained student of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.
Led by Jonathan Prescott
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Audio Block Double-click here to upload or link to a .mp3. Learn more Jonathan Prescott is a Board Certified Clinical Chaplain and Pastoral Counselor. As a long time ordained student of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, Jonathan’s practice is to support people experiencing illness and end of life, foster effective caregiving, and reconnect people with their innate wisdom and compassion. Jonathan is the founder of Wise Caregiving, a non-profit dedicated to helping people become effective, sustainable, and empathetic caregivers. Jonathan’s background includes hospice, cancer-care, hospital Chaplain, and a spiritual practice as an ordained student of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.
Led by Tracey Meyers
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Led by Tracey Meyers
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Led by Tracey Meyers
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Led by Tracey Meyers
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Led by Tracey Meyers
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Led by Tracey Meyers
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Led by Jenni Foltz
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Led by Kyla Pearce
This practice uses awareness of the **body** as a starting point for pausing and paying attention to that present moment.
Kyla serves as the **Senior Director of Programs**, overseeing the design, implementation, and evaluation of LoveYourBrain programs on a large scale. She has been part of the Pearce family for years, and, following Kevin's accident, played an integral role in the launch of LoveYourBrain. By turning inward through yoga, Kyla believes we learn to be with our whole selves with greater compassion, which is fundamental to wellbeing and inspiring positive social change. Kyla has blended her expertise as a yoga and mindfulness teacher and practitioner, researcher, and advocate to develop evidence-based, TBI-centered yoga curricula, which she trains yoga teachers and clinicians to deliver through yoga studios and health care facilities across the United States and Canada. She teaches the LoveYourBrain Yoga and Mindset programs and co-facilitates LoveYourBrain Retreats across the country. She is also a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Dartmouth College investigating the impact of yoga and meditation for people with neurological conditions.
Led by Claudette Evans
Today’s practice is an awareness practice, similar to Yoga Nidra. Come home to the part of you that is already perfect, unchanging, pure awareness.
Claudette (she/her) is a long-time student of yoga, a yoga teacher, and a studio administrator. She is passionate about the study and practice of yoga, as well as the training and mentoring of its teachers. In her classes, she invites curious practitioners toward an experience of greater strength, sensitivity, freedom, skillfulness, and wisdom, so that they can cultivate greater connection in their lives. Claudette's classes create space for self-expression through body and voice, cultivate a clarity of focus, and foster a joy of movement. www.claudetteevansyoga.com
Led by RJ Lisander
Having had two TBIs RJ (she/her) understands the challenges and effects of recent and long-term injury. I have worked hard to overcome many of these challenges, yet it wasn't until I found LoveYourBrain that all the pieces fell into place. I am honored and humbled to share this program and witness the growth of each practitioner.
Why LYB: I'm always inspired by the resilience of the human spirit. We can achieve more than we may think with practice, patience and kindness to self and others. I see this in every individual and every class with whom I am lucky enough to spend time on the mat.
Superhero: My hero is always the person who took a risk, tried something new, pushed a boundary for growth (both personal and communal).
Resources: I founded Lotus Seed Lifestyles to offer a space to work with individuals, non-profits, and community groups to offer yoga and meditation as paths to recovery and personal improvement. You can learn more about what I do through my website, www.lotusseedlifestyles.com.
Led by Ramsay Pierce
The intention used in the following yoga nidra meditation was inspired by Rev. angel Kyodo williams’ teachings on belonging. Using the intention “I belong,” you will “build an unequivocal trust in yourself so that you may become a refuge of belonging to yourself, of own belonging.” You will be invited to explore different sensations, emotions, and feelings and to meet them with breath and compassion. This practice can be done in any position and is often practiced lying down. This meditation includes an invitation to explore feelings of both sadness and happiness - recognizing these emotions as impermanent and ever-changing. Everything belongs.
Ramsay (they/them) believes yoga and mindfulness are practices that allow us to see truth and come to know ourselves, and as we do, we are able to live with greater accountability and love. Ramsay is an RYT-500, and completed her 300 hour training with Michelle C. Johnson, focusing on the intersection of yoga and justice. They have specialized training in yoga for self-regulation and trauma, and are certified through the Integrative Amrit (I AM) Method as a yoga nidra instructor. They are a Certified Mindfulness Instructor, having trained with Rev. angel Kyodo williams and David Perrin. Ramsay also works to make yoga more accessible to individuals who've been affected by traumatic brain injury (TBI). Ramsay’s superhero is their Nisei grandmother, Sumiko Yeya Mansfield.
Led by Stephanie Lopez
Today’s practice focuses on welcoming and feeling your body in its current state, no matter what is arising, while building a sense of okayness and wellbeing. We’ll also explore a breathing practice that allows you to feel or imagine the breath moving in different areas of the body. The end of the practice invites a sense of spacious openness.
Stephanie Lopez, LISW-S, C-IAYT, is the Senior Director, Senior iRest® Trainer and Retreat Leader for the iRest Institute. Stephanie’s offerings are informed by over 25 years of immersion in the nondual teachings of yoga. As a meditation teacher, yoga therapist, and psychotherapist she bridges eastern wisdom with western psychology to support healing and transformation. Stephanie’s compassionate presence, depth of knowledge, and ease of being create a welcoming space for insightful learning. She leads retreats and trainings internationally with a focus on living an authentic and awakened life. Learn more at www.irest.org
Led by Stephanie Lopez
Today’s practice focuses on building an Inner Resource which is a felt sense in the body that helps you feel relaxed, at ease, and in control of your experience. We’ll practice feeling the Inner Resource while also sensing the body and breath. Once practiced regularly over time, you may find that this internal feeling of ease in the body is unchanging, no matter your circumstances. You may call upon it if you wish to feel a sense of security and wellbeing. Or, you may return to it anytime you feel overwhelmed or if you simply need to take a momentary time-out.
Stephanie Lopez, LISW-S, C-IAYT, is the Senior Director, Senior iRest® Trainer and Retreat Leader for the iRest Institute. Stephanie’s offerings are informed by over 25 years of immersion in the nondual teachings of yoga. As a meditation teacher, yoga therapist, and psychotherapist she bridges eastern wisdom with western psychology to support healing and transformation. Stephanie’s compassionate presence, depth of knowledge, and ease of being create a welcoming space for insightful learning. She leads retreats and trainings internationally with a focus on living an authentic and awakened life. Learn more at www.irest.org
Led by Stephanie Lopez
Today’s practice focuses on meeting and working with challenging emotions. We’ll learn to welcome an emotion as sensation in the body, meeting it as a messenger that reveals information. You will be guided to also welcome an opposite emotion which may serve to reveal even deeper layers that wish to be seen, felt, and heard. You will then be guided to feel both emotions at the same time. This is meant to allow you to integrate what is arising and build a sense of resilience and capacity to meet whatever life brings to your table. We’ll weave in the Inner Resource to feel a sense of wellbeing and security no matter what is arising.
Stephanie Lopez, LISW-S, C-IAYT, is the Senior Director, Senior iRest® Trainer and Retreat Leader for the iRest Institute. Stephanie’s offerings are informed by over 25 years of immersion in the nondual teachings of yoga. As a meditation teacher, yoga therapist, and psychotherapist she bridges eastern wisdom with western psychology to support healing and transformation. Stephanie’s compassionate presence, depth of knowledge, and ease of being create a welcoming space for insightful learning. She leads retreats and trainings internationally with a focus on living an authentic and awakened life. Learn more at www.irest.org
Led by Stephanie Lopez
Today’s practice will incorporate noting – which is when we meet pain as pure sensation – and peel off the conceptual label which may otherwise bind us to our habitual patterns. We then explore the intensity of sensation non-conceptually. We also welcome emotions, beliefs, and images that may be present while interweaving the Inner Resource of wellbeing. We use the practice of working with opposites through the use of color. We will combine color with breath and imagery to meet, and potentially move beyond, pain.
Stephanie Lopez, LISW-S, C-IAYT, is the Senior Director, Senior iRest® Trainer and Retreat Leader for the iRest Institute. Stephanie’s offerings are informed by over 25 years of immersion in the nondual teachings of yoga. As a meditation teacher, yoga therapist, and psychotherapist she bridges eastern wisdom with western psychology to support healing and transformation. Stephanie’s compassionate presence, depth of knowledge, and ease of being create a welcoming space for insightful learning. She leads retreats and trainings internationally with a focus on living an authentic and awakened life. Learn more at www.irest.org
Led by Turi Hetherington
Sankalpa is a Sanskrit word that represents your heart’s deepest desire. It’s not like a goal that you think about but rather an expression of your heart that represents how you want to feel and be in the world. When you align with it you feel a sense of meaning and purpose and experience trust and confidence in yourself.
Audio Block Double-click here to upload or link to a .mp3. Learn more As a yoga instructor and holistic health coach, Turi (she/her) helps individuals develop strength, flexibility, and balance in body and mind. She is especially drawn to the quieting practices of gentle yoga and meditation to reduce stress and tension in the body, find the quiet place behind the busy thinking mind, and calm and soothe the nervous system. She enjoys integrating the ancient practices with modern-day science to help individuals on their healing journey connect with their essential nature of wholeness, peace, and ease.
Turi is a LYB-certified instructor and serves on the board of her local Concussion Resource Center. Her other trainings and certifications include E-RYT200, RYT500 and YACEP, Heart of Sound: Mantra and Nada Yoga certified, iRest® Yoga Nidra Level 2 Teacher, and Holistic Health Coach. In addition, she is currently pursuing iRest full certification and a 300-hr Meditation Teacher Training through Mind Oasis.
Led by Kyla Pearce
This practice invites us to explore our inner resilience through the energy invoked by our breath. Resilience is our ability to bounce back from adversity. All of us experience challenges in life that test us. Although difficult, these challenges are always where we learn the most about ourselves and others, and inspire new strength, wisdom, and compassion. Meditation can be a helpful way to practice resilience by connecting to our inner resources of strength, courage, and love to help us move forward.
Kyla serves as the **Senior Director of Programs**, overseeing the design, implementation, and evaluation of LoveYourBrain programs on a large scale. She has been part of the Pearce family for years, and, following Kevin's accident, played an integral role in the launch of LoveYourBrain. By turning inward through yoga, Kyla believes we learn to be with our whole selves with greater compassion, which is fundamental to wellbeing and inspiring positive social change. Kyla has blended her expertise as a yoga and mindfulness teacher and practitioner, researcher, and advocate to develop evidence-based, TBI-centered yoga curricula, which she trains yoga teachers and clinicians to deliver through yoga studios and health care facilities across the United States and Canada. She teaches the LoveYourBrain Yoga and Mindset programs and co-facilitates LoveYourBrain Retreats across the country. She is also a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Dartmouth College investigating the impact of yoga and meditation for people with neurological conditions.
Led by Carolyn Anne Budgell
Today’s meditation gets you into your body through simple relaxation techniques. We often aren’t aware of the tension our bodies hold until we pause. Anxiety causes the body to be in a state of alert and protection - causing tightness and pain – and a simple body scan can provide immediate relief! Relaxation is the foundation of meditation.
Carolyn Anne Budgell (she/her) (BA, ERYT since 2008) is an introspective and lighthearted yoga/meditation instructor based in Vancouver, BC. Carolyn discovered yoga in 1999 as a ski bum in Whistler and now teaches all over with Lila Vinyasa School of Yoga, lululemon, various international yoga festivals / conferences and many other organizations. With relatable real-talk and gentleness, Carolyn passionately encourages others to discover their own paths to healing and reminds that it’s never too late to breathe deeply, to grow and to change. Check out all that she offers at www.carolynannebudgell.com.
Led by Carolyn Anne Budgell
Today, we look at the breath, we control it, we lengthen it and target the nervous system in ways that will further relax the body and slow the mind’s incessant chatter. When we are caught in fight or flight, simple breathing exercises can bring us back to the moment. The breath is the most widespread tool across all meditation lineages.
Carolyn Anne Budgell (she/her) (BA, ERYT since 2008) is an introspective and lighthearted yoga/meditation instructor based in Vancouver, BC. Carolyn discovered yoga in 1999 as a ski bum in Whistler and now teaches all over with Lila Vinyasa School of Yoga, lululemon, various international yoga festivals / conferences and many other organizations. With relatable real-talk and gentleness, Carolyn passionately encourages others to discover their own paths to healing and reminds that it’s never too late to breathe deeply, to grow and to change. Check out all that she offers at www.carolynannebudgell.com.
Led by Carolyn Anne Budgell
Today’s practice offers ways to witness the mind, to observe anxiety without judgment. When we acknowledge what’s going on - without getting hooked into old shame - the brain fires in new ways, we stay in the reality of the present moment and we change everything.
Carolyn Anne Budgell (she/her) (BA, ERYT since 2008) is an introspective and lighthearted yoga/meditation instructor based in Vancouver, BC. Carolyn discovered yoga in 1999 as a ski bum in Whistler and now teaches all over with Lila Vinyasa School of Yoga, lululemon, various international yoga festivals / conferences and many other organizations. With relatable real-talk and gentleness, Carolyn passionately encourages others to discover their own paths to healing and reminds that it’s never too late to breathe deeply, to grow and to change. Check out all that she offers at www.carolynannebudgell.com.
Led by Carolyn Anne Budgell
Today, we begin the process of retraining the mind, to think in new ways, to believe new thoughts. Many of our thoughts have been learned and can be unlearned, in order to bring more presence and wellbeing. Affirmation and mantra are the focal point today.
Carolyn Anne Budgell (she/her) (BA, ERYT since 2008) is an introspective and lighthearted yoga/meditation instructor based in Vancouver, BC. Carolyn discovered yoga in 1999 as a ski bum in Whistler and now teaches all over with Lila Vinyasa School of Yoga, lululemon, various international yoga festivals / conferences and many other organizations. With relatable real-talk and gentleness, Carolyn passionately encourages others to discover their own paths to healing and reminds that it’s never too late to breathe deeply, to grow and to change. Check out all that she offers at www.carolynannebudgell.com.
Led by Carolyn Anne Budgell
Today’s meditation is a deep commitment to yourself, your body and your mind to remain in the moment and in possibility. We review ways to access the tools of anxiety relief out in the world, where it really counts – with others.
Carolyn Anne Budgell (she/her) (BA, ERYT since 2008) is an introspective and lighthearted yoga/meditation instructor based in Vancouver, BC. Carolyn discovered yoga in 1999 as a ski bum in Whistler and now teaches all over with Lila Vinyasa School of Yoga, lululemon, various international yoga festivals / conferences and many other organizations. With relatable real-talk and gentleness, Carolyn passionately encourages others to discover their own paths to healing and reminds that it’s never too late to breathe deeply, to grow and to change. Check out all that she offers at www.carolynannebudgell.com.
Led by Steph Winsor
In this meditation, we’ll practice “Transformer Breath” to focus our attention and calm our nervous systems by using sound to play with the breath.
With a scratchy little voice and infectious giggle, Steph has a way of brightening any room. A personal love and professional commitment to supporting optimal health, healing, and spiritual opening has led her to infuse her style with material that is both light and of depth. Steph leads yoga, meditation, and educational courses that braid together traditional wisdom of the ancient East and evidence-based Western science. This is often done alongside her sense of humor and through metaphor. Steph recently obtained a Master's degree in Psychology and Spirituality from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2020. Her studies and research are rooted in the efficacy of integrative health interventions, Yoga, neurorehabilitation, and psychology. Ultimately, Steph believes play is the greatest form of research, and your life is your greatest experiment.
Led by Steph Winsor
As part of this meditation series on playful sounds and silence, this practice will focus on “humming bee breath” which is a fun way to focus and uplift your mood.
With a scratchy little voice and infectious giggle, Steph has a way of brightening any room. A personal love and professional commitment to supporting optimal health, healing, and spiritual opening has led her to infuse her style with material that is both light and of depth. Steph leads yoga, meditation, and educational courses that braid together traditional wisdom of the ancient East and evidence-based Western science. This is often done alongside her sense of humor and through metaphor. Steph recently obtained a Master's degree in Psychology and Spirituality from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2020. Her studies and research are rooted in the efficacy of integrative health interventions, Yoga, neurorehabilitation, and psychology. Ultimately, Steph believes play is the greatest form of research, and your life is your greatest experiment.
Led by Steph Winsor
This practice will focus on making playful noises to lighten the mood and soften your expectations of meditation. Similar to rice krispies “snap”, “crackle”, and “pop”, we will snap, cluck and pop our way to a more peaceful practice.
With a scratchy little voice and infectious giggle, Steph has a way of brightening any room. A personal love and professional commitment to supporting optimal health, healing, and spiritual opening has led her to infuse her style with material that is both light and of depth. Steph leads yoga, meditation, and educational courses that braid together traditional wisdom of the ancient East and evidence-based Western science. This is often done alongside her sense of humor and through metaphor. Steph recently obtained a Master's degree in Psychology and Spirituality from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2020. Her studies and research are rooted in the efficacy of integrative health interventions, Yoga, neurorehabilitation, and psychology. Ultimately, Steph believes play is the greatest form of research, and your life is your greatest experiment.
Led by Steph Winsor
This meditation will include “Om circles” which is a great way to link your breath to movement while adding positivity and presence to your practice.
With a scratchy little voice and infectious giggle, Steph has a way of brightening any room. A personal love and professional commitment to supporting optimal health, healing, and spiritual opening has led her to infuse her style with material that is both light and of depth. Steph leads yoga, meditation, and educational courses that braid together traditional wisdom of the ancient East and evidence-based Western science. This is often done alongside her sense of humor and through metaphor. Steph recently obtained a Master's degree in Psychology and Spirituality from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2020. Her studies and research are rooted in the efficacy of integrative health interventions, Yoga, neurorehabilitation, and psychology. Ultimately, Steph believes play is the greatest form of research, and your life is your greatest experiment.
Led by Turi Hetherington
Inside each of us is a deep sense of inner knowing**,** aninnate felt-sense of unchanging wellbeing. From this inner knowing, safety, and trust, we can choose right action that feels in harmony with life.
As a yoga instructor and holistic health coach, Turi (she/her) helps individuals develop strength, flexibility, and balance in body and mind. She is especially drawn to the quieting practices of gentle yoga and meditation to reduce stress and tension in the body, find the quiet place behind the busy thinking mind, and calm and soothe the nervous system. She enjoys integrating the ancient practices with modern-day science to help individuals on their healing journey connect with their essential nature of wholeness, peace, and ease.
Turi is a LYB-certified instructor and serves on the board of her local Concussion Resource Center. Her other trainings and certifications include E-RYT200, RYT500 and YACEP, Heart of Sound: Mantra and Nada Yoga certified, iRest® Yoga Nidra Level 2 Teacher, and Holistic Health Coach. In addition, she is currently pursuing iRest full certification and a 300-hr Meditation Teacher Training through Mind Oasis.
Led by Bonnie Currie
In this 8 minute guided meditation, we explore cultivating heartful compassion, friendliness and care through intentional offerings of safety, happiness, good health and ease, both towards ourselves and to all living beings.
Bonnie Currie (she/her) is the co-founder and owner of Lotus Yoga (www.lotusyogajax.com), a community based yoga collaborative in Jacksonville. She has had extensive training in ashtanga and vinyasa yoga, adaptive and trauma informed yoga, healthy back yoga, insight meditation and mindfulness. Bonnie is a certified facilitator of Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY-F) through the renowned Center for Trauma and Embodiment at the Justice Resource Institute in Brookline, Massachusetts, and facilitates yoga and mindfulness to individuals in recovery through Yoga 4 Change (www.y4c.org) and to individuals who have sustained traumatic brain injuries and their caregivers through the LoveYourBrain Foundation (www.loveyourbrain.com). Her work (as well her own practice) - whether with individuals who have sustained physical and emotional traumas, those with eating disorders or physical limitations, or those simply seeking to cultivate insight and deepen their own practice, has taught her first-hand about the extraordinary healing potential that lives inside the practices of yoga and mindfulness.
Led by Kyla Pearce
In this brief practice, we’ll center our attention on our bodies and hearts to inspire a sense of hope. When we lose hope, we often lose sight of what keeps us centered. Join us for a practice to remember our dignity, choose supportive boundaries, and connect with what matters most--all core aspects of inspiring hope for ourselves and others.
Kyla serves as the **Senior Director of Programs**, overseeing the design, implementation, and evaluation of LoveYourBrain programs on a large scale. She has been part of the Pearce family for years, and, following Kevin's accident, played an integral role in the launch of LoveYourBrain. By turning inward through yoga, Kyla believes we learn to be with our whole selves with greater compassion, which is fundamental to wellbeing and inspiring positive social change. Kyla has blended her expertise as a yoga and mindfulness teacher and practitioner, researcher, and advocate to develop evidence-based, TBI-centered yoga curricula, which she trains yoga teachers and clinicians to deliver through yoga studios and health care facilities across the United States and Canada. She teaches the LoveYourBrain Yoga and Mindset programs and co-facilitates LoveYourBrain Retreats across the country. She is also a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Dartmouth College investigating the impact of yoga and meditation for people with neurological conditions.
Led by Eric Mosley
In this guided meditation we will find and experience gratitude for things big and small, incorporating affirmations with our breathwork.
Eric Mosley (he/him) is a yoga and meditation teacher, educator, and diversity & inclusion consultant on a mission to encourage all people to show up as their most authentic selves on and off of their mats. With a background in education and school leadership spanning over 10 years, Eric integrates the nuances of his identity and his experiences as an educational leader to address identity based inequities in wellness. As a consultant, Eric uses mindfulness practices to help schools and companies navigate current events, have difficult conversations around race, equity, and belonging, and live into their values versus simply proclaiming them. He's excited to participate in the Love Your Brain meditation challenge.
Led by Tristan Katz
In this short guided meditation, we explore the connection between our breath and our physical body as a way to inform a connection to our sense of center. After you complete this practice, you might choose to pause and reflect on what “center” means to you, and how you can support yourself in staying “centered” through your breath.
Tristan Katz (they/them) is a writer, educator, and digital strategist based on the ancestral land of the Cowlitz and Clackamas peoples, now known as Portland, OR. Tristan offers justice-focused marketing individual and group mentorship programs for yoga and wellness professionals, along with workshops and trainings centered around queer identity and transgender awareness with an anti-oppression and intersectional lens. Through their podcast, articles, digital resources, and workshops, Tristan supports those who seek to grow their work while staying aligned with the practices of yoga, equity, diversity, and inclusivity.
Led by Natasha Chaoua
This mindfulness meditation explores how to be inclusive with our thoughts and cultivate a deep sense of belonging. Feel and value who you are from the inside out.
Natasha is the descendant of two Jamaican parents, born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. She moved to America in her early twenties and is married with three children. Natasha currently resides on Susquehannock, Nentego (Nanticoke) and Piscataway Territory, colonially known as Columbia, MD.
She is the founder and owner of Dubwise Yoga, a certified hatha yoga instructor and member of Satya Yoga Cooperative, Colorado’s first 200 hour yoga teacher training program for Black, Indigenous, People Of Color and the nations first BIPOC member-owned yoga cooperative led by Lakshmi Nair. She’s had a personal practice since 2000 and began teaching in 2018.
Natasha offers trauma informed yoga, is passionate about disabilities, mental health and a medical cannabis advocate. Prior to teaching Natasha spent several years working for persons with developmental disabilities later teaching yoga and mindfulness practices to this community. She eventually became a CNA and had the pleasure of working at Craig Hospital with those who experienced a spinal cord injury (SCI) and/or brain injury (BI), as well as the neuro ICU at the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus.
She learned from Jivana Heyman and is a certified accessible yoga teacher, ambassador and supporting organization, as well as a registered yoga teacher (RYT) with Yoga Alliance. She recently completed Michelle Johnson’s Skill in Action – Yoga + Social Justice 300hr yoga teacher training, as well as Matthew Sanford’s level 1 adaptive yoga training.
Recently, Natasha became a certified LoveYourBrain yoga instructor, facilitator and joined their training team supporting and sharing the benefits of yoga and meditation with the TBI community. Her mentor was Ramsay Pierce and she currently contributes to their YTTs as well as their six week Mindset programs for those who have experienced a brain injury (BI).
Natasha is grateful to collaborate with several community partners spreading her mission of equitable and accessible yoga to all, especially BIPOC communities.
She was a Tedx speaker at Wake Forest University in 2019 and has been interviewed on several podcasts in which she explores the premise and foundation of Skill in Action, along with creating ritual in justice spaces, our divine connection with nature and Spirit, and how we as a culture can heal. Recently, she created her own podcast, Finding Refuge, which explores collective grief and liberation and serves as a reminder about all the ways we can find refuge during unsettling and uncertain times and of the resilience and joy that comes from allowing ourselves to find refuge.
Whether in an anti-oppression training, yoga space, individual or group intuitive healing session, the heart, healing, and wholeness are at the center of how Michelle approaches all of her work in the world.
Led by Natasha Chaoua
This mantra meditation focuses on cultivating respect for ourselves and others through our words. Instead of holding onto the things that we don’t like or wish were different, use this time to give yourself a moment of grace.
Natasha is the descendant of two Jamaican parents, born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. She moved to America in her early twenties and is married with three children. Natasha currently resides on Susquehannock, Nentego (Nanticoke) and Piscataway Territory, colonially known as Columbia, MD.
She is the founder and owner of Dubwise Yoga, a certified hatha yoga instructor and member of Satya Yoga Cooperative, Colorado’s first 200 hour yoga teacher training program for Black, Indigenous, People Of Color and the nations first BIPOC member-owned yoga cooperative led by Lakshmi Nair. She’s had a personal practice since 2000 and began teaching in 2018.
Natasha offers trauma informed yoga, is passionate about disabilities, mental health and a medical cannabis advocate. Prior to teaching Natasha spent several years working for persons with developmental disabilities later teaching yoga and mindfulness practices to this community. She eventually became a CNA and had the pleasure of working at Craig Hospital with those who experienced a spinal cord injury (SCI) and/or brain injury (BI), as well as the neuro ICU at the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus.
She learned from Jivana Heyman and is a certified accessible yoga teacher, ambassador and supporting organization, as well as a registered yoga teacher (RYT) with Yoga Alliance. She recently completed Michelle Johnson’s Skill in Action – Yoga + Social Justice 300hr yoga teacher training, as well as Matthew Sanford’s level 1 adaptive yoga training.
Recently, Natasha became a certified LoveYourBrain yoga instructor, facilitator and joined their training team supporting and sharing the benefits of yoga and meditation with the TBI community. Her mentor was Ramsay Pierce and she currently contributes to their YTTs as well as their six week Mindset programs for those who have experienced a brain injury (BI).
Natasha is grateful to collaborate with several community partners spreading her mission of equitable and accessible yoga to all, especially BIPOC communities.
She was a Tedx speaker at Wake Forest University in 2019 and has been interviewed on several podcasts in which she explores the premise and foundation of Skill in Action, along with creating ritual in justice spaces, our divine connection with nature and Spirit, and how we as a culture can heal. Recently, she created her own podcast, Finding Refuge, which explores collective grief and liberation and serves as a reminder about all the ways we can find refuge during unsettling and uncertain times and of the resilience and joy that comes from allowing ourselves to find refuge.
Whether in an anti-oppression training, yoga space, individual or group intuitive healing session, the heart, healing, and wholeness are at the center of how Michelle approaches all of her work in the world.
Led by Natasha Chaoua
In this meditation practice, we’ll orient our minds and hearts to support ourselves and others through action. This is an invitation to open ourselves up to the uncomfortable spaces within *and* outside ourselves with curiosity and care.
Natasha is the descendant of two Jamaican parents, born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. She moved to America in her early twenties and is married with three children. Natasha currently resides on Susquehannock, Nentego (Nanticoke) and Piscataway Territory, colonially known as Columbia, MD.
She is the founder and owner of Dubwise Yoga, a certified hatha yoga instructor and member of Satya Yoga Cooperative, Colorado’s first 200 hour yoga teacher training program for Black, Indigenous, People Of Color and the nations first BIPOC member-owned yoga cooperative led by Lakshmi Nair. She’s had a personal practice since 2000 and began teaching in 2018.
Natasha offers trauma informed yoga, is passionate about disabilities, mental health and a medical cannabis advocate. Prior to teaching Natasha spent several years working for persons with developmental disabilities later teaching yoga and mindfulness practices to this community. She eventually became a CNA and had the pleasure of working at Craig Hospital with those who experienced a spinal cord injury (SCI) and/or brain injury (BI), as well as the neuro ICU at the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus.
She learned from Jivana Heyman and is a certified accessible yoga teacher, ambassador and supporting organization, as well as a registered yoga teacher (RYT) with Yoga Alliance. She recently completed Michelle Johnson’s Skill in Action – Yoga + Social Justice 300hr yoga teacher training, as well as Matthew Sanford’s level 1 adaptive yoga training.
Recently, Natasha became a certified LoveYourBrain yoga instructor, facilitator and joined their training team supporting and sharing the benefits of yoga and meditation with the TBI community. Her mentor was Ramsay Pierce and she currently contributes to their YTTs as well as their six week Mindset programs for those who have experienced a brain injury (BI).
Natasha is grateful to collaborate with several community partners spreading her mission of equitable and accessible yoga to all, especially BIPOC communities.
She was a Tedx speaker at Wake Forest University in 2019 and has been interviewed on several podcasts in which she explores the premise and foundation of Skill in Action, along with creating ritual in justice spaces, our divine connection with nature and Spirit, and how we as a culture can heal. Recently, she created her own podcast, Finding Refuge, which explores collective grief and liberation and serves as a reminder about all the ways we can find refuge during unsettling and uncertain times and of the resilience and joy that comes from allowing ourselves to find refuge.
Whether in an anti-oppression training, yoga space, individual or group intuitive healing session, the heart, healing, and wholeness are at the center of how Michelle approaches all of her work in the world.
Led by Michelle C. Johnson
In this practice, we will use mindfulness of our body, mind, and breath to welcome our whole selves in the present, with compassion.
Michelle C. Johnson (she/her) is an author, yoga teacher, social justice activist, intuitive healer, and Dismantling Racism trainer. She approaches her life and work from a place of empowerment, embodiment, and integration. As a dismantling racism trainer, she has worked with large corporations, non-profits, and community groups, including the ACLU-WA, Duke University, Google, This American Life, Auburn Seminary, Kripalu, Mercedes, Spotify, Lululemon, and many others. Michelle published Skill in Action: Radicalizing Your Yoga Practice to Create a Just World in 2017; the second edition of Skill in Action was published by Shambhala Publication in November 2021. She teaches workshops in yoga studios and community spaces nationwide. Michelle’s latest book, Finding Refuge: Heart Work for Healing Collective Grief, published by Shambhala Publications came out in July 2021.
She was a Tedx speaker at Wake Forest University in 2019 and has been interviewed on several podcasts in which she explores the premise and foundation of Skill in Action, along with creating ritual in justice spaces, our divine connection with nature and Spirit, and how we as a culture can heal. Recently, she created her own podcast, Finding Refuge, which explores collective grief and liberation and serves as a reminder about all the ways we can find refuge during unsettling and uncertain times and of the resilience and joy that comes from allowing ourselves to find refuge.
Whether in an anti-oppression training, yoga space, individual or group intuitive healing session, the heart, healing, and wholeness are at the center of how Michelle approaches all of her work in the world.
Led by Michelle C. Johnson
In this meditation, we will continue to practice non-judgemental awareness and forgiveness. We will also practice deeping our compassion and expanding it outwards to others.
Michelle C. Johnson (she/her) is an author, yoga teacher, social justice activist, intuitive healer, and Dismantling Racism trainer. She approaches her life and work from a place of empowerment, embodiment, and integration. As a dismantling racism trainer, she has worked with large corporations, non-profits, and community groups, including the ACLU-WA, Duke University, Google, This American Life, Auburn Seminary, Kripalu, Mercedes, Spotify, Lululemon, and many others. Michelle published Skill in Action: Radicalizing Your Yoga Practice to Create a Just World in 2017; the second edition of Skill in Action was published by Shambhala Publication in November 2021. She teaches workshops in yoga studios and community spaces nationwide. Michelle’s latest book, Finding Refuge: Heart Work for Healing Collective Grief, published by Shambhala Publications came out in July 2021.
She was a Tedx speaker at Wake Forest University in 2019 and has been interviewed on several podcasts in which she explores the premise and foundation of Skill in Action, along with creating ritual in justice spaces, our divine connection with nature and Spirit, and how we as a culture can heal. Recently, she created her own podcast, Finding Refuge, which explores collective grief and liberation and serves as a reminder about all the ways we can find refuge during unsettling and uncertain times and of the resilience and joy that comes from allowing ourselves to find refuge.
Whether in an anti-oppression training, yoga space, individual or group intuitive healing session, the heart, healing, and wholeness are at the center of how Michelle approaches all of her work in the world.
Led by Michelle C. Johnson
In this meditation, we will continue to practice non-judgemental awareness and forgiveness. We will also practice deeping our compassion and expanding it outwards to others.
Michelle C. Johnson (she/her) is an author, yoga teacher, social justice activist, intuitive healer, and Dismantling Racism trainer. She approaches her life and work from a place of empowerment, embodiment, and integration. As a dismantling racism trainer, she has worked with large corporations, non-profits, and community groups, including the ACLU-WA, Duke University, Google, This American Life, Auburn Seminary, Kripalu, Mercedes, Spotify, Lululemon, and many others. Michelle published Skill in Action: Radicalizing Your Yoga Practice to Create a Just World in 2017; the second edition of Skill in Action was published by Shambhala Publication in November 2021. She teaches workshops in yoga studios and community spaces nationwide. Michelle’s latest book, Finding Refuge: Heart Work for Healing Collective Grief, published by Shambhala Publications came out in July 2021.
She was a Tedx speaker at Wake Forest University in 2019 and has been interviewed on several podcasts in which she explores the premise and foundation of Skill in Action, along with creating ritual in justice spaces, our divine connection with nature and Spirit, and how we as a culture can heal. Recently, she created her own podcast, Finding Refuge, which explores collective grief and liberation and serves as a reminder about all the ways we can find refuge during unsettling and uncertain times and of the resilience and joy that comes from allowing ourselves to find refuge.
Whether in an anti-oppression training, yoga space, individual or group intuitive healing session, the heart, healing, and wholeness are at the center of how Michelle approaches all of her work in the world.
Led by Paloma Cain
A meditation to help you slow down. Bring rest to the body by creating awareness of the ground supporting you, your breath flowing in and out, and your thoughts slowing down.
**Paloma Cain (she/her), MA, psychology**, works to bridge the worlds of traditional Buddhist practice and contemporary mindfulness in clinical settings, seeing the commonality as the desire to relieve suffering. Experienced in teaching MBSR, mindful parenting, foundations of mindfulness classes, daylongs, sitting groups, and short retreats, she now works primarily in training and mentoring. She is authorized to teach by Trudy Goodman and Jack Kornfield.
In the words of her long-term mentees, Paloma’s mentoring is: Flexible. Responsive to what is alive in the moment. Supports the process of following one’s own insights and behaving in integrity. Vulnerable. Explores accountability and how to create safer inclusive space for folks across identity spectrums. Open-hearted. Willing to practice “off the beaten path.” Honors an individual’s journey. Trauma-informed. Safe to make mistakes and allow them to help us grow and learn. Emergent. Trusting the wisdom in the room. Honoring multiple wisdom traditions.
In her spare time, she’ll be found playing with her family, wandering open spaces, feeding people, reading, writing, and resting.
Turi is a LYB-certified instructor and serves on the board of her local Concussion Resource Center. Her other trainings and certifications include E-RYT200, RYT500 and YACEP, Heart of Sound: Mantra and Nada Yoga certified, iRest® Yoga Nidra Level 2 Teacher, and Holistic Health Coach. In addition, she is currently pursuing iRest full certification and a 300-hr Meditation Teacher Training through Mind Oasis.
Led by Turi Hetherington
A practice for stepping out of our everyday habit loops and noticing what might normally be overlooked. This becomes a path for bringing a welcome sense of respite to the body and mind.
As a yoga instructor and holistic health coach, Turi (she/her) helps individuals develop strength, flexibility, and balance in body and mind. She is especially drawn to the quieting practices of gentle yoga and meditation to reduce stress and tension in the body, find the quiet place behind the busy thinking mind, and calm and soothe the nervous system. She enjoys integrating the ancient practices with modern-day science to help individuals on their healing journey connect with their essential nature of wholeness, peace, and ease.
Turi is a LYB-certified instructor and serves on the board of her local Concussion Resource Center. Her other trainings and certifications include E-RYT200, RYT500 and YACEP, Heart of Sound: Mantra and Nada Yoga certified, iRest® Yoga Nidra Level 2 Teacher, and Holistic Health Coach. In addition, she is currently pursuing iRest full certification and a 300-hr Meditation Teacher Training through Mind Oasis.
Led by Kyla Pearce
In this meditation, we’ll experience how softly noting our **thoughts** can help us learn how to not be carried away by our stories.
Kyla serves as the **Senior Director of Programs**, overseeing the design, implementation, and evaluation of LoveYourBrain programs on a large scale. She has been part of the Pearce family for years, and, following Kevin's accident, played an integral role in the launch of LoveYourBrain. By turning inward through yoga, Kyla believes we learn to be with our whole selves with greater compassion, which is fundamental to wellbeing and inspiring positive social change. Kyla has blended her expertise as a yoga and mindfulness teacher and practitioner, researcher, and advocate to develop evidence-based, TBI-centered yoga curricula, which she trains yoga teachers and clinicians to deliver through yoga studios and health care facilities across the United States and Canada. She teaches the LoveYourBrain Yoga and Mindset programs and co-facilitates LoveYourBrain Retreats across the country. She is also a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Dartmouth College investigating the impact of yoga and meditation for people with neurological conditions.
Led by Eric Mosley
In this guided meditation, we will scan our bodies to notice how we are arriving, and if there is anything that we are holding on to.
Eric Mosley (he/him) is a yoga and meditation teacher, educator, and diversity & inclusion consultant on a mission to encourage all people to show up as their most authentic selves on and off of their mats. With a background in education and school leadership spanning over 10 years, Eric integrates the nuances of his identity and his experiences as an educational leader to address identity based inequities in wellness. As a consultant, Eric uses mindfulness practices to help schools and companies navigate current events, have difficult conversations around race, equity, and belonging, and live into their values versus simply proclaiming them. He's excited to participate in the Love Your Brain meditation challenge.
Led by Tracee Stanley
This practice will guide you through the 16 steps of basic meditation.
Tracee Stanley (she/her) is the founder of Empowered Life Circle, a sacred community and portal of practices, rituals, and Tantric teachings inspired by more than 20 years of study in various Yoga and Tantric traditions, including Sri Vidya Tantra and the teachings of the Himalayan masters. As a post-lineage teacher, Tracee is devoted to sharing the wisdom of yoga nidra, meditation, self-inquiry, nature as a teacher, ritual, and ancestor reverence. She is the creatrix of the Empowered Life Self-Inquiry Oracle Deck and host of the Radiant Rest Podcast, which celebrates the practices, teachers, and traditions that prioritize the rituals of rest, sacred dreaming, and self-care. Tracee’s best-selling book Radiant Rest - Yoga Nidra for Deep Relaxation and Awakened Clarity, published by Shambhala Publishing, is now available everywhere books are sold. She is currently working on her second book and oracle deck. Learn more at radiantrest.com, and traceeyoga.com.
Led by Tristan Katz
This meditation is intended to help you connect to your embodied sense of center. We’ll begin with a little bit of wiggling or gentle spinal movements in order to settle in to quiet as we explore the greater awareness that our bodies are continually breathing on our behalf—without our direction or input. This act, which occurs moment-to-moment, can serve as a reminder that “center” is always available for us to discover.
Tristan Katz (they/them) is a writer, educator, and digital strategist based on the ancestral land of the Cowlitz and Clackamas peoples, now known as Portland, OR. Tristan offers justice-focused marketing individual and group mentorship programs for yoga and wellness professionals, along with workshops and trainings centered around queer identity and transgender awareness with an anti-oppression and intersectional lens. Through their podcast, articles, digital resources, and workshops, Tristan supports those who seek to grow their work while staying aligned with the practices of yoga, equity, diversity, and inclusivity.
Led by Tracee Stanley
This practice attunes us to the presence of our breath and the vibration of the mantra So Hum (I am)
Tracee Stanley (she/her) is the founder of Empowered Life Circle, a sacred community and portal of practices, rituals, and Tantric teachings inspired by more than 20 years of study in various Yoga and Tantric traditions, including Sri Vidya Tantra and the teachings of the Himalayan masters. As a post-lineage teacher, Tracee is devoted to sharing the wisdom of yoga nidra, meditation, self-inquiry, nature as a teacher, ritual, and ancestor reverence. She is the creatrix of the Empowered Life Self-Inquiry Oracle Deck and host of the Radiant Rest Podcast, which celebrates the practices, teachers, and traditions that prioritize the rituals of rest, sacred dreaming, and self-care. Tracee’s best-selling book Radiant Rest - Yoga Nidra for Deep Relaxation and Awakened Clarity, published by Shambhala Publishing, is now available everywhere books are sold. She is currently working on her second book and oracle deck. Learn more at radiantrest.com, and traceeyoga.com.
Led by Michelle C. Johnson
In this meditation we focus on the breath and being curious about the emotions that are present.
Michelle C. Johnson (she/her) is an author, yoga teacher, social justice activist, intuitive healer, and Dismantling Racism trainer. She approaches her life and work from a place of empowerment, embodiment, and integration. As a dismantling racism trainer, she has worked with large corporations, non-profits, and community groups, including the ACLU-WA, Duke University, Google, This American Life, Auburn Seminary, Kripalu, Mercedes, Spotify, Lululemon, and many others. Michelle published Skill in Action: Radicalizing Your Yoga Practice to Create a Just World in 2017; the second edition of Skill in Action was published by Shambhala Publication in November 2021. She teaches workshops in yoga studios and community spaces nationwide. Michelle’s latest book, Finding Refuge: Heart Work for Healing Collective Grief, published by Shambhala Publications came out in July 2021.
She was a Tedx speaker at Wake Forest University in 2019 and has been interviewed on several podcasts in which she explores the premise and foundation of Skill in Action, along with creating ritual in justice spaces, our divine connection with nature and Spirit, and how we as a culture can heal. Recently, she created her own podcast, Finding Refuge, which explores collective grief and liberation and serves as a reminder about all the ways we can find refuge during unsettling and uncertain times and of the resilience and joy that comes from allowing ourselves to find refuge.
Whether in an anti-oppression training, yoga space, individual or group intuitive healing session, the heart, healing, and wholeness are at the center of how Michelle approaches all of her work in the world.
Led by Michelle C. Johnson
In this meditation we focus on the breath and being curious about the physical sensations that are present in the physical body.
Michelle C. Johnson (she/her) is an author, yoga teacher, social justice activist, intuitive healer, and Dismantling Racism trainer. She approaches her life and work from a place of empowerment, embodiment, and integration. As a dismantling racism trainer, she has worked with large corporations, non-profits, and community groups, including the ACLU-WA, Duke University, Google, This American Life, Auburn Seminary, Kripalu, Mercedes, Spotify, Lululemon, and many others. Michelle published Skill in Action: Radicalizing Your Yoga Practice to Create a Just World in 2017; the second edition of Skill in Action was published by Shambhala Publication in November 2021. She teaches workshops in yoga studios and community spaces nationwide. Michelle’s latest book, Finding Refuge: Heart Work for Healing Collective Grief, published by Shambhala Publications came out in July 2021.
She was a Tedx speaker at Wake Forest University in 2019 and has been interviewed on several podcasts in which she explores the premise and foundation of Skill in Action, along with creating ritual in justice spaces, our divine connection with nature and Spirit, and how we as a culture can heal. Recently, she created her own podcast, Finding Refuge, which explores collective grief and liberation and serves as a reminder about all the ways we can find refuge during unsettling and uncertain times and of the resilience and joy that comes from allowing ourselves to find refuge.
Whether in an anti-oppression training, yoga space, individual or group intuitive healing session, the heart, healing, and wholeness are at the center of how Michelle approaches all of her work in the world.
RAIN, which stands for Recognize, Allow, Investigate, and Nurture, is a powerful practice for bringing kind awareness to when we're feeling stuck.
In this practice, we explore how we can mindfully listen to our thoughts and emotions through our mind, body, and heart.
The intention of this meditation is to cultivate self-compassion and loving kindness towards your self.
Led by Kyla Pearce
This mindfulness practice introduces three simple ways to bring attention into the present moment and steady the mind. Using the anchors of sound, body's touchpoints, and breath, you'll learn how to pause, restore balance, and develop a more skillful relationship to whatever is happening in your life.
Kyla serves as the Senior Director of Programs, overseeing the design, implementation, and evaluation of LoveYourBrain programs on a large scale. She has been part of the Pearce family for years, and, following Kevin's accident, played an integral role in the launch of LoveYourBrain. By turning inward through yoga, Kyla believes we learn to be with our whole selves with greater compassion, which is fundamental to wellbeing and inspiring positive social change. Kyla has blended her expertise as a yoga and mindfulness teacher and practitioner, researcher, and advocate to develop evidence-based, TBI-centered yoga curricula, which she trains yoga teachers and clinicians to deliver through yoga studios and health care facilities across the United States and Canada. She teaches the LoveYourBrain Yoga and Mindset programs and co-facilitates LoveYourBrain Retreats across the country. She is also a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Dartmouth College investigating the impact of yoga and meditation for people with neurological conditions.
Led by Ramsay Pierce
This yoga nidra practice is designed to cultivate a deep sense of relaxation in the body and mind. You will be invited to notice different sensations in the body and find a sense of inner stillness and relaxation. When we are truly at ease, we unlock the intuitive ability of our systems to heal. This practice is typically done lying down, but can also be practiced seated.
Ramsay (they/them) believes yoga and mindfulness are practices that allow us to see truth and come to know ourselves, and as we do, we are able to live with greater accountability and love. Ramsay is an RYT-500, and completed her 300 hour training with Michelle C. Johnson, focusing on the intersection of yoga and justice. They have specialized training in yoga for self-regulation and trauma, and are certified through the Integrative Amrit (I AM) Method as a yoga nidra instructor. They are a Certified Mindfulness Instructor, having trained with Rev. angel Kyodo williams and David Perrin. Ramsay also works to make yoga more accessible to individuals who've been affected by traumatic brain injury (TBI). Ramsay’s superhero is their Nisei grandmother, Sumiko Yeya Mansfield.
While using the memory of a river and its flowing water, this practice encourages you to use your breath like a paddle to handle life + your thoughts.
This meditation is designed to protect your energy. Using your breath to create an atmosphere that allows you to set a healthy boundary between yourself and the day ahead.
This practice invites you to find gratitude for that experience and use the positivity to overcome obstacles and challenges in your life.
A practice to encourage awareness of your breath and your body with the intention of connecting you to the present moment.
This easy meditation uses a simple visualization technique to ease stress and anxiety by adjusting your perception and attention.
This affirmation meditation uses the phrase “I am here” in connection with the breath to bring us into the present moment.
This simple practice establish an awareness of the mind, through the breath and how to accept distracting thoughts as nothing more than, ‘not breath.’
Try this practice just before bed as a way to use deep breathing and body sensing to sleep more deeply.
Find stillness in your physical body and ease your breath to feel an overall sense of softness and peace.
A nourishing meditation to help release any heavy thoughts, patterns, and emotions by energetically giving them to the earth.
Led by Megan Whiteside
This meditation is designed to protect your energy. Using your breath to create an atmosphere that allows you to set a healthy boundary between yourself and the day ahead. This mediation uses visualizations to set up a space in your body to create, listen, feel, and be exactly who you are.
Sylvie is a yoga teacher based out of Ottawa, Ontario (Capital of Canada) and a member of the LoveYourBrain family. She graduated with a master’s neuroscience and works as a full time scientist. She believes yoga and meditation have healing properties that both science and spirituality play in. She is passionate about learning, giving and healing. You can find my offerings on youtube and live classes in town soon!
by Andres Alvez
This calming and grounding meditation allows you to check in with your body and mind. As we bring awareness to our physical and emotional states, in connection with our breath, we learn to accept what’s going on in the present. This acceptance is the entry point to feeling greater contentment, positivity, and and more mindfully navigating our day-to-day challenges.
Andres is a physical therapist working in neurology, yoga teacher, and vegan animal rights activist. He believes that all living beings deserve to be happy and free. His goal each day is to live a life that in some way contributes to that happiness and freedom for all. He teaches a vinyasa style class with an emphasis on safe alignment and inner awareness at the Jamie Surya Yoga Studio in Sparkill, NY, where he is also the co-teacher of their 200 Hour Teacher Training.
In 2016 Marcella underwent six embolizations/surgeries for an Arterior Venous Malformation AVM on the dural part of the brain. She is now inspired to be of service to anyone navigating any type of neurological condition. Marcella is honored to lead a meditation for LoveYourBrain and grateful to hold space for those listening to her meditation.
Led by Ramsay Pierce
Set up for this practice lying down, or in the most supportive and comfortable position you can be in. Your body temperature may drop, so be sure to have a blanket or warm clothing. There is no physical movement necessary during the practice.
Yoga nidra is a comprehensive guided meditation practice that facilitates self-awareness and deep states of physical, mental, and emotional relaxation. This practice works at the deepest levels to release tensions, old patterns, conditioning, and self-limiting beliefs.
Ramsay (they/them) believes yoga and mindfulness are practices that allow us to see truth and come to know ourselves, and as we do, we are able to live with greater accountability and love. Ramsay is an RYT-500, and completed her 300 hour training with Michelle C. Johnson, focusing on the intersection of yoga and justice. They have specialized training in yoga for self-regulation and trauma, and are certified through the Integrative Amrit (I AM) Method as a yoga nidra instructor. They are a Certified Mindfulness Instructor, having trained with Rev. angel Kyodo williams and David Perrin. Ramsay also works to make yoga more accessible to individuals who've been affected by traumatic brain injury (TBI). Ramsay’s superhero is their Nisei grandmother, Sumiko Yeya Mansfield.