Early morning; Impeachment Thursday, I’m sitting here over my first cup of coffee waiting for the sky to lighten so I can take my dog for a walk before the gym. As I write this the rain has started in earnest and the high tide today is 8 foot at 9 am! This portends some road closures and flooding along pathways I usually use for my morning dog walks as early as 8 am. Looking forward to watching live coverage of the beginnings of the Impeachment when I return.
In the U.S., 40 different locations face accelerating high tide flooding trends, according to NOAA. The country as a whole tied its record by averaging five days of high tide flooding in 2018. But 12 locations broke their records with some cities, such as Washington, D.C., experiencing 20 or more days of high tide flooding. High tide flooding affects coastal cities along the west coast, but it’s most frequent along the east coast all the way down to Florida. Flooding inundates roadways and disrupts traffic, raises the elevation of groundwater and puts septic systems at risk and its salty waters can damage farmlands and other natural habitats.
Started reading a book called The Four Desires by yoga guru Rod Stryker. It was a Christmas gift from a friend who knows how inspired I am by him (I listen to his Sanctuary app regularly and do his yoga nidra every night, even using it as a tool to fall back to sleep).
Yoga Nidra, or yogic sleep, is a powerful exercise. One of the things that Rod emphasizes is that you NOT fall asleep during the practice. You lie down in Shavasana and listen as the teacher guides you through a meditative breathing and body scan session. Your body is asleep, your mind is asleep but you remain aware. Make sense? I am so conditioned to fall asleep to the sound of Stryker’s voice that I make it through the 22 minutes a few times a month.
Yoga nidra (Sanskrit: योग निद्रा) or yogic sleep is a state of consciousness between waking and sleeping, like the "going-to-sleep" stage, typically induced by a guided meditation.
There is evidence that yoga nidra helps to relieve stress. An ancient technique from India, it has now spread worldwide and is also being applied by the US Army to assist soldiers to recover from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Yoga nidra is a state in which the body is completely relaxed, and the practitioner becomes systematically and increasingly aware of the inner world by following a set of verbal instructions.[1][2] This state of consciousness is different from meditation, in which concentration on a single focus is required.[1] In yoga nidra the practitioner remains in a state of light withdrawal of the 5 senses (pratyahara) with four senses internalised, that is, withdrawn, and only hearing still connects to any instructions given.[1] The goals of both yogic paths, yoga nidra and meditation are the same, a state of meditative consciousness called samadhi.[3]
Late Morning. Back from walking the dog and the gym. We managed to pace ourselves so we didn’t get drenched. Warming up some coffee. Waiting for the Chief Justice to be sworn in @ 2.
Did you watch the impeachment trial today? What are your tricks for falling asleep?
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