Aliya Mughal

Rest & Write: 6-week programme of Yin, Nidra & Reflective Writing Practices

Thursdays, 25 April - 30 May 2024. Via Zoom 6pm UK / 1pm Eastern / 10am Pacific / 7pm Rome / 12pm Central

It’s no small wonder that the greatest insights and ideas tend to emerge after a period of concerted rest, maybe after the exhaustion of and the struggle of forcing, fighting and over-efforting. Why wait until that point to give ourselves that time off and time out that comes from turning in?

Rest & Write will see us tap into the combined and complementary benefits of Yin Yoga, Yoga Nidra and Reflective Writing to restore and awaken our mind, body and creative spirit.

Yoga Nidra has many wonderful benefits for our physical and psychological wellbeing - it can stimulate the body's natural healing process, rejuvenate our creative potential and joy, restore vital energy, ease anxiety and fatigue, and perhaps most profoundly, allow us to tune into our intuition and wisdom when all of the regular concepts and preoccupations dissolve from our mind.

Yin Yoga can be equally transformative - it offers an approachable way to inhabit our body and observe our mind, and in doing so, cultivate patience and compassion when  ingrained habits arise (such as those classic traits of frustration, reactivity, restlessness). It’s a practice that can help us befriend our whole selves with greater sensitivity, skill and awareness.

Hence both are perfect complementary and preparatory practices for reflective writing - they provide us with the tools to feel into our whole mind-body experience, acknowledge and work with/shift any energy that needs to shift, and tend tenderly to our inner experience as we approach the contents of our heart and mind with pen and paper in hand.

• Weekly 75-minute live gatherings grounded in practices to restore, inspire and replenish your physical, mental and emotional state inc. Yoga Nidra & Yin Yoga

• followed by guided writing practices to help you explore and express what’s on your heart and mind

• with time for integration and sharing, to help you build confidence in your voice as part of a supportive community of fellow students and practitioners

• recordings available with follow-up notes.

Note that you don’t need to have any writing experience, in fact intellectualism is discouraged and letting go of what you think you know is key, to allow you to open up without expectation or theoretical inhibition. This is about professional or creative writing as such. Though the practices and freedom you will likely experience as a result can no doubt shape your endeavours in other regards, writing or otherwise. It’s primarily about giving free reign to what you hold inside, and so freeing you from what is within by letting it go and letting it flow so that you can find clarity and ease in you minds, as much as your bodies and your heart.

Sliding scale pricing options:

• Previous students: £250

• Early commitment discount (until 5 April): £275

• Regular sustainable rate: £300

• Supporter rate: £400

Register by emailing me at aliya@strongwordsmatter.com (payment details sent on registration).

Logistics & practicalities

• Payment is accepted via Monzo or PayPal (details sent on enrollment)

• Refunds are not available. Should you be unable to attend any classes after signing up, you will have access to the recordings for 6 months from the start of the programme.

• Due to logistics, and in the interests of creating, growing and nurturing this as a community practice, this programme is only open to full enrollment (i.e. pay-per-class drop-ins are not possible)