Welcome, Radiant Soul!

Thank you for participating in Seeking the Sacred: An Interfaith Spiritual Journey for Women. Below are some resources for free guided yoga nidra meditations, book recommendations and the poem, Breathe a Sabbath in me, God.

Free Yoga Nidra Meditations

  • Karen Brody, the founder of Daring to Rest offers a free, say yes to rest, 15 minute guided yoga nidra meditation on Facebook on Fridays at 12 pm PST.

  • The Insight Timer app offers some lovely guided yoga nidra meditations by a variety of teachers.

Books on Sabbath

Sabbath as Resistance: Saying No to the Culture of Now, Walter Brueggemann.

The Sabbath, Abraham Joshua Heschel.

Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal and Delight in Our Busy Lives, Wayne Muller.

Books on Yoga Nidra

Daring to Rest: Reclaim Your Power with Yoga Nidra Rest Meditation, Karen Brody.

Yoga Nidra: The Art of Transformational Sleep, Kamini Desai, Ph.D.

Yoga Nidra: A Meditative Practice for Deep Relaxation and Healing, Richard Miller.

Healing Night: The Science and Spirit of Sleeping, Dreaming, and Awakening, Rubin R. Naiman, Ph.D.

Radiant Rest: Yoga Nidra for Deep Relaxation and Awakened Clarity, Tracee Stanley.

Breathe a Sabbath in me, God,

That I may embrace creation –

Black tree silhouette against crimson dusk,

Winter-white starts, cold and bright,

Hard frost, first crocus

March soil-stirrings of animals who rest.

 

Lead me into a Sabbath, God,

That I may experience your law.

Hold me, still me, fold my restless hands.

Guide me to the holiness of not-doing.

Let me walk strictly in quiet pacings

Of the obedience where joy begins.


Lead me a Sabbath bounty, God,

That I may squander it away.

Open me to ease the burdens of others

And offer gentle laughter

To the weary and the worriers,

And even those who bind themselves.

 

Walk with me a Sabbath that is mine, God,

That I may choose healing.

Feed me the sacred bread I need to grow.

Soothe the withered limbs, the twisted soul.

Teach me to take responsibility

To define all of my days.

 

Bury me in a Sabbath, chosen-lonely God,

That I may understand forsaken

And hear only silence in my prayer.

Bury me in your borrowed tomb

And let me descend a private hell,

That tomorrow I may wake to resurrection.

 — An Improbable Gift of Blessing: Prayers to Nurture the Spirit, Maren Tirabassi and Joan Jordan Grant