Frequently Asked Questions

Meditation has many benefits, including reducing stress and anxiety, improving focus and concentration, increased self-awareness, enhanced emotional well-being, and promoting better sleep. It can contribute to better overall mental, physical, and social health.

Yoga can help improve flexibility, increase strength, enhance balance, and reduce stress. It can promote relaxation and mindfulness and help you cultivate a better relationship with your body.

When we think of Change, we sometimes imagine something big and disruptive. Meditation, Yoga, and Mindfulness teach us the value of small adjustments.  You don’t have to make huge, chaotic changes to be different. Sometimes you can change your whole life with even a small pivot in how you think about your experience.

Consultations help us get on the same page about your needs. Meditation and yoga are intimate practices that require your instructor to be aware of you and sensitive to your state of mind. During our consultation, we will find out if A Mind at Rest can offer something valuable to you. That might be a weekly session for the rest of our lives, a few sessions before you take the leap and join a studio, a referral to another practitioner, or your final declaration that this is just not for you (it won’t be that). Especially if you’re shy about it, please schedule a call so we can talk about all the options and get you on the right path.

Currently, all classes are virtual, but there are options for in-person classes for groups.

Meditation sessions are typically 20-45 minutes long and may include closing your eyes, intention setting, breathing exercises, self-assessment, guided visualizations, silence, movement, and singing bowls (upon request). You will be invited to find a quiet, comfortable space where you feel safe being still (sitting, standing, or lying down) for most of the session. Meditation can help with your overall mindset or address a specific challenge. Meditation sometimes tests the limits of your mental, physical and emotional comfort, but it is also a practice of acknowledging what you don’t want to do and feeling free not to do it. Whether you think of being still and quiet as a punishment or a blessing, meditation can be a game-changer.

Yoga sessions are a vinyasa flow, usually 50-60 minutes long, and may include a brief meditation or sound bath, depending on the kind of session you attend. No special skills are required, but you should be aware of any physical injuries, limitations, or hazards and inform your instructor of the same.  You don’t have to be flexible, and it’s highly unlikely that you’ll be encouraged to take any unsupported inversions or headstands. Every posture in yoga has variations depending on your mood and energy or skill level, and you are safe to skip any postures or poses that might aggravate pre-existing injuries or conditions. Yoga is a practice of honoring your body and doing no more than what feels right in the moment. Yoga can be beneficial when you’re feeling athletic and plan to move around a lot, but it can also help when you’re feeling sluggish and just need a little movement to bring yourself out of a funk.

A vinyasa yoga class typically involves a dynamic sequence of poses coordinated with breath. The flow is continuous (more-or-less), moving from one posture to another.  This flow fosters mindfulness, strength, and mental and physical flexibility. Your instructor will guide you through sun salutations, standing, seated, and balancing poses, ending with relaxation, and perhaps meditation and a singing bowl. The focus on breath and movement can create a harmonious practice for enhanced physical and mental well-being.

Our classes are all-level classes, not only because you can opt-out of certain poses based on your personal preferences, but also because there are variations for every pose.

A yoga class can be quiet but they are rarely silent. Music might be played. You can feel free to respond to some cues from the instructor, but be mindful of the other attendees if you're in a group class.

Attendees are encouraged to dress in modest but comfortable workout clothing that takes into consideration that you will be bending, reaching, and moving from standing, sitting and lying down in a continuous movement.

Common yoga equipment includes:

A yoga mat or rug (or a large towel) - something that won’t slide around on the floor and allows you to be stable on its surface even if your hands are a little sweaty

Blocks or a yoga stand (or large books) - something that can remain stable and immobile on the floor as you push against them, these are used to raise to floor to your reach in poses like downward-facing dog and are the most oft-used prop for variations and for more advanced poses

A small/medium sized towel - you might use this to stay dry or as an additional prop (or you might need it if you start crying)

A blanket or large towel - this may be used as a prop, or you might use it as a covering during meditation/savasana

Bolsters or pillows - these can be used as a headrest, backrest or leg//ankle/footrest, or as a sitting cushion

Water or other drinks for hydration (you will need it)

Your other stuff - grippy gloves or socks, sweatband, knee support, pen and journal, long-sleeved top, etc.

A sound bath is a meditative experience where participants are immersed in sounds and vibrations, often created by instruments like crystal bowls, metal bowls, gongs, chimes, bells, and drums. No sound bath or sound healing practitioner is the same.  With our sound baths, the intention is to promote relaxation, reduce stress, and create a therapeutic environment for mental and emotional well-being. A sound bath can be added to the end of a yoga or meditation session and may include one or several instruments. If you love music, consider a sound bath. 

The cost of a class varies depending on the type of class and the number of attendees. Please visit our pricing page for more information.

Please email us at admin@amindatrest.com regarding volunteer opportunities, class package pricing, speaking engagements, and anything else!

Thank you. It's so cool of you to notice.

I started my yoga practice in 2018 in that typical “flirty-40s” attempt to lose weight. And to avoid going to the doctor about my chronic neck and back pain. The practice of yoga reduced the physical symptoms immediately and then began to reveal the physical, mental, emotional, and psychological sources of the pain.

As it did for many, the COVID pandemic shone a bright light on all the things I was doing to sabotage and abandon myself. As my sense of isolation, stress, and anxiety worsened, I stopped exercising altogether, stopped socializing almost completely, and gained back the 30 pounds I had lost. All self-care practices came to a screeching halt. Not because the world had shut down, but because I had.

My neck and back pain were back with a vengeance. The five or six hours of sleep I managed to get were interrupted by a 2-hour block of sleeplessness in the middle of the night, every night. Every day, I dragged myself out of bed, worked humped over my desk for eight hours, then dragged myself back to bed. And I pretended to be okay, because that‘s what I learned a functioning member of society was supposed to do. As my social life dwindled and my work suffered, I returned to yoga to address the superficial symptoms of my deeper, still unacknowledged, suffering.

I studied mindfulness to try to redirect or dismiss some of the anger that bubbled up and lingered inside me every day. Mindfulness helped me move away from that anger even before I learned and accepted that I wasn‘t angry because of what was going on outside of myself or because of what other people were doing.

I studied meditation so that I could wake up and face the day after I had been awake all night. Meditation didn‘t help me do that. Meditation helped me sleep through the night or go back to sleep relatively quickly by helping me disrupt the epically negative self-talk, spiraling thoughts, ego-driven fear, and low self-esteem that had plagued me since before I could remember.

I started yoga teacher training to be better at the physical practice of yoga. I finished yoga teacher training better at the experience of life.

I am not a doctor or a therapist. I am a regular person who didn’t know that it doesn’t actually take a lot of work to be a happy, harmless human being. You don’t have to follow the path I took. All I recommend is that you accept that you are worthy, powerful, and loved. And that you are the source of attention and compassion that you desire. Once you take that step, the next correct step will reveal itself. Perhaps we’ll walk next to each other somewhere along the way.

Peace and blessings.

If you're even remotely curious, take a yoga or meditation class!

Your neighborhood gym or fitness center probably offers a class with yoga elements, even if they don't have a full-on yoga class.

You don't have to take classes in person - there are pre-recorded sessions from a multitude of providers on the Internet, and workout material is available from the library. 

You don't have to pay - in addition to social media platforms, there may be community (free) classes in your area.

You will be welcomed! Guaranteed, whether you had to pay or not, every good yoga or meditation teacher will be happy to see you.

You only have to show up! You don't have to know what you're doing before you go, and you don't have to take every pose.  Most of the time, no one but the instructor will be looking at you. Even if another attendee seems to be looking at you, they're probably thinking about what they're doing, not what you're doing. (Or they like your outfit.)

It's not as difficult as you think. Yoga is easy to learn, and you'll enjoy its benefits without ever having to be an expert.