Vespers, Lauds, and Other Prayers began simply as Vespers (evening prayers) in November 2015. After a nightly body-focused yoga nidra meditation, I would get up and, disturbing myself mentally and physically as little as possible, start painting. I let my hands paint without thinking too much about what they were doing or what anything meant. Vespers gave me space to empty my hands of the vibrations, resonances, and debris that came up in meditation in a spontaneous act of creation, and they cleared my mind for deep, restful sleep.
When my schedule allowed it, I began to practice yoga nidra in the mornings upon waking, and as a gateway into afternoon naps that I often need badly but have a hard time settling down for. As more space in my life cleared for rest, regeneration, nidra, and sleep, more space cleared in my mind for sankalpa, the intention-setting practice embedded in yoga nidra. I noticed that my paintings began to reflect the intentions I set in meditation, and I title them accordingly. These paintings remind me of and anchor me into the sankalpa I set in yoga nidra, tend to in sleep, and carry out with me into life.
