The audio tracks on this page accompany the text of Lightening Up: The Yoga of Self-Acceptance. However each one can be reviewed as a stand alone practice. Most are for learning to practice an internal focus while doing asana. Try a few of them on their own, if you don’t have the book

Breath Visualization: This Practice is to help you focus on your breath and to see how your attention can take your breath through your body to places you choose to put it. It becomes the basis for all attempts to re-integrate mind and body by connecting the two through the medium of the breath.

Downward Dog: This practice uses a familiar pose to show how awareness of the breath and the sensations in the body can completely change one’s experience of the posture.

Guided Visualization: You can imagine anything. By guiding you through and extensive visual landscape, with nothing but your imagination to guide you, this practice will help you later as you visualize the sensations in the muscles you use during asana.

Muscle Visualization: Building on the preceding practice, this one has you take a voyage into your muscles to imagine what is actually going on.

Breath, Body, & Attention: Putting it all together to help you do “yoga;” i.e. to create a union of the 3 elements.

Attitude Adjustment:  While exercise is quite possible no matter what you’re feeling, yoga is impossible if you are cranky. This practice shows how your mood and attitude can have a direct effect on how you experience the postures.

Internal Critic: We all have a voice or voices of self-criticism and judgement. There so prevalent we’ve learned to believe them…This practice is a playful way to get some distance from your own.

The Edge: During asana, without training, it’s easy to go too far. Unfortunately you generally don’t know you’ve gone too far until you’ve gone too far, and then it’s too late. This practice lets you experience the breadth of your “edge” in a new way so you can experience the level of physical effort appropriate for you.

STAN: Well, I know if it was me, I’d sit down and relax, I’d close my eyes,
and I’d concentrate and I’d think of nothing. Wouldn’t be long then,
that’s what I’d do.
OLLIE: Say, I think you’ve got something there.
STAN: I know I’ve got something. Why don’t you take a whirl at it?
OLLIE [sits down, supports his chin in his hands, and closes his eyes]
STAN: Now don’t think of anything.
OLLIE: I won’t.