Chris Abay Podcast

Welcome back, everybody, to the 4th in this yoga Nidra series. I'm joining you today from a place of holiday in Malta.

I'm actually staying in monastery. 

So, you're getting this raw and uncut, maybe some echoey effects from the monastery walls

....Imagine yourself surrounded in limestone walls with 12 foot high ceilings, wooden ceiling beams, that kind of thing. And outside, there's the 38 degree heat. There is water, there's a village, it's very Maltese here. Maybe that already brings you into a gentle visualisation of somewhere which is warm and relaxing, authentic, and also drenched in history, authenticity, reality. Life is messy. Yoga Nidra is away into the layers underneath that which colours your perception. I invite you now to become as comfortable as possible.

You might want to lie down

To relax

To let go...

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Namaste groovers.... this one is kinda a quick dive right in and a lounge. It has a quicker entrance so that if you like to get on with things you can still enjoy a Nidra!

Once you're in you can switch of and come out anytime you like or... let the magic take you to visit your future self and have a little chat about what's what. 

Like the sound of that? then Dive in.

Other wise there are many more to choose from.

Enjoy 

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For this special episode, headphones are strongly recommended.

A short, immersive Yoga Nidra experience designed to help you soften tension, quiet the nervous system, and deeply relax in just 10 minutes.

This guided breathing Nidra uses carefully layered audio textures and spatial sound effects to help accelerate the feeling of calm and absorption. The subtle left-to-right audio movement and immersive sound design are specifically engineered to support deeper relaxation and mental stillness.

Perfect for:
• Stress relief during a busy day
• Falling asleep more easily at night
• Resetting after work or travel
• Easing physical tension held in the body
• Improving concentration and mental clarity

One of the greatest advantages of Yoga Nidra is its simplicity. You can stream this practice anywhere, anytime — at home, on a train, during a lunch break, or before sleep — without needing to “do” anything other than listen and breathe.

Over time, practices like this may help you:
• Let go of chronic tension patterns
• Sleep more deeply and wake more refreshed
• Feel calmer and less overwhelmed
• Improve focus, concentration, and emotional balance
• Create moments of stillness within busy modern life

Find a comfortable position, put your headphones on, and allow yourself 10 minutes to simply stop holding on.

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Season 4: Feel the wave of Yoga Nidra - deep practice without movement:

In this Nidra practice, Chris from YinWave by AbaYoga invites you to wonder off into a safe space to lighten latent tension and reconnect your happier self with an open sense of ease.

Created for anyone wishing to relax more and smile more in life.

Can be done before bed or when ever you want to lighten your day.

Let go & enjoy.

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In this season finale episode, I bring together the softer practices explored across the season, Yin, myofascial release, breathwork, meditation, and Yoga Nidra, not as separate tools, but as one integrated approach to healing.

Working with my own post-operative scar has shown me something simple but powerful. The body holds, protects, and, when given the right conditions, releases.

I explore:

•  Stillness as an active force 
•  Breath as the bridge into safety 
•  Fascia and stored tension 
•  Practising without striving 

This is not instruction. It’s reflection from inside the process.

If you’re moving through injury, recovery, or feeling the pull to slow down, this offers a quieter way in.

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I probably shouldn’t have recorded this.

I'm four days after shoulder surgery... tired, uncomfortable, slightly spaced out and yet this felt like the most honest moment to speak.

This isn’t a polished update.
 It’s not “on brand.”
 And it definitely wasn’t planned.

It’s what it actually feels like when everything stops.

What happens when you can’t teach, can’t move properly, can’t distract yourself, and you’re left with your body, your thoughts, and whatever surfaces in the quiet.

There’s frustration in here.
There’s clarity.
And a few things I didn’t expect to say out loud.

If you’ve been wondering where I’ve gone… this is the real answer.

And if you’re curious about where things are heading, beyond the classes, beyond the old rhythm, I think this points directly at it.

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Yin Yoga is often misunderstood as simply slow stretching. But in reality, Yin can become something much more interesting, it's explorative way of listening to the connective tissue and discovering where the body is holding tension.

In this episode, Chris explores how Yin Yoga becomes the discovery platform for deeper fascial work.

Long holds in Yin poses help reveal patterns of restriction across the body’s fascial lines. Once those areas are identified, Myofascial Release (MFR) allows us to move from broad exploration to precise intervention, gently targeting adhesions and restoring the natural glide of connective tissue.

Think of Yin as the discovery vehicle, and Myofascial Release as the precision tool.

Together they create a powerful approach to working with fascia, mobility, and long-term joint health.

These symbiotic practices and how they work can be explored at my new wbsite : YinWave.com 

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Yin is often misunderstood as gentle, passive, or “just stretching.”
 But what if the real strength of a practice isn’t how much effort it demands — but how much staying power it cultivates?

In this episode, Chris explores why Yin and Myofascial Release are anything but the soft option. Drawing on lived studio experience, fascia science, and the often-overlooked bridge between movement and meditation, he reframes strength as tolerance, endurance, and nervous system capacity rather than force or intensity.

This is an episode for anyone who:

• Feels unsure about letting go of stronger, more dynamic practices
• Worries that Yin might mean losing strength or support
• Has benefited from practices like Aerial yoga and wonders where that strength now lives
• Has been quietly waiting for Yin that goes deeper than stretching

You’ll hear why Yin trains the body to stay rather than strive, how this endurance transfers directly into meditation, and why quiet practices often build the most sustainable kind of strength.

If you’ve ever thought Yin was “too soft,” this conversation may change the way you listen to your body — and what you mean by strength.

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This is the sweetspot of the series where we share where the new direction of the studio is and how th horizon is changing.

The decompression zone is that space everybody needs to balance the immense effort it takes to progress through "life".

In this episode, I explore the idea of decompression, not as stretching, fixing, or improving the body, but as creating the conditions for release.

Modern bodies live under constant load: physical, mental, emotional. Over time, this compression shows up as stiffness, fatigue, irritability, and a sense that the body never quite settles.

This episode looks at what decompression really means in a Yin, fascia-aware context — why doing less can often create more space, and how stillness, time, and intelligent positioning allow the nervous system to downshift and tissues to rehydrate.

Rather than techniques to “do”, this is an invitation to notice where you are holding, bracing, or over-efforting — and what becomes possible when that grip softens.

Spoiler alert: This episode contains raw, unedited content!

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Fascia has become one of the most talked-about words in modern movement, yoga, and bodywork — and also one of the most misunderstood.

In this episode, I gently strip fascia back to what it actually is… and what it definitely isn’t.

We’ll explore fascia not as a trendy buzzword or a mysterious “thing you stretch,” but as a living, intelligent connective tissue system that responds to time, load, hydration, sensation, and nervous system input.

You’ll learn:

• What fascia really is, structurally and functionally
• Why fascia doesn’t behave like muscle — and why treating it like muscle often backfires
• Common myths about fascia release, rolling, and “breaking things up”
• How fascia adapts slowly, intelligently, and with memory
• Why gentleness, duration, and awareness matter more than force

This episode is especially for anyone who:

• Feels stiff despite stretching regularly
• Has tried foam rolling or strong techniques with mixed results
• Practices Yin Yoga and wants to understand why it works
• Is curious about pain, restriction, or long-held tension in the body

Nothing technical for the sake of it. No forceful fixes. Just a clearer, calmer understanding of the tissue that quite literally holds us together.

If you’ve ever wondered why slowing down can create deeper change than pushing harder — this episode is for you.

Part of the YinWave audio series — where sound, stillness, and fascia meet.

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