Student Stories
I Returned To My Inner Calm!
On paper, it seemed like I had enough support to help me process losing our family home due to financial trials, marital challenges, moving three times uprooting our four school aged children, plus two job changes each for both me and my husband! Although I wasn't diagnosed with anxiety and depression, I fluctuated between the two in varying degrees depending on the day. I felt inadequate to provide a stable home for my family in the midst of the stressors. I felt very fragmented, insecure, alone and afraid. This is who I was when I began my Divine Sleep® Yoga
Yoga Nidra Saved My Life
Near the end of Divine Sleep®️ Yoga Nidra Teacher Training, Jennifer Reis, the instructor asked the class of 40+ students, “What is your truth?” I shuttered at the thought of answering that question. What is my truth??! I will pass, I will say my name and pass the microphone to the next person but… my soul felt open and prepared me to also share my truth. My pulse raced a beat faster as the mic moved closer, until it arrived at my sweaty hand like an instrument of truth, I looked down at my hands gripping the hot stone that
From Feeling Out of Control To Living A Full Life
Undiagnosed as a child, I struggled with anxiety my whole life, and things got worse in high school and college. During that time, I was hospitalized twice for anxiety attacks that exhibited hyperventilation, spastic muscle rigidity, with severe neck and chest pain. I was scared, not knowing what was happening to my body, I felt out of control and disconnected. The medical community worked me up, telling me I might have meningitis, blood clot, and/or heart conditions. The diagnosis and treatments felt invasive and only intensified my fear. Pushing through with steady perseverance, family support, and devoted friends, I managed
Sleep - Please?
“Where’s the thermometer?” I asked my husband while stuffing my pajamas in a suitcase and mentally packing our kid’s lunches. There wasn’t much time before my ferry left and there was so much left to do! After holding still for fifteen seconds, a green light flashed, announcing my 98.6 degree temperature. I was thinking, “Huh? I am healthy? No fever?” Except for my head ache, sore throat, mouth ulcers, lethargy and crankiness belied something was going on. However, it did mean I could indeed still attend Five Element Yoga and Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra retreat at Kripalu Center in the
How To Catch Up On Rest!
I found myself overwhelmed, stressed, overextended as well as plain old tired of being tired! I said ‘yes’ to too many things. I did not always recognize my body’s signals telling me to rest. I was pushing through, yet in my head seemed to be saying something like ‘just one more thing to complete’ and ‘I’ll rest when I’m dead’. Then I realized, there was a big difference between the two! I needed to restore myself. I needed rest. Originally, I had begun practicing yoga about sixteen years ago when I moved to the Berkshires. Without knowing anyone there, I
I Learned To Listen To My Body, To Breathe, And Be With My Inner Self
I woke up one day in 2012 to find myself mysteriously unable to walk in severe whole body pain that did not go away. At the time, I could have accepted the diagnosis of ‘fibromyalgia’, resigning myself to living a life with the limitations of what has been called ‘an incurable condition.’ (fibromyalgia is a chronic pain condition accompanied by fatigue, insomnia, gastrointestinal, memory and mood symptoms). In fact, at the time, I could not even walk. Without answers from top medical experts, I dedicated my life to healing myself. I made a different choice - I shifted all of
'Ask' and I Received!
My marriage fell apart. I had two teenage children and it was a difficult and very painful time. I examined and re-examined every detail of the divorce and the events that led up to it. I had trouble sleeping and suffered from insomnia, with a recurring nightmare of losing my pocketbook, which to me represented losing my identity. As a child I could not stop moving! I tumbled, cartwheeled, and flipped wherever I was. There was such joy in movement. As I got older, my free play morphed into cheerleading, dance, aerobics, jazzercise, pilates and yoga. I was known as
My Personal Transformation with Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra
Before practicing yoga nidra, I struggled to find work life balance. I was commuting two hours a day to work, working a full-time job, as well as being a busy mom raising two daughters – both of them training in dance - with a husband who traveled frequently for work. I felt I needed to be able to deeply relax and let go of the stress that I was under if I was to be able to continue the pace. I struggled with finding a way to meditate or feel like I was doing it properly since my mind was
Air Traffic Controller Turned Divine Sleep Guide!
One of the five top most stressful jobs is considered to be an air traffic controller. Requiring total concentration to maintain the flow of aircraft in and out of airports controlling air traffic is key to aviation safety. At times its required to work more than 40 hour days and retirement is usually mandatory at age 56. Having worked and lived as an air traffic controller for over 25 years, I can tell you first-hand what this type of stress has done to my body on a normal day, and how that increased during the menopausal years! After being in
Calmness In My Daily Routine
Before I practiced yoga, I frequently found myself physically tense and mentally stressed, whether hunched over a computer screen or lying in bed struggling with insomnia.  When an opportunity arose for me to visit Kripalu, Jennifer’s Yoga and Deep Relaxation Retreat seemed like a good opportunity to introduce myself to yoga generally, as well as to address my insomnia and stress-related tensions. I’d never had any exposure to yoga of any sort, but luckily, Jennifer’s program, and particularly her specialties of Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra and Five Element Yoga, proved to be perfectly tailored for me.  While I continued to