As I reflect back over this past year of changes that Covid has brought into our lives, the one thing I attribute to making the most difference in my life is Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra with Jennifer.
I’m prone to stress and worry, and have tried many ways to cope over the years. I started meditating when I was 23 years old, and have practiced various forms, as well as trained in two styles of meditation. After dabbling with yoga for many years, it’s now become a regular practice for me: focusing on breath helps me to slow down. I love to dance, and walk as well, and all of these practices have helped to tame my IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), manage my anxiety, and keep me resilient. Until yoga nidra took me to a whole new level…
I met Jennifer at Kripalu Center a few years ago and took a couple of yoga classes with her over the weekend. I loved her warm and easygoing presence, and immediately signed up for her newsletter. When Covid hit, I began attending her online yoga nidra classes – and have been with her ever since! In the beginning, I did about five classes a week – her voice melted me! I was hooked. I found such peace and utter bliss each time I did it, I just wanted more.
Being a yoga practitioner and daily meditator, I thought I knew what relaxation felt like in my body, until I found deep healing bliss with Divine Sleep ® Yoga Nidra. During the practice, I find I am extremely relaxed, yet aware, as Jennifer guides me through all the different layers of my being – body, breath, senses, with contrasts like hot and cold, and her beautiful journeys filled with imagery – all while feeling safe and secure.
I often doze off and Jennifer explains that this is quite common, and that ‘my body would get whatever it needed’, and so it does! She said this deeply relaxed state was the parasympathetic nervous system, which is the body’s relaxation response to stress and is crucial for healing. I feel an inner sense of calm that I had never truly experienced before.
Practicing yoga nidra with Jennifer continues to be a blessing! I have several of her recordings on CD and listen to the Insomnia Track to put me to sleep almost every night. No matter what my day has been like, hearing her voice relaxes me, and makes me feel peaceful inside.
Jennifer is gifted, and I’m so grateful she chooses to share her gifts with me and so many others in person and now online. Her yoga nidra has been my refuge and anchor this past year and has become such an important priority in my life, and I can’t imagine that ever changing. In fact, I took her Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra 40-hour online training in January as a 70th birthday gift to myself, and I can’t wait to share it with others in my community.
My daughter is in Guatemala, so sharing yoga nidra with her online is a great way for us to connect now.
I look forward to taking more of Jennifer’s workshops. I love her relaxed teaching style. She radiates compassion in every class and makes learning fun! From Five Element Yoga® and Immune Boost Mondays, to Mudras and of course, Divine Sleep®, I’ll be there with her as my guide. Her classes are always informative and interesting, and it always helps keep me balanced and healthy in body and mind.
My husband said to me the other day, “You seem happy almost all the time now…it’s really nice, and I like it!” He’s not one to give compliments, so that felt big! And my favorite yoga teacher in my area has said to me several times that I’m her ‘poster child’ for being positive through Covid.
I guess I have weathered this year well partly because I accepted it, as it presented itself, one day at a time. I’ve found that I enjoy being more introspective. And I believe Jennifer is part of the reason. Her positive, generous spirit is contagious. She’s so welcoming and gracious and brings joy to others. So thank you Jennifer, for being my guiding light this year.
Clare Harlow, MSW, Career and Life Coaching
