Before I practiced yoga, I had very few skills to deal with anxiety and stress. Being a creative person, I have an active mind that sometimes is flooded with ideas and things to explore, investigate, and create. Being bombarded with “thinking” caused anxiety and panic in my daily life to the point that it became unbearable.
This lack of self-regulation affected my sleep, ability to travel, and even my social interactions. My world was getting smaller and smaller. I knew something had to change and I was searching. As a person in long-term recovery from alcoholism, every tool and every layer of learning supports my continued sobriety and mental health.
Then I found yoga! Practicing yoga postures and breathing taught me how to get out of my head and into my body and being. My first time in class at a yoga studio, I was so deep into the practice with presence in my body that the 75 minutes just flew by.
I was amazed! That was the beginning of my journey into creating a yoga-centered life. After practicing yoga steadily, I finally found a sense of inner spaciousness where my thoughts could actually slow down.
Eventually I wanted to offer this gift to others and became a certified 500-hour yoga teacher with the intention of developing Yoga4Sobriety – my school based on the Chakra energy wheel system. And as it turned out, yoga has been the biggest gift for me! Yoga allowed me to both focus my thoughts and inspirations to flow in a steady rhythm so that I could create and implement something real, tangible and valuable. And it gave me a deep wisdom tradition and practical practice methods to help others – this is my contribution!
Recently I found Jennifer’s Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra. Practicing yoga nidra gives me a deeper understanding of how to sink into stillness, and how to shift out of human “doing” and into human “being.” I took Jennifer’s online training which renewed my love for yogic wisdom, especially the layers of being called koshas, which Divine Sleep is based on. I found the whole training, and this style of yoga nidra, has been a great complement to my chakra-focused work.
Personally for myself, I find yoga nidra helps me to hear from my heart. It allows me to clarify my intentions and supports me in manifesting what I’m here to do. I feel even more productive now!
Forever a student, and wanting to grow and evolve, after the training I began to work with Jennifer Reis through mentorship. This has been a tremendous help to bring practical wisdom into my life as I find the mentor relationship keeps me accountable and grounded.
I align with Jennifer’s teachings and philosophies on and off the mat, which makes this relationship very special.
I continue to integrate the wisdom of yoga into all aspects of my life, and I find anxiety and panic are mostly a thing of the past. Yoga has assisted me living fully, mindfully, creatively, joyfully, productively – and for this I am forever grateful.
