“There is a place inside you that is not broken or wounded” — Brahmani Liebman
“Listen to yourself and in that quietude you might hear the voice of god. It’s always there. Its always in you.” — Maya Angelou
Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra changed my ability to relate to myself, my fears and anxiety, and therein my life. Becoming a Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra guide allowed me impact others on a much deeper level. It shifted the focus of my teaching from guiding a yoga practice to doing healing work.
Formerly my life was characterized by stress and tension. Diversion, distraction, and alternating between pleasure seeking and avoiding pain were my coping mechanisms for stress. Late night binge TV watching, anxiety and sleeplessness were my couch companions. It is hard to remember you are a spiritual being when you are stuffing microwave popcorn in your mouth watching Sex & the City at 3 a.m., all because you are too anxious to rest. These distractions eventually failed to stay the anxiety. My ability to protect myself from the strain of my life disintegrated. The acuteness of my stress caused me to try Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra.
What did I discover? When I offered myself kindness and understanding, the fear and worry that drove the endless anxiety were mollified. With Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra I learned an incredibly powerful tool for living. I learned to relate directly with how things were without needing to change the experience or resist it.
I stopped giving power to my past, my old script, and returned power to me and the present moment, the only moment I could truly experience. Divine Sleep practice taught me that how to deeply rest and tap into the power of my calm presence. I now experience the world from the deep reservoir of calm stillness and self-love within me. I am empowered to choose my reactions and the thoughts that uplift me and support me. The feeling of being welcome and deserved was within me. Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra helped to reconnect with it. Growth was freedom.
My life is immeasurably enriched by the interior pause I get through this practice. It’s like a reset button. When I reenter the world after practice it is simply easier to turn towards love. Easier to stop striving and trust. Easier to listen to my inner wisdom. The calm voice that knows the way.
I relearn I am part of the Divine Plan. I create space inside myself for loving, optimism and healthful patterns to live a more connected, vibrant life. Some times we have to reteach ourselves our loveliness. This is what Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra allows me to do – each and every time.
Leading Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra in monthly workshops has become the highlight of my teaching. I have been privileged to witness the powerful impact that Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra has on others. One student began coming while she was depressed, medicated and had little muscle tone. By the end of six months her life had significantly altered. She was feeling better, had little to no need for antidepressants and had gained vibrancy in her life and marriage. She was healing herself.
I recommend Jennifer’s CD’s to all my students who are interested in a committed practice of healing. The anecdotal evidence of their ameliorative effect is powerful. I also use the CD’s and practice in my own life and with my teenage children when they are facing stress from high school life. They now ask at night, “Can you make my bones heavy?” Chronic lack of sleep is pervasive with teens and I have found Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra a tremendously effective tool for aiding deep rest and restoration in the busy lives of teens.
Lastly, I am the primary caretaker for my father who has Alzheimer’s. Daily I am challenged to call on patience to support me when faced with difficulty. My orientation to this diagnosis and how I interact to it has been informed at very milestone by my Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra practice. Rather than fight it, I work with, I befriend it and seek to find the gems in the journey he and I are on. It has transformed a mess into a blessing. I appreciate each moment as it unfolds, knowing it is marked by impermanence. My Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra practice facilitated a peaceful allowing with the inevitable.
Jennifer’s Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra teacher training was simply life changing. The experiential practice, science based explanations, and deft attention to language, voice and cadence left me well prepared to immediately start my own workshops. Jennifer’s generous sharing of scripts and alterative ways to language body scans and breath provided scaffolding for my own teaching. The community that was formed with my fellow teachers in the training was also generous and uplifting. Sharing journeys and metaphors allowed me to expand my teaching in creative and new ways.
Each time I teach yoga I seek to offer my students an experience. With Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra I can fully use all the aspects of myself and tap into the writer in me, the creator in me and share the hope and positivity in me that forms the core of my beliefs that we all do carry the answers for how to heal ourselves deep within ourselves if we are just brave enough to listen to our hearts.