I met beautiful, pregnant Nikki in Australia over two years ago when I lead Divine Sleep Teacher Training in Melbourne. She had concerns because she was suffering from morning sickness, but it disappeared during the training! I love to witness the transformations that occur during the training. Here is Nikki’s story!
Of all the health challenges I’ve faced, the “disease to please” put my life in jeopardy. My anxiety levels were like nothing I’d ever experienced. After being unhooked from an ECG machine to check that I hadn’t had a heart attack when I was only 28 years old, the doctor told me that my chronic stress would tip over into depression if I didn’t do something about it as soon as possible. That statement felt like a massive SLAP!
Thanks to an interview by Brene Brown, and stumbling upon Jennifer Reis’s yoga nidra, things were about to turn around for the better. I had suffered from work-induced chronic stress. Then, during the first two years of my toddler’s life, I became so chronically sleep deprived after breastfeeding her every two hours every night, that prior to the MRI, the neurologist thought I had had a stroke! With that amount of broken sleep for so long, something in me felt like it was about to give.
Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra has helped me cope with some of the biggest life challenges I have ever faced. I began to address the chronic stress and it was yoga nidra that helped me create big shifts mentally and emotionally. I began to see and understand myself and my deepest needs, rather than being so concerned about everyone else’s. Now I have an approach that helps with developing insight!
Yoga nidra is my daily practice and was what helped me get past the exhaustion of the first two years of my toddler’s life. It truly was the only way I felt like I had gotten some decent rest at that time. It sounds like I’m talking about a long time ago but my daughter is only 2 years and 3 months old!
I’m still on the road to recovery with sleep deprivation side effects, but yoga nidra continues to create healing and deep peace within me. It’s my ‘nap’ without actually going to sleep during the day because I want to avoid that groggy feeling midday sleep brings on.
Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra is my ‘go to’ for those intense times, but it also connects me with the beautiful. The more I practice, the more connected I feel with my purpose. I experience so much more confidence than I every have! Fear is still there, but I don’t let it take the driver’s seat as often as I used to. I experience more clarity on what I need, and what I need to do each day for that to become true. I am more aligned with my core desired feelings: Open, Connected, Love, Freedom, Vibrant.
I was so fortunate to be able to attend Jennifer’s Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra teacher training in Australia. I didn’t think I’d survive because of my horrendous morning sickness, I was amazed to find it disappeared while I undertook the training. (For anyone who has had morning sickness, that is epic right?!)
Jennifer has created something truly extraordinary with Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra. I feel blessed to have such an amazing practical method that provides so much healing and nourishment both for myself and my students. After my stroke scare, I put a hold on teaching yoga and meditation classes, but Jennifer has been very supportive of me in sharing yoga nidra with as many people as I can, so I have recently taken my yoga nidra offerings online. I also write on my blog. These are new adventures for me, and hopefully a healing experience for those that find me!
Nikki Veliz is a stay at home mum in Australia and the creator of Pause & Reset.
https://nikkiveliz.wordpress.com
