by | Sep 29, 2015
In 2011, the normal energetic feel of my life was a whirlwind of hectic, deranged, non-stop frantic chaos! It felt as though someone had jammed the fast forward button that controlled my life. I had absolutely no clue how to slow down.
Shortly after that feeling engulfed me, I was diagnosed with a stage two malignant tumor in my brain in the right temporal lobe.
Acknowledging that life wasn’t about to slow down for me, I had a beautiful and empowering realization that I needed to renew! I longed to feel loving vibrancy, as well as inner serenity. Even within illness, I knew achieving it was possible.
I immediately began my search for an inner state of calm that could help me get through the catastrophic event I was facing. I had only a small foundation of yoga in my life, and began integrating yoga into my daily routine. I used slowing my breath down to calm my racing mind. And I found the yogic text – the Bhagavad Gita – to be very supportive.
I made it through one round of brain surgery. Then an intense healing period. Questions like, ‘Who am I?’ began to surface and I felt like I was beginning all over again. I set a goal, knowing how I wanted to feel in my body again, and knew that yoga would get me there.
I entered into my yoga teacher training and within it one of our teachers lead us in Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra. As I sat up after the practice I felt an ethereal and light filled sense of myself and knew that I was searching for!
As I floated out of the classroom and into the world, I noticed how beautifully different I was perceiving the natural beauty of mother Gaia around me. The trees were the most vibrant green, the people walking on the sidewalks were light and open; I wanted to smile at everyone including myself.
I felt such self-love! I was filled with warm happiness that I wanted to let freely flow outward to share with everyone. It was the most amazing experience I had ever had! I knew I needed Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra as part of my daily routine for both healing and well-being. I smiled radiantly all day, and that night’s sleep was incredible.
In terms of long-term effects, Divine Sleep has allowed me to feel more settled into my body, which has been a profound blessing after surgery. Now I feel ease within myself. I have a sense of integration with this conscious relaxation in my life.
My healing process was greatly shortened — my estimated recovery time had far overshot my actual recovery time and my neurosurgeon was at a loss for words because of to how quickly I healed. My yoga and yoga nidra practice created space for what was not me to melt away, and then my true-self began to really shine through. It has genuinely connected me to my innate self-healing abilities. I feel I truly healed myself not only physically, but emotionally, from the surgery.
The same month I graduated from yoga teacher training I enrolled in Jennifer’s Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra teacher training the same month! I had no idea what to expect and was filled with desire in my heart to share the beautiful practice of Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra with the world! I wanted everyone to feel that light and peaceful renewed sensation it gives me every time I practice.
When I met Jennifer the first day of class I was taken aback with how wonderfully open and compassionate she is. She embodied the ‘Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra’ energy in her person. The training was integrated in the best way. Working with her one-on-one was a blessing and a joy. When I graduated I felt more than ready to share this potent practice with the world!
I am filled with gratitude to have been able to train with Jennifer and have eternal appreciation for her creating this beautiful technique to help awaken each individuals’ innate healing abilities and aid individuals in inviting peace, love and light into their life.
Namaste.
by | Sep 29, 2015
I was 38 and worried sick that Monday afternoon. The previous Friday, my husband of twelve years had texted to inform me he that he was canceling the three-day weekend that we had been planning. Instead, he was going to travel by himself to an undisclosed location for an indeterminate period of time.
Then, I heard nothing more from him. In the thick silence of the next three days, I went through all the emotions … disbelief, worry, grief, anger, bargaining with a God I did not normally pray to, grief, anger, bargaining, disbelief, and then more worry.
At 4:01 pm that Monday afternoon, I heard his car in the driveway. These emotions gripped me all at once and I froze. The door opened, and the first words he said were – I want a divorce.
Those four simple words threw me so off balance. I thought our marriage was solid enough to weather any storm. And our love, forever. I entered into what I can only describe as a disembodied state.
In the year that followed, I went through the motions of living. I also dealt with lawyers and the slew of questions from others and the lack of answers from my husband. I was negotiating the end of one life while navigating the beginning of a new one. To say that I struggled is an understatement.
Countless sleepless nights, 30-lost pounds, and an unraveled career later, I took the advice of my 200-hour yoga teacher-training instructor and mentor and looked into a retreat at Kripalu. That led me to a yoga therapy certification – a journey where I not only met and built friendships with amazing people, I learned and… I began to heal.
So much of that healing process began with the daily yoga nidra experience. The instant I heard Jennifer’s soothing voice guide me into one of her Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra meditations I felt a shift. Slowly, daily, my subtle body systems began to open and I not only felt the pain of heartbreak, I was also able to feel the joy of healing. I began to sleep and eat regularly.
I felt calmness growing within me and I realized just how much grief had thrown me off balance. This Divine Sleep® experience re-directed my attention and I began to see a new path ahead. The path would include pain and sorrow, times of connection and loneliness, but also times of tremendous joy and gratitude.
This path, inspired through the introduction of Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra and Jennifer’s 40-hour training, led me to a new life as a yoga therapist, yoga instructor, and Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra guide … in so many ways, I’m so grateful for the life I had lost because it was necessary for the new life that I’ve built.
I’m grateful for the people who have traveled with me – the old friendships, re-defined friendships and new connections. I am grateful for those who helped to guide me here to my center and to a place where I can breathe again and live in the balance and gratitude for what everyday has to offer.
In fact, last year I attended a 40-hour Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra Training as an assistant to Jennifer. The time brought me back to the place of healing and renewal in a way I did not expect. I was reminded of the pain of divorce and realized I had been so lucky as to have found a space in the healing process to trust and love again. I was honored to be a even a small part of the space Jennifer holds for all those coming to her trainings.
Witnessing the students question, become vulnerable and grow through the healing of the five Koshas was as beautiful to see unfold as it was to experience.
RJ is the founder of Lotus Seed Meditations working in private and small group settings as a yoga therapist and Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra guide to help those with autoimmune and chronic illness, pain and anxiety find a bit of rest and healing within a safe and held space. She resides with her new husband and two kittens in Chapel Hill, NC.
by | Sep 29, 2015
“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.
by | Sep 29, 2015
Before I practiced Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra I didn’t have a way to completely relax or let everything go. I often did not have an awareness of myself or know what I was feeling. I was simply rushing around in my extremely busy life. I was tense, anxious, and I carried a lot of tightness in my body. I did not always feel confident about myself.
Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra allows me to completely relax and let go of everything! I practice when I’m super busy and I need to take time to stop and relax. I put on Jennifer’s CD and float! When I have trouble sleeping, it’s a powerful tool that’s very useful for me.
Now I know what it’s like to have ‘self-care’ in my life and what it’s like to really be able to take time for me. I know when my cup is filling up too much, and at the same time, I know when my cup is empty and needs refilling. Practicing yoga and yoga nidra regularly now, I am so much more aware of my body, and I’m less tense. When I get tense now, I’m aware of it, and I can make the choice to let it go, which feels empowering. Now I can process my feelings, and respond in a way that’s appropriate. I know where to put my trust. I feel I can handle life challenges better because I am able to let things go, as well as not absorb other people’s energy around me when it’s negative.
The practice of the awareness of all the levels of my being – body, breath, mind, feelings, and the ability to witness – has really shifted my life. I take a moment to pause and feel all those parts of me, and this gives me the ability to feel grounded and happy.
One of the major things that my yoga practice has done for me was to assist me in making a huge career transition. I have a degree in music education and was a choir teacher for a year after graduating. I was set up for failure with a class of 60-70 eighth graders: I was the only adult in the room, there was very little disciplinary support, and I was 24 years old at the time, but looked younger. Not only were the kids difficult, but parents were upset with me when I would enforce any rules and set standards for grading.
Yoga and yoga nidra were what got me through the stress of that year! I began to work in gift shop at Kripalu. I took my first class at Kripalu with Jennifer. Divine Sleep gave me my ‘inner sanctuary’ so that I could go inward and feel safe and nourished during the most difficult time of my life. Coming to Kripalu both to work and take classes was and still is my ‘sanctuary.’
After that school year ended, I could have gone down a dark path because I felt traumatized from teaching middle school. I certainly didn’t want to go back into the public school system. Instead, immediately after the teaching year ended I did Kripalu’s 200hr teacher training with Sudha and Priti! Everything truly started to blossom and flourish after stepping onto this path.
When I teach yoga and yoga nidra, I feel like it is my calling. Now I know that the stressful year teaching middle school was what brought me fully onto the yoga and healing path. Remembering my year in the school system has helped me to feel sincerely empowered within myself. Because I am such a determined person, I imagine that I would have gone back to the school system to prove I could do it and also because I spent so much time and money on my degree. If it hadn’t been for Kripalu and for my yoga practices, I would have never been able to make this amazing transition.
I love my new career and my life! I have been able to study with so many amazing teachers like Jennifer and others. It’s been so great to be able to genuinely dive in, learn so much, and then have the confidence to turn around and share it with others.
I have always been a hard worker and very determined, but I was not always confident within myself. Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra and yoga practice has taught me that I am confident and can stand my ground. Now I am not scared to look for opportunities and seek them out. There is still so much I don’t know and so much I want to learn. But then I remember that ‘I am okay right where I am’ and ‘I am enough!’
It’s given me the courage to truly go after what I want in life with the knowledge that I am good enough and that I do a good job. When I teach, I feel like I am making a difference in people’s lives and receive feedback from my students to that effect. I love that I am able to make that impact in people’s lives.
Now I lead Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra at Kripalu. One of my first classes had about one hundred people! I said to myself ‘Sherrie – you got this! You taught 60-70 eighth graders who tried to sabotage your class every day in a place where there was no support – and now you’re teaching in this place that is so supportive, and so amazing!’ I love it so much and it’s so completely different.
I love what I’m leading because I fully feel it within me, and when I teach, it just flows so naturally. I still have music in my life and often sing to my students in savasana. I am so humbled and grateful to have stepped on this path of love and healing.
by | Sep 29, 2015
Before I regularly practiced Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra I was caught up rushing a lot and not taking a minute to breathe and be present and to just be ‘me’. I’m a ‘worrier’ and at times have negative thoughts and self-doubt rushing through my head.
Just before I first took my first class with Jennifer at Kripalu Center, my husband and three children and I were caught in Hurricane Sandy. We live by the beach and our house was demolished! We had to evacuate and didn’t know what we were coming back to. For a few weeks we were roaming all over the place – and I was all over the place with the kids – not knowing where we were going to end up or where we were going to live.
Insomnia cannot even describe what I was going through – I could not sleep AT ALL. I had anxiety attacks and panic attacks. I felt like I was waiting for something bad to happen – the other shoe to fall.
In this state, I came to Kripalu and took Jennifer’s workshop, and after arising from Divine Sleep I felt that ‘what just happened?’ It was like a miracle – I came out feeling this wonderful sense that ‘everything is going to be okay’! I felt like ‘the universe has me, is taking care of me, and everything is okay’. I said ‘what did she just do to me?’
I bought Jennifer’s CD and brought it home to my husband ‘the skeptic’, and told him to just listen to it. We listened to it and it put us both to sleep and when we woke up in the morning we felt renewed! We were playing it when we fell asleep and it changed my life! It’s an amazing practice.
After that, I attended Jennifer’s Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra teacher training and I learned that ‘worry’ is actually often false and self-created. Those rushing thoughts use to take up all of my attention and steal my energy because I got so caught up in the spin of it. Now I am able to see that much of it was false and merely the mind racing. Divine Sleep helps me to be more centered and to be in control of the craziness in my mind to bring me back to into the present.
Our house was knocked down. It was a good lesson in non-attachment. I learned that I do not need ‘stuff’ even though we lost lots of photographs, furniture, clothing and more. Now I see I don’t really need those things anyway. My family and I were in tact – we were fine – and that’s what mattered! We found a house in town to rent and now we are here just living in the present. I do not want to think what we are doing next but right now everyone is settled and it is okay.
At the time we were frantic. But now afterward, it feels very freeing, it was a good change of perspective. I feel like we were supposed to go through it to get to the other side and learn and discover through the process. Now I truly appreciate every day. This practice has helped me to realize that I need to do things that I have been envisioning NOW and not wait for the future. So I started a website that I had been thinking about for a while – a directory for various causes like helping animals, human rights, and other categories.
Divine Sleep brings me into a whole other level of ‘being present’ that I found my regular yoga practice did not take me to. Now I’m able to be life’s stressful situations and come back to my whole self, knowing that my reservoirs run so much deeper. And yoga nidra has taught me to get control of my self-doubting mind and negative thoughts and worrying, and be able to come back into the present and out of the worried state.
The teacher training was absolutely amazing. I loved it! I felt like I was like floating each day. I got to really explore myself and I found what was blocking me from doing some of the things I wanted to do. I noticed a lot of the self-doubt, and when I really picked it apart, I was able to see beyond my fears. I had been afraid of failing, and also afraid of succeeding. It can be difficult because the mind can trick us into believing fears are real.
The whole way Jennifer’s training was set up was really effective. The way she built on each level helped me completely understand Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra. She made the information very accessible and better than the yoga nidra book. And just as Jennifer says – all you have to do is lay down and listen and you get it! I think everyone needs to do this.
Now I feel confident, balanced and calmer in my center so that I can offer that to other people. I have a sense of stability now and guess what? It’s working wonders on my kids. I lead them in Divine Sleep and within two minutes into the body scan, they are out like a light and sleep for the whole night.
It is wonderful to wake up before everyone else so that I can practice with one of Jennifer’s CD’s. With three kids, I do not have a lot of time but with fifteen minutes of Divine Sleep starting my day, I feel grounded and it sets the pace for the day. Then when the chaos hits – getting the kids ready for school – my older son has anxiety issues so he is sometimes not a ‘joy’ when he first wakes up – I am able to stay calm because I have already centered myself. I found that place inside that’s calm. I am able to stay centered.
My kids who are five, seven and nine years old, and amazing yoga nidra has changed their lives too. For my oldest, it’s giving him tools to be able to regulate anxiety on his own – empowering! He’ll ask me ‘What was that breathing thing again? Will you breathe with me?’ And my two younger ones love it and ask ‘Mommy, can you read that to me again?’
That is why Divine Sleep is so great because I feel it making me a better mother for my kids. I am able to remain calm and not be chaos and they truly benefit from my practice.
