SUZANNE NEWSOME

Yoga Nidra is My Keystone

by | Oct 23, 2021

In 2001 I was a municipal manager for a town of 55,000 residents. I oversaw a wide range of services including police, fire, rescue, public works, parks and recreation. My husband was an early career psychologist and we had two young daughters. While I enjoyed this time of my life tremendously, the pace, stress and magnitude of it all began to take a toll on my health.

One night while sitting in the lobby of my daughter’s dance school, I noticed a flyer announcing a yoga class being offered by the dance teacher, Ms. Tina. I knew absolutely nothing about yoga, however, the description outlined in the flyer was compelling, and feeling curiously drawn to it, I decided to give it a try. I was immediately hooked on yoga classes!

I adored Ms. Tina and practicing yoga with her felt emotionally and physically empowering. This ultimately led me to begin an intentional journey of self-inquiry and spirituality. To my great dismay, she moved away, and although I continued to enjoy and benefit from yoga, it was many years before I experienced and connected with another teacher the way I connected with her.

Then after many years of practicing yoga, and as a life-long student of far too many topics, I began exploring mindfulness, meditation, ceremony and the practice of gratitude. Several life-altering events transformed me, and I began feeling a strong pull to truly understand myself, and my place in the world. I began to weave my affinity for nature, as well as my own cultural traditions, into my daily practices.

Previously I had viewed both nature, and my cultural practices, simply as ‘the way things were done’, rather than as the grounding forces they actually are. I realized the potency and began to consciously weave them into my contemplative practices.

My Pennsylvania German family and I come from many generations of farmers. Go back a hundred years or so and most people lived on farms, or in farming communities, where life depended on living in connection with the land and the seasons. While my generation was the first to not to grow up on the farm, our childhood years were filled with gardening, quilting, canning, and preserving.

We spent holidays and summer vacations with relatives in Central Pennsylvania roaming the countryside communing with animals, insects, plants and the awesome Susquehanna River. We were most likely the only family to return to our suburban Philadelphia neighborhood with a leg of cured meat that was unceremoniously hung in the laundry room.

My ‘seeking’ instincts, along with the occasion of my 30th wedding anniversary, ultimately led my husband and I to attend a program at Kripalu Center. I had heard of Kripalu, and had friends who visited the center on a regular basis, but I had never actually been there myself. The program was awesome, exceeding all of my expectations – which is saying a lot – given I had waited 30-years to get there! And I’ve been back many times since.

It was there that attended Jennifer’s Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra workshop. The class was wondrous! A truly unique experience. Jennifer was so knowledgeable, skilled and caring. Just as my first yoga teacher Ms. Tina had been! I left with a huge smile on my face feeling relaxed, restored, and empowered. I began my regular yoga nidra practice the day I arrived home. And it has become indispensable ever since that first time in Jennifer’s class. I wanted to know more and loved studying to become a Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra teacher with Jennifer and love sharing this practice with others!

Yoga nidra has become my keystone. It is what integrates all of my practices, and allows me to incorporate my love of nature and my cultural practices. This meditation creates a condition where my whole is stronger than my individual parts. I feel this has been immensely valuable to me, as my life has at times been so very hard.

I did not want to carry the effects my traumas forward, nor impact myself negatively, or those around me. Contemplative practices and meditation are tremendous tools in the quest for emotional, physical and spiritual well-being because they can, and do, bring up strong emotions and past experiences to be integrated.

The transforming practice of Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra has helped me to balance my autonomic nervous system, relax my body, and thus has allowed me to open myself to a greater understanding of the gift and beauty that is my interconnected life. I am so very grateful to have discovered Jennifer and this beautiful practice!

In kindness and gratitude,

Suzanne

DENYSE WILSON

Bliss Body - What Is It? Q&A with Jennifer Reis

by | Sep 23, 2021

Student Denyse emailed feeling not very ‘blissful’ during one of our yoga nidra classes. I’m so thrilled she reached out to me so that we could spend some quality time clarifying what the Bliss Body is according to yogic wisdom! Here is our sweet exchange:

Denyse: Dear Jennifer,

I love your classes so much and they are an important part of my self-care. I consider the cost of admission like my co-pay at the doctor, part of my upkeep. It’s your presence.  When I click the link and there you are with your eyes, and your calm aura. I get the instant sense that this is what self-care looks like.

And it’s your skill and the obvious mastery of your craft, and your art. Your voice. Your calm. Kindness. And the stories, the creativity of your stories. I am all in!

There was another one practice recently, with the theme of joy, or maybe it was bliss, that for me was hard to ‘fall’ into. I actually felt agitated.. I’ve been sad a lot. Can you tell me more about what I may have been experiencing?

Jennifer: Sure! Thanks for reaching out Denyse, I am listening to your heart.

It might be helpful for us to talk about how yoga philosophy, and yoga nidra view bliss and joy, and what this practice is aiming at.

FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANTLY: yoga nidra is a practice of NOTICING, OBSERVING, FEELING, and WITNESSING all that arises within you during the practice – with LOVE, ACCEPTANCE AND KINDNESS. That is not always easy. And that is why we practice it over and over, daily if we can, to become more compassionate and less expectant of ourselves.

Thus, you do not need to feel bliss or joy for it to be a good practice, even though it was presented in many different ways during the yoga nidra. It’s important not to judge whether a practice is ‘good’ or not – the important thing is to do the practice – just the doing of it makes it a success.

There will always be parts we don’t like as much as others. That pushing away of what we don’t like about our experience, or having difficulty with part of the practice- is exactly why we ARE PRACTICING! To become more compassionate and accepting of ourselves and our experience.

5 Kleshas – Two of the five causes of suffering in yoga called the 5 Kleshas, are PUSHING and PULLING. That means, pushing away what I don’t like, and wishing for longing for something else/what didn’t happen. This is important to recognize that as humans this creates our suffering, and also that we need to work really hard to avoid it.

In yoga nidra when we are trying to NOTICE something, and it is not ‘felt’, then we are asked to notice that, that it’s not felt or easily felt, and to do that with more and more love, acceptance and kindness. Yoga tells us that we are whole and complete, and we haven’t done anything wrong, if a suggestion during yoga nidra was not experienced, and need not be judged.

That happens all the time to everyone throughout the practice and is a totally normal experience – whether, for example, we are trying to NOTICE something like: an elbow; the right side of the body; the breath in the belly; the breath in the limbs; feeling heavy, feeling light; feeling gratitude, peace, joy, contentment, grace, etc (insert all the ‘good’ emotions in here); the color blue; the open sky, a tree; a sacred place; the ocean; yourself walking.

Again, it is a common experience to not be able to invoke everything that is being suggested. This is not a practice of getting it right, or doing it perfectly. Yoga nidra is a practice of NOTICING. Noticing with love and openness what comes or does not come up.

Background: There are 5 Kosha – Levels of Being, called bodies or sheaths. Physical, Energy-Breath, Mind-Emotions (lower everyday mind and feelings), WITNESS WISDOM, and Bliss (yes, Bliss is a whole body or level of being).

Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra is a guided meditation that helps you to sense and feel each level of being experientially, the aim is not conceptually, during the practice, although that will happen and is not wrong (what that is is the Mental-Emotion Body rearing its head and commenting, figuring, judging, evaluating, organizing, fearing, etc). Again, we are attempting to notice, not fix anything, or wish we were having a different experience.

Probably 80% of the time in the practice is spent in the Physical Level. That is a main focus since we are such conceptual beings that we don’t spend nearly enough time in the body – and that being present in the body brings us present into the moment – meaning meditation. Then 20% on the other 4 levels of being (Bliss time is not very long, in the practice it was a very small part of the whole experience).

My aim is for students to ‘feel’ it in the body, emotions, heart, etc, and for it not to go to concept. Not everything works for every person, so as a teacher I offer numerous entries into one topic.

The question “Recall what made you smile in the last 24-hrs” helps one to remember that there was something good: perhaps looking out the window and seeing a green tree, biting into a tasty apple or piece of chocolate, or grateful for who one is, and what one has now. It could be anything – it does not have to be something that sent off fireworks. And perhaps, layers of other emotions arise like disappointment in not ‘feeling it’.

The Bliss Body Anandamaya kosha is in everyone – everyone has it! You do not need to ‘imagine’ bliss or joy, its already here within you as one of the layers of your being. Bliss body is beyond duality of good-bad, happy-sad: it is more like the field or the ground within which all those emotions pass. You may or may not ‘feel’ it, and that is a-okay.

The Bliss body can be observed/noticed in many different ways, not just simply ‘feeling joy’. Everyone will have a different experience of what aspect of the Bliss body they are able to connect with, or notice. I tried on the night you joined us, to give all of these suggestions to be noticed. These are the different aspects of the Bliss body:

• observing sense of spaciousness within – space/ether element (could be felt as spaciousness/ expansion in body, mind, breath etc like space between things like: cells, thoughts, breaths, feelings, images etc).
• feeling joy, bliss, contentment (no fireworks), delight, inner smile, happy, etc .
• feeling seed qualities Bhavanas that live inside of every person: trust, equanimity, acceptance, compassion, non-attachment, grace, wholeness, forgiveness, generosity, security, understanding, patience, clarity, belonging… and on and on it goes: all positive qualities.
• feeling healing energy.

Thus, bliss body can be felt in these different ways.

Denyse: Ah! I’m laughing and crying at the same time! I’m not surprised at all to hear that it’s me, not you!  : ) And I know that’s not what you’re saying at all, that there’s anything wrong with me — but even as I was writing that feedback letter to you, part of me was aware that I was experiencing the class through my current experience and that was likely more relevant than anything you were or were not doing!

But even that is not the point, you tell me here. Thank you for taking the time write me all of this.

Every time I’ve heard you say “You can’t do this wrong” at the beginning of a class, I always feel myself relax, always, with a big exhale. And yet the ‘push and pull’, is very much my everyday walking-around way of operating, oh yes.

Everything you say here, about using practice to become more compassionate and accepting of ourselves and our experience — IS very helpful. I forget that all the time, Jennifer, and have to interrupt the track I have running alongside my experience, a soundtrack that is judging and scolding!

Especially helpful and important to me is what you say about how bliss is already here. Oh my – I forget that all the time too, if I ever really truly do know it and feel it. When I do feel it (and most often it’s as spaciousness, as you describe, or a moment of detachment or contentment), I tend to doubt later that I did feel it, or trust that it will/can come back again. But I do want it, and set about chasing it down. Letting just be is not my strong suit!

What is a strength though is my ability to pretty easily return to the present moment with awareness, and deep appreciation and gratitude for beauty. Even if I’m not smiling a whole lot lately, I do see the pure white of my kitty’s chest right now beside me as he cutely washes his face; and the fall of light and shadow on my floor gladdens my heart. And I think maybe you’re saying that it’s these kind of images that I might evoke upon hearing “joy.”

Above all, be compassionate with what I notice, even when it’s “I’M NOT GETTING IT!”  : ) It’s just that when I get it, it’s so sweet and beautiful – and it’s why I come back for more, and why I push and pull.

But I do hear you here:  we are attempting to notice only, not to fix anything, nor wish we were having a different experience. And that’s the attitude I hope to come into my next class with. I’m touched by your attention.

Love Denyse

KATIE BEENE

From Addiction To Equanimity

by | Aug 23, 2021

Five years ago today… I was admitted to an inpatient rehab for heroin/opiate addiction. Some of you know my story, most of you probably don’t. I’m sharing this here because I think it’s important to start the conversation and keep it going.

Although I’m sharing parts of my story, I want to be clear that this post is actually intended to help support those who are just starting to walk the path of sobriety or who have been thinking about taking the first step. Everyone’s journey is different. I respect and honor all ways to sobriety. Do what works for you!!

I was an IV heroin/ opiate user with low self worth, an eating disorder, and danced at night clubs to support my habit. This may come as a shock to you, since I’m living a completely different life now.

I watched “friends” of mine drop like flies from overdose… I watched them go in and out of prison… I myself had pushed the limits on what I was morally okay with. I hit rock bottom. I’ll spare you the details, but let’s just say if I kept doing what I was doing, I probably wouldn’t have survived to tell the tale.

For me, I needed to do something drastic to make a change. I was admitted to three months of in-patient treatment, and then another two months of outpatient treatment.

I am fortunate to have health insurance and a family that was financially able and willing to help me succeed. Not everyone has this luxury. A lot of addicts have no health insurance, no family to support them, and not enough financial resources to stay in treatment that long.

Shout-out to my mom and her husband, Chris and Jeff Clements who believed in me before I believed in myself.

They helped care for my untrained, reckless dog (now trained and a lot more mellow) while I was in treatment. They gave me the financial assistance I needed to help me get clean. They watched and protected me from self-sabotaging my own health and wellness.

Five years ago today, I admitted myself into treatment even though everything inside my head was telling me to run the opposite way.

Addiction does that to the brain… it high jacks the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for problem solving, self control, and making decisions. I wasn’t myself anymore… I had lost connection to who I really was.

On my first day of treatment, I attended a yoga class they offered every Tuesday night. Although I didn’t understand at the time why I felt so relaxed afterwards, it was enough to keep me going back to the class. In my free time, I stretched.

Sometimes it would be for several hours each day. Back then, I didn’t know about meditation or yogic philosophy… I just knew how great it felt to stretch and relieve the pain in my body. Chronic pain was one of my triggers to use, so it was important that I did something to manage this.

After a year of practicing yoga in sobriety, I decided I wanted to become a yoga teacher. I wanted to learn more about yoga and help others find the peace and serenity that I had found through the practice. I learned about meditation, philosophy, and began healing my soul. I found a supportive and loving community of people that were all trying to be the best versions of themselves they could possibly be.

During this time, I met my partner Dylan Mayeux and learned what a healthy and loving relationship looks like. He accepted me and loved me just the way I was, even knowing about my chaotic past. It wasn’t an easy road to get to this point. I’ve been admitted to the hospital twice… Once for a gnarly kidney infection that they offered me pain medication for (which I denied). Second to worst painful experience of my life.

Once for a jaw surgery where they broke both of my jaws to help realign them so I could overcome chronic jaw pain. I was offered lots of heavy duty pain medication for this one, but used the power of meditation to help me heal instead. This was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. Also the most painful experience of my life.

As a recovering opiate addict, I choose to deny any narcotic as long as I am conscious and aware to say no to the doctor offering them to me. Once again, everyone’s journey is different. But to me, I have way to much to lose to even consider taking that kind of “medication”.

Today, I love everything about my life. I am grateful, even on hard days. I get to share what I love and what inspires me with my students. I am surrounded by beautiful souls. I have an abundance of everything I could ever need. I am happy, joyous, and free.

If you’re reading this and struggling with any kind of addiction…. You are not alone! I am here for you and would love the opportunity to talk to you about resources that are always available to you. Resources that helped me find peace and serenity.

If you’re not an addict but know someone who is…. Please remember their potential. They have the potential to shine their light in this word too. They may just need someone to believe in them until they can believe in themselves.

• May we feel safe, protected, and at ease.
• May we feel peaceful and connected to the collective consciousness.
• May we develop love and compassion for ourselves and for others.
• You’re just one step away from creating the life you want for yourself

Love & Light, Katie

Katie is a dear, sweet, light being who was both my assistant, and participant in Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra Teacher Training at Lotus Pond Yoga, Tampa.

You can join Katie at Lotus Pond Yoga: With a background in dance and circus arts, Katie has a passion for movement! Along with teaching yoga, she also custom crafts hula hoops and teaches workshops on how to find flow with a hoop. She’s performed at: Ruth Eckhard Hall and the Straz Center and continues to light up the Tampa Bay Area with her flow props. Her style of yoga is a “slow flow”, allowing time for each of her students to savor the moment.

She is Certified in Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra and has a passion for leading guided meditations. She believes that yoga and meditation are beautiful opportunities to slow down and be present, considering that the world can sometimes move so fast and provide many distractions from what’s really important. When she’s not teaching yoga, you’ll find this blue hair fairy frolicking around in nature or island hopping in the Gulf. She loves being outside and feels the most connected to the teachings of yoga when she is in nature.

BETH SLOWIK

Finding Self-Acceptance and Self-Love

by | Jul 28, 2021

Before I discovered yoga asana and yoga nidra with Jennifer, I experienced regular body pain, fatigue, anxiety, and high levels of disassociation. I arrived at Jennifer’s Kripalu yoga classes in 2011 as a twenty-something.

Undiagnosed at that time, I was struggling with both post traumatic stress disorder and fibromyalgia. I didn’t know how to ‘be’ in my body. I felt pain everywhere, all the time. I couldn’t comfortably rest while conscious, and I was very high strung. 

I can honestly say that without Jennifer’s yoga and yoga nidra instruction I would not be the person or the teacher I am today.

While working as an employee of Kripalu Center, I attended Jennifer’s classes whenever possible. Her approach was the perfect balance of self-observation, physical challenge, and self-care that I needed. There was, and is, something to how she leads yoga postures that has taught me both how to find my way into a deeper physical experience, and how to be in a place of self-acceptance as well as self-love.

What also sets Jennifer’s classes apart is that she leads yoga nidra during savasana pose and practice. l didn’t know anything about yoga nidra when I began practicing with Jennifer, but I knew that whatever she was guiding me in during relaxation/ savasana, left me feeling like a new person every time!

After moving across the country from Jennifer and Kripalu Center (before Zoom classes were a thing) I continued practicing with Jennifer’s Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra recordings whenever I started to feel a need for a recharge. Her yoga nidra practice lifted me out of pain, emotional drain, fatigue, and depression.  

In 2015 I returned to Kripalu to receive my 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training with Jennifer because I knew I wanted to teach the complete and nourishing kind of yoga that she taught me. I got everything I was looking for and more from my training – and post-graduation I took small steps into my role as a yoga teacher.

In 2020 I was offered an opportunity to teach meditation online and quickly realized that although I had been practicing yoga nidra for what seemed like a lifetime, when I guided it, something was missing. That’s when I took Jennifer’s online Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra teacher training and found exactly what I needed in order to confidently lead yoga nidra.

I had thought I knew how yoga nidra worked, but I quickly learned during the training that there was so much more to discover. Not only did I leave the training more confident in my ability to guide my students through this imperative practice, but I revitalized my passion for integrating yoga nidra into my own practice and daily life.

Since those first days practicing with Jennifer, I have developed into a grounded, comfortable, level-headed individual, and yoga teacher. I love practicing meditation, yoga, and breathwork – because now I know how to ‘be’ in my body. I’ve learned how to be with all the sensations, emotions, and feelings within me.

This has given me a greater sense of ease in both my body and mind. I feel deeply blessed to have learned how to practice and teach these healing modalities. They truly are a priceless gift.

KISHIE WYATT

Creating My Inner World of Love and Peace

by | Jun 16, 2021

Grappling with the many setbacks and disappointments that arose for me during the pandemic, I enrolled in Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra Teacher Training live online with Jennifer to give myself the gift of rest and self-care. I am a yoga studio owner, and mother of three children. The challenges and responsibilities of 2020 (a year I will never forget!) left me feeling emotionally drained and exhausted.

The two weekends with Jennifer proved to be an effective at-home meditation retreat! I felt profoundly restored in my soul, my emotions, my body and mind. One of my favorite parts of the training was the opportunity to truly embody the five levels of being (called the koshas) on which Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra is based. I gained true understanding beyond the intellect.

Yoga nidra is a unique form of meditation, which has proven to be the most effective tool I have discovered thus far for quieting the fluctuations of my mind. Jennifer’s training gave me the space to both tend to, and befriend myself. I received the deep rest that I desperately needed.

Jennifer is a beautiful, shining light, and has the unique ability to hold a safe, uplifting space for a wide variety of students. Her teachings were not diluted by the fact that the training was online, and she did an incredible job of formatting the content in such a way that time and space were transcended. We were all united as a cohesive group on Zoom and the teachings were top notch.

Now I feel beyond prepared to lead yoga nidra meditations to my students! Jennifer and her husband Michael take such pride in their offerings, and they go above and beyond to generously and professionally give of themselves and make you feel loved, supported, and prepared. They exceeded my expectations in providing a plethora of resources.

The online market for yoga and meditation trainings is becoming extremely crowded, and it can be confusing to know where to find quality content. I am so comforted to know that I can always turn to Jennifer with her large range of classes, workshops, and trainings when I am searching for quality training and certification.

My primary goal is to learn and understand the nature of my mind, and to create an inner world of love and peace. When I shift my interior landscape with Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra, I am able to navigate the daily demands and blessings of life with intention, heartfulness and strength.