by | May 1, 2019
I was recently diagnosed with a rare Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Unlike most cancers while you may be at a Stage 4, they do not start treatments until symptomatic or a blood levels go off the chart, which is called ‘Watch & Wait’. The good news, I am on Watch & Wait, and I have learned not to get caught up in the ‘every-three-month blood tests cycle’ or the possibility that I could wake up tomorrow with one of the many symptoms.
I became a yoga teacher late in life when I was fifty-nine after experiencing a major reconstructive Achilles tendon surgery. During the two-year recovery, I could not find a yoga class that could accommodate my needs. It was extremely frustrating! So, I decided to get certified to teach classes with variations, modifications and props and lead them myself! I quickly realized 200-hours of training was a drop in the bucket, and I knew I needed continuous training to make sure I understood the best and safest options for my students.
During one of my sessions at Kripalu I had the opportunity to attend Jennifer’s Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra and knew this was a great practice, as well as something that I wanted to learn for myself and my own healing, and also share with my students.
At this same time, I was also in the midst of retiring, downsizing my home and trying to start a yoga business. It was an absolutely nonstop time in my life and Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra become a very important practice for my own health and wellness. I rested and received each time I laid down for Divine Sleep!
Fast forward two years . . . I took Jennifer’s Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra training and lead it regularly with my students. It has become a favorite for them, just as I knew it would be. My students all have all different perspectives from ‘yippee it’s time to rest!’ to those who experience deep inner relaxation and reflection. As a teacher, it’s an exciting challenge to write scripts, and I love going inward to capture all the steps and stages and also using my creative juices!
From a personal perspective, Divine Sleep has an important place in my every day practice with my cancer diagnosis. Divine Sleep is my refuge to stay relaxed and calm as I navigate this new normal. I actually was able to guide myself with focused breath awareness and body scanning (parts of yoga nidra) through a painful bone biopsy.
I listen to Jennifer’s healing journeys all the time, as well as practice self-Reiki which is a hands-on healing energy method. And because I am in Watch & Wait, while it is get extremely fatiguing, happily, I am still nonstop busy with my yoga and Reiki regime.
As I navigate this ‘new normal’ my self-care is extremely important and Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra has been instrumental helping me to stay relaxed and calm.
Thank you, Jennifer. You are an inspiration and I truly appreciate you sharing this wonder gift.
by | Apr 2, 2019
Before I put yoga in my life in 2010, I had fallen into the abyss of sadness depression with no love for myself. My marriage was not healthy, nor happy. The domino effect of the negativity in that relationship led me into a very powerful case of ‘sloth-couch-potato’ syndrome! Gratefully I had a friend who, in one single moment with only a few words, opened my eyes to see that I needed to recover from that dismal existence, to find my self-worth and self-love again. I often was in a state of ‘monkey mind’ chatter that felt so frustrating.
That’s when yoga became a serious part of my life, and because of it, my whole life began to rise from the ashes of depression and despair. It took months to find the teacher I needed at the time. And when I found her, I registered for yoga teacher training! The practices we did helped to crack open the dense shell I had created to protect myself, and now I was opening to the light – within myself, and the world, and other beings.
My yoga teacher training was eight weekends spanning over a year and I truly loved each one! However, the last two in particular captured me very unexpectedly because they taught us things that would become the focus of my yoga teaching career. One was prenatal yoga, and since that time I have become a Registered Prenatal Yoga Teacher!
Our other weekend focused on yoga nidra. The teacher settled us into what was my very first yoga nidra, and I was completely changed from that one experience! This yoga nidra felt like a treasure that had just been uncovered for me alone in those moments. A whole new way of finding a peaceful meditative state unfolded for me. Being guided into those stages of deep physical letting go that my ego and mind were not in charge of the outcome and also let go. Pure bliss!
I wanted more! I searched all over the internet and everywhere to find the teacher that would resonate with me, and that’s how I discovered Jennifer Reis, and began to follow her sometime in 2012-13. I also began to lead yoga nidra in my classes. I called Jennifer several times in those early years trying to figure out when I could become one of her students, sorting out the ‘time-money’ thing. But I never gave up – and then it all came together!
As luck would have it, my first yoga teacher invited Jennifer to teach in New Hampshire, less than 3 miles from my home! She was coming to me! It was Divine intervention, and I wasted no time signing up. Finally, after these long years, I became a Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra Teacher – a long road to the final prize. Jennifer was exactly the teacher I thought she would be, and I realized my absolute connection to this lovely woman.
Now I lead Divine Sleep® in my classes – sometimes only the heart’s longing statement and body scan, and other times I’m able to lead a complete practice with all eight stages. As the instructor, it always leaves me with a sense of humbled quiet peace. After the practice, many of my students rise and seem to float in an aura of peace, love and joy. It’s been exciting too because I specialize in prenatal yoga, I have been able to develop Divine Sleep® scripts specifically for my prenatal groups.
At the end of class we all have that soft silly smile of bliss on our faces and no one wants to leave that sacred space in which tranquility was shared and created! As I witness my students resting in that space, I feel blessed to be the one they feel safe enough with to allow all their defenses to fall to the side, melt into the earth, and know that they are secure with me. I have witnessed deep sighs, shutters, tears, and even sobs of release.
As their teacher I engage all of my tools which include being an Interfaith Minister, Spiritual Mentor, Mother, Crone, and Hag to help us transition back to their life outside the yoga room doors. It truly is like birthing!
I am a Reverend, and during my years in seminary, I learned an important lesson: the physical body needs to be recognized in order for the spirit body to be heard! When Jennifer taught our training, she also led us in Five Element Yoga®. I was so happy to receive a new and unique asana practice. I loved the use of the flow of the elements of nature, and especially enjoyed the mudras. Her aligning it with an asana practice brings a beauty and grace that is so satisfying for me. Eventually I will take her Five Element Yoga® Teacher Training as well to add to my teachers toolbox!
Being able to offer Divine Sleep® allows me to reach people who otherwise would not be able to practice yoga, or reach a state of bliss and inner connection. Offering this gift of self exploration to people is an important and peaceful way of guiding them forward into their lives. Allowing them to truly go deep into their heart and soul and become a witness to their life and find that path to the sanctuary within.
I had a strong sense that Jennifer was warm, compassionate, and a true spirit of her teaching. And upon meeting her, I found just that. Soft spoken, gentle of spirit with eyes that carried ancient wisdom. It was her spirit that spoke to me, not to mention an uncanny resemblance to my cousin who is a beautiful spirit and a model. Honestly I couldn’t stop staring at Jennifer, she must have wondered what was wrong with me? During that training I had a short small private conversation with her and I learned something about her that just sealed my belief in her sweet and loving nature. What Jennifer has to offer the world is something I want to continue to learn more about. I read my manual all the time and always seem to find something that I missed before that is important.
Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra for me has both opened my heart and guided me to find new beginnings for my own wellbeing. Gone are the years before 2010, and I am thankful to say my life has evolved into a daily blissful existence! I have accomplished so much, learned and been taught so many wonderful lessons over the years.
My life now if full of joy, love, compassion. Yoga brought me the courage to pursue among other things becoming an Ordained Interfaith Minister. I am a mature woman whose flexibility is not necessarily in her physical body. That did not stop me from continuing on this yogic path. I have never felt more blessed than with each day that I walk into my class room and see familiar and or new faces.
In closing I would like to thank Jennifer Reis for being true to her guiding light and the lessons she brings to everyone in her path. I am grateful to have found her so many years ago and look forward to meeting often in the future.
Peace Love Joy,
Reverend Peggy Petahtegoose
Concord NH Facebook: YOGA with PEGGY
by Anwar Baksh | Dec 26, 2018
I suffered a stroke and found the effects of a brain injury really hard to deal with. My mind was dizzy. I could think of words, but communicating them was difficult. I had very bad head pain, and I was learning how to balance again since one side of my body was impacted. Not to mention on top of that, I had so many intense emotions to deal with. That’s when I found yoga nidra!
Previously, I had been meditating for most of my life with many other styles. It helped me with my life and during difficult times growing up in an abusive alcoholic home. Most of my meditation practice had been about directing myself back to the present moment with mindfulness. However, I found the practice of being ‘mindful’ was not always restful. When I had the stroke and then came across yoga nidra, it came at just the right time in my life.
The being ‘right here and now’ of mindfulness was difficult for me when I was healing. Having someone guide and direct me through yoga nidra practice truly helped me find a restful and peaceful place.
By resting my mind, it allowed me to heal and also allow new neuron pathways to connect and charge in my body and brain. My yoga nidra practice also allowed me to take the past distresses and really rest my mind faster than other styles of meditation I had practiced in the past.
When I first heard about yoga nidra I was with a group and they were raving about how much they loved this deep meditation practice. Then I started attending yoga nidra workshops and noticed that styles varied from teacher to teacher. Some called what they did ‘yoga nidra’, but really it seemed more like a silent savasana lying down resting pose.
During my 500hr yoga teacher training at Kripalu Center I attended Jennifer’s Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra workshop. It really helped to have such a deeply soothing practice after many long and hard days in the training! It made me feel completely rested and restored and ready for more! I immediately saw a difference in what Jennifer offered within the yoga nidra world, and I started hearing more about her as a teacher, as well as her training technique.
I admit – I was guilty of thinking I could lead yoga nidra by reading a script from a book – but there is so much more to this process! I feel like I learned so much in the training. Unfortunately many people leading yoga nidra in the studios in my area are not trained in yoga nidra! Training is necessary because it is a very in-depth and detailed form of meditation.
Fortunately for me Jennifer taught Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra Teacher Training near my home in Washington, DC, so I did not need to travel. Many fellow students came from around the globe for her training. Many students were not yoga teachers – I appreciated the inclusiveness because many professions find this training useful. We spent days studying and more importantly, experiencing yoga nidra as Jennifer skillfully led us.
Although I was there to learn, it was an amazing time to just let myself be held and supported. For me, I love studying the science behind what we are doing when we lead yoga nidra. I work with many students with PTSD or trauma, and I felt Jennifer’s was the right training for me, and for anyone working with others who care for others. Jennifer’s explanation about the intricate details including the levels of being and the sequencing was very helpful.
Jennifer has a wonderful way of teaching the content, and also learning from each other in community. Her manual is chock full of information. She encouraged us to develop our own scripts and has many scripts of hers to use as well. I lead Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra often in the opening or closing of my yoga asana classes and lead workshops. Additionally I love our online group network: many yoga nidra teachers share our experiences, have questions and offer suggestions for each other.
I refer my students to Jennifer’s website for her recordings and information because I trust her method. I have sent her CD’s to distant family members that was dealing with problems sleeping. I also love her CD for teaching yoga nidra to kids. For me Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra Teacher Training improved my classes and up-leveled my teaching skills. It’s also what helped me to heal from a significant illness. I’ve found peace!
by Anwar Baksh | Nov 29, 2018
I come from a long line of teachers, with a grandfather who was a principal and grandmothers who both taught in one room school houses. So, of course, I too somehow ended up in the classroom in the public school system for 15 years.
Then the diagnosis of cancer arrived, and I found that illness became my opportunity to reflect deeply on my life: the stress levels and what I could change to support my health.
It just so happened that the opportunity to do my yoga teacher training showed up at the same moment! Becoming a yoga teacher and leaving the public school were the beginning of big life shifts for me. In the training we were introduced to yoga nidra and also practiced it from a CD.
I was intrigued, but when I offered yoga nidra to groups of teens in recovery with whom I was working at the time, I had to modify the scripts I found from Swami Satyananda Saraswati’s book to make it more applicable and something was missing for me.
Four years later, I was ready for more training and during the very first module, Jennifer Reis arrived and lead Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra to our large 72 person group, magically transporting us to a level of rest I had only known briefly in meditation. I was fascinated and wanted more!
When Jennifer taught Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra Teacher Training near my home, I jumped at the chance! In the five-day training, we learned how to carefully plan and deliver yoga nidra. We also created our own healing journeys for ourselves and others, based on the sound research Jennifer brought as our trainer.
I had opened up a yoga studio and offered Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra regularly to our clients and it became an important way to reach a much larger variety of people. We were even fortunate enough to have Jennifer Reis come to the studio and lead Five Element Yoga® and Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra. The result for me has been transformative both to me as an instructor, and as a personal tool for me to practice myself, especially when I can sense I need more grounding.
Today, many years after the cancer surgeries and subsequent treatments, I teach yoga and yoga nidra to a large population of over 55 seniors who find their way to me in my very active, adult community where I now live in Florida. Once a month, the studio is packed with dear souls, carrying mats, eye pillows and small pillows – ready to settle in for the deep healing of Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra.
I am honored to hold space for each person and find this work to be a natural extension of the compassionate self-awareness that is Kripalu Yoga. I feel my own story of health and wellness is supported by my regular yoga and Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra practices.
I have so much gratitude for my teachers, and their teachers, including dear Jennifer Reis, who opened my heart to new possibilities. I am aware that every breath is a new beginning.
by Anwar Baksh | Oct 27, 2018
Four years ago, even after completing 200-hr yoga teacher training with Jennifer, I was still very unsure of myself. Over time, by applying techniques learned during the training and committing to a nightly Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra practice, I’ve finally begun to make space for myself.
The single most unique experience of the month-long teacher training was Jennifer’s Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra. Thankfully she led us in yoga nidra on the evenings prior to our practical exams. (Aside: a few months ago, I attended a yoga nidra session at a yoga studio. The presenter was wonderful and the words and script were her own, but still vaguely familiar. Sure enough, when I talked with her later, she boasted of being a student of Jennifer’s!)
Upon graduating from the yoga teacher training, I jumped right into leading classes at a few studios, gyms and workplaces. Racing between a handful of locations was hectic! At one point, I was leading three to four daily classes and felt as if I was just going through the motions. Besides sleeping between classes, there wasn’t time for much else. The ‘Yoga-Eat-Sleep’ t-shirt described my existence at that time!
I knew something had to change. I needed to address the naive assumption that simply becoming a yoga teacher would cause me to step back and cease bad habits such as a tendency to over-commit.
Jennifer’s direct and implicit instruction had resonated and remained with me. When unexpected spine surgery left me temporarily immobile, I returned to her Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra CDs. My days now end with Jennifer’s voice as I faithfully practice her nurturing yoga nidra. My yoga posture, breathing and yoga nidra practice have changed me, my outlook, and how I approach life. For the first time, I am experiencing and appreciating Balance.
My post-surgery physical activity was limited to ‘pool-walking’. It was not too long before I found myself first chaperoning others in similar situations to pool-walk. Then I began actually teaching it on purpose. As I healed, the YMCA staff encouraged me to become both a certified swim instructor and lifeguard.
Having grown up land-locked, I had never even swam a single lap! As I would be on my first lap, my Red Cross classmates would be completing their entire half miles! Once I stepped back and applied focused breathing, everything changed. It was really that simple. It was the yoga training that guided me through learning how to swim. Now, lap swimming is my favorite form of moving meditation and I’m fortunate to be able to practice it many times a week.
Part of lifeguard certification involves what can be called “mortal combat underwater”. Expert swimmers serve as victims who, just as in real life, physically resist the rescuer. Keeping calm, breathing, and observing with detachment, were critical to success. I felt that the confidence I fostered in my yoga training with Jennifer was priceless, and helped me to sort of meditate underwater during these experiences.
For over two years, I’ve been volunteering at the YMCA, leading only a few weekly gentle style yoga classes, as well as private sessions. This situation is just right for my 54-year old body!
One of my classes is for young families. Another is an ‘inclusion class’, is free to the public, and it draws attendees from several groups of young adults with Autism, Down’s Syndrome, as well as a set of adults recovering from cancer. I’ve recently started a weekly mini-class for preschool children.
It is a moving experience to see so many people come together to Be, Breathe, Move and Heal.
I also enjoy offering Aqua Yoga and have great fun flowing with the water element! Most of my one-on-one yoga sessions are in a shallow, warm pool, with individuals suffering a variety of disabilities. Some of these are people who have been abandoned by the healthcare system or otherwise slipped through the cracks.
One of my private sessions is with a 31-year old friend who has been blind, deaf, mute since birth, with debilitating cerebral palsy and seizure disorder. He has limited mobility and weighs only 90-pounds. He and I float together for an hour each week. His only communication is by tapping his hand. His hand rests on my throat. Although he can’t hear me, he can feel the vibration of my voice.
When we first met a couple years ago, I would hum and sing while he kept his hand or ear on my throat. One day, I made the sound of Aum and he responded with such rapid and joyful tapping that now I’m Aumming for our whole hour together! Before that, I had always enjoyed hearing Aum, but was timid about publicly sharing it. Now, I realize firsthand the potency, universality, and also the innate medicinal value it holds for everyone.
Another private session is a 75-year old man who had suffered a brain injury at age of five. This wonderful and happy man’s stated goal in life is to swim a 1/4 mile! Not being able to do that as a boy had kept him out of Boy Scouts. His physical mobility problems are one issue blocking full swimming, however more concerning was his continual inhalation of water. In the year we have been together, he is coming close to conquering this problem by learning and practicing yogic breathing. I love introducing these ancient techniques to people who would otherwise not benefit from this wisdom.
I also work with a 16-year old boy who has limited use of his limbs and is unable to talk. However, via facial expressions, he is possibly the most expressive person I’ve ever met! Just now, after knowing him for a couple years, he is tall enough that his toes touch the bottom of shallow pool while being held. It is breathtaking to watch him discover (a form of) walking in the pool; something that is impossible for him on land.
A little boy I’ve been swimming with for three years has severe Autism-related limitations. In his mind, he “scripts” which means that he continual replays and recites television and movie dialog. This obviously interferes with his ability to learn in a standard school environment. His behavior can make him frustrated, and when swimming with him I need to always be on guard for physically violent outbursts. Recently he was assigned a new school aide and she was somewhat successful in encouraging him to sit down in easy pose and breathe when overwhelmed. Yoga offers powerful tools!
I could keep writing about another half dozen wonderful friends I work with. Admittedly, my style isn’t the most elegant. I was over 50 when I first found yoga and, at best, my spine is wonky. But, for the first time in my life I feel as if I’ve found my place!
Final point, directed toward any new or under-employed yoga teachers. Go to your local YMCA and offer your services as either a volunteer or paid instructor. As I look around the pool, all day, I see people in various stages of recovery. Many are “on their own” without guidance. People recovering from any number of major or minor illnesses and surgeries. A little bit of compassion goes a long way.
Jennifer, THANK YOU for such a solid foundational yoga teacher training! And Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra. And for helping me find this transformational path.
