by | Jul 30, 2019
Before I started practicing Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra I was running on empty. I was a very tired “Mom and Yoga Teacher” who was giving, giving, giving, and rarely was I refilling. I was searching for a quiet, gentle practice I could do daily to re-fill.
Becoming a yoga teacher was never in my plan. I worked for many years in arts and fashion and discovered yoga in the late 90’s while working in NYC. My yoga practice began purely as a physical one that I would do in my apartment in the early morning hours using various DVD’s. I practiced this way for many years – just doing the poses – but not practicing anything that was quiet or reflective.
When my family and I decided to move to the Chicago area, I was excited to explore the yoga studios and communities around my new home. My children were two and four years of age and that made me anxious to begin a more regular yoga practice again. I was the student who claimed I would “never teach” because I loved being the student so much! Teaching yoga never really crossed my mind.
Shortly after our move, I met a teacher I connected with, and felt encouraged to begin a yoga teacher training with the idea that it would expand my knowledge of yoga. However, in the teacher training, there was a huge shift for me, and I realized that I Ioved it all so much that I wanted to, and needed to share it with others and thus, I became a yoga teacher!
The first year of teaching yoga I put everything into designing and teaching well-rounded classes. I would come early to chat with my students and leave late when they wanted to hang around the studio after to talk. I taught classes at 6:30 AM and then again at 6:30 PM, in between staying home with my two young children, and teaching classes on the weekends as well. I would fill my schedule to get as much experience teaching as I could. Physically, I was still practicing on my own but mentally I knew I needed something more. What I was really searching for was a quiet, gentle, inner practice.
I eventually I trained in Yoga Therapy and began teaching a wide variety of populations from young children to seniors. While attending a Yoga Therapy conference, I had my first taste of yoga nidra. And it was so profound that exactly one year later I arrived at Kripalu Center for Jennifer’s Yoga and Deep Relaxation Retreat! With Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra I felt I finally found the quiet, inner practice I needed and had been searching for.
I loved how Jennifer bases Divine Sleep® on the five koshas (the levels of being) as gateways within oneself to go deeper within to bring more awareness to my whole being. I realized the piece I was missing in meditation was the complete whole-being awareness that Divine Sleep® offers.
At the beginning of the retreat it took me two days to settle in, mainly because I was thinking about my summer “to do” list and the kids, who were in Cape Cod with their Dad – are they sleeping okay: are they putting on their sunblock… all the things I worry about as a mother. Our twice daily Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidras eventually quieted my mind, and I let go into a place of drop down and re-set. I really got that yoga nidra was something I not only wanted to do daily because I felt so good, but that I also need to do it.
Now, Divine Sleep® is essential for me as daily maintenance. As a yoga teacher, I need to have something I can do to quiet my mind so I can be present for my students. I know now that I cannot keep giving out energy without filling myself first. My daily yoga nidra practice has also allowed me to be more available for my family.
Now I’m able to be in three roles in one day – as the student practicing yoga nidra, and as the teacher and mother. Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra simply reminded me of what I always knew – I am the most important student!
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.
