by JenYoga! | Apr 5, 2025
Federica Torri
I had asked myself perfection in absolutely anything I did. Growing up in a culture that glorified achievement and hard work, where rest was rarely valued, until recently I couldn’t conceive the idea of what it meant to slow down.
I was playing hard and fast game. Along with the fact that I am naturally a ‘fixer’, as well as highly biased for action. If there is ever a problem, I take it on and solve it. And trust me I didn’t stop until every task was completed, and all issues resolved, which was draining me.
On top of it all I am a very creative and highly sensitive person, thus I have always felt a lot, and many times felt totally overwhelmed. I struggled for a long time with what felt like the impossible task of regulating my nervous system. I longed to understand myself more deeply to bring a shift into my habits and outlook.
I moved to the USA from Italy and built my career in the tech industry. For over ten years, I did a great job and learnt so much, but also experienced burnout. My health suffered. For more than 15 years I was in constant pain with other symptoms no one knew why. I had to make adjustments to my career and take time to rest. During this time of recovery I became a yoga teacher and this has led me to so many great things, including Jennifer and her teachings.
In the last couple of years it has been quite difficult for me as I was finally diagnosed with a chronic condition that has ‘no cure’. Overall things seemed to pile up in my life. I felt it was impossible for me to slow down. I was absolutely unable to rest. So I tried but really struggled with traditional sitting meditation.
And then I met Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra! A yoga teacher recommended Jennifer Reis and I looked into her online work and offerings. I plunged in and started attending her 6-week Yoga Series as well as deep rest with weekly Yoga Nidra Thursdays. And I noticed how healing and nurturing this time that I carved our for myself in yoga nidra has just wonderful for my nervous system.
I even started finding joy in life again! I could feel my nervous system began to have more tolerance for the stresses in life. Although I’m still in not optimal situation as the chronic disease challenges me every day, yoga nidra has become a tender nest! I especially rest deeply when I am overwhelmed–and being an highly sensitive person I can be overwhelmed a lot.
The effects of yoga nidra on my pain has been nothing short of amazing! Far less pain now. Other incredible effects is that I digest and receive nourishment more fully, and I can now fully rest as well as sleep better. It has helped me teach yoga in new ways, allowing them to become more relaxed and present. I see they are able to land in the moment now.
Overall yoga nidra has been life changing for me, and I can’t wait to offer it now that I am a recent graduate of Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra Teacher Training. I love the training as it was truly such an amazing content and experience. I can’t wait to offer this gift to my students!
I can’t say enough about the impact that Jennifer’s teaching is having in my life. I am still new as a yoga teacher, and her 6 weeks Series courses (that I attend religiously) have been key in shaping the teacher I am becoming. From her words, mudras, pranayama, yoga postures and incorporating the Elements, I receive so much.
Jennifer’s knowledge of the body both physical and energetic is so evident in the very original way she brings everything together. And I love her Workbooks and Manuals, as they’re just so well written and designed that I use them all the time.
I love Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra every Thursday on zoom with Jennifer and it is a true treat for me. She comes up with creative imagery that she builds for every journey.
My life has changed because of yoga nidra and I am forever in gratitude!
by charology | Apr 13, 2023
Before I practiced yoga, I had very few skills to deal with anxiety and stress. Being a creative person, I have an active mind that sometimes is flooded with ideas and things to explore, investigate, and create. Being bombarded with “thinking” caused anxiety and panic in my daily life to the point that it became unbearable.
This lack of self-regulation affected my sleep, ability to travel, and even my social interactions. My world was getting smaller and smaller. I knew something had to change and I was searching. As a person in long-term recovery from alcoholism, every tool and every layer of learning supports my continued sobriety and mental health.
Then I found yoga! Practicing yoga postures and breathing taught me how to get out of my head and into my body and being. My first time in class at a yoga studio, I was so deep into the practice with presence in my body that the 75 minutes just flew by.
I was amazed! That was the beginning of my journey into creating a yoga-centered life. After practicing yoga steadily, I finally found a sense of inner spaciousness where my thoughts could actually slow down.
Eventually I wanted to offer this gift to others and became a certified 500-hour yoga teacher with the intention of developing Yoga4Sobriety – my school based on the Chakra energy wheel system. And as it turned out, yoga has been the biggest gift for me! Yoga allowed me to both focus my thoughts and inspirations to flow in a steady rhythm so that I could create and implement something real, tangible and valuable. And it gave me a deep wisdom tradition and practical practice methods to help others – this is my contribution!
Recently I found Jennifer’s Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra. Practicing yoga nidra gives me a deeper understanding of how to sink into stillness, and how to shift out of human “doing” and into human “being.” I took Jennifer’s online training which renewed my love for yogic wisdom, especially the layers of being called koshas, which Divine Sleep is based on. I found the whole training, and this style of yoga nidra, has been a great complement to my chakra-focused work.
Personally for myself, I find yoga nidra helps me to hear from my heart. It allows me to clarify my intentions and supports me in manifesting what I’m here to do. I feel even more productive now!
Forever a student, and wanting to grow and evolve, after the training I began to work with Jennifer Reis through mentorship. This has been a tremendous help to bring practical wisdom into my life as I find the mentor relationship keeps me accountable and grounded.
I align with Jennifer’s teachings and philosophies on and off the mat, which makes this relationship very special.
I continue to integrate the wisdom of yoga into all aspects of my life, and I find anxiety and panic are mostly a thing of the past. Yoga has assisted me living fully, mindfully, creatively, joyfully, productively – and for this I am forever grateful.
by Anwar Baksh | Sep 24, 2022
It was a natural progression for me to begin to practice with Jennifer online during the pandemic. I understand well what it is like to spend a sustained amount of time in ‘stress mode’. Prolonged stress was familiar to me in my younger years—in fact, a friend who recognized my stress levels at the time gave me a t-shirt that read “If it were not for stress, I would have no energy at all!”
Although I had substantially decreased stress from my early life, the “fight or flight” response was certainly amplified by the pandemic for me. My life had been steadily moving in the direction of a regular yoga nidra practice; it was not an accident that I found Jennifer’s classes and her particular style of practice. I had earned my 200-hr yoga teacher training 2012, and in 2017, I participated in a workshop given by the team at Veterans Yoga Project.
It was through work with the Veterans Yoga Project that I was introduced to yoga nidra as an effective way of obtaining a type of relaxation that can go deeper than savasana alone. I was curious that yoga nidra was utilized effectively when working with practitioners having a history of trauma.
Jennifer’s Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra practice gives me permission: this practice allows me to be where I am at. For me, it creates a unique space in which I can release tensions and deeply relax. I always emerge refreshed, renewed, and restored.
Thanks to Jennifer’s online yoga nidra classes, and my own consistent practice, I now have a space to go to any day and receive this gift of renewal. And that makes all the difference. I have also passed along Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra to my son and his friends. The earlier kids can learn these practices, the better. An early start allows them to have these tools for life!
Practicing online with Jennifer has also introduced me to a sweet community. There is a sense that we all share in consistent practice of self-care, as well as an intention to connect more deeply with oneself, with others, and with ‘source’. It feels like home!
As I practiced with Jennifer during her livestream teachings I wondered if how she presented online was really how she is in-person. I couldn’t wait for the opportunity to go to Kripalu Center and practice with her. I attended her weekend retreat and it was amazing! Now I can say she is the real deal: genuine, kind, and a brilliant teacher. And, I cannot wait to attend another class with her through the ethers and in-person!
by Anwar Baksh | Jul 7, 2022
Before discovering Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra, I felt like I was mostly in a state of panic – fight or flight. My adrenals were overworked. My body begged for rest: I did not know how to invite rest or even begin to relax. Not knowing this only taxed my body, mind, and spirit further. I lacked true connection in nearly all aspects of my life.
The ‘Three P’s’ as in ‘Parent, Public school teacher, and Pandemic’ had taken over the ‘Three C’s’ in my life: ‘Clarity, Control, and Connection’. I was spinning out of control. My attention and energy was focused on putting out the fires in life that were seemingly growing faster than I could control.
As an educator, I could not accept the lack of efficacy I was experiencing at work, and therefore I exhausted endless amounts of energy trying to change things. My students were hurting, confused and stuck. I felt that I could not guide nor heal them in the way my heart wanted to.
It left me feeling inept as an educator. What used to bring me joy, now left me in panic. My own children were also suffering. My youngest pre-teen child had bouts of sobbing on the floor and in my arms, then fell into a deep depression. I felt helpless watching my child suffer. There was no energy for anything more than getting through that very day. Therapy, medication, family workouts and meditation – yet it still was not enough.
My first experience with Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra with Jennifer was at Kripalu. The experience was both profound and delicious. I melted into bliss and the practice left an imprint on my body and nervous system: pure ‘knowing’ had been awakened. It subconsciously tugged at me to acknowledge and listen.
Although my mind did not fully understand the process or what yoga nidra really was, I could feel the depth of its effects. This knowledge inspired the beginning of my journey in what has become a very important and impactful life changer which continues to unfold.
I Just Melted
My practice of Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra taught me how to invite my body to welcome what it was begging for, and I let myself melt. It helped me to restore ‘Clarity, Control, and Connection’ within my life, one day at a time.
The more I explored what Jennifer had to offer, the more I journeyed into inner peace. I just melted! I felt a greater sense of control and was capable of managing what before seemed impossible. Clarity arose more and more as time progressed.
For healing and deeper connection, I attended Jennifer’s Weekend Retreat at Kripalu Center. This was all that my body and soul ached for. One blissful weekend – it was wonderful. ‘After enlightenment, the laundry’ it has been said. Returning, I struggled to bring that peace into everyday life. But then, as a beacon of light, when I saw in Jennifer’s newsletter the invitation for more in her teacher training, I intuitively knew this was for me!
I signed up for Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra Teacher Training without hesitation, and also without any intention to actually lead it, because I knew the learning would serve me. The content was structured, on point, clear, and immersive.
The connection with others I made in the group was reassuring and inspiring. Jennifer’s commitment to learning and relationship was amazing. I loved that she wove in supplemental modalities such as mudras and energy points.
It was rich and intense and I know that through this experience I have built the most important foundation from which my future experiences will flourish.
This training had an unexpected delightful effect on my family. In preparation for our final training assignment, I led my two boys in yoga nidra from a script that I compiled and wrote myself. I was in awe of their experiences. “Wow Mom, that was amazing!” and “Where did you learn that?” It was as if I had learned something exotic and special.
In this moment I learned that my family practicing together is not only what we all need, but could also help them have the tools for navigating the uncertainty of the future.
Their willingness and gratitude for the practice has led to an unexpected family connection which I cherish. With this encouragement, I know now that I will lead yoga nidra. I will also have more to offer in the upcoming school year because of my new learning.
Now that I am clear, connected, and in control I feel more able and right now I am looking forward to taking my 200-hour yoga teacher training. Ultimately, myself, my family and my students are all benefiting from yoga nidra. I could not be more grateful.
Thank you Jennifer! I appreciate so much all you have had to offer and I am looking forward to continued connection and learning.
