Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

Does anyone else have trouble falling asleep at night? You snuggle under the covers, lay your weary head on the pillow ready to drift off to dreamland and boom––your mind is racing. If you can relate, you’re not alone. Many of us are stuck in the “fight or flight” syndrome and our nervous systems have trouble switching into “rest and digest” mode. Quality sleep is essential for us to rejuvenate and maintain our physical, emotional, and mental health. If you’re ready to have your best night of sleep tonight, read on for a few of the ways yoga and meditation can help.

“The Rest is just as important as the Work” = Words to live by and why we’re offering four fabulous classes to help you wind down and get a great night’s sleep. Maybe work is hectic right now or you’re navigating some challenges in your personal life or maybe you’ve been having way too much fun! Whatever the cause, the result is you’re sacrificing sleep and aren’t feeling your most vibrant. We get it. Life happens. But the Yin is as important as the Yang! We’ve got a few tips to help you either create or resurrect an evening ritual that will have you snoozing soundly and waking up feeling ready to embrace the day.

So, I won’t be the first to suggest that some good might come of the lockdown and social distancing enforced upon many of us by government action over the spread of Covid-19. Social media is not only full of political rants and tyrades of fear, but also of heartfelt encouragements, expressions of kindness and solidarity, and even beautiful poetry about us members of the great human family who are stepping up to take care of each other in difficult times, about the benefits to the environment and ecosystem of the planet from the forced cessation of destructive human production and transportation activities, and even about the psychological and spiritual benefits of just withdrawing from the world a while and spending time with ourselves.

Attention busy yogis: one hour of Yoga Nidra is like getting a few hours of deep sleep. Yes, one hour of Yoga Nidra practice has many benefits, but its power to provide you with the nourishing effect of true restful sleep can transform your life. This practice is designed to help you learn to completely relax, delve into your unconscious, and maximize your total well being. What’s even more wonderful is that anyone can learn this practice, no matter your age, physical abilities, and current state of health. If you aren’t familiar with Yoga Nidra, it is a healing practice of total relaxation. Your teacher guides you into a deeply relaxed state, kind of like how you feel right before you fall asleep where you are relaxed, quiet, yet aware of your surroundings.