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Orthosomnia. I'm guessing that you’ve probably never heard of this word. It’s a newly described sleep disorder that involves an unhealthy obsession with getting the “best” or the “healthiest” sleep.

For some people just the thought of trying to get a good night’s sleep causes stress and anxiety, which naturally and understandably leads to poorer quality sleep. This sleep problem is made worse by “tracking” technology. Dr. Sabra Abbott, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Neurology (Sleep Medicine) at Northwestern University—a private research university near Chicago, reports that patients “seem to have symptoms related to concerns about what their sleep-tracker devices were telling them, and whether they were getting good quality sleep or not.” In addition, “They were actually destroying their sleep by becoming so dependent upon these devices.”

Does this mean you should ditch your wearable fitness and/or sleep-tracking device? It depends. The answer is different for everyone. That being said, sleep professionals are generally concerned about how the use of these devices has become so ubiquitous. Another major concern is that sleep trackers are not very accurate. Someone’s Fitbit might be telling them that their sleep was “poor” on a given night when in fact their sleep pattern may have been better than average for someone their age.

It’s important to note that sleep data can be useful as long as it doesn’t create unhealthy, obsessive behaviour. Lisa Sanfilippo, founder of Sleep Recovery—a yoga therapy method for overcoming insomnia and improving sleep, recommends using a pen-and-paper sleep diary over a period of a week or more to monitor behaviours that affect your sleep. Typically some interesting patterns will emerge and this old-fashioned method of data collection can help you customize positive changes leading to better quality sleep, and by extension a better and happier you.

At the end of the day (literally) a helpful approach is to tune in to your natural daytime and nighttime rhythms. Sleep, a normal biological process, will come about more easily by developing new, healthy habits and using specific practices that help to balance your body, mind, and spirit.

Want to learn more about how to recover your natural ability to sleep well? There’s still time to register for my upcoming Sleep Recovery workshop.

By the way, the Fall 2021 yoga session begins soon. Please let me know if I’m saving you a spot. Space is limited.

Yours in yoga,

Jeannine

Yoga for Better Sleep, Yoga for a Better You

Have you heard of coronasomnia? It’s a relatively new term that refers to sleep problems related to the pandemic. Many of us are constantly trying to keep up with the latest information on COVID-19 as we head toward an inevitable 4th wave, learn about vaccine efficacies and lack thereof, evolving restrictions and recommendations, and much more. This results in increased media consumption from a wide variety of sources several times a day. It’s no wonder that stress levels and anxiety are on the rise, causing a negative impact on our sleep and mental health.

According to the Sleep Foundation, in addition to patients with COVID-19, certain groups of people have an increased risk of developing coronasomnia: frontline workers, unpaid caregivers, essential workers, women, young adults, and people of colour. Perhaps you fall into one or more of these categories. Fortunately, there are many things you can do to reduce your anxiety and sleep better, even during this challenging time. A good start involves making improvements to your “sleep hygiene”. Not sure what this means or how to go about making these improvements? This is where I can help.

I offer a sleep recovery yoga program that will help you recondition your capacity to sleep, rest better and reduce anxiety. I don’t make empty promises. This isn’t a magic bullet, you can’t just take a pill, or switch off your mind at night. That being said positive results are pretty much guaranteed if you make a serious commitment to practice using the customized tools and resources of this program, based on a therapeutic model that incorporates the layers of being that include: body, breath, mind, emotions, and spirit.

Interested in learning more? Join me for the upcoming overview of Sleep Recovery™:

When: Wednesday, Sept 1, 2021 @ 6:30-8:30 pm (Central Time)
Where: Live stream via Zoom
Cost: $40 CAD (2-for-1 offer available now)
Register: Email studio71yoga@gmail.com (before Aug 29, 2021)
Cancellation Policy: Full refunds up to 3 days prior to the event. No refunds will be given after that time.

If you know someone else who is affected by coronasomnia they are more than welcome to join us and this week I’m offering a 2-for-1 SPECIAL.

Take advantage of this opportunity to find out more about yoga for better sleep and a better you!

Jeannine

Repair your relaxation response by putting “energy back on the grid” with Supported Child’s Pose

Yoga Practice, Joy and Letting Go

“Yoga is more than stretching. Stretching is only the beginning of opening, and opening is just the beginning of letting go. And letting go is the heart of yoga practice. Remember the joy of letting go as many times as you can each day.”

— Master teacher Judith Hanson Lasater, PhD

Above is a quote from my much cherished and highly respected Restorative Yoga teacher. I just love it. For me key words—beginning, opening, letting go, heart, practice, joy—resonate in so many ways. They’re full of meaning, nuances, questions and more.

One word in particular catches my attention—joy.

What is joy? How do we define joy? Is it the same as happiness? And what about the joy of letting go? What are we letting go of? According to the ancient teachings of yoga and other wisdom traditions, letting go is part of the spiral inward, the journey towards authenticity, the path to our true nature. This is a practice in and of itself. We begin to shed the layers of how we define ourselves, of who we think we are physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. It involves the releasing of old habits, limiting beliefs, tired narratives, whatever no longer serves us.

In the book The Art of Holding Space, author Heather Plett tells us that,

“… we can’t do all our releasing at once. We need to do it in stages—one story, one belief, one habit, one rule at a time.”

It’s a circuitous journey. Little by little we come to know and recognize who we truly are. The process can be unpleasant, unnerving, and unsettling as we dig deeper. Fortunately, this unmasking eventually leads to healing and after healing comes opening. And then joy! The spiral thus begins again as we continue to release and find beauty within ourselves and outwardly among the simple things in life, over and over again.

Let’s circle back now to the meaning of joy and happiness. Is there a difference or do these words mean the same thing? I’m so glad you asked…

Happiness has been described as being dependent on external circumstances. According to the Dalai Lama the feeling of happiness is fleeting,

“like a butterfly that lands on us and then flutters away”.

Joy, on the other hand, comes from within and is said to have an enduring quality that persists no matter the circumstance.

Some of you are already thinking about the fall season. I know I am. There’s still a lot of uncertainty regarding COVID-19. For this reason, for the foreseable future, I’ve decided to continue offering live, virtual classes and workshops via Zoom. There just isn’t enough space in my cozy little studio for us as a group to practice safely in person.

For those of you who were looking forward to returning to in-person classes I know this will be disappointing. For others this new on-line fall session will bring feelings of joy given the many silver linings that we’ve discovered together via Zoom over the past year. Our little yoga community, our sangha, has endured and I am incredibly grateful.

September is just around the corner, needless to say. I hope you’ll join me on the path. I’m truly and joyfully looking forward to seeing you.

Yours in yoga,

Jeannine

The Mystical Sound Om/AUM (pravana)

A few years ago, during a live, virtual class on Zoom, a student inquired about the symbol in the centre of the lotus on the wall of my yoga space (see photo below). I replied that this was the symbol Om, to which the student replied, “What a complicated symbol for something so simple.” I mentioned that Om was much more complex than it appeared and that I could talk about it at greater length someday. Today is as good a day as any.

The Yoga tradition and teachings originating in the subcontinent of India span over five millennia. The metaphysical complexities associated with the syllable Om are deeply layered, and many scholarly works expound on the richness and sophistication of this mantra (chant). Suffice it to say that many academics have made this their life work. 

Below is my not-so-scholarly attempt at explaining the meaning of Om.

Om, both a sound and a symbol rich in meaning and depth, is often chanted at the beginning and end of a yoga class, sometimes three times as a way of acknowledging associated triads some of which are:

• Time: past, present and future

• Divinity: creation, preservation and transformation

• Spirit: immortality, omniscience and joy

The Sanskrit syllable Om is said to be the origin of all sounds. Sound is a form of energy and vibration, and Om is thus considered to be the primordial vibration from which all else emerged. With roots in Hinduism, the widely recognized Om sound is also found in Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism. In Hinduism, Om refers to Atman (soul, self within) and Brahma (the Absolute, the nature of truth, ultimate reality, the entirety of the universe).

Reverend Jaganath Carrera, a longtime disciple of Sri Swami Satchidananda, states the following:

 “The identity of primordial sound with God as the creative force of the universe is not limited to Raja Yoga. It is a principle found in many spiritual traditions. The Bible declares, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God” (John 1.1). The Rig Veda, one of the most ancient scriptures in the world, contains a similar passage: “In the beginning was Brahman (God) and with Brahman was shabda (primordial sound) and shabda was truly the Supreme Brahman.”

The mystical sound Om, the oldest and one of the shortest Vedic mantras known to the ancient sages of India, is considered by many in the contemporary yoga world to be a sacred syllable, a sacred sound, a sacred single-syllable mantra. Sometimes Om is chanted 108 times (see below).

What is perhaps less known among contemporary yoga practitioners is that the Om syllable contains three constituent parts/letters: A + U + M. When the A and U are combined forming a long O sound, the chant typically sounds like, “Aaaaaaauuuuuummmmmm…”

As mentioned above, the three parts of AUM represent the past, the present, and the future. They also symbolize the conscious (waking) state, the dream state, and the dreamless state (deep sleep) amongst other representations such as the triad of Divinity: Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the maintainer), and Shiva (the destroyer) of the universe. In addition, there is a silent echo at the end of Om/AUM, described in the Mandukya Upanishad as the cessation of the visible world, tranquil, auspicious, without a second.

The most common written representation of the Om symbol ॐ is a ligature in standard Devanagari form, an ancient, left-to-right pseudo-alphabet writing system of South Asia, combining ओ (au) and chandrabindu (ँ, ṃ). This symbol resembles the number three with a looping tail, with the addition of a large dot placed above an upturned crescent.

The symbol for Om should be treated with respect. Having it tattooed on the body, or printed on clothing, mugs, or even a yoga mat where our feet might step on the symbol is disrespectful to many Hindus, yoga practitioners and others. It is also considered to be a form of cultural appropriation. Knowingly offending others in this way is a violation of ahimsa, or non-harming.

Since Om is the basic sound of the universe, the act of chanting Om acknowledges within us that we are symbolically and physically connected to nature, to all living beings, and to the universe. 

When we chant Om the vibrations in the body can help us to focus, to relax, slowing down the nervous system, bringing a sense of calm to the mind as we move toward parasympathetic nervous system dominance.

I have found that live, virtual classes do not lend themselves very well to chanting Om together in a harmonious way. For this reason I have avoided leading chants of any kind during most of my current offerings. However, I do plan to return to chanting when in-person classes resume.

I will be posting my Fall 2021 schedule soon. For now live, virtual classes via Zoom will continue but hopefully there will be opportunities for us to gather in person in the not-too-distant future.

I hope you will join me virtually and/or in person.

“Aaaaaaauuuuuummmmmm…”

Wisdom à la Jane Fonda

Jane Fonda, now 83, is an icon in the film industry and a prominent social, political, and environmental activist. Some of us like her, some of us dislike her, some of us don’t know much about her. I mention this because last week I received the following e-mail message from a student in my Yin, Yang & Restore class:

“Hello my fellow yoga girls!
Here is an inspirational video of a great lady who shares words of wisdom….Jane Fonda. Enjoy!”

Below is part of my e-mail reply to the “yoga girls”:

“I just watched the video. Amazing. Everything Jane Fonda said resonated with me, in particular the part near the end where she talks about having a purpose in life.

Heads up! I have rescheduled the restorative workshop on “finding your purpose’’ to Sunday, Sept 19th (afternoon). It’s called “Seek, Reflect, Restore”. Hopefully you can join me.

I also really liked the importance of “girl” friends and the circle of sharing through book clubs, etc. So true… I can hardly wait for our book club next week! […]”

For your enjoyment here’s one of the gems in the video:

"You can't make your life longer, but you can make your life deeper."

Throughout the interview Jane Fonda exemplifies what I perceive as (amongst other things) gratitude, compassion, joy, and equanimity. Sound familiar? The messages are clear, passionate, and thought provoking.

No matter which side of the fence you’re on regarding your thoughts on Jane Fonda, I invite you to carve out 20 minutes for yourself, sit back, let go of your expectations, and watch the video: Jane Fonda's Guide to Love, Friendship, and Political Activism | Explains It All | Harper's BAZAAR.

Please share your thoughts. I’d love to hear from you.

Jeannine