Tired of Feeling Tired

Browsing in the “wellness” section of a local bookstore the other day I was amazed at the number of self-help books on the topic of sleep, or rather, lack thereof. Upon further reflection, I realized that I shouldn’t be surprised at the number of publications on this topic since sleep deprivation, insomnia, and sleep disturbances affect most, if not all of us, to various degrees throughout our lives. What has changed, however, is the realization that sleep matters much more than we once thought. We now know that sleep has important restorative, repair and regenerative functions that are necessary to keep the body and the brain healthy.

If you read articles and books, or listen to podcasts, on this topic you’ll find that one of the most important strategies for sleeping better is to become aware of and be in sync with our natural internal clock, the circadian rhythm. Sticking to a regular sleep-wake schedule seven days a week will help you feel more refreshed and energized. Is this easy to do? Not likely. However, once we understand how we can better adapt our lifestyle, and learn what to do when things are out of sync, then we can rest easy.

There are many pieces to the puzzle when it comes to getting better sleep. Reading articles and books can be very helpful but often it’s not enough. Just like learning to play a musical instrument; it’s a whole lot better when you work with a qualified and experienced teacher. If you’re tired of feeling tired, join me for an introduction to Sleep Recovery™, and find out how this holistic, practical, five-step program can equip you with knowledge, tools and resources for better sleep. The two-hour workshop (evidence-informed information, discussion and practice) will provide an overview of Sleep Recovery™: an integrated framework that addresses the connection between body, energy, mind, heart and soul which all affect our ability sleep well.

I believe that with practice this life-changing program will help repair your natural ability to rest more deeply, and reduce sleeplessness. You’ll awaken with an enhanced sense of happiness and wellbeing.

By the way… you don’t need any yoga experience, nor do you need to be fit or flexible, to fully participate in this program.

Two-for-one pricing is available until Oct 8 so act quickly and sign up with a friend!

When: Friday, Oct 15, 2021 @ 6:30-8:30 pm (Central Time)
Where: Live stream via Zoom
Cost: $40 CAD (2-for-1 pricing available until Oct 8)
Register: Email studio71yoga@gmail.com (by October 12, 2021)
Cancellation Policy: Full refunds up to 3 days prior to the event. No refunds will be given after that time.

You can also sign up for the 5-week Sleep Recovery program without attending the workshop. Click here for more information.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Jeannine

Autumn Equinox and More

September is here. We’ve turned the corner and many of us have returned to established and trusted routines. For some there is a longing for the summer that is now behind us. For others, myself included, the rhythm of the seasons brings welcome changes. 

In a few weeks, the Yin cycle, the darkest time of the year will begin with the autumn equinox, the day of the year when light and dark, day and night, are perfectly balanced. As we move further into late fall this will herald the composting phase of the year, a time for harvest and gratitude, a time rich with symbolism that can be integrated into our yoga practice, and our life. As the autumn equinox approaches there is a shift of emphasis from outward achievement to inner reflection and contemplation. In this phase of the year, we move from:

Sun to Moon

Light to Dark

Yang to Yin

Outer Achievements to Inner Reflection

Action to Contemplation

Fire to Water

Growth to Dormancy and Incubation

Fruitfulness to Composting

Building Up to Letting go 

Alchemist and author Glennie Kindred further reminds us to “balance all parts of ourselves, the active and the passive, the known and the unknown, the outer journey and the inner journey, the seen and the unseen, the logical and the intuitive, the conscious and unconscious. From this place of Unity, new doors open, new directions, and new possibilities are revealed.”

What a perfect time to renew your sense of purpose, to reflect on what lights you up, to ponder what might help you to move forward, motivated and enthusiastic. With this in mind perhaps you’d like to join me for the Seek, Reflect, Restore workshop scheduled for this Friday, September 17 @ 6:30-8:30 p.m. There’s still time to register if you act soon. Click here for more information.

By the way, if you had intended to register for the Fall 2021 regular session, classes began yesterday (September 13) but you can still register if you contact me right away. See details here. 

With joy and gratitude,

Jeannine 

There’s Still Time to Register

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