Sleep Seminar Recap

Had a wonderful turnout and great team on hand for yesterday’s seminar, A Good Night’s Rest: The Yogic Science of Sleeping.

The seminar was vast in scope covering the physical, mental, emotional, and day-to-day life issues related with sleep, yet also offered specific, practical tips to enhance sleep. Plus everyone had the opportunity to share their goals for the seminar and personal sleeping habits.

In the first hour of the seminar we examined how stress and other psychic factors related with daily living affect our nighttime sleep. Namely, the physiological issues that arise from a stressed-out mind. And we identified a whole host of yoga postures (along with props) that will help with sleep – along with breathing techniques. That first hour culminated with a practical yoga nidra session where everyone entered a position of choice with various props (bolsters, neck pillows, sandbags, eye pillows etc) and experienced a guided relaxation session, complete with singing bowls.

The second half of the session focused on the layers of mind and how day-time thoughts and life experiences affect nighttime sleep. We also investigated physical aspects of sleeping such as body positioning, use of pillows to support the spine, and various other topics.

All in all it was a full session, and all those who came brought so much to the table. Their experiences no doubt enhanced the seminar and brought life to this very important topic of sleep.

Here are some of the responses to the query, “My favorite part of the seminar was…”:

– Info on yoga and effect on the glands, postures to try, use of pillows and pressure.

– Real tips on sleep positions, using yoga nidra to prepare for sleep, doing nidra, learning about how to quiet the mind.

 – Poses to prepare for sleep.

– The relaxation exercise in a yoga pose and learning about how to train the mind during the day in order to enhance sleep. Also, it was great to learn about the bolsters, pillows etc.

– Keep away from the issues during your conscious work if you know your subconscious self is going to be busy with it.

And this response arrived this morning – after their first night of post-seminar sleep:

– I tried a few of the techniques we covered in the seminar and can report that they worked well. I slept on my right side, and also on my eft side with a support pillow and my eye cover. I did a little deep breathing beforehand and went to sleep. I awoke once in the night but went back to sleep. Thanks for the informative session. Looking forward to better sleep quality.

Feel free to add more comments and queries below – again thanks to all who attended and transformed this into a dynamic session!