Phone: (561) 799-6789 | Email: kathy@drshafer.org | 351 S. US Hwy One, Suite 100, Jupiter, Florida 33477
Phone: (561) 799-6789 | Email: kathy@drshafer.org | 351 S. US Hwy One, Suite 100, Jupiter, Florida 33477
Entering the deepest state of yoga nidra (also known as sleep yoga) invites the realization of one’s essential nature as the very source of peace, limitless and free.
Just 45 minutes of sleep yoga = 3 hours of sleep
Refresh yourself with rest and mental imagery. Learn how to balance your Chakra Energy – in only 1 hour! All you have to do is show up, lie down, and listen while Dr. Kathy talks you through the transformative steps for obtaining total relaxation and healing for the whole body. Each class will focus on a specific Chakra or theme. It’s all part of her FUN™ Therapy program designed to relieve stress, addictive cravings, and calm the reactive mind. No movement required! Here shift happens!
There is hope even when your brain tells you there isn’t. – John G.
Fun™ Nidra was designed as a guided relaxation, done usually in a reclined position for the yoga student who finds it difficult to sit still, focus, refrain from negative thinking, abuse drugs or alcohol, make a decision, struggle with anxiety, control anger, help with habitual thought patterns (OCD), trouble sleeping, or just feeling stressed out.
Can anyone relate? To recline is divine power lying down and relaxing… take a breath…
All you have to do is show up, lie down and let the brain let you know what is ready to be addressed or released.
Find a class
Meet Dr. Kathy
Fun™ and therapy… how does that work?
The yoga nidra experience can be enhanced by creating an intention or focus for the practice, including muscle tension and relaxation, breathing exercises, and systematic instructions that guide you imaginally around the body into gradually deeper brain wave states.
Mental imagery may be used to identify, release, and transform beliefs, feelings and emotions during the practice, landing in the experience of silence. Then you, the practitioner, are gradually brought back to normal wakefulness… all in 40–45 minutes, no movement required.
Deep relaxation and improved sleep, reduced stress and anxiety, nervous system regulation and balance, increased emotional resilience, enhanced clarity and focus, release of stored tension in the body, improved ability to respond rather than react to stress, and greater access to inner awareness and intuition.
According to clinical research, just 10 minutes of daily yoga or some type of mindful practice increases stress resilience, reduces anxiety, and teaches us and our clients how to refrain from engaging in the fight/flight/freeze response when triggered.
To help you prepare, please make sure bracelets, watches, anything that can block your energy are removed. Also please put all cell phones in the off position, or silence them (if you are using them for Zoom), and make sure they are not near you as the buzzing can distract you.
If you think you may need any props such as a yoga mat (you can also sit in a chair), an eye cover, blanket, or pillow to place behind the knees when you lay down, please take care of this now and place the props next to you, as instructions and background will be given before we begin.
Yes. Most nidra classes can be attended via Zoom or in person.
If you are on Zoom please make sure your space is secure, shut the door, and make sure you will not be interrupted (by kids, family, pets, and other beings) for about 40 minutes. Additionally, please have a piece of paper and pen nearby so you can write down at the end of the class anything you wish to remember. This is for your use only.
Yoga nidra came from ancient Eastern teachings of Yoga in India and was first noted in the yoga text called the Upanishads, which is about self-realization, and is estimated to have been written about 700 BCE, almost 1000 years before the birth of Jesus. Yoga nidra was first born as a meditation practice around 400–600 CE, making it over 1000 years old.
Freud, an Austrian neurologist and psychoanalyst considered “the father of psychiatry,” was an unconscious recliner. It is estimated around 1890 a grateful “cured” female patient supposedly gifted Freud a Victorian day-bed, and the couch was then introduced into the psychotherapy session. Freud brought the famed couch with him when he came to the United States in 1909.
In 1891 Annie Payson wrote the book The Power Through Repose and described the state of nidra as a state of pure awareness, as she was concerned with the fast pace of modern life.
Other leaders most notably Swami Sivananda and his various disciples such as Swami Satyananda Saraswati of the Bihar School in Bihar India in the 1950s wrote the first text called the Blue Yoga Nidra. In 1970 Swami Rama came to the USA and formed The Himalayan Institute in Pennsylvania.
Swami Kripalu moved to the United States inspiring many people to take up yoga in 1977. His disciple Amrit Desai created Amrit Yoga in Florida. Others who helped bring Nidra more into the West include Richard Miller, PhD, who created iRest integrating psychology and PTSD treatment approaches. In 1975 Dr. Herbert Benson at Harvard wrote The Relaxation Response after studying meditation practices.
Rod Stryker wrote The Four Desires and developed his own Nidra practices. Jon Kabat-Zinn launched Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in 1979 at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, where his work has been studied for decades.
Women who helped shape modern Yoga Nidra include Annie Payson, Shakti Gawain, Amy Weintraub (LifeForce Yoga), Julie Lusk, Indu Arora, Jennifer Reis (Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra), Uma Dinsmore-Tuli, and Dr. Kamini Desai, author of I Am Yoga Nidra.
