Why Yoga Nidra needs to be part of your health & wellness journey.
The last year and a half changed us in profound ways. It changed the way we see our world, the ways in which we interact with our families and our communities, how and where we work and go to school. It changed what we need to feel safe.
Have you taken time to process the effect this year has had on you? The effects it has had on your physical and mental health? If not, give yourself the time and space you need. Continue to make your health and wellness journey a priority in your life.
Today, I want to talk to you about restoring balance, reconnecting with your truest self, and restoring and healing through your practice. Yoga Nidra delivers all of this and more.
What is Yoga Nidra?
Yoga Nidra is an ancient yogic practice that means “yogic sleep.” This guided practice has the physiological effect of 2-8 hours of restful sleep! It balances the autonomic nervous system by turning off the fight or flight reflexes present during so much of our everyday existence.
When we choose to rest in the relaxation state, we refill areas depleted by our constant stressful existence. We are able to restore balance and ease.
Yoga Nidra offers us the opportunity to reconnect with our truest, most authentic selves. It is restorative, healing, and calming as well as being beneficial to our immune systems.
Who is Yoga Nidra for?
The short answer is Yoga Nidra is for everyone. It may be particularly beneficial for people dealing with a number of physical or mental health challenges, including:
Pain
Anxiety
Insomnia
Life stresses
Chronic disease
I believe Yoga Nidra is for everyone because we all need opportunities to pause, rest and come into greater balance. Life is stressful. We are all so busy juggling multiple roles in our lives and endless lists of to-dos. Yoga Nidra is the perfect antidote to the speed at which modern life moves.
What makes Yoga Nidra at Razz Yoga special?
At Razz Yoga, Yoga Nidra means Gina Sager. We are so lucky to have Gina as our Yoga Nidra instructor. She brings an incredible amount of knowledge and passion for the practice and shares it generously with our members. There’s a reason Gina’s Yoga Nidra classes are always in high demand!
Learn more about Gina.
We’re all on our own health and wellness journeys, each one with its own twists and turns. I’m fascinated by Gina’s journey and know you will be as well.
Gina graduated from the University of Virginia’s medical school and served a five-year residency at Baltimore’s Union Memorial Hospital. She then became one of Maryland’s few female board-certified, general surgeons and opened her own practice. In 2000, Baltimore Magazine named Gina one of the city’s best doctors. Two years later, Gina closed her practice and walked away from her career as a surgeon.
Gina turned to yoga to help her deal with stress and began learning about the philosophies of eastern medicine. Today, Gina is well known as a holistic healer who finds the balance between eastern and western medicine.
“Medical degrees are seen as important in western medicine,” says Gina. “I’m in a special position because I was a doctor and understand the weak points of western philosophy.” Gina finds that her background makes people more willing to listen to her holistic teachings. She values this willingness and uses it to open the minds of those she meets, helping to create new perspectives.
Learn to listen to your body.
Gina expresses frustration with western medicine’s tendency to address only immediate medical concerns. “We have to think about the bigger picture.” That bigger picture includes the body and the mind.
One area where western medicine consistently falls short is in the treatment of chronic diseases, specifically those linked to pain. Time and again, studies have proven the placebo effect to be real. Eastern medicine works with the brain in ways that western practices simply cannot. Gina says, “People cannot argue with feeling because there is power to our thoughts.”
Gina urges us to trust ourselves - a major tenet in yoga philosophy - when it comes to our health and wellness. “Medicine should be a partnership between the patient and doctor, rather than patriarchal,” Gina says. Her philosophy places the doctor in the role of guide to the patient, because the patient knows their body best.
It’s that listening to our bodies that so many of us struggle with.
Gina uses a familiar analogy to describe how many people see medicine. She talks about how people treat their bodies like cars. We go to see a doctor when we “break down.” We get “repaired” and then return to our normal routine. Gina believes the equation that leads to true human health needs to be more holistic.
“If we’re constantly in fight or flight, then something is bound to break,” says Gina. “Our culture is out of alignment.” She points to a study that found 86% of Americans are sleep deprived as evidence of this lack of alignment.
Are you ready to experience the benefits of Yoga Nidra?
Gina Sager made a complete, and some would say drastic, career change from general surgeon to yoga instructor and holistic healer. You can make much smaller changes in your own life and experience some of the same benefits to your overall health and wellness.
Gina recommends as good first steps, to “clear your subconscious and unprocessed emotions” as well as to simply “rest and digest.” Enroll in a Yoga Nidra class or workshop to learn how to pause, rest, and bring your life into greater balance.
Check our website for the online class schedule and register for Gina’s class today. Not a member? Try a free trial week and try a Yoga Nidra class with Gina or another of our offerings. We have something perfect for everyone!