Stepping into a new space and/or a new activity is scary, stepping into a new life—a new version of you—is seemingly impossible. Until it’s not.
We are each on our own healing journey, and to heal—and thrive—we need to be with ourselves. But lasting, transformative healing is bolstered, supported, and sustained by, and in, community. On my own journey, as an introvert, and from amidst a sea of shame and fear, the need to ask for help and the need to connect to a community felt impossible. It was difficult to face the truth that connections with other people are key to healing, let alone embrace this fact. What I have learned about trauma and healing is that we have to move our bodies and learn practical tools for emotional regulation. And we need to participate in mind/body, somatic, embodied practices consistently—yoga and dance are the most impactful practices for me. There is no magical pill or one and done miracles; there is only hard work. And it’s worth it. While there are many approaches to healing, to movement, to embodiment—the practices that we offer at The Spiral Goddess Collective are thoughtfully designed and curated toward sustaining healing and transformation. Our community—and the classes and workshops that we offer—welcome each individual just as they are, providing tools and resources and a brave space for exploration. But you have to be willing to take that leap... * I survived for decades using yoga and dance as a way to mitigate my trauma and attempt to stay sane, but it wasn’t until I started to better understand trauma and embodiment that I was able to actually start to heal and transform—to stop using these practices as a way to avoid myself and to use them as a way to connect to myself. The way I practiced and taught dance and yoga transformed as well. Talk therapy helped and daily yoga and dance practices helped, but JourneyDance was a game changer in so many ways. Training to be a JourneyDance facilitator was something that I did for myself, but now it is something that I am driven to share with others, especially those who don’t know that they need this kind of medicine or those who fear what embodiment might bring. We need practices designed to help us ground, center, explore, and release. We need a brave container and a supportive community—space and support. And we need consistency. We need to return to the dance floor or the yoga mat (or, ideally, both!) over and over again. We return to ourselves again and again, finding love and compassion for ourselves. And each time we do, we not only experience the benefits of these somatic, embodied practices, we also build resilience, access joy, flex our muscle memory, and create new pathways in our brains. We become mentally and physically stronger, more embodied, more self-regulated, and more able to respond rather than react to the stress in our lives and the chaos in our world. The path toward healing and transformation is long and winding. There is no magical destination, but there is comfort and ease and a better quality of life. So, if you are standing at the edge of the precipice—frozen and frazzled and fearful and insecure, numbing your senses (with alcohol or drugs or social media scrolling or shopping or whatever) because you don’t know what else to do (and because this is the norm of our culture)—maybe it’s time to take that leap. It feels impossible, but once we do, we find that it’s just what we didn’t know we were looking for.
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4/24/2024 0 Comments Finding the Way to RestThe life-changing power of yoga nidraBy Emma Rose
Desperate 3 a.m. decisions rarely change lives for the better. Kathryn Mikkelsen’s first experience with yoga nidra is an exception. In many respects, her story is a familiar one. A teacher for grades 7 through 12, Kate was deep into burnout and had been running on empty for weeks. She was and is the kind of person who gave of herself, but she felt like she had very little left. Add to that the trauma of living in Japan during the 2011 earthquake and subsequent evacuation, and Kate’s nervous system seemed permanently stuck in overdrive. So at 3 a.m. after a marathon of insomnia and fitful sleep, Kate surfed the internet looking for something, anything that would help her relax and finally turn off her brain. What she found was yoga nidra — a style of guided meditation that brings practitioners to a deep state of rest. “It was like a Hail Mary attempt. I just picked a thumbnail that looked pretty. The guide had a lot of followers, and I was like, that seems legit, let's give it a try. And it turned out to be the best thing I've ever done in my life.” That first yoga nidra meditation didn’t just help Kate finally fall asleep. Over weeks and months she used the guidance to regulate her nervous system and learn how to really and truly rest. Today she’s a yoga instructor at the Spiral Goddess Collective in Bangor, Maine and on the Insight Timer Meditation App. The Transformation Begins The transformation from stressed-out school teacher to centered meditation and wellness coach took years, but it all started with that first YouTube video from a guide and teacher named Ally Boothroyd. “I completely fell in love with her voice and the experience. I practiced every day and I fell asleep every day. It took me about four months before I could stay awake until the end of a meditation. And then I realized, oh, there’s a lot more going on here than just helping me sleep.” She started to notice shifts in her thinking and overall mental state. Her mind and body seemed more connected. She was less reactive and, best of all, she was sleeping through the night. “I got very curious, because I like to try new things. I thought: this is so great. How come I've never heard of it?” So she joined the teacher training to learn more. Yoga Nidra teacher training, at least the kind Kate pursued, tends to be an immersive experience. You’re encouraged to go at your own pace and really deepen your practice along the way. “When I started the teacher training, I thought I had a pretty good handle on what yoga nidra was. About two months into the training, I realized I was like a snowflake on that iceberg. It goes so deep and there's so much potential in this practice.” She’s been exploring that potential through her personal practice and guided offerings ever since. Yoga Nidra--A Unique State of Consciousness Along the way, Kate has adjusted her definition of what Yoga Nidra is. “I thought it was a type of guided meditation where somebody makes a script and reads it and another person listens and has a beautiful experience. But what I learned is that yoga nidra is actually a state of consciousness that is a combination of your body being deeply relaxed, similar to sleep, while you are still fully aware and alert. So it's a unique state of consciousness in between sleep and waking.” It’s a state that many people in the modern world never quite access. With smart phones, 24-hour news cycles, and the demand to be always on keep nervous systems on high alert, the connection between mind and body frays and often it takes a medical emergency to make someone slow down. In a world that desperately needs yoga nidra, it seems that few have ever even heard of it. Fortunately, scientists and researchers are starting to pay attention. Neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman has incorporated some of the wisdom of yoga nidra into his non-sleep, deep rest (NSDR) protocol. One of the biggest advantages of yoga nidra is that it’s a completely drug-free intervention. The practice doesn’t require special tools or skills. As Kate says, “If you've ever fallen asleep, you can do yoga nidra.” Of course, the same cautions apply as with any meditation practice. Meditation can sometimes bring up difficult feelings, especially for people who have experienced trauma. If you’re actively in distress, other strategies might need to come first. You also need a quiet, undisturbed place to practice, which is why in-person classes like those offered at The Spiral Goddess Collective are especially valuable. The studio is a serene, welcoming space to practice away from the tasks and demands of home. As a bonus, practice happens among other people who are also seeking rest and peace in their lives. Yoga Nidra at The Spiral Goddess Collective The Spiral Goddess also hosts weekly classes in seated meditation, JourneyDance—a transformative movement practice, cardio dance, Kukuwa dance, and yoga. Special sessions include networking groups for radical careworkers, intentional tea service, and sonic yoga nidra, which combines yoga nidra with a sound bath played on crystal singing bowls. For upcoming yoga nidra meditation sessions visit The Spiral Goddess Collective’s Class Schedule or Kate’s website. |
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January 2025
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