Wholesome Resources

Wholesome Resources for Mind-Body Mastery through Yoga, Meditation, Guided Imagery, Stress Relief, Wellness

View Cart
Facebook
YouTube
LinkedIn
LinkedIn
Share
You are here: Home / Search for "details-real-relaxation-cd/page/10/details-desktop-yoga-workshop/contact-us"

Search Results for: details-real-relaxation-cd/page/10/details-desktop-yoga-workshop/contact-us

Sleep Well ~ Yoga Nidra

Why struggle to get to sleep or stay asleep at night when you can sleep well with yoga nidra?  Sleep is vital to our health and sleep experts tell us we need an average of eight hours at a shot.  Even if there’s time for sleep, many of us have trouble getting to sleep or staying asleep, interfering with good health and causing frustration.

Find the help you’ve been waiting for in these articles:

Listen to this specialized yoga nidra practice especially made for going to sleep (CD or digital download).  It’s from Julie’s new book, Yoga Nidra Meditations: 24 Scripts for True Relaxation

Clear the deck for a good nights sleep by releasing physical, mental and emotional tension.  You’ll love waking up in the morning feeling refreshed.

Enjoy using relaxation skills, specialized breathing techniques, mindfulness, and more.  You’ll enjoy the soothing Native American style flute music followed by the calming sound of ocean waves, Mother Nature’s delightful lullaby.

  • “I never slept better.”
  • “I love the whole thing.”
  • “I fall asleep so easily, I haven’t made it through to the end yet.”

Get copies of Sleep Well ~ Yoga Nidra for yourself and your friends and family here.

Digital Download

Sleep Well | Yoga Nidra CD
Sleep Well | Yoga Nidra CD
Use deep relaxation, soothing flute music & ocean waves to go to sleep. "I slept like a log." Downloads available. By Julie Lusk, Yoga Nidra Meditations author.
Quantity:  
Price: $9.99Price: $16.99 

Sweet dreams!

Julie Lusk, MEd, E-RYT 500, has over 35 years of expertise in stress relief, yoga, relaxation training, Julie Luskguided imagery, and meditation as an international author, recording artist, and workshop leader.

Julie is the author of

 

Chakra Balancing with Sound Healing

 

How to Balance & Tune
Chakra Energy
Using Healing Sound Vibrations

Page Summary | Chakra Energy  | Sound Healing | Chakra Tone Chart

Chakra Energy  

Chakras are spinning wheels of subtle energy.  The major chakras span from the base of the spine to the crown of the head.  They guide the wellbeing of our bodymind and lifeforce energy.  You can learn more about chakras and their influences here.   Get info related to chakra elements, directions, sounds, senses, and other attributes here.

Chakra energy is often out of balance.  It can run too high or too low.  This can negatively influence your actions, relationships, as well as your physical, mental, and emotional health.

Use my Chakra Chart to help you in knowing if your energy is balanced, excessive, or deficient. A variety of helpful strategies are given to improve your wellbeing.

There is a lot you can do to gain balance and have better health by either increasing or decreasing chakra energy.  This can be supported through intentionally using sound, color, crystals, and mantra.  Yoga postures and pranayama (breathwork) influence the chakras. Healthy lifestyle choices make a difference.  Meditation, guided relaxation and imagery are very effective. Using hand and finger positions called Yoga Mudras are also powerful.

Sound Healing

Sound healing intentionally uses musical instruments and vocals to help with harmonizing the body, mind, emotions, and spirit into wholeness. A positive impact on wellbeing happens when these dimensions are tuned and in balance.

Sensing calmness, connections, mental clarity, emotional equilibrium, insightful awareness, and balanced energy often happen.

A variety of instruments can be used including Tibetan and crystal bowls, tuning forks, drums, bells, flutes, gongs, chimes, strings, and keyboards.  Vocal singing and toning are powerful as well.

The tones, frequencies, and vibrations used in sound healing are experienced both physically and energetically. Obviously, sounds are heard with the ears. Not so obviously, they are experienced and absorbed through the skin, by the cells, and in the energy field.

Sound healing facilitates vibrant health by activating the relaxation response, synchronizing and activating brainwave frequencies beneficially, and supporting heart coherence.  It has been shown to regulate the nervous system. Chakra energy is often toned and harmonized.  Chakra disharmony is discussed below.

Sound healing is based on age-old teachings and backed up by modern science.  It’s interesting, relaxing, and fun.

Chakra Tone Chart

This Chakra Tone Chart can help balance your chakra energy to improve your wellbeing.  These sound vibrations are based on ancient Vedic (Yoga) and Tibetan notes and tones, and western music.

Use this Chakra Chart to help you know if your energy is balanced, excessive, or deficient. It gives you a variety of helpful strategies to improve your wellbeing.

Try all the healing sound vibrations to find out what you like and works best for you. Notice your felt reaction to each of these scales, notes, and sounds to determine how your bodymind responds to each vibration.

  • The Sargam scale from Indian music goes from the lowest to the highest note of any scale (like solfege or do-re-mi).  This makes it very versatile. It allows you to start on any note depending on your vocal range or the instruments you have on hand.  For example, if you have Tibetan or crystal bowls, start on the lowest tone for the root chakra and play progressively higher tones for ascending up through the chakras.
  • Yoga (Vedic) tones are based on the western diatonic scale.
  • Tibetan tones and notes are based upon the perfect 5th interval.
  • Bija sounds encode the 5 elements into sound. They are used to stimulate and strengthen chakra energy when depleted.
  • Vowel tones diffuse, connect, and move energy.  They are helpful to calm and soothe energy and when energy is excessive.
    • Alternate vowels are sometimes used instead of those shown on the chart.  Try these variations out on yourself to find out which vowels resonant most for you.  They are Root – UH (as in huh).  Sacral – OOO (two).  Solar Plexus – OH (toe).  Heart – AH (awe).  Throat – EYE (eye). Third eye – AYE (play).  Crown – EEE (speak).

Handy Links

Chakra Tone Chart and Hand Diagram © 2022 | This chart was compiled by Julie Lusk in 2022 and continues to be refined as new material is revealed. | Yoga Nidra for Complete Relaxation & Stress Relief and Julie’s other books were used as references. Other resources include How to Heal with Singing Bowls by Suren Shrestha (Tibetan notes*) and the work of Sreedevi Bringi and Tony Nec.

Yoga Meditations: Timeless Mind-Body Practices - Book & CD set
Yoga Meditations: Timeless Mind-Body Practices - Book & CD set
Awaken joy, peace and inspiration with this yoga meditations book. Yoga Meditations contains a wide variety of mind-body practices, such as: * Guided relaxation exercises * Breathing practices * Yoga Nidra * Meditations and guided imagery * Affirmations * Yoga postures and meditations for each chakra * Yoga wisdom for contemplation Get a FREE Wholesome Energizers CD in every book! CLICK the blue title link above to find out more...
Quantity:  
Price: $29.95
Chakra Chart
Chakra Chart
Finally! A complete Chakra Chart with all the chakra names, locations, colors, sounds, yoga postures, breathing techniques, psychological & energetic influences and more. There's handy tips for using the chart on the reverse side. It's 8 1/2 by 14" and laminated. CLICK on the blue title link above to find out more...
Quantity:  
Price: $11.99Price: $13.99 

Chakra-Based Guided Meditations

Real Relaxation: Yoga Nidra CD

Real Relaxation Yoga Nidra takes you into a deeply relaxing and powerful restful state of being fully aware while being in the state of deep yogic sleep.  It helps with balancing chakra energy, and can improve immunity, heart health, relieve stress and give you inner peace and balance.

Get it from Amazon, iTunes, Spotify & other online stores


 

Chakra Chart

Chakras: Subtle Energy Centers

→ Page Includes Complete Chakra Chart with helpful instructions

Each of us has has seven primary subtle energy centers called chakras. Chakras are considered as one of the most important indicators of a person’s health and well-being.

Traditionally, the seven primary chakras are described as spinning wheels of subtle energy that span from the base of the spine to the crown of the head.

Chakras guide the developmental stages of our body, mind, and emotions, and awaken our potential as spiritual beings. The chakras are referenced in the yogic wisdom books dating back five thousand years. Many medical, mental health, spiritual and mind-body professionals now seek to understand and apply the ancient knowledge of the chakras within their field of expertise.

Each of the seven chakras is associated with and has an influence on physical locations in the body as well as on adjacent muscles, organs, glands, and nerves. Yogis believe they house the guiding intelligence of prana, the universal energy of life.

Furthermore, each is related to stages of psychological growth and human development and has lessons to guide us through life that are integral to our soul’s journey.

Because they are energetic rather than physical structures, they are not considered to part of our physical anatomy.  They can be described as psycho-energetic or psycho-spiritual centers located in the subtle body. Like magnetism existing within an iron magnet, they exist within the body without having a physical presence.

Each chakra is associated with color, crystals, sounds, goddess archetypes, yoga postures, healing and balancing colors, an element, and sounds.

Establishing and maintaining balance throughout all the chakras is optimal since one chakra is not particularly better than the others. Chakra energy currents move both vertically and horizontally. When the chakras are unbalanced with either excessive or deficient energy, the result is physical, mental, emotional or spiritual difficulties. Fortunately, a wide range of techniques exists to open, align, and activate the chakras.

The chakra chart provides information to further your understanding and growth.  It was originally published in Yoga Meditations: Timeless Mind-Body Practices in 2005 and  is continually updated to include more information.

Chakra Chart

This Chakra Chart (C) is for personal use only and not duplication.  It is reprinted with permission from Julie’s Yoga Meditation book.  Order your own beautiful 8.5 x 14″  full-color laminated chart below. Volume orders are welcome. Contact us. 

How to use the Chakra Chart for healing and balancing yourself

Begin by familiarizing yourself with the names, locations, and characteristics of each chakra. Here are some ideas for getting started.

  • Balanced Chakra Energy: Maintain balance with continued healthy attitudes, behaviors, emotions and appropriate yoga postures, breathing practices and activities.
  • Unbalanced Chakra Energy: Examine the chakras’ lessons, rights, responsibilities and challenges to determine what areas need improvement and make suitable changes. Practice the breathing practices, yoga postures and other healing activities and healthy behaviors. Set an intention and enhance it with the musical notes, instruments and crystals. Practice self-care and get competent help from others as needed.  In addition:
  • Excessive Chakra Energy: Use the chakras’ balancing color. Chant or sing the vowel sounds to send and release excess energy. “Too much of a good thing” is harmful so decrease behaviors that are excessive.
  • Deficient Chakra Energy: Use the chakras’ emanating color. Chant or sing the Bija mantra sounds to increase and attract energy.

Don’t be mistaken by seeing this information boxed into columns and rows. The lines are there to help clarify the information.  Think of it as an intermingling or as a gradual blending. It’s somewhat like how the colors in a rainbow gradually transform from one shade to another and at the same time a color can stand on its own.

Ultimately, there is no separation.  We are in a unified field of oneness that is as directionless and timeless as it is spacious.  http://JulieLusk.com

Yoga Meditations features the full chakra chart, guided meditations for each chakra, a full description and picture of a yoga posture for each chakra as well as all the other information described below.

Yoga Meditations: Timeless Mind-Body Practices - Book & CD set
Yoga Meditations: Timeless Mind-Body Practices - Book & CD set
Awaken joy, peace and inspiration with this yoga meditations book. Yoga Meditations contains a wide variety of mind-body practices, such as: * Guided relaxation exercises * Breathing practices * Yoga Nidra * Meditations and guided imagery * Affirmations * Yoga postures and meditations for each chakra * Yoga wisdom for contemplation Get a FREE Wholesome Energizers CD in every book! CLICK the blue title link above to find out more...
Quantity:  
Price: $29.95
Chakra Chart
Chakra Chart
Finally! A complete Chakra Chart with all the chakra names, locations, colors, sounds, yoga postures, breathing techniques, psychological & energetic influences and more. There's handy tips for using the chart on the reverse side. It's 8 1/2 by 14" and laminated. CLICK on the blue title link above to find out more...
Quantity:  
Price: $11.99Price: $13.99 

Chakra-Based Guided Meditations

Real Relaxation: Yoga Nidra CD

Real Relaxation Yoga Nidra takes you into a deeply relaxing and powerful restful state of being fully aware while being in the state of deep yogic sleep.  It helps with balancing chakra energy, and can improve immunity, heart health, relieve stress and give you inner peace and balance.

Get it from Amazon, iTunes, Spotify & other online

stores.

Handy Links


Not Sleeping Soundly?  Here’s Help

by

Have you ever felt like you were ‘half-awake or only half asleep’ all night?  Me too.  It’s so frustrating, especially knowing that you have a big day ahead and want to be feel sharp and well rested. Perhaps you don’t want to miss a moment of your vacation or there’s an important conference you’re excited about.

half asleepAs it turns out, half of your brain can sleep while the other half stays awake, according to sleep scientist Masako Tamaki and her colleagues at Brown University and reported in Current Biology*.  They found that this usually happens when sleeping the first night in a new place, like a hotel, friend’s house, or while camping.  The second night is much better.

It’s our brain’s attempt to protect us by going into survival mode.  What happens is that the right half your brain sleeps while the left half stays alert, standing guard.  How strange is that?

Scientists measured the slow-wave activity of the brain, something that occurs during deep sleep.  They measured brain activity during light sleep by first playing a tone and then a different tone was played.  Surprisingly, the brain reacted to the variation in sound only on the left side of the brain – the right side stayed asleep.

Next, they played a sound loud enough to awaken someone. They found that when it was transmitted into the right ear, the subjects in the experiment woke up faster than if it was sent to the left ear.  The right ear is associated with the left side of the brain.

It stands to reason that it would be the left side of the brain that stays on duty since it is known to be objective, analytical, and rational and would be more prone to be protective whereas the right side is best at intuition and abstract thinking.  Could this phenomenon be at play when sleeping in an unsafe neighborhood or household?  What about when having to keep an ear out for a child or sick person.  More studies are needed.

Sleeping ‘half-way’ is involuntary and the brain’s way to keep you alert enough to save yourself if something bad happened and most likely associated with the flight-fight-freeze response to stress.  Because of this, scientists think there’s not much you can do about it other than to accept it rather than letting it bother you.  Some suggest going two nights ahead of your big day since it’s so hard to sleep that first night.

Here are my suggestions:

  • Make the room feel familiar and safer to you, tricking the brain into sleeping better. Try using a familiar scent – lavender is calming and aids sleeping.  If you’re used to sleeping with a fan whirling away, bring one with you.  Using your own pillow makes sense too.
  • Try yoga nidra. It’s a comprehensive practice done lying down to go far beyond deep relaxation and mindfulness to a place of natural peace and quiet that is tremendously restful.  Along with being a special type of meditation to increase uplifting levels of awareness, it can also be practiced at bedtime as a sleep aid.  Layers of stress are cleared out so they don’t follow you to bed and disturb sleeping.  In fact, while not a substitute for actual sleep, one hour of yoga nidra practice is equivalent to 4 hours of sleep. This is due to the types of brain waves experienced along the way. Proven relaxation skills, specialized breathing techniques, guided imagery, and mindfulness are systematically used. Learn more about yoga nidra here
    Use a yoga nidra recording. See below for recommendations. Download it to your listening device, put it on airplane mode, and listen by putting the ear buds or the device itself under your pillow.  It will transmit right through your pillow and not disturb your sleep partner.
  • Use a mudra. They are yoga positions for the hands.  Curl your fingers into a fist.  On the same hand, touch the tips of the thumbs to the tips of the first finger to form a circle.  Rest your hands with your palms pointing down.  It helps bring on sleep and reduces stress by promoting a sense of safety and security.  Learn more about mudras here.
  • Breathe slowly and smoothly. To calm your nervous system, breathe in to the count of four or five and then breathe out for five to ten.  When you get distracted, gently go back to focusing on your breathing.
  • Use the Moon Breath to calm your bodymind and brain by combining a mudra with breathing. Bend your index and middle finger of your right hand to your palm, leaving your ring and little finger softly extended.  Softly press your right thumb to your right nostril and inhale through your left nostril. Next, release your right thumb and press your ring finger to your left nostril while exhaling.  In other words, in left / out right / in left / out right and so on.  Learn more about this and other practices in Yoga Meditations: Timeless Mind-Body Practices for Awakening (WPA, 2005)
  • Follow the guidelines for good sleep hygiene.  Here’s the Mayo Clinic’s 7 tips for doing so.  Read How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep – The Ultimate Guide.  It’s excellent.

So even if you can’t sleep as soundly as you might like due to your brain’s insistence on staying half-awake, at least you now understand the reason why. The above suggestions may lull you to sleep, and if they don’t, you will at least make use of the time in a positive, productive way.

Sweet dreams!

Sleep Well | Yoga Nidra CD
Sleep Well | Yoga Nidra CD
Use deep relaxation, soothing flute music & ocean waves to go to sleep. "I slept like a log." Downloads available. By Julie Lusk, Yoga Nidra Meditations author.
Quantity:  
Price: $9.99Price: $16.99 

Reference:      Current Biology Volume 26, Issue 9, p1190–1194, 9 May 2016

Resources:     Yoga Nidra for Complete Relaxation & Stress Relief by Julie Lusk (NHP 2015)

Yoga Nidra: Guided Meditations for Relaxation & Renewal (Health Journeys 2016)

 

Julie Lusk, MEd, E-RYT 500, has more than 35 years of expertise in stress relief, yoga, relaxation training, guided imagery, and meditation as an international author, recording artist, and Julie Luskworkshop leader. Julie is the author of Yoga Nidra for Complete Relaxation and Stress Relief, Yoga Meditations, two volumes of 30 Scripts for Relaxation, Imagery and Inner Healing, and Desktop Yoga®. Her CDs include Wholesome Relaxation, Power of Presence, Blue Moon Rising, and many others. Learn more at WholesomeResources.com

Links

My Favorite Links & Resources

  • Yoga Links
  • Yoga Nidra for Complete Relaxation
  • Guided Imagery
  • Meditation
  • Holistic Health
  • Wellness Resources

Yoga Links

The Yoga Alliance is an organization that registers yoga teachers.  Registration can take place on at the 200 and 500 hour levels.  Finding a teacher who is registered assures you that they have studied everything  from philosophy, anatomy and physiology, asanas, teaching methodology, ethics, and techniques.  Julie Lusk has obtained registration at the highest level possible.  Julie is qualified to offer CEU’s from Yoga Alliance as a YACEP,

The Yoga Journal online is brimming with a wide range of yoga information.

Integral Yoga whose founder is Swami Satchidananda.

Himalayan Institute and the home of Yoga International Magazine

Iyengar Yoga A classic and always inspirational.

The International Association of Yoga Therapists has a wonderful collection of information.

Visit an excellent yoga pose (asana) library at beYogi

Yoga Nidra

Learn more about the history of yoga nidra here.

Yoga Nidra Network offers tons of resources on yoga nidra including free audios in multiple languages, a listing of yoga nidra teachers worldwide, info on trainings, and much more.

Research on yoga nidra, under the direction of Kamakhya Kumar, PhD 

Jennifer Reis’s yoga nidra CDs, Mp3’s, trainings and workshops

The Integrative Restoration Institute (IRI), under the direction of Richard Miller, PhD, provides materials, programs and teacher trainings based on yoga nidra.  See current, upcoming and planned IRest yoga nidra research

Guided Imagery

Health Journeys, by Belleruth Naparstek is the very best place to go for information and products, especially for medically-related guided imagery.  Click here for a collection of research on guided imagery and similar mind-body techniques.

CardPlusCD produces Julie Lusk’s guided imagery CDs.  Relaxation music by Tom Laskey is also offered.

Meditation

Loose Leaf Hollow is a wonderful retreat center in Bardstown, KY under the capable leadership of Joe Zarantonello.   Joe is an exceptional teacher, poet and the creator of the Integral Journal.  Check it out – it is truly a ‘space for grace’.

The Jesuit Spiritual Center at Milford is in the greater Cincinnati area.  It provides programs, facilities and an environment which helps people find God in all things and live a life of compassionate service.  Julie Lusk teaches classes and offers retreats there and is on their Board of Trustees.

Click here for Meditations to listen to on-line from Thich Nhat Hanh, Sharon Salsburg and others.

Holistic Health

SelfHelpMagazine is a wonderful resource.  Please check it out.

The Continuum Center for Health and Healing is located at Beth Israel in NY.  Their site has a great resource library on complementary therapies as well as on health conditions.

Wellness Resources

Whole Person Associates  makes available the finest books, materials, audio and video tapes on stress management and wellness.  They publish and sell Julie Lusk’s Yoga Meditations: Timeless Mind-Body Practices, 30 Scripts for Relaxation, Imagery and Inner Healing, Volumes One and Two and Wholesome Relaxation CD, Wholesome Energizers CD, and Refreshing Journeys audio tape and CD.

New Harbinger Publications is publishing my next new book, Yoga Nidra for Stress Relief.  They offer self-help resources  that are concise, practical, and factual.  Topics include anxiety, depression, anger, relationships, and health and feature the newest research available.

7 Arts Studio is the brainchild of Noreen Wessling.  She will inspire you to drum, draw, dream and let your spirit soar.  Mostly, you will have fun discovering hidden talents you never knew you had.  Cincinnati based.

Jakk’s Magic Beans Workshop:  Julie Keefe (a/k/a Jakk) offers Reiki and Feng Shui services, as well as one-of-a-kind creations to encourage, support and enhance your connection to well-being.  Visit her website to learn more and to feast your eyes on her wire-wrapped pendants!  Cincinnati based.

Mandala Monday is a new feature being offered by Julie Keefe (more about her above).  A mandala is a symbolic circle for healing.  It feels peaceful to look at and helps you focus too. Even better, she posts a new mandala each Monday  for you to color and submit for prizes.

Donate to support my website & our dog Breezy … Click her pic. Thanks!

Join Our Network

Join Our Network

Free Newsletter Signup