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Yoga Nidra for Stress Relief book ~~ On the Way!

December 9, 2013 by Julie Lusk

Here’s how it all happened ~~ thanks to my lucky stars!

Last February, while I was teaching at Sivananda/Bahamas, I had my Vedic astrology chart read by Krishna Das. This was a first for me.

After describing me better than my own Mother could, he went on to say that the stars and planets and moon were lining up in May exactly as it was when I was born as well as at the age of 30. He said it was going to be a very productive time for me and would bring with it writing, teaching, learning, traveling and such.

I questioned him about the areas that I might concentrate on and gave him a list of things I’m interested in.

Right away, he said that yoga nidra would fit in perfectly with my chart. Next, I asked if I should pursue opportunities and he replied that would not be needed since opportunities would find me.

Can you only imagine the look on my face when I got an email “out of the blue” in May from New Harbinger Publications asking me if I would like to write a book for them on … Yoga Nidra for Stress Relief! Yoga Nidra is the totally relaxing and deeply healing aspect of yoga.

After checking them out and doing some discernment and soul-searching, I agreed. Next, they wanted a book summary, outline, authors bio, and a couple sample chapters. That took me a few months. The contract has now been finalized!

Could you please help me? Something that will really help the book come alive are stories. Would you be willing to share what Yoga Nidra feels like for you? Do you have a Yoga Nidra story about how it has helped you in some way? If so, please send them to me.

Why wait until the book and the new audios are released (it takes a long time). To celebrate, my Real Relaxation: Yoga Nidra CD is on sale for $5 off. This special offer is valid during December 2013.

Here is a (pdf) FAQ sheet on Yoga Nidra on

1) What is Yoga Nidra?

2) Is it different than meditation and hypnosis?

3) How it is done. How often.

4) Benefits

5) Resources.

ENJOY!

Honoring Mother’s Day with Story, Poems & Quotes

May 3, 2016 by Julie Lusk

The idea for Mother’s Day originated in 1870 by Julia Ward Howe, the author of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” She believed that peace and equality were two of the most important world causes and challenged women to rise up against war in all its forms. She wanted women to unite by coming together across national lines to recognize what people have in common over what comes between us in a “Mothers Day for Peace.” Although this didn’t happen, Julia inspired Anna Jarvisto to start her own crusade to celebrate a memorial day for mother’s in 1907. The rest is “herstory.”

Here’s to peace and equality for all. Julia’s declaration follows:

Arise then…women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
“We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.”

[Read more…]

Memory, Multitasking & Mindfulness

October 10, 2014 by Julie Lusk

How has your memory been lately? Is it easy to remember things that happened years ago but you have a hard time with what happened this past week? Can you remember what was for lunch yesterday? Do you get home from shopping and realize that you forgot to buy what you went after. Then there’s remembering conversations and what happened at meetings. Perhaps you’re starting to worry if your memory is starting to fail for real.

People like us regularly need to get more done in less time so we go online/watch TV/or work while eating. We talk on the phone and listen to music while driving. Perhaps go online to look something up and end up checking mail, reading some news, and looking at the weather forecast while there in the hopes of being efficie desktop diva 8-31 b nt and to save time. We all do it, right?

It’s possible that multitasking may be a big factor in not being able to recall things.

Multitasking seems smart but it does not work in the long run. While it can be useful in rote tasks that require little intelligent brainpower, multitasking is detrimental in tasks requiring brainpower. It contributes to stress, wastes time, lowers productivity, and hurts short and long-term memory.

The brain is not capable of taking in and dealing with two different streams of information simultaneously. It is impossible for the brain to encode more than one stream of information fully into short-term memory at a time. Information will never make it into long-term memory if it does not go into short-term memory first. Either way, information cannot be recalled and put to use. This pattern contributes to forgetfulness, poor memory, and more stress.

From Yoga Nidra for Complete Relaxation and Stress Relief by Julie Lusk

Solutions include:

Stay focused by doing one thing at a time
Don’t let yourself get distracted from the task at hand
Increase your brainpower, ability to concentrate, and improve your memory with
- Yoga Nidra – Info here
- Mindfulness – What it is and how to practice.
- Kirtan Krya, the Sa Ta Na Ma 12-minute meditation for memory improvement and to decrease anxiety and depression – Resources here
- Complete Yoga Breathing for clearing your mind, calming down, and increasing energy
- Guided Relaxation and its benefits here

Guided Mindfulness Meditations: Practicing Presence & Finding Peace Download

Ease into mindfulness with a clean, user-friendly, body-based, joyful approach. Gain calmer nerves, a brighter outlook, stronger memory, sharper focus, healthier body awareness & more balance. Get a long & short guided experience. Learn informal ways to be more mindful during the day. Available at Hay House https://www.hayhouse.com/guided-mindfulness-meditations-audio-download

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Empowering Intentions & the MindBody Connection

February 9, 2015 by Julie Lusk

Have you run across The Hidden Messages in Water, a book by Masaru Emoto’s? He is the researcher who looked at the power of intention and the mind body connection and “discovered that crystals formed in frozen water reveal changes when specific, concentrated thoughts are directed toward them. He found that water from clear springs and water that has been exposed to loving words shows brilliant, complex, and colorful snowflake patterns. In contrast, polluted water, or water exposed to negative thoughts, forms incomplete,asymmetrical patterns with dull colors,” as reported in his book. Examples of his work using high-speed photography are below. A video of water crystals responding to the Blue Danube can be watched HERE.

"Love & Gratitude" frozen water crystal by Emoto — “Love & Gratitude” frozen water crystal by Emoto

"You Make Me Sick" frozen water crystal by Emoto — “You Make Me Sick” frozen water crystal by Emoto

His experiments were to “demonstrate that human thoughts and intentions can alter physical reality, such as the molecular structure of water.” What has put Dr. Emoto at the forefront of the study of water is his proof that thoughts and feelings affect physical reality. By producing different focused intentions through written and spoken words and music and literally presenting it to the same water samples, the water appears to “change its expression.” The implications of this research create a new awareness of how we can positively impact the earth and our personal health. In other words, if our bodies are 80% or so water, the messages we get and the words on what we wear just may make a difference on our health and well-being. After this work came out, plenty of people joined the bandwagon and believed what he reported. Others claimed he was a fraud, especially since his work had not been replicated.

As for me, I knew about plenty of valid, well-documented research about the power of the mindbody connection and its influence on health and disease and how thinking, positively or negatively, has an impact on results and outcomes. Emoto had a way to make this point by demonstrating these concepts in pictures. It always made an impact when these pictures were shared in my workshops and classes. However, I always wondered how valid his work really was.

All this came up for me again in an article, Scientific Evidence: Thoughts & Intentions Can Alter the Physical World Around Us, published by Mind Unleashed. Not only did it briefly summarize his work and conclusions, it also showed research that he did using positive and negative messages on bottles filled with water and rice. Ah haa! That’s something I could do to see what happened. Read on to see my results … [Read more…]

Shocking News about Sitting Quietly

July 14, 2014 by Julie Lusk

Does it sound appealing to you to have a little time all to yourself? Is some peace and quiet something you yearn for?

What if you were asked to sit still in a room by yourself for 6 to 15 minutes? Could you make it without your smartphone, tablet, a book, something to doodle on or listen to? As it turns out, this is really hard for most people.

In a study published in Science on hundreds of participants in a series of 11 experiments, over half the volunteers reported it as not enjoyable on a 9-point scale. It was hard to concentrate and their minds wandered. It was not fun at all. In fact, one experiment showed that 67% of men and 25% of women chose to give themselves a mild electrical shock instead of being quiet doing nothing. This was even after testing out the shock beforehand with most saying they would pay $5 instead of feeling the shock again. Click on the image for more info.

Really? A lot of folks would rather be shocked than have quiet time? No wonder it’s so hard for people when waiting in line, stuck in traffic, or lying awake at night. Is that why so many people avoid meditation even when knowing how beneficial it is? Does it mean that people don’t value ‘think time’ or daydreaming? Perhaps, so many people don’t like time for aimless thinking because they don’t know how to tame their mind or have forgotten how to be quiet or don’t value it. What are your thoughts on this?

Unstructured ‘think time’ happens throughout the day, doesn’t it. Is that why so many people grab their smartphone as soon as a free minute appears? This even happens while driving. Have you had the urge to check your texts, email or the weather at a stop light rather than look out the window or even listen to the music playing? You’re not ‘alone.’ According to this study, half of us don’t like having quiet “thinking time.”

So now what? I think it’s a good idea to learn how to get used to having free time again by learning some healthy mental habits. This would take the stinging frustration out of waiting, for example. It will even build up your brain power.

Share your thoughts with us in the comment section. I’m curious about what you have to say.

Here are some great ideas for when free time comes about accidentally or on purpose.