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Resource Library

Wholesome Resources Library

Handy links for information on these topics…


Yoga Articles. Videos. Info.  

  • Yoga Resources | Info on how to choose a class.  Yoga postures & sequences. Breathing techniques (pranayama). Yoga Nidra.  Chakras. Yoga Meditations.  Mudras (hand gestures).  Desktop Yoga (r). Inspiring quotes. 

  • Meditation & Guided Imagery Resources | Info on yoga meditations.  Guided relaxation / Yoga Nidra.  Guided imagery & Visualizations

  • Chakra Energy | Learn about and apply info on chakra energy centers. Comprehensive chart. 

  • Desktop Yoga ® | Hundreds of yoga postures practiced sitting down – Chair Yoga

Inspiration

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  • Shop | Get books and audio recordings on yoga nidra, chakra chart, guided relaxation and imagery.

Wellness Info



Sleep Solutions – Yoga Style

by

How’s Your Sleep?

Are you getting enough sleep?  Are you tired of being tired?  Could you be suffering from sleep deprivation?  Well, you’re not alone.  Most of us don’t get enough sleep.  I don’t know about you, but it’s just irresistible to stay up late, even when I must get up early the next day.

Our busy lives make it so tempting to skimp on sleep.  Lots of us have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep.  Have you ever felt half-awake and half-asleep all night, here’s an explanation of why that happens with suggestions to help.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends 7 hours of sleep in every 24 hours for adults. It’s nine to 12 hours for children 6 to 12 years old and teens need eight to 10 hours daily on a regular basis.  Establishing good sleep hygiene habits are important to getting a full night’s sleep.

Benefits of Sleep

Getting enough sleep helps normalize mood, improves concentration, memory consolidation, and helps pain management.  It improves performance and lowers the risk of having an accident. Sleep is good for your skin and your sex drive.  It lowers cortisol, the stress hormone, resulting in better appetite control and weight loss.  Getting enough sleep helps regulate glucose levels, supports heart-health and contributes to a healthy immunity.  Recent NIH research reveals that sleep is needed to remove the daily buildup of waste and neurotoxins from the brain. Researchers are very interested in this since these neurotoxins are elevated in Alzheimer’s patients.  It is thought that the glymphatic system rinses and flushes these neurotoxic molecules from the brain nightly during deep sleep. This clearing process seems to be more effective when sleeping on one’s side, according to a study conducted at the University of Rochester Medical Center.  Here’s more information on side-sleeping.

Sleep Solutions – Yoga Style

The art and science of yoga has plenty to offer including postures, breathing techniques, meditation practices, and lifestyle recommendations for sleep improvement.  To further ease one’s mind, yoga’s wisdom teachings are helpful for gaining a healthy perspective on everything from handling life’s ups and downs to living with more meaning and purpose.  Furthermore, it addresses age-old questions like “Who am I?” and “What is my true nature?”

Students often say that they get their best sleep on the nights they attend yoga class.  Having a regular personal home practice is ideal.  Here are some of the many ways that yoga supports healthy sleep.

  • Yoga Postures: A vigorous practice is fine early in the day.  However, start winding down the evening with a practice that focuses on slow, mindful movements.  Focus your attention on postures that reduce physical tension.  Doing so has the added benefit of calming the mind and emotions.  Good ones to try include the child pose, gentle spinal twists, legs up the wall, and shavasana.  Restorative yoga works wonders as well.
  • Yoga Breathing: The Triangle Breath is a favorite for balancing oneself and is described in my book, Yoga Nidra for Complete Relaxation and Stress Relief (NHP, pg. 175).  It is effective for increasing your energy when feeling tired, calming your nerves when feeling anxious, and promotes sound sleep.  There are three parts to triangle breathing.  The important thing is for the exhalation, inhalation, and the retention to be equal in duration. Therefore, adjust the rate of counting to four more quickly or more slowly depending on your lung capacity and comfort.  Breathe through your nose; only use your mouth for breathing to the extent necessary.

Part 1 – Breathe out through your nose to the count of four.

Part 2 – Breathe in through your nose to the count of four.

Part 3 – Hold your breath to the count of four.

Repeat the whole process for a few minutes or until the desired effect happens.

  • Yoga Nidra: Yoga nidra means “yogic sleep” and has many documented benefits for your body, mind, and spirit. It happens when your bodymind is in deep sleep but with one big difference – you remain consciously aware.  How?  A series of techniques are used systematically to relax physically, energetically, mentally, and emotionally.  Yoga nidra awakens intuition, unconditional joy, and a timeless, spacious sense of being.  Get more on the stages of yoga nidra and how to practice it here.

Yoga nidra can also be used as a natural sleep aid at bedtime.  It eliminates layer after layer of tension and stress, allowing you to drift comfortably off to sleep and stay asleep. It’s like drinking a cup of comfort.  More on this here.

Watch this short video on how yoga nidra helped her insomnia.

One hour of yoga nidra practice approximates four hours of sleep. This is due to the series of brain wave states experienced during yoga nidra (Saraswati 1998, Kumar 2008).   Therefore, yoga nidra can help address sleep deprivation and renew your energy.  The conscious experience of deep sleep is what makes it so restorative and unique.  Due to the fertile brainwave states experienced, it’s also entirely possible to make positive behavior and personality changes. See the yoga nidra FAQ on setting intentions and sankalpas here.  Remember, yoga nidra is not intended to be a substitute for sleep.

How to Experience Yoga Nidra:  

Like all worthwhile things, regular practice yields the best results.  It’s as easy as 1-2-3.

  1. Listen to Yoga Nidra Meditations: 24 Scripts for True Relaxation | Audible – iTunes – Amazon
  2. Read about it and get free audio downloads in Yoga Nidra for Complete Relaxation and Stress Relief (New Harbinger, 2015).
  3. Experience yoga nidra on video/audio.
  4. Attend a virtual yoga nidra class held weekly on Zoom.
  5. Take a yoga nidra teacher training course and earn a certificate.
  6. Get yoga nidra downloads here.
  7. Get a book or audio below.

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 

Julie Lusk

 

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 workshop 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 audio downoads and CDs include Wholesome Relaxation, Power of Presence, Blue Moon Rising, and many others. Learn more at WholesomeResources.com

Desktop Yoga Workshop

Chair Yoga for the Workplace keeps employees alert and productive during the business day. 

Contact Julie Lusk by email for details and scheduling to book her for your Employee Training, Conference, Workshop, and Lunch and Learn sessions. 

Simple chair exercises can help prevent chronic problems such as lower back and neck pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other repetitive stress injuries.

A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) showed that yoga-based chair exercise and stretches are more effective in reducing carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms than using wrist splints or no treatment (Nov. 11, 1998).   Desktop Yoga ™ can also improve morale, productivity, attitudes and attendance.

As the creator and author of Desktop Yoga ™ (Penguin Group, 1998), Julie Lusk has designed ‘do it now ‘ exercises that can be done right at the workstation that are effective, portable and easy.

During a typical session, participants will:

  1. Learn to do self-care chair yoga stretches that can be done at their own desk.  Specific stretches are done for the neck, shoulders, wrists, face, back and legs.  Sequences are also available to increase energy, improve creativity or to reduce frustration.
  2. Take a “2- hour nap in 2-minutes”.
  3. Receive a brief review on the importance of proper ergonomics.

The Business Courier featured the value of Desktop Yoga in the article “Training the Body to Coast can help with Relaxation.” (pdf)

One of the most effective ways of letting go of work stress before you get home is by taking care of it as it arises, said Julie Lusk, author of “Desktop Yoga ®.” Lusk, president of Wholesome Resources, a stress-management company in Milford, teaches people how to do stretches, breathing and relaxation techniques right at their desks to relieve tension and get on with the day.  See this article.

Don Kemper
President, Healthwise, Inc
“Julie Lusk has a unique style of presentation that seems to peer inside each member of her audience.  Her wellness workshops in yoga, relaxation, and stress management include an extra dimension that leaves an imprint of peace and mindfulness on each participant.

Medco Employee
Desktop Yoga showed me how to release stress quickly.  Easy to remember tips.  I feel great!

MedcoHealth

  • I get neck and back and shoulder pain when I work.  It’s already gone after this short Desktop Yoga session.  My muscles felt really loose and relaxed after the exercises.  It’s great!
  • Will help with concentration and stress relief.
  • You can relax at your desk so you will be better able to handle the stress of the day and be nicer to the people you talk to on the phone.  Thank you.  This should help at work and home.
  • It will help to ease some of the stiffness and fatigue that I feel when I sit for too long.
  • I learned how to prevent injury in the future and have more energy.
  • I now have something positive to do when I need a break from my work instead of bothering my co-workers by talking to them.

Fidelity Investments

95% rated the content as excellent or above average

97% rated the speaker as excellent or above average

97% rated the program as excellent or above average.

  • I was amazed at how relaxed and comfortable I felt by the end.  I enjoyed learning by doing.
  • Easy to remember tips.  I’ll be able to focus more during the day.
  • I believe this will help me when I’m at work and I get stressed.
  • I liked learning the relaxed breathing techniques.  I felt much more relaxed, at ease and calm after taking the “2 hour nap in 2 minutes.”
  • I learned how to stop and take a break if I’m stressed and overwhelmed to regroup
  • How to be more aware of how my body is reacting when stressed and what to do

Ethicon Endo Surgery (Johnson and Johnson)

100% rated the content as excellent or above average

100% rated the speaker as excellent or above average

100% rated the program as excellent or above average.

  • I learned to release stress quickly.  The instructor had excellent content.  Very beneficial.
  • It’s important to take time to relax and reduce stress.
  • The stress fighting techniques allow me to be more focused and a better team player
  • The info on the mind/body connection was excellent
  • Stop being a perfectionist – I am one and it is stressful
  • You have reinforced the idea that I can do anything I put my mind to!!
  • Everything was interesting.  I learned relaxation tips to gain more energy.

Lenscrafters

98% rated the content as excellent or above average

100% rated the speaker as excellent or above average

98% rated the program as excellent or above average

  • I learned how to feel rejuvenated at work.  It was excellent.  I’m glad I attended.
  • Learned a lot in a short period of time.
  • I need to learn how to relax.  My stress level is out of control.  The techniques were easy.  I felt so renewed and relaxed afterwards
  • Great ideas that can be implemented at one’s desk

Book Julie Now

Julie travels from Cincinnati, OH

Julie T. Lusk, M.Ed.
Wholesome Resources
Milford, OH   45150

Greater Cincinnati Area

Click here to email

Chakra Energy Info

Handy Links 




Testimonials

WR logo masthead

Michael Arloski, Ph.D.,
Corporate Trainer, Professional Coach, Bellevue, Colorado

”In the professions of health care, wellness, training and public speaking we are all looking for an individual who combines professional qualities with personal characteristics in a genuine way.  Julie Lusk is such a person and professional.  Her message is received by others with  openness because her very being fosters trust, love and respect.  In creating a team of presenters for an impactful training for professionals, Julie Lusk would be one of my top five choices in the nation.”

Marianella Machado
College professor and composer

Julie, I would like you to know that your books, CD’s and handy-tips-to-use from the Wholesome Resources Newsletter have been extremely helpful to me.  Since I have no time to attend yoga sessions at the yoga schools in Kentucky, your books, Desktop Yoga and Yoga Meditations have been my only way to practice yoga.  I enjoy doing your yoga exercises because you present and explain them in a very clear and easy way to follow.

Your CD’s have also been very helpful to me. For example, Power of Presence CD has been a great way to control my physical stress as well as to enhance my meditation techniques.

Moreover, all of your handy-tips to use from the Wholesome Resources Newsletter are helping me to maintain an organized plan for improving my physical and mental health, because they make me focus my attention on what I need to do to feel better. I am looking forward to your new Mind-Body Wellness eBookCollection.

I am extremely grateful to you for your wisdom, knowledge, and kindness.  You certainly are a very gifted spiritual person. May God continue blessing  you with many more gifts.

Christopher Baxter, Architect, Yoga Trainer, Wellness Educator
Founding director, AtmaYoga Educational Services and Whole Human Wellness

If you, like so many of us, are faced with enormous challenges at this time, the necessity of a self-care approach to wellness is obvious. Your time invested in reading, reflecting on, and practicing the practical methods Julie provides will bring enormous relief, inspiration and renewed strength to your entire life and all those who are in your life.

As a yoga teacher and wellness educator for over 30 years, I can say with confidence that the up-to-date information and practices Julie has presented presented in her Mind-Body Wellness Collection are of the highest caliber. As a highly qualified expert in wellness, she has assembled a terrific collection and created a brilliant synthesis of their complimentary aspects.  Any one of them, taken alone, will bring lasting benefits. Having them arranged in such a well organized system synergistically increases their transformational impact.

This is a powerful body of work.

→ Mike Sterling, Director of Human Resources
The Art Institute of Ohio writes:

Dear Julie:  Thanks for sharing the DARE to Relax session with our staff.  I have received several positive comments about it, especially the “2- Hour Nap in 10-minutes” segment.

Our staff received several valuable tips on reducing stress and the consequences of stress at work and in our personal lives.  It was definitely time well spent.

→ Marianne Lang
Julie’s classes are a combination of challenge, relaxation and physical fine-tuning that are dramatically changing my life for the better.

→ Debbie Jackson
Julie’s yoga classes inspire the child within and brings to the mat asanas (postures) that touch the heart, joy that lifts the spirit and mindfulness to center the self promoting a smile to begin each new day.

Yoga Meditations: Timeless Mind-Body Practices for Awakening

Yoga Meditation
 “Yoga Meditations offers a wonderful and generous assortment of simple but powerful, eminently practical practices to guide and empower its readers, from beginner to sophisticate.”

→ Belleruth Naparstek Creator -Health Journeys guided imagery

Variety is the spice of life….and meditation, October 19, Milwaukee, WI

Yoga Meditations by Julie Lusk is a gem of a book – chock full of inspirational meditations for beginners as well as more seasoned practitioners. The variety here is nice   – everything from breathing meditations to chakra meditations. You don’t have to be a yoga student to utilize these as they are appropriate for anyone. As a yoga instructor, this book helps to bring more diversity to the meditations at the end of our classes. My students have been really enjoying them.

This book comes with a CD, which features some of the meditations in the book. It is a nice bonus.

Wonderful resource!, June 5, 2008

By Kathy Bingham (Los Angeles, California) –

Yoga Meditations is a wonderful book! I teach yoga and stress management at the college level and I use this book in both classes multiple times during the semester. The author Julie Lusk takes concepts that we as teachers study for years to understand (like the subtle anatomy or differing forms of meditation) and she explains them in a clear, concise and logical manner without oversimplifying them, but making the ideas accessible to teachers and students alike. She has invited other respected experts in mind-body techniques to contribute to the many guided exercises offered and the book also serves as a great resource guide.

Desktop Yoga ®

I’d give Desktop Yoga 6+ stars if I could!, October 23

Mandatory for office workers, July 23, 2003

Reviewer: A. Vegan (Ontario Canada) –

I think this book should be in every office drawer, especially for those of us who sit at computers all day long. This book really does what the title says, you can perform many yoga poses in your office no matter what you’re wearing. This short book covers breathing techniques, proper posture, quick yoga poses that can be done anywhere at any time. If you’re always feeling tired and stiff at work, pick up this book and try a few of the suggestions. I take a 10 minute “yoga time out” every hour and I find that I’m less sluggish and less stressed.

Desktop Yoga  is a God-send,
This is a wonderful resource that helps me get through every day at work. My headaches and neck aches are better since I started using the yoga stretches and breathing techniques. It has taught me how to powernap for relief  from feeling exhausted, and has given me lots of tips on how to cope with change, handle stress, and enjoy life more. A lot of helpful information is packed into the useful book. Thank you very much.

30 Scripts for Relaxation, Imagery & Inner Healing – Volumes One & Two

Volume 1

Finally! A comprehensive Imagery guide!, April 6

I use this book all the time., December 27
This is one of my favorite books because it is such a helpful resource to help me relax and benefit from guided visualization in incredible and powerful ways. Not only that, I use it all the time with my stress management, yoga and meditation clients. This book doesn’t get old.

Hurrah for Volume Two of 30 Scripts for Relaxation, Imagery
December 27, 2001
I am extremely pleased with this book and am now the proud owner of both volumes of this book. It is one of those books that I use all the time, which says a lot. It helps me personally and is a terrific resource when I teach stress management sessions.


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