In this training update, we share the news of Angie Jones’ completion of a hybrid, 25-hour yoga nidra training with Mia Park.  Angie joined the training via Zoom, and her classmates—from around the country—were divided between Zoom attendance and in-person attendance at Sat Nam Yoga studio in Chicago.

After experiencing yoga nidra with Danny Brewington in our recent Meditation Made Easy workshops—and hearing from other participants how helpful they found those sessions—Angie searched for a training that would introduce her both to the overall system of yoga nidra and to individual styles and techniques within that system.  She wanted to increase her understanding of the broad field of yoga nidra before potentially pursuing a more specialized training.

In “Learn to Teach Conscious Relaxation: The Art of Yoga Nidra,” Mia Park drew upon her experience studying several different styles of yoga nidra to provide a framework for the practice.  Then she helped students delve into those styles, which included Himalayan, Bihar Saraswati, iRest, Total, and Trauma-Informed.  Three books supported students’ further study: Swami Satyananda Saraswati’s Yoga Nidra, Richard C. Miller’s The iRest Program for Healing PTSD, and Tracee Stanley’s Radiant Rest: Yoga Nidra for Deep Relaxation and Awakened Clarity.

Angie especially appreciated the many opportunities to practice teach with her classmates via Zoom’s breakout room function.  She was paired with students from as far away as Wichita, Kansas, and Buffalo, New York, and all classmates provided kind and valuable feedback.  In addition, each participant was able to hold a one-on-one meeting with Mia and to join a private Facebook group to continue exchanging ideas.

To share what she has learned with our 4yoga community, Angie has three plans:  she will incorporate elements of yoga nidra in savasana at the conclusions of her active classes, feature yoga nidra in the meditation sessions she leads every other month, and highlight yoga nidra in a new class debuting in July, Restorative Guided Relaxation (Thurs., July 8, noon, at the studio).  She looks forward to helping folks relax more deeply and rest more peacefully.