Life flows in seasons and I’m honored to have supported so many of YOU through your journey this past year in learning embodied practices and truly, embodied living. To me, yoga, fitness, meditation etc are all pointing us back to our relationship to ourselves and require us to be present, show up, grow and thrive in new ways.
My current season as we enter spring is actually feeling like a fall season of shedding, saying no, setting down projects, letting go and even death…moving into a winter season of being inward, nourishing myself and preparing to enter into this next phase of life as a woman, wife and new mother.
As I’m preparing to birth this child (come out and play, please!) I’m enjoying completing tasks that got set aside while teaching full time and yes – enjoying lots of rest, walking and swimming. My due date is April 7!!
I came across this client email today and wanted to share it in full, and I’ll be transparent that I have Laurel’s consent to do so. Today, I introduce you to Laurel D of Orange County, CA.
She’s an ambitious, hard working, motivated woman who recently hit a milestone birthday. She’s lean and fit, cares immensely for her family, and loves tennis. I’m so proud of her willingness to learn and practice in new ways, and to trust that she could actually allow herself to do less, and nourish herself much more through beautiful practices of meditation, mantra, breath and restorative yoga.
Enjoy reading about her journey, in her own words. Comment if you have an insight from reading it, and especially if you, too, are in need to support around one of our basic human needs – SLEEP.
Much love,
Cheri
“Dear Cheri,
I wanted to thank you for all you have done for me. I started this journey on January 15, 2016 when I decided to give up Ambien after taking it on and off for 20 years. I decided to go cold turkey and thought that maybe yoga would help me to relax and sleep better. After breaking my wrist last October I decided to seek out yoga therapy and was lucky enough to find you! I wanted to still be able to practice yoga because it indeed had helped me with my sleep. I also wanted to see if you had any suggestions on helping me stop drinking wine in the evenings which also helped me fall asleep. Little did I know that you were going to open up a whole new way of thinking about my life. I was probably what some would call an exercise fanatic. Tennis, gym, hiking, yoga, biking….the list goes on. I would do yoga in the morning, play tennis, go to the gym all in one day. I thought I would be so exhausted that of course I would fall asleep! You taught me that the body needs rest. You can’t be in a state of rajas (energy, action, movement) all day long and expect your mind to turn off when it is time to sleep. I was getting one hit after another to keep up the adrenaline all day so I would sleep.
This is where you helped me the most. I told you I never meditated. Hated it. You taught me restorative yoga poses and had me do short meditation practices with you and on my own in the evenings. It was hard at first. I would only do the restorative practices for about 5 minutes but I kept at it. Every session with you we would work on different restorative poses and exercises that would help me relax in the evenings. Sure enough, it really seemed to help the quality of my sleep. I used these restorative practices to do gentle stretches and clear my mind of all the chaos of the day. I would then finish up with a restorative pose and did my meditation and visualization that set the tone for a relaxing evening. I do at least 20 – 30 minutes every evening and look forward to it all day!!
I also want to thank you for having me check out Dr. Reddy’s website where I learned about adrenal fatigue. I decided to go see Dr. Reddy who is a Naturopathic Doctor and who also agreed with you that I needed to tone down the crazy over exercising I was doing. You both gave me great advice on nutrition and eating more throughout the day. Not only was I working out too much but I was not eating enough.
I can’t express how much I appreciate everything you have taught me. You have changed my way of thinking about how I live my life. I needed balance. Movement is wonderful, but the body and mind also need peace and rest. I have not slept this well in 20 years and I know you are a huge part of it. I wish you well with the new baby and look forward to seeing you again after your maternity leave. You are an amazing person and such a compassionate teacher. I am extremely lucky that our paths crossed. Thank you again!
Take care,
Laurel D
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I appreciate your work and after the baby arrives and we settle into our first season together, I do feel strongly convinced that we will continue our work together. Until then, rest well and enjoy every day, every practice, every breath. Cheri