180: The Power of Yoga Nidra with Nadine Kenney Johnstone

As a business owner, wife, mother, and professor, Nadine Kenney Johnstone was busy! She thought she was doing everything right for her health until she found the power of yoga nidra.

Before discovering this type of meditation, she ate nourishing, healthy foods, got good sleep, and exercised. But, she still felt she wasn’t at her best and she saw her relationships weren’t at their optimum, either.

She felt distracted and like she wasn’t fully present with the two people she loves most in the world: her husband and her son. She wanted to change that, she wanted to embrace each moment of life fully for
herself and her loved ones, and continue doing great work with her clients.

How Nadine found yoga nidra and deep rest:

That was when she found yoga nidra. Yoga nidra is a Sanskrit term that refers to a meditation practice which induces deep, conscious relaxation. It’s been scientifically proven that one hour of yoga nidra is the equivalent of several hours of sleep!

It profoundly impacted Nadine. Soon she was prioritizing rest, which led her to actually being more productive and creative in her work. In fact, yoga nidra was so helpful for her that she wanted to share the message with others and she became a certified yoga nidra instructor. She practices it with all of her clients, whether virtually or in person at her writing retreats.

How Nadine supports women writers:

Nadine talks more about what it’s been like to host retreats since the pandemic and what she includes in her retreats. She holds an MFA in Fine Arts, has taught English and creative writing at the university level,
and is a published author. When she began presenting at conferences many of the attendees would seek her advice, and that led her to shepherding women writers through the writing process. She now works with women writers as they craft their pages, find an agent and/or a publisher or helps them self-publish, and also through the launch phase of their book.

“I love talking about journaling so I’m a writer and a writing coach; I help women, develop and publish their books.”

More About Nadine’s writing retreats:

This also led her to create writing retreats. Although they were held virtually in the initial stages of the pandemic, they are back in person now and she notices some similarities in the women who attend.

“We had an in person retreat in November and the women who came to it were working women who just felt like they couldn’t juggle it at all, and they couldn’t handle it all. Not because they’re not completely competent, but because we can only hold so much.”

“They were coming in feeling very overwhelmed and completely exhausted mentally – the pandemic lead to great decision fatigue. Every decision felt like life or death, so they were just completely decision-
fatigued, mentally fatigued.”

Nadine goes on to explain how women ultimately change their lives at the end of her retreats: “By the end it’s this real game changer where the women feel so good that they go, I have to live my life, a different way.”

In this podcast, we cover:

– What brain wave state is the “super power of yoga”?One trick to remind yourself you don’t always have to be productive.
– Where should you turn when you feel your life is missing something?
– What it means to surrender and why it is valuable.
– How can you use anchors to return to a state of peace?
– What is a Sankalpa and how do you use it in yoga nidra?
– How journaling can support you in achieving deep rest.

She also explains the need for rest and why we often have no problem running for 25 minutes on a treadmill, but it’s much more of a challenge for us to spend 25 minutes in a meditative practice like yoga nidra. Finally, Nadine walks us through the stages of yoga nidra, and we dive deep into the topics of surrender and being deeply rested (and why it’s more than just getting adequate sleep).

Tune in to hear her powerful experiences and wisdom on this edition of Awesome Health.

Resources:
Nadine Kenney Johnstone’s website 
Nadine Kenney Johnstone on Instagram
Nadine Kenney Johnstone’s retreats Use code Awesome50 to get $50 off a workshop, coaching program, or
in-person retreat.
Of This Much I’m Sure, by Nadine Kenney Johnstone
Heart of the Story podcast