The Daring to Rest Podcast

Listen to a short rest note with Karen on giving yourself permission to be tired. Resources for this episode can be found here: https://daringtorest.com/podcast/68

Karen speaks with the founders of Red School, Alexandra Pope and Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer, about menstruation as a brilliant design for leadership and deepening our relationship with ourselves. Resources: https://daringtorest.com/podcast/67

Listen to Karen's 15-minute rest rant on burnout. Her thoughts may surprise you!

What happens when you combine a former Roman Catholic Sister, yoga nidra, rest and seventy-eight years of living? On today's Daring to Rest Podcast episode, you're going to meet Janet Frischmon to find out. Janet's been a member of our Rested community at Daring to Rest for a while, and has taken the Daring to Rest Facilitator Training. In this episode, we explore: The connection between yoga nidra and Roman Catholicism The dream that led to her leaving her position as a Roman Catholic Sister How yoga nidra made her a believer in the resurrection of the body and life ever-lasting What qualities are so important to Janet that she'd give up happy What rest is revealing to Janet at seventy-eight years old Why she feels yoga nidra has been after her all her life Be sure to listen until the absolute end of this episode - there's a short & sweet bonus audio from our conversation. As always, please leave a review of the podcast...and I love hearing your thoughts on each episode! Restfullly onward, Karen Resources for this episode can be found here: https://daringtorest.com/podcast/65

Karen reads and discusses a recent rest note that she wrote to the Daring to Rest community on why the world will be saved by the Rested Woman. Resources for this episode can be found here: https://daringtorest.com/podcast/64

In this episode, Karen talks with Octavia Raheem, author of the new book, "Pause, Rest, Be." They talk about the courage to rest personally and collectively today, and how rest fortifies our courage. Also, how rest will change your relationship to yourself and others. This episode is a deep exploration of the pause and power of stillness, and why rest is an advanced practice. Join Karen and Octavia in their discussion on why making time for rest matters and learn about Octavia's new book. Resources for this episode can be found here: https://daringtorest.com/podcast/63

Sleep specialist Dr. Rubin Naiman joins Karen on the podcast to talk about his unique perspective on sleep, dreaming and awakening. In this episode we take a look at the world today and how we can sleep better and recognize the crucial role dreams play in good sleep and waking life. Resources for this episode can be found here: https://daringtorest.com/podcast/62

Karen is talking to the Daring to Rest teacher trainers in our Daring to Rest Facilitator Training for Women about the impact of rest on women's lives, the practice of yoga nidra, why Daring to Rest's facilitator training is much more than a yoga nidra teacher training program, and how Daring to Rest is a unique approach to women's leadership. Whether you're considering our facilitator training or not, this episode will get you excited to start and stay rested.

In this episode, Karen is talking with Jeffrey Davis, the CEO of Tracking Wonder Consultancy. They talk about what is wonder? How and why it's important to cultivate wonder. How do wonder and rest intersect? Why does gifting wonder ripple? How can we find the wonder between us in a divisive world? And they explore the Tracking Wonder framework outlined in Jeffrey's new book, Tracking Wonder. Join us as we connect on how wonder adds more meaning and possibility in a world obsessed with productivity. Episode 60 Resources: https://daringtorest.com/podcast/60

Today's episode is on Motherline Exhaustion and how connecting with your body helps you break ancestral contracts, set rest boundaries and become a rested woman. Jenny Tryansky, a transformational coach, long-time Daring to Rest community member, and student in this summer's Daring to Rest in-body immersion, interviews Daring to Rest founder Karen Brody about her motherline story and why she feels this is the next level of rest work women need to be practicing. Resources for this episode: https://daringtorest.com/podcast/59

In this episode, Karen talks about how rest and relaxation are different, the seven types of rest by Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, the concern we mostly focus on active forms of rest, and how rest tells us everything we need to know. Resources for this episode can be found here: https://daringtorest.com/podcast/58

Drawing on the work of Maureen Murdock's Heroine's Journey, Daring to Rest founder Karen Brody discusses the connection between the practice of yoga nidra, the Daring to Rest method and the heroine's journey, and why now more than ever we need to be on this journey.

In this episode of the Daring to Rest Podcast, Daring to Rest facilitators talk with Kimberly Ann Johnson about her new book, Call of the Wild, on healing the nervous system, trauma, and how women can gain resilience and heal. Many of the themes are ones we explore in our Daring to Rest community, and exactly why we embrace rest. Enjoy.

In this episode of the Daring to Rest Podcast, Karen Brody talks with her twenty-two year old son, Jacob. She asks him every rest question she can think of to help moms craft a well-rested family life. You'll also hear an update from Jacob on navigating his learning differences in college while trying to stay rested. It's certainly not easy to raise our next generation on rest, but there are tweaks we can do to help children feel more rested. Resources for this episode can be found here: http://daringtorest.com/podcast/55

In this short episode, Karen Brody talks about some of the rest boundaries that have made a huge difference in her life, she reads a recent note to the Daring to Rest community on rest boundaries, and she shares a simple way you can start creating rest boundaries. If you're not sleeping and you've tried all the sleep science and supplements out there, there's often a rest boundary you're not tending to. Resources for this episode can be found here: http://daringtorest.com/podcast/54

In this episode of the Daring to Rest Podcast, Karen Brody speaks about rest and motherhood with Matilda Leyser, Jendayi Gantt and Lisa Black . They speak to the shame moms feel to rest, the struggle to get good sleep, and how to become less apologetic about practicing rest. They also discuss the importance of their yoga nidra meditation practice in their lives, what times work best for them to rest, and the legacy of rest they want to model for their children and future generations. Resources for this episode can be found at http://daringtorest.com/podcast/53

On this short episode, Karen talks about the inner child-loving parent-adult dance, a common triple cloak of exhaustion many women carry. And she mentions her IN-body solution and an opportunity to join her for a professional training in 2021. To get on the waitlist for the Daring to Rest IN-Body professional training, go to this link.

On this short episode, Karen answers one of the most common questions she gets asked from women who have been resting for a while: "Why Am I still So Tired?" Listen in.

Tracee Stanley is a teacher of yoga nidra, meditation and self-inquiry practices and the author of the book, Radiant Rest: Yoga Nidra for Deep Relaxation and Awakened Clarity. In this episode, we dive into the practice of yoga nidra, how the messages we receive about rest present obstacles to lying down, and how to get rest when you don't have time to rest. Tracee also shares a delightful story about the Goddess Yoga Nidra that makes this magical transformative sleep practice feel even more well-suited for women's health and empowerment. Resources for this podcast can be found here: http://daringtorest.com/podcast/50

In this episode, learn about renowned Jungian analyst Marion Woodman's dream work and experience a dream circle. Karen talks with Sil Reynolds, senior student of Marion Woodman. Sil shares about the 5 stages of a dream, archetypes in dreams, why dreams are important, how to explore your dreams and why Marion Woodman's work is particularly accessible to women on a quest for wholeness. She also works with three women to help them explore their dreams. This episode is the audio version of Daring to Dream, a special event hosted by Daring to Rest on International Women's Day 2021. This event also celebrates a new dream circle inside Rested, Daring to Rest's community supporting women to dare to rest and dream. Key Topics Marion Woodman Dream work 5 stages of a dream Archetypes in dreams Tools to work with dreams Conscious feminine Dreams and Yoga Nidra Resources for Episode 49 can be found here: http://daringtorest.com/podcast/49

In this episode, Elizabeth Lesser, co-founder of Omega Institute, speaks with Karen about how women have been defined in a certain, often subjugated, way because of many well-known origin stories, like Adam and Eve. Elizabeth passionately presents a plea for women to dig deep to tell new stories about the human experience. We talk about how these storylines written by men influence our values today, how women often unconsciously collude with these stories, the exhausting one-sided view of power, and how new brave stories must come from a place Elizabeth calls "innervism." Resources for this episode can be found at: http://daringtorest.com/podcast/48

Daring to Rest founder, Karen Brody, answers your questions! Listen to her thoughts on liminal dreaming, insomnia, chronic pain, aging, how to get teenagers, and younger kids, to sleep better, what to do to settle into yoga nidra meditation if you're super stressed, self guided yoga nidra versus facilitator-led, and techniques to shield negative energy coming from negative people and negative situations. Listen in! Key Topics Yoga nidra meditation Insomnia Liminal Dreaming Maslov's Hierarchy of Needs Getting kids to sleep Pain Aging Daring to Rest Method Soul Whispers Resources/ Show Notes You'll find them here: http://daringtorest.com/podcast/47

Karen talks with Dr. Kamilah Majied about meditation as a journey to freedom, the practice of discomfort resilience, and how rest resources activism. Dr. Majied highlights how meditation conflated with stoicism separates us from the joy of meditation. Dr. Majied shares her thoughts on never ceasing to advocate for human lives, and how unrest can increase our capacity to be with our feelings and set powerful intentions for personal and planetary growth. Key Topics Meditation Unrest/Rest Justice/Activism Freedom Equanimity Power of Crying Cultural Appropriation All resources for this episode can be found here: http://daringtorest.com/podcast/46

A rest garden, permission to pause, soul rattle and play, paint and rest; these are some of the creative ways women in the Daring to Rest Academy Sisterhood 4, who I believe are the rest doulas we need in the world, are sharing yoga nidra since they completed the Daring to Rest yoga nidra facilitator training. In this episode, I talk with four women from Sisterhood 4 about what it's like to take our online Daring to Rest facilitator immersion. We dig deep into the importance of rest, the power of yoga nidra "sleep" meditation, and how taking our facilitator training has impacted their lives personally and professionally. Listen in if you're curious about joining our next online facilitator training, or listen in if you want to get rest-inspired and hear multiple perspectives on deep rest and yoga nidra. To view the resources for this episode visit: daringtorest.com/podcast/45

Daring to Rest founder, Karen Brody, goes on another rest rant answering the question: "Is rest the new mindfulness?" To view the resources for this episode visit: daringtorest.com/podcast/44

In our society, menopausal women are pathologized. There is little dignity around the process, and there are no instructions for how to navigate the sometimes volatile transition. But in truth, menopause is an extraordinary rite of passage. An opportunity to reevaluate who we are and awaken to our true nature. Alexandra Pope is the cofounder of Red School and the coauthor of Wild Power: Discover the Magic of Your Menstrual Cycle and Awaken the Path to Feminine Power. On this episode of Daring to Rest, Alexandra joins me to explain how menopause serves as a rite of passage, connecting us to our calling and uncovering who we really are. She describes the physical and emotional suffering many women experience in menopause and challenges us to carve out a little time and space to do the inner work of waking up. Alexandra shares her personal experience with menopause, discussing what we can do to prepare for the ego death and subsequent rebirth that happens through the transition. Listen in for insight on the language of menopause and learn how to honor the process with rest and recognize menopause as an opportunity to step into your authentic self. To view the resources for this episode visit: daringtorest.com/podcast/43

Daring to Rest founder Karen Brody reads her recent rest rant on rest and productivity. "If we are resting to be more productive then we are feeding into the same paradigm that's making us all sick and tired."

Yoga nidra is a powerful healing practice, and many practice nidras to navigate challenging situations. But what if we don't have access to the audio for a guided meditation when we need it most? What can we do to guide ourselves through the practice (or specific parts of it) while we're on a hike, at the acupuncturist, or in the MRI scanner? Beth Dorman is training to become a Daring to Rest facilitator and a member of the Rested, Daring to Rest's community for women who want to dare to rest and Jaimee Roncone serves as a certified Daring to Rest facilitator, teaching yoga nidra to 'cancer thrivers and other worn out people.' On this episode of the podcast, Jaimee and Beth join me to share their experiences with self-guided yoga nidra, describing how they were each introduced to the practice of yoga nidra and how they made the transition from guided to self-guided meditation. Jaimee and Beth explain when they do a full self-guided practice and when they call on individual pieces of a yoga nidra meditation they need in a given moment, sharing the power of yoga nidra to help us heal from trauma and reconnect with our true nature. Listen in for insight around how to imprint the nidras 'in your bones' and learn to find your voice, feel into your body, and experience deep, transformational healing—through self-guided rest. This is rest empowerment! To access the resources for this episode go here: http://daringtorest.com/podcast/41 Key Takeaways How Beth used yoga nidra to recover from a series of surgeries Why immersing yourself in guided meditation first is key to successful self-guided yoga nidra How Jaimee was introduced to yoga nidra during her cancer journey How the repetition of auditory and visual cues helps us feel the nidras 'in our bones' The importance of guiding yourself from the outer world to the inner world When Jaimee & Beth do a full self-guided meditation vs. calling on pieces they need in a given moment Beth's practice of ending self-guided yoga nidra with soul whispers to connect with her true nature How Jaimee realized that yoga nidra was a form of prayer How those of us with a history of trauma can use yoga nidra to get out of our heads and into our bodies How to guide yourself into the strength of holding opposites Jaimee's insight on the power of finding your own voice through self-guided yoga nidra The beauty in finding deep, transformational healing through rest How we can use yoga nidra to heal relationships from a strong, grounded place

Today's conversation with Yoli Maya Yeh, an educator and healer working at the intersection of Indigenous Way, Healing Arts & Social Justice, is a conversation we had as part of the Daring to Rest Academy masterclass series. It felt too important a conversation to keep just for our Daring to Rest facilitators. Yoli shares with us her thoughts on the sacred destruction happening in our world today, particularly how it relates to racism and White privilege in the yoga world, classroom inclusion, and yoga nidra. She provides a perspective on yoga nidra that you may have never heard before, and is adamant that this practice is the secret sauce to transformation and deep healing. She's also a proponent of knowing the historical context and structure of yoga practices and then breaking that structure, especially as it relates to making these Euro-centric homogenous practices more inclusive for BIPOC folks. If you are White and work in wellness, or invest in wellness, Yoli provides you with an understanding of the landscape of this billion dollar industry, why BIPOC folks do not feel welcome, and invites White people to stop thinking your way to transformation, stop the spiritual bypassing, and be willing to go into the suffering so we can all live as one. Exhaustion comes in many forms. As Yoli says, the typical curriculums have encouraged color blindness at best and tolerance at least. This is not good enough. Today's episode helps you begin to understand why. Key Takeaways Why is yoga nidra a healing practice? Because 100% of the healing lives in yoga nidra. Once we arrive with enough mastery of the grammar (of yoga nidra) then it's important that we break the grammar. Right now we're in a period of sacred destruction – repurposing, remodeling dismantling. The euro-centric approach to yoga is an incredibly generic homogenous model…whose goal was to create docile followers. People of color have never been tracked for leadership, as knowledge holders and innovators. What white people did was they destroyed their indigenous traditions. BIPOC folks don't subscribe to scarcity as an economic model and the heart of capitalism is scarcity. When Black folks don't want to come to White people's yoga workshops, it's because they don't want to be racially attacked. Liberal White people are the most trouble because partial knowledge is dangerous. Every time you practice yoga nidra you open up the portal to spontaneous healing. You can't think your way through transformation – you actually have to do the practices. The whisper of the moment is that we all are one, but that's such a dangerous statement. Resources Can be found at www.daringtorest.com/podcast/40

When I heard that Uma Dinsmore Tuli had created a campaign to eradicate the abuse of women in the yoga world I knew I wanted to talk about this topic, and the related theme of the decolonization of sleep and yoga. This is a dark truth that has existed for a long time. I'm a firm believer that whenever we meet the shadow the potential for change grows, and this opens a gateway for shadow exhaustion to start lifting from our personal and collective experiences. And, as Uma shares today, if we don't call it out then "nobody's daughters are safe in these places." I also invited Yoli Maya Yeh, an educator and healer, and a yoga and yoga nidra teacher, working at the intersection of Indigenous Way, Healing Arts and Social Justice, to give us her perspective on the colonization of sleep and yoga for black, brown, Indigenous People of Color. Between these two powerful women, we had an important discussion that I think you'll enjoy and I hope you'll share with others. Anyone who practices yoga nidra knows it can feel like being in a sanctuary and today we talked a lot about this sanctuary – that yoga nidra is a space that often feels soft, and even playful. But we also delved deeper, into the shadow side of sleep and yoga. Both Yoli and Uma asked us to consider whether you are choosing to practice from a place of freedom, where you're at the center, or are you, often unknowingly, allowing a system to take your power? On today's episode, we discuss sleep and the yoga world, acknowledging the colonization of these practices, and explore how to reclaim their essential teachings on healing, justice and freedom. Key Takeaways How Yoli used sleep and yoga nidra as a big part of her healing from Graves Disease The body is equip with it's own ICU – Intensive Care Unit - and how nidra helps us tap into that power The playfulness and freedom of yoga nidra The origins of nidra are not merely in the South Asian practice Studies in the UK are showing that people are sleeping 40 minutes longer since COVID-19. Why? Because their alarm clocks are not going off How sleep has been colonized and why decolonized sleep leads to a decolonization of yoga nidra The moment Yoli discovered she was participating in a colonized version of yoga and what she did to put black, brown, indigenous people of color in the center space and teach from there The abuse of women in the yoga world and Uma's Yoni Shakti campaign to call out the harm and call in the help to improve an oppressive system Why it's crucial for yoga nidra teachers to practice yoga nidra, receive ongoing mentorship and not teach people sleep they have not seen The resources for this podcast can be found here: http://daringtorest.com/podcast/39

Women have our own inner calendar based on the menstrual cycle, and when we honor that cycle, we access our feminine power. But we simply can't unlock that power if we don't stop to rest when our body needs it. So, how might we use yoga nidra to hone our menstrual cycle awareness – and post menopause - and tap into our power as women? Barbara Dopfer is a Certified Daring to Rest Facilitator and the Founder of Yogarten, a studio in Bavaria, Germany. She is also trained in the Red School tradition of using the menstrual cycle to awaken our feminine power. On this episode of the podcast, Barbara joins me to discuss the connections between menstrual cycle awareness and the practice of yoga nidra, explaining how she is applying the three maps of the menstrual cycle in her work as certified Daring to Rest facilitator. Barbara describes why it's challenging to access our power as women in a via positiva-driven society and walks us through the map of the inner seasons, sharing how the rest-release-rise cycle of the Daring to Rest method echoes our monthly cycle. She also offers an in-depth look at the five chambers of inner winter, discussing why rest is crucial in capitalizing on the opportunity for renewal in each menstruation. Listen in for insight on using the Daring to Rest concepts of intention-setting and soul whispers as part of your menstrual cycle awareness and learn what YOU can do to tap into your own inner calendar and develop the feeling of being right in your body—just the way you are! Key Takeaways How learning to rest during menstruation changed Barbara's life How postmenopausal women can follow the cycles of the moon Why it's difficult to access our power in a via positiva-driven society An overview of the map of inner seasons Inner winter Day 27—Day 5 (Day 1 = first bleed) Inner spring Day 6—Day 11 Inner summer Day 12—Day 19 (ovulation) Inner autumn Day 20—Day 26 (pre-menstruation) The heightened spiritual awareness women experience during menstruation The parallels between inner spring and listening for our soul whisper Why inner summer is the time women are called to express themselves The connection between holding tension and holding opposites How menstrual cycle awareness can help women with fertility issues An in-depth look at the five chambers of inner winter Separation Surrender Renewal Visioning Clarity/direction How Barbara is applying menstrual cycle awareness in her work What we can do to start tapping into our own menstrual cycle awareness Connect with Barbara Yogarten Barbara at Daring to Rest Barbara on Instagram Resources Red School Wild Power: Discover the Magic of Your Menstrual Cycle and Awaken the Feminine Path to Power by Alexandra Pope and Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer Yoni Shakti: A Woman's Guide to Power and Freedom Through Yoga and Tantra by Uma Dinsmore-Tuli The Daring to Rest Academy Daring to Rest: Reclaim Your Power with Yoga Nidra Rest Meditation by Karen Brody

In the menstrual cycle, we experience currents of expansion and contraction, activity and rest. Yet we've been living in a cultural paradigm built exclusively around expansion and activity (the via positiva). A cultural paradigm that has avoided the via negativa entirely—until now. Now that we have pushed ourselves into a global health crisis, many of us are being forced to stay at home, and whether you're busier now or not, the call to rest and reflect is massive. To foster a deeper connection with our feelings. To ask more difficult questions. To come back home to ourselves. Alexandra Pope and Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer are the cofounders of Red School and co-authors of Wild Power: Discover the Magic of Your Menstrual Cycle and Awaken the Path to Feminine Power. On this episode of Daring to Rest, Alexandra and Sjanie join me to share what called them to this work around menstrual cycle awareness and introduce us to their definition of power as the capacity to be vulnerable and surrender to the unknown. Alexandra and Sjanie discuss the concept of menstruality, reflecting on the consciousness that evolves from menstrual cycle awareness and wakes us up to our true meaning and purpose in the world. We also explore menopause as a journey of expanding consciousness and reflect on how postmenopausal women can continue to be held in cyclical life. Listen in for insight on honoring your cycle in a non-cyclical world and learn how Red School's three inner maps of the menstrual cycle can help us understand the current moment in history. Key Takeaways How healing herself from endometriosis led Alexandra to her current work Sjanie's experience of feeling life flood back when her menstrual cycle returned How our menstrual cycle connects us to our meaning and purpose How Alexandra & Sjanie define power as the capacity to be vulnerable + surrender to the unknown The concept of menstruality as the consciousness that evolves from menstrual cycle awareness Alexandra & Sjanie's three inner maps of the menstrual cycle Map of two vias (activity vs. rest) Map of four seasons Five chambers of menstruation Our collective avoidance of via negativa leading up to the Coronavirus health crisis The parallels between the current moment in history and the void just before we bleed Alexandra's insight around menopause as a journey of expanding consciousness How women in postmenopause can continue to be held in cyclical life Sjanie's explanation of the 1% shift strategy for honoring our cycle in a non-cyclical world Connect with Alexandra & Sjanie Red School Wild Power: Discover the Magic of Your Menstrual Cycle and Awaken the Feminine Path to Power by Alexandra Pope and Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer Resources Jane Catherine Severn Holding the Tension of Opposites by Marion Woodman Daring to Rest Honoring Fear Yoga Nidra Series Daring to Rest Nap Community for Women Daring to Rest: Reclaim Your Power with Yoga Nidra Rest Meditation by Karen Brody

With much of the world under quarantine, I was wondering if today's episode with bestselling author Jennifer Louden, whose new book Why Bother comes out next week, would resonate with this moment of challenge and unpredictability. Why should we be talking about desire when everyone is focused on survival? Here's why: because if you're safe, in a stable household, and feel a call to re-evaluate what is meaningful in your life, then this current pause on life as we know it may be the ideal time to discover the desire for what's next. As Jennifer says, "If there is a stirring in you that something is being re-evaluated, if there is relief that you are not having to do something that you were doing before quarantine, if there is a feeling that desire has been something you've wanted to know for a long time" then the Why Bother book is just what you need to start that conversation. I'm super-excited for you to learn from Jennifer's deep well of wisdom! We're in a huge "Why Bother" moment right now, reckoning with what we care about, and what it means to live and to engage in our lives. Maybe you've been playing it safe, and this deep pandemic pause is coaxing you to believe that you can live a new more satisfying story. And maybe it's not, but you'd like to get the inspiration to no longer coast through life. What if during this time of quarantine, we decided to stop putting so much effort into being unfulfilled, judgmental and self-doubting in our lives? Jennifer Louden reminds us that "we can learn do it differently." Maybe this breakdown moment is just that opportunity to break through to a fully alive you. Join us on this episode for this daring conversation. Key Takeaways How to enter any moment and find the desire for what's next. Why we're not afraid of change, but our brains evolved to keep us defended. Learn a powerful map to discovering your fully alive self. Listen to Jennifer share two stories from her book, one about the time she was on Oprah and her lesson on enoughness. Why desire is a one-word feminist manifesto. What a healthy relationship with desire looks like and the three parts of desire. Why the question of "Why Bother" is important for women right now in a pandemic world. Connect with Jennifer Louden Get her new book: Why Bother: Discover The Desire for What's Next by Jennifer Louden Jennifer Louden Website Resources Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger by Soraya Chemaly Hiro Boga The Unmistakable Podcast - Jennifer Louden episode

On today's episode, Dr. Rubin Naiman gives us a rest-perspective on COVID-19 and the current pandemic that has forced people around the world to stay in their homes to prevent the spread of the virus. Is this a "call to rest" moment? Are we in a waking dream? And what's the number one way we can build our immunity? (You may be surprised at his answer!). Dr. Rubin Naiman is a psychologist, sleep and dream specialist at the University of Arizona, and author of the book, Healing Night: The Science and Spirit of Sleeping, Dreaming and Awakening. A great friend of the Daring to Rest community, our rest expert, I invited him to offer his thoughts on this moment so we may gain perspective. When you're forced to rest, you can tune out or tune in. What if this is our moment to tune in? Listen in and join us for this unique discussion.

How many times have women stayed silent throughout history? What if rest was a remedy to help us speak up? On today's episode, to celebrate International Women's Day, I talk about how rest helps us reclaim our voices. I also recorded a special gift of rest for you with this episode...a nice, long nourishing yoga nidra meditation called "Deep Rest for Women Speaking Up." You'll find it in the resources section for this episode. International Women's Day - and women's history month - feels like a great time for women around the world to take a nidra nap! This episode, and the yoga nidra that accompanies it, was inspired by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés' piece, "How to Silence a Woman: Retrieving Her Voice." After reading this piece, I started thinking about all the threads between how women have been silenced for centuries and how deep rest helps us retrieve our voice. Today's episode are my thoughts on how rest helps women find their voices and fuels women rising up on issues that are of critical importance in today's world. We need more women's voices at the table. And we most definitely need more diverse women's voices at the table. I believe rest is the remedy to help us speak up and be heard. Here's to the rise of your well-rested - and no longer silenced - woman. Happy International Woman's Day and a big "let's go" to Deep Rest for Women! Key Takeaways Women's rest-history and how we've been silenced Karen finding her voice through yoga nidra How yoga nidra helps us find our voice Recommendations on how much yoga nidra to practice

How would you describe your relationship with your body? Many of us struggle with feelings of disconnection or shame, and we only allow ourselves pleasure in the form of reward for or recovery from hard work. What if we could not just make peace with our bodies, but learn to love them and trust their wisdom? What if we made pleasure a regular practice and used it to fuel our creative work? What if we could harness the power of sensual living as a pathway to fulfillment? Mary Lofgren is the creator of The School of Sensual Living, a platform designed to help us become best friends with our bodies by savoring life through the senses. She is a self-described sensual savant, passionate writer, former burlesque sensation, licensed esthetician, experienced Qoya and yoga teacher, and advocate of sensual, embodied living. Mary believes that our bodies can be our greatest allies and most cherished works of art, and she combines her background in movement, mindfulness, beauty and feminine spirituality to help us experience the beauty that comes from being in a body. Today, Mary joins me to explain how a transformation around her body led her to burlesque and share her view of the experience as a sacrament to the divine feminine. She discusses her take on sensuality as a feminine approach to mindfulness, describing why an aversion to feeling keeps us from being fully present and how we have the tools for fulfillment within the wisdom of our own bodies. Listen in for Mary's insight on reframing pleasure as source, the fuel that inspires our creative work, and learn how The School of Sensual Living provides a deep level of body-based healing. Key Takeaways How Mary's transformation around her body led her to burlesque Mary's view of burlesque as a sacrament to the divine feminine How Mary sees sensuality as a feminine approach to mindfulness Why an aversion to feeling holds us back from being fully present How we have the tools for fulfillment within our own bodies Using the pleasure of the present moment to be with the unknown The clarity around Mary's decision to return to her birth name Mary's insight that our bodies have the answers we seek Mary's reframe of pleasure as the source that fuels our work How Mary seeks to provide a deep level of body-based healing Mary's understanding of true rest as the act of letting go Connect with Mary The School of Sensual Living Resources The New York School of Burlesque Mama Gena Mary's 'My Fighting Mantra' Blog The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk, MD Sylvia Boorstein Daring to Rest: Reclaim Your Power with Yoga Nidra Rest Meditation by Karen Brody

Envision that emoji on your smart phone where the person's eyes are open wide, looking frantic. That was 71-year-old certified Daring to Rest facilitator Barbara without yoga nidra. After retirement she received a diagnosis of an auto immune disease. As a young teenager she was ill with golf-ball sized lymph glands and no one knew what the root cause was. As a child, while Barbara was given positive rest messages, she also received a lot of pressure to get As in school. "I always felt pressure to do more," Barbara says. The Daring to Rest Academy influenced her to do less and has made a huge a difference in how she sees the world and in being less reactive to everyday life. Today Barbara offers yoga nidra to women in their older years at the end of the yoga classes she teaches. Truthfully, she does not feel well-rested all the time. "I'm a work in progress and feeling emotionally way better than before practicing yoga nidra." Listen to Barbara's story to learn how she went from frantic emoji to the one that's smiling with three hearts.

Meet certified Daring to Rest facilitator Lotus Baker, mother of three girls. When Lotus' daughter with multiple disabilities began to find her creativity, Lotus realized that she had put her own needs and desires aside for too long. "I had lost that connection to my inner voice that lit me up from within," she shares. She found Daring to Rest at a time when she was starting her own yoga studio in Miami. Learn what yoga nidra taught her and how she now shares this rest medicine with others. This episode is part of our Daring to Rest "Rest Stories" series.

Five years ago, her daughters almost all off to college, on the eve of being an empty nester, certified Daring to Rest facilitator Sheri Parr realized that she had so much unprocessed grief and she went on a quest to change her life. That's when she found yoga nidra and was immediately hooked. But how would she stick with it? Through Daring to Rest, she found the answer. In this episode, hear how hooked Sheri is on yoga nidra and how this transformational sleep practice has taught her how to rise from her heart. This episode is part of our Daring to Rest "Rest Stories" series.

How do you make yoga nidra permanent part of your life when you have been tired for as long as you can remember? That's what certified Daring to Rest facilitator Gerda van der Lecq – Postma has done, despite raising children and a busy career. Bringing yoga nidra into her personal and professional life changed everything. The Daring to Rest Academy helped her to put into the world what she had wanted to do for about 7 years: an in-depth yoga nidra program with her Energetic Shiatsu treatments. "Yoga nidra to me is rest, discharging tension, coming back to what I find really important, and then putting my ideas into the world," Gerda shares. Listen to the journey of how rest helped her rise into her mission. This story is in Gerda's native language Dutch. For an English transcript, go to our Daring to Rest podcast page here. This episode is part of our Daring to Rest "Rest Stories" series.

After significant people died in a three-year span, this is when certified Daring to Rest facilitator Marcela Iglesias found yoga, trained in it, and through yoga she found yoga nidra. "Resting on the ground, at the end of the nidra I started sobbing and didn't know where it came from - I didn't realize I needed to do that," Marcela says. From then on, she made the yoga nidra recordings part of her life. Marcela had practiced lots of meditation before, but there was something different about yoga nidra that led her to want to teach it. Find out why in this conversation between Marcela and a cherished friend and participant in her recent 40-Day Daring to Rest Program. This episode is part of our Daring to Rest "Rest Stories" series.

Today be prepared to have your heart open wider. In this 6-minute episode, certified Daring to Rest facilitator and magical mama, Jo Blackman, shares how yoga nidra has touched her life and why she now teaches it in New Zealand to mothers. Jo's poignant story speaks to one of my favorite benefits of practicing yoga nidra regularly: the power of planting an intention. After the birth of her second child and experiencing post natal depression, Jo set herself the intention of something she wanted to be as a mom. "I am a peaceful, present, positive, patient, playful, pain-free, purple, mindful magical mama." She practiced with this intention for three years, and what happened next is something I can't wait for you to hear in this episode. As Jo says, "Yoga nidra brought me back home to my heart, to my essence as a woman, and reminded me of the fact that I am magical." This is why she now share yoga nidra with other mothers at her Heartspace studio in Auckland, New Zealand. Enjoy, and a big shout out to all the magical mamas!

On this month's Daring to Rest Podcast's Rest Stories series, certified Daring to Rest facilitator Michelle Wilson is in conversation with her husband, Jay, talking yoga nidra and her journey from worn out non-profit manager to a courageous woman Daring to Rest in a world, and especially her midwestern roots, that primarily applauds "hard workers" and believes that "if you're not doing something productive it didn't count." Michelle knows the worn out woman story well. For years, she was always the first person to volunteer for something and pushed herself, over and over again, to the place of exhaustion. "It's a lesson that I had to learn a few times over," she shares in this episode. In 2017, having experienced the magic of yoga nidra a bit, she heard me talk about the rest revolution on a podcast and something I said struck her: "What would happen if you rose up like a well-rested woman?" This took yoga nidra to a new level of personal transformation for her and she thought, "I want that for myself. Rest as a lifestyle." Rest is now a lifestyle for Michelle and yoga nidra, she tells her husband, is much more than a fancy nap. "My nature was to burn myself out for the sake of pleasing others," Michelle share, "This is the deep underlying belief that yoga nidra is helping to unroot." After taking the Daring to Rest Academy yoga nidra teacher training, Michelle has now transitioned for the past year to teaching yoga nidra and yoga fulltime. "I would not have allowed myself the gift of doing work that I absolutely love and resonate with without Daring to Rest."

Ever feel like for as long as you can remember you've been tired? That's Claire Garin's story - tired her whole adult life. Three years ago, she completely changed her life from work in the mental health field that she thought was the root of her exhaustion. After experiencing a serious earthquake in Nepal, she returned home to France and quit her job, left her boyfriend, and became nomadic. She also then became an entrepreneur very quickly in the energy and dance-related fields. But, as she shares in today's episode on the Daring to Rest podcast, even though she loved what she was doing "whenever I told my story I felt like an impostor. I was so exhausted all the time. I was not able to enjoy my life because I was so tired." It seemed crazy to be burnout now that she had the work she loved. "I had it all and I was still the same – exhausted," Claire says. With no idea how to rest, even when she took time off, Claire prayed for support. That's when she found Daring to Rest. "I relaxed in ways I didn't know was possible. It is like yoga nidra taught my nervous system what I had forgot." Claire's still a work in progress when it comes to rest. (We all are!). What she knows in her bones today is that she must share this rest medicine with others. Claire's now completing her Daring to Rest facilitator certification and working on a project on Sacred Activism. The first module? Rest. "Rest is a necessity for the collective causes that requires our attention and commitment. Rest is political and we need it now."

Meet Jaimee Roncone – certified Daring to Rest facilitator and owner of a Healing Tree Health and Wellness Center in Northampton, Massachusetts. Jaimee is a woman who wears many hats and spent a lifetime helping people live their best lives – but not herself. Ironically, she trained for years in many modalities to help others with a cancer diagnosis, but when she was diagnosed with cancer she thought the doctors were talking about someone else, not her. Jaimee has stage 4 breast cancer to the bone of her left hip. She entered the Daring to Rest Academy knowing this diagnosis, knowing she needed to rest, but not knowing how to stop the doing and helping everybody else. Like so many of us, she had no examples growing up of what rest looked like. And she believed that she did not have time to rest. Jaimee initially took the Daring to Rest Academy yoga nidra teacher training to help others with cancer – which she now does to sold out workshops at Cancer Connections. But, as she shares on today's episode, "what I did not realize is that Daring to Rest would be for me in the end." "With yoga nidra I finally did not have to try to do everything, or be a good girl, mom, or badass woman. I could just be. It was everything. It was the pause and the breath I had longed for." Rest became the root of her personal healing – and now teaching.

Meet Barbara Dopfer – a yoga teacher and almost-certified Daring to Rest facilitator in the south of Germany. In this eleven-minute episode, you'll learn about Barbara's love story with yoga nidra and why she now teaches it. Before teaching yoga and yoga nidra, Barbara was always in male-dominated professions: a landscape architect and even a stone mason. But by 2014 she began to "feel like an alien" in this environment and a soft voice said, "This isn't my home anymore." As you know, changing one's story is not easy. In Barbara's case, her parents were happy that she I had a good job and she had a big company car. All the things society respects were there, but she felt empty. Listen to this episode, to learn how she got the courage to take off the happy and strong mask she was wearing to everyone else, and put on her vulnerability mask, start a yoga business and now yoga nidra business, and stop trying to prove anything to everyone else. As Barbara says, "My yoga practice is growing in a direction I never expected. I'm offering my fourth 40-day Daring to Rest program and the results are astounding. "Daring to Rest helped me speak my truth to a much bigger audience and I feel that this is just the beginning."

In this first episode of our Rest Stories Series, Daring to Rest founder Karen Brody tells her worn out woman to well-rested woman story and why she decided she must teach the transformational sleep practice known as yoga nidra. It may seem ridiculous to teach people how to rest, but today more than ever - with inflammation causing physical illness in so many people and inflammation of the world threatening our planet - the most simple solution is to show people how to relax their nervous system, and the best rest practice we know at Daring to Rest is yoga nidra. Rest turns out to be much easier said than done as most people have an uneasy relationship to rest. Realities of paying the rent, raising children and the chores of daily life provide few easy moments to take a break. Rest shame is real, leaving us to believe that rest is unproductive, lazy and weak. Karen Brody, founder of Daring to Rest, and the women who enter the Daring to Rest Academy's professional yoga nidra teacher training program, know this worn out woman scenario all too well. Most of us were experts in burnout. But then we found yoga nidra meditation and discovered that rest was more accessible than we thought, and that was essential for our survival. In this special Rest Stories Series, Karen and ten Certified Daring to Rest Facilitators, tell their rest stories, explain what rest means to them and why they are so passionate about teaching yoga nidra to others. Throughout the month of January, we'll be telling our rest stories. Listen in to discover why yoga nidra is "more than a fancy nap" and why so many women are teaching it to create a well-rested world. Connect with Karen Contact Resources The Daring to Rest Academy - enrollment in our online professional yoga nidra training for women is now open Peace is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh Podcast with Karen's son Podcast with Amy Rachelle

It's much easier to ignore the darker parts of ourselves—the wounds, the fears, the biases, the anxieties. Sloshing around in our inner territory is scary, but there is freedom in the truth. And the more we can talk about our shadows without getting defensive, the more we can accept our humanness and start to heal ourselves and the world around us. Only then we can go deep AND go home to ourselves. Pixie Lighthorse is an artist, healer and author who uses words as medicine to "wander with people through the hard stuff." Her most recent work, Goldmining the Shadows, primes us for an ongoing inner dialogue with damaging influences (both internal and external), so we can begin the process of liberation and restoration. On this episode, Pixie joins me to define what it means to do shadow work and explains why it's crucial to explore our own inner territory. Pixie describes our quest for balance between thinking/doing and feeling/being, offering insight around how to access the most truthful parts of ourselves from a liminal space. She also shares the idea of rigorous honesty, discussing how we can recognize our shadows as they come up, examine our subconscious biases, and avoid the push/pull in our relationships. Listen in to understand the role of rest in accessing clarity and wisdom—and learn how to liberate yourself by accepting what IS. Key Takeaways Pixie's work in wandering with people through the hard stuff How Pixie defines shadow work and why it's so crucial Why Pixie's best writing ideas come from the liminal space The quest for balance between thinking/doing + feeling/being The idea of rigorous honesty and how it impacts relationships How to examine our unconscious bias without defensiveness Recognizing shadows when we use absolutes or complain The danger in overidentifying with our specialization How we harm ourselves/others out of loyalty to our wounds Why we can't access clarity or wisdom when we're tired How communication makes room for cooperative experiences The shadow side of hope and how we use it as a mask Pixie's insight around the freedom of accepting what IS Connect with Pixie Pixie's Website Resources Goldmining the Shadows by Pixie Lighthorse Boundaries and Protection by Pixie Lighthorse Prayers of Honoring by Pixie Lighthorse Prayers of Honoring Voice by Pixie Lighthorse Prayers of Honoring Grief by Pixie Lighthorse Leesa Renee Hall Healing Night: The Science and Spirit of Sleeping, Dreaming, and Awakening by Rubin Naiman PhD Daring to Rest: Reclaim Your Power with Yoga Nidra Rest Meditation by Karen Brody Daring to Rest Sleep Series Yes to Rest Friday - Daring to Rest Yoga Nidra Naps for Women Facebook Group SHARE

Do you struggle with the creative process? Get stuck in self-doubt? Or have trouble finding time to practice your craft? Writer Nicole Gulotta contends that the life of a creative is lived in seasons, and she believes that we can use these natural rhythms to enhance our creative work. And Nicole uses yoga nidra as a tool to bring ease to the writing process! Nicole is the author of Wild Words: Rituals, Routines, and Rhythms for Braving the Writer's Path, the creator of the Wild Words Community, and a Daring to Rest yoga nidra facilitator. She is dedicated to helping writers embrace the season they're in and use rest to tap into their creative potential. On this episode, Nicole joins me to share her seasonal approach to creativity, walking us through the 10 seasons of a writer's life identified in her book. Nicole explains what it means to write in the margins, using her obstacles and opportunities exercise to design a sustainable writing practice. She also offers insight around the value in listening to your body, sitting in the liminal space, and retreating to do deep work. Listen in for Nicole's formula for the writing cycle of hope and learn how to use yoga nidra as a tool in the writing process! Key Takeaways Nicole's 10 seasons of a writer's life 1. Beginnings 2. Self-doubt 3. Going back in time 4. Discontent 5. Listening to your body 6. Raising young children 7. Liminal space (transition) 8. Visibility 9. Retreating 10. Finishing What it means to write in the margins The art of slow writing one line a day Nicole's personal yoga nidra practice How to make the space for deep work Using yoga nidra as a tool in the writing process Nicole's practice of choosing a word for the year How Nicole developed the writing cycle of hope Connect with Nicole Nicole's Website Wild Words: Rituals, Routines and Rhythms for Braving the Writer's Path by Nicole Gulotta Resources Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl Karen on The Kate & Mike Show EP064 Eat This Poem Daring to Rest: Reclaim Your Power with Yoga Nidra Rest Meditation by Karen Brody Yoga Nidra, Writing and the Wild Woman retreat with Karen at Kripalu

My son Jacob had his first psychoeducational evaluation in the second grade. He scored in the 110th percentile in critical thinking, but his reading score was in the 2nd percentile. Jacob was diagnosed with dyslexia, a condition that makes it difficult for people to read quickly and automatically—but has no connection to their overall intelligence. In fact, dyslexics are typically fast creative thinkers with strong reasoning abilities. (Think Richard Branson, Albert Einstein, Leonardo DaVinci). But, for many, getting through traditional educational systems are tough. So, how has Jacob navigated the school system with this learning difference? And what have I learned in the process of raising a dyslexic child? Today, Jacob joins me to share his experience with dyslexia, discussing his ongoing challenges with reading comprehension and the benefits of the multisensory curriculum he experienced starting at age ten. I offer insight around when we realized Jacob had a learning difference and the value in getting your child tested early. Listen in to understand how yoga nidra helped me manage the dyslexia journey with Jacob and learn how he is incorporating the practice into his life at college! Key Takeaways How The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity defines dyslexia The discrepancy between Jacob's critical thinking and reading scores The strategies dyslexics use to improve reading comprehension When we started to realize Jacob had a learning difference The value in getting your child tested early to access the right services The concept of parenting with firm kindness to establish boundaries How The Lab School served as 'the right island' for Jacob The challenges Jacob faced in navigating theatre class How yoga nidra helped me manage exhaustion during the dyslexia journey How Jacob is incorporating yoga nidra into his life at college Jacob's ongoing challenge around taking longer to read a text Jacob's advice on surrounding yourself with the right people How Jacob wants to make an impact by spreading positivity in the world RESOURCES Watch Jacob give the commencement speech at his high school graduation The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity Americans with Disabilities Act The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan A dyslexia font! Audio books for dyslexic and learning disabilities Made by Dyslexia The Kildonan School The Lab School Sylvia Boorstein Daring to Rest: Reclaim Your Power with Yoga Nidra Rest Meditation by Karen Brody Join NAP, Daring to Rest's new yoga nidra community for women (Enrollment open until Oct 1st)