Restoring Yourself through Yoga Nidras with Dora Chan

Introduction to Podcast

0:00Welcome to the Exploring Healing Arts podcast, your go-to source for learning about different healing techniques and meeting exceptional healing arts practitioners from around the globe. Together we explore where the physical meets the subtle, the possibilities that exist for healing, and a diverse array of methods to try from acupuncture to gyn yoga and Reiki to family constellation therapy. My name is Elizabeth Alexander. I am the creator and curator behind

0:32this podcast, a Reiki master and energy healing practitioner. This podcast is something I have dreamed of for many, many moons, and my intention is to birth the resource I wish I had had at the start of my own healing arts journey over a decade ago. Whether you are just getting started on your own journey, or you are intentionally diving deeper into a healing arts practice, this podcast is the place for you. You will hear inspiring stories, get real life practical tips, and connect with

1:04exceptional practitioners and teachers from around the world. No two paths in healing are the same, but that does not mean you need to be alone. Join us to explore and experience healing together.

Yoga Nidra Introduction

1:22Welcome to an episode that explores yoga nidra, an often overlooked practice of yoga that is one of my absolute favorites, and today's guest is Dora Chan. Dora is an Aussie living in California who has navigated through tremendous stress and challenging health conditions in her life. These struggles led her to yoga and meditation, tools that have been guideposts on her own healing path,

1:52and she now uses in service of others. Dora has a PhD in immunology, is a Reiki master, holistic nutritionist, and yoga teacher with extensive certifications and experience modalities, including yoga nidra, yin yoga, and restorative yoga. Her passion is in integrating holistic approaches to help others in living more fulfilling lives. Welcome, Dora. Thank you so much for having me, Beth. I'm so excited you're here. This is, you know, like I said before, it's an often overlooked

2:24part of yoga. It's something that I didn't even know about for the first eight years that I was practicing yoga. So to get to dedicate a whole episode to this topic with someone who's as experienced and knowledgeable as you is just bringing me a lot of joy. Thank you so much. I, this is my passion and I love talking about yoga nidra. And so I'm so, so grateful for you for bringing this topic up. Thanks. So I want to share a little backstory of how Dora and I met because in, this is 2022 now,

2:55I've been living in the San Francisco Bay area. And a few months back, I was just feeling kind of lonely. I was like, I need to go meet people. You need to get out there again. So I went and took a class at a local yoga studio and Dora was the teacher. And during the course of the class, you announced that it was your last week at the studio because you were moving to Santa Barbara. And I was during the whole class, I was like, I have to talk to her.

3:24So at the end, I told you, I was like, well, I lived in Santa Barbara for 13 years. Like, let's meet up for coffee. Let's chat. And it was just so fun for me. I remember like feeling really fulfilled walking away from our conversation as there were so many overlaps in our journeys and just so many things that we love and are passionate about. And I hope that exudes through this episode today too. Yeah, no, I just love the way we met. Like it was just, we were like literally just crossing, like you were coming to San Francisco Bay and I was leaving and

3:57it was just such a great connection. A little bit sad also, because I'm like, oh, I would love to just be in the same area and do more with you. But I'm just grateful for the

Dora's Ancestry

4:07connection. Totally. Me too. So I love opening with all guests, learning about people's ancestry and their roots. So what is your ancestry and where are your roots and how do you stay connected or not to them? Yeah. So I've sort of been around everywhere. So I was born in Hong Kong and both my parents are from Hong Kong, but we moved to Australia when my sister and I were quite little. And so we grew up

4:39in Australia. And so while we still have some relatives back in Hong Kong, I actually don't feel very connected to my birthplace. I kind of go there more of a tourist than anything else. And so I think that I guess it's kind of strange, but having a Chinese family or having that background, but then living in Australia, that's also an experience as well, which is a little bit different from maybe perhaps local Australians who have lived there for generations. So I think,

5:12you know, sort of in between, I would say I feel more connected to Australia than I would be in Hong Kong, but my parents also did a good job in, you know, involving us in some of the more traditional festivities and things that help us remember, you know, our background and our culture. And so it's, I guess it's a mix of a bit of both. And then you've moved around because you, so born in Hong Kong, went to Australia. Now you're in Santa

5:44Barbara. Have you landed in some spaces? I think I remember in between that too. Yeah. So I spent eight years living in Canada, close to Toronto. I'm in a little town called Waterloo. And that was really wonderful though. It was just way too cold. And so I moved to the States and I was in the San Francisco Bay area for about three years before moving to Santa Barbara now. Wow. I love that. And so you're physically in Santa Barbara now, and I know, you know,

6:16the native people of the area. I'm just learning about it as I know my kids are learning about it at school. So I'm learning it through them. So yeah. So the native people, the Chumash people in this region. So I need to learn more about the native lands and its people. But this is, yeah, this is, I'm getting informed by my kids right now, which is great.

What is Yoga Nidra

6:42That's so fun. That's so sweet. So let's dive into Yoga Nidra. What is Yoga Nidra? How would you explain it? Yeah. Thank you for asking that. That's such a great question because that's the question that I get so much because people look at the word yoga and they automatically assume that they're going to be doing some movement type of practice. And Yoga Nidra, if we were to really look at the Sanskrit words, yoga means to become awakened. And so even though nowadays people think of yoga as an exercise and

7:18they think, oh, I'm going to do some yoga and I'm going to stretch or whatnot. Yoga really means to unite. It comes from the root word yush to yoke. And what it really means to unite is how can we reconnect back with ourselves to that deepest and truest part of ourselves? How do we reconnect with our essential nature? And when we are reunited with our true selves, then we are awakened to who we really are. And so yoga is really about being awake, awake to our, or conscious of our

7:53spiritual selves, right? And Nidra means to sleep. And so Yoga Nidra, it's a little bit of play on words because it's like awake and asleep. So, you know, what does that mean? And some people translate it as the sleep of the yogi. What my teacher has, I love my teacher's, Dr. Richard Miller's translation of this is that Yoga Nidra is about how we can stay awakened to our true nature yoga through the different states of consciousness, including deep sleep.

8:27Wow. So that's how I'll describe Yoga Nidra, but I can really talk more about what that means in a

Yoga Nidra Practice

8:33practice too. Yeah. Yeah. So like if somebody was to come and take a class with you in person or remotely, can you walk us through like what that process looks like? Like what are they participating in if they're not stretching or like exercising? Yeah. So Yoga Nidra, you can think of it as a meditation and it's almost like, you know, how when you get to the end of a yoga class, you're often cued to come to a restful pose, the Shavasana pose where you lie down for the last five to 10 minutes of class.

9:05So Yoga Nidra is sort of like a guided meditation in Shavasana. Yeah. Cool. If you like. But a lot of practitioners would actually say that there is a difference between meditation versus Yoga Nidra because the goal of Yoga Nidra is to help you to stay aware as we move through different states of consciousness. What we can actually do in a Yoga Nidra practice is to help someone get to a deep state of relaxation that mimics deep sleep, which is something that

9:40is different from other forms of meditation where you're still in a very alert state and you might be doing different types of meditation. You know, you might have mindfulness meditation. It might be, you might be focused on a certain thing. You might be focusing on your breath or focusing on a mantra or silent meditation, but your state of mind is still pretty alert and awake. Whereas in Yoga Nidra, we're trying to train ourselves to be conscious as we dip through the different stages of sleep. So

10:10if you were to measure our brainwave pattern, you can actually see that one can actually go all the way to deep dreamless sleep in the delta brainwave state, which is not something that you would find perhaps in the other kind of seated or more alert and awake types of meditation. That's wonderful. And so if somebody, let's say they're like a newcomer, they've never tried Yoga Nidra, they're interested in connecting with those deeper brainwave cycles that we go through in our sleep. They walk in the door, they might be feeling a certain way, and then they're going to leave and

10:45they might be feeling a certain way. Can you describe what some of the possibilities for that could be?

Yoga Nidra Benefits

10:52Yeah. So not everyone comes to Yoga Nidra for the same reasons and not everyone is going to walk away, you know, having achieved the deep sleep state and back. Okay, cool. And it also depends on, you know, sometimes it just takes practice also. But what we do in a Yoga Nidra practice is that we start to help ground the body first. So it's not like we get you in and then we put you to sleep right away. So that happens too. I've had, you know, it's very common that people

11:25fall asleep in class. And that's wonderful too. So I want to talk a little bit about that too, when that happens and, you know, normalize it a bit because it happens very often. But what we try to do is, get your body's kind of situated, you get relaxed, you get comfortable physically where you are. So there's a time of settling in. And then, and of course, every practitioner might do it a little bit differently. The way that I would teach it is that you get settled in and then we start to help

11:59you to open up your five senses and just being aware of, you know, your sense of smell, taste, taste, sight, sound and touch. And then just really getting, starting to get your body listening to the different sensations that are coming through. And then we set an intention for the practice, if you have an intention you would like to set. And then part of the practice, so the type of Yoga Nidra that I teach is called integrative restoration, or eye rest for short. And what we do in our

12:32protocol is that we help ground the person in a sense, in something called the inner resource. So what that does is it helps to bring that person into a place of inner safety. And that helps to ground them throughout the practice. But it's also a great practice on its own, even in your daily life to, oh, can I come back to my inner resource whenever I need? And then we continue and we do some body sensing and starts to really help us to connect with the sensations of our bodies.

13:03Because oftentimes, why the mind body practices have been so beneficial to so many people is that we become a bit disconnected with our bodies, and we get really stuck in our minds. And that causes all sorts of issues for us. But the Yoga Nidra practice really helps us to bring out our awareness back into our bodies and think, oh, how can I interact with the different sensations that are coming up? How do I even connect and feel the different types of sensations? Because there are

13:34many people who don't even know what they're feeling, or that, oh, you know, maybe I'm relaxed. But okay, what does relaxation feel like as a physical sensation? And they're like, oh, I don't know what you mean by that. And so Yoga Nidra, you know, will give you some guidance as to, okay, where are you feeling it? If when you say relaxation, as an example, do you feel it in your belly? Do you feel it in your chest? Do you feel it anywhere else? Is it localized? Or is it throughout the whole body?

14:06Is it heavy? Is it light? Is there a temperature to it? And so it kind of just really helps you to think of sensations in a whole new way. Perhaps people have never thought of sensations at that level. Yeah. And then they start to now realize, wow, I had no idea that I can experience myself in this way. And then we go into breath sensing. So a bit of pranayama, and, you know, focusing on how, and we can, you know, introduce different breathing techniques as well. So we'll do a bit of breath work.

14:39And then we explore the different layers of ourselves. And that's what Yoga Nidra has in common. And I guess different schools of Yoga Nidra have in common is that we explore the different layers of ourselves. And the teachings call it the five kosha system. And so the two of the kosha I already mentioned is the body, we feel into the body, the breath. But then we also look into the layer of our emotions. And then also seeing, okay, what's coming up through for us as emotions,

15:10and how can we feel that as sensations in the body. And then we have the layer of thoughts and cognitions. So I think that's the layer that a lot of us get stuck in, you know, all the thinking, worrying and beliefs, all of these are in the kosha of the cognitive layer. And then also experiencing that, how am I feeling my thoughts? How is that translating as a physical sensation in the body? And then what we believe is that, okay, if we can disidentify from all of these different layers,

15:42then we'll come to the fifth layer, which is the bliss or joy or Anandamaya kosha, the ultimate place where a lot of yogis try to get to that state of bliss, right? But one thing that's a little different in the I-Rest Yoga Nidra practice is that we don't stop at the fifth kosha. We actually have an extra kosha that we work with. Because my teacher, he noticed that even when we kind of disidentify from all those layers and come to a layer of joy and bliss, where you feel at

16:16one with, you know, the universe, if you like, that the ego I is still very subtly holding on. And there's a sense of, huh, I am enlightened. And so the I, the ego is still there. And so he takes it one step further and add an extra layer where we look at the more subtle interactions with the ego I versus the universal I and really understanding, well, who am I? And really trying to come to a place

16:47of true union with your, with yourself, which is really, you know, consciousness itself. And then to wrap up, we don't leave you there in that state of, oh, I'm connected to everything because we understand that you have a life to live and you probably have friends and family and you probably have a job. And so we can't have you just, you know, out there. And that's not a functional member of society when you're, you know, out there. So we have a process to help you wake,

17:19wake you back down, if you like, so that even though you have been in touch with that connectedness and realize yourself as consciousness itself, that we can start to come back and put back all of these layers and come back into a place where you can have separation in meaning that you understand yourself having a physical body, you have your thoughts, emotions, you have all of these things that are all a part of you, but they're not you by themselves, you know, in, in any one layer. So

17:52then you have this understanding of a new understanding of who you are and understanding that all these layers are also needed for you to be functional in the world without being fused with these layers. So it's like a, it's kind of like a touch point on like expanding into bliss and expanding into universal consciousness. And then you come back, but I feel like, I don't know, at least in my life, like the more touch points I've had with that space, my experience becomes more fluid as

18:26I'm going from that space back to like my day-to-day life. Yeah. And the thing is, it's not about, oh, I'm just going to touch into it and then leave. The point is, the more you get in touch with that, bring it back with you so that you are connected, you're constantly connected to who you are and you can still be functional. So it's not, they're not mutually exclusive. It's not that, oh, I can't have duality in my life as once I've, you know, become one with consciousness. It's everything, everything already are existing

19:00together. And we're just, I guess we're just expanding our awareness to, to reality really, because we're already, you know, we're already functioning in the world in a duality in a, you know, dualistic way. And yet consciousness is already here. Also, it's not separate from us, though. We're just not, we just don't have access to certain aspects of ourselves, I guess. Yeah. And then just like on a technical note, like if someone was to sign up for a yoga class

Yoga Nidra Class Structure

19:33or yoga nidra, is it five minutes? Is it three hours? Like, like, oh, what are people, what is like a typical practice or what is the way that you teach at least? Yeah. So when I teach group classes, I'm given anywhere between 60 to 75 minutes for, for my time with my student. The way that we have been taught is that we wouldn't go over 30, 35 minutes of the guided meditation itself, just so that we don't get too much into, so that the reason

20:06why we don't do this is we're mindful of the sleep stages. And that within 30, 35 minutes, we're not dipping into sort of the really deep sleep. Because if you start to dip into that, you're going to find it hard to fall asleep when it's time for you to fall asleep at night. And so we want to make sure that we don't mess up your sleep cycle, so that you can still sleep when it's time for you to sleep, but that you can get a very restful, restorative time for yourself as well.

20:40And so if you are doing it, say, closer to bedtime, or you might be doing a yoga ninja practice to help you fall asleep, then the practice could be 50 minutes, one hour long, because the goal is to get you into sleep, right? But if you're doing it, like say in the morning or in the, or in midday, then we try to limit to 30, 35 minutes so that you, you still, you know, have your normal sleep cycle. Now, and then what do I do in the hour then? So I actually, the way I teach my classes, I bring in

21:11a topic of the week. So for instance, this week, I'm going to be talking about joy, gratitude, and abundance. So I like to include some of the teaching portion, bring in some of the yoga, yoga teachings and philosophies to help you understand why we're doing this practice, to give up a practice, something to focus on. And so that takes some time, because I like to have that conversation and discussions with my students. And then we'll go into a guided meditation. And then we'll come back together. And I like to have some time where we can gather, reconnect, debrief, ask

21:45questions. And so it actually works out really nicely when I do it that way. But having said so, yoga nidra can be done, you know, for however long or short you want it. And I actually give my students homework throughout the week, to say, fit in these micro practices during your day. So you don't have to sit for a 30 minute meditation each time. But can you take at least five deep breaths? And that could be a practice. And in those five deep breaths, remember how maybe I might have taught something in

22:21a particular class. Remember how we talked about this? Can we bring that practice in? So it might be your inner resource. Can you touch into your inner resource, this place of inner safety, and stay there for five breaths. And then just go back, do your thing, come back and into your everyday life. And then again, in another moment, take another five breaths and touch into your inner resource. And then you'll do it frequently throughout the day. But having these really micro practices. And then I'll also do shorter meditations that are five to 10 minutes long that I

22:54give to students as well, that they can have like kind of short doses of the yoga nidra practice as well. So it's very flexible, you can make it as long or as short as you like.

23:06And you've touched on some of this, I think already just talking about how yoga nidra can get you into

Yoga Nidra Research

23:13certain like brainwave states. Can you share, you know, what you know, or what excites you about the research that has been done on yoga nidra? Yeah, there's, there's a lot of research on on meditation, but also research that's coming out on yoga nidra that is very, it's very exciting. But it's also like, well, of course, I'm not surprised. So what I can say specifically about the iras practice is that the my teacher, who was also the creator of this method, is a clinical psychologist.

23:48And so he's a researcher, he spent decades studying the ancient practices of the East. So definitely, he's studied with many gurus from in the yogic traditions and in India, also Buddhism, Suvisim, Taoism, all of that. So he's really experienced in the Eastern teachings. But he also has the, you know, Western scientific knowledge around psychology. And so the iras practice is really his creation in bringing in the wisdom, the ancient wisdom of the East and integrating the

24:25scientific knowledge, so that it can be more accessible to the everyday people in the modern world, and also to make it more, to make this practice a trauma sensitive practice. And so when he first created this, he knew that he needed to put it into research for people to be comfortable with his method, because nowadays, people love to have scientific evidence for everything. So I'm so glad he had the foresight of putting his method into research right away. So he actually tested IRS

24:56protocol, first at the Walter Reed Army Hospital. Wow. And he was testing it on soldiers that were returning from war and veterans. And so he was using this method for people for for for the soldiers and veterans with post traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, insomnia, stress, obviously, anxiety, chronic pain, and chemical dependency. So these are the main things that he tested them on. And, and it was so successful that

25:28the now it's actually part of the program for veterans, and it's being used in over 50 military hospitals around the US for both soldiers, veterans and their families. And then it's it's spreading worldwide, too. There are many other countries that are also using this protocol. And so scientifically speaking, yes, there are there's definitely sciences to to sign signs behind, particularly the IRS method for all the things that I just mentioned. And if you look at their website, it's just IRS.org. There's a whole page of

26:05research articles, and they're still ongoing, like research that's being done. So there's definitely that. But then sort of from just sort of if we zoomed out a bit, and just look at the yoga ninja practice, not specifically the IRS, it also has been shown that it's been shown to help with depression, it's shown to improve anxiety, and even more so than other types of seated meditation as well, which was really interesting. So anxiety seems to yoga nidra seems to be able to help with that.

26:40What else sleep and sleeping? And I think that comes together when you have stress, anxiety, sleep is probably disturbed, but that's another area that people have looked at. That is so cool. So one question that is probably going to seem kind of basic for you, and I think

Yoga Nidra and Yoga Philosophy

26:58you've already kind of touched on it. But I know, like when I'm describing a yoga nidra practice to somebody that hasn't ever done it before, and hasn't studied yoga philosophy, they're like, why is it called yoga if there's no physical movement or stretching? Like, they're just there, they, you know, they just don't know any better. And like, you know, here in the United States, at least a lot of people just associate yoga as a physical practice. But can you touch on maybe, again, just like how it falls under the umbrella of yoga, or like why it would be like considered a

27:34part of that? Yeah, sure. And thank you for that question. Because I find myself having to just ask students coming to class that, you know, this is meditation, we're not doing any movement. And some people like, Oh, I thought this was yoga. So yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And I guess this just goes back to, to show how there's such a misconception around what yoga really is. And so as a yoga teacher, I think all of us that went through the basic training in the yoga teacher

28:09training is that we had to learn the Patanjali Yoga Sutras, which outlines from his point of view, what yoga is about. And yoga, the way it's described by Patanjali is that there are eight limbs of yoga, meaning there are eight aspects of yoga. And yoga is not an exercise, it's not just a meditation, it's not any one thing. Those are the tools that are going to help us to reunite with ourselves. So yoga is really about that unity coming back to where you can

28:42reconnect with who you are, really, right, or reconnect with consciousness itself. So yoga is more like a lifestyle, if you like, or something that's going to help you get to this place of union. And so union, so yoga is more about that, that union of, you know, of, of you, however, you want to call yourself, you, I mean, gets a little bit tricky when we start talking about non-jualistic teachings, but you know, who, who are you? And in the end, when you come to that

29:16realization, you realize you are not a separate you, you are that, which doesn't even really have a name that, that can really, we can put a name to. So we can sometimes say it's consciousness or the universe or God, whatever name you choose. So then when we think about yoga as an exercise, we're really only thinking about one limb of, of that, and we call it asana practice. And so when we think about the movement, we're actually asana means postures. So we're doing the postures,

29:51the physical postures. And traditionally the yoga asanas were only done so that we can prepare the body to go into deep meditation for hours. Wow. And so the movement practice is not yoga, it's one, one part, one, one limb of yoga so that it helps you to get to a state of meditation. So because you, you know, for those of you who may have tried seated meditation, you might realize,

30:21oh, after sitting for a while, it gets quite uncomfortable. Well, how can you focus when you, all you can think about is how uncomfortable you are. And so the yoga practice or the yoga asana practice is about how can you keep the body healthy so that we can sit in meditation for hours at a time, perhaps. And then as we get into that meditation, then that can take us into the different self-increase, the self-increase that could lead us to realizing ourselves. Beautiful. Yeah.

30:53Yeah. That's beautiful. And I'm just thinking about the first time I did yoga nidra, because I also had no idea what it was. And I like brought my yoga mat and wore like a lululemon, you know, I was like ready to like go and do it. And I had just gotten a new housemate. Now she's my best friend and she also teaches yoga nidra. So she invited me to her class when evening, she put together a little group of, you know, her friends. And I was kind of chuckling to myself earlier when

31:27you were talking about how, you know, yoga nidra is the practice of like waking up, like while you're sleeping. Yeah. That's what ended up happening. We were in Ventura on like a Friday night. Like I'm on my mat, I got my bolsters, my blankets, you know, I fall asleep, because that's just the state I was in. And an earthquake happened. And it literally woke me up. And it was like a very visceral experience of being like woken up. And I'm not saying that if you do yoga nidra, an earthquake is going to

32:00happen. But I was just like, wow, like, that literally happened. And since then, I've, you know, I've done several other yoga nidra practices with her and some other friends and practitioners now. And it has just really deepened my appreciation for yoga, because I did come coming from especially like a fitness background. The focus in that area is often on the asanas. But the practice of attuning to the body sensations and the different layers from a place of stillness is really powerful.

32:32Cool. Yeah, it's super powerful. So I'm curious to know, how did you land on yoga nidra? Like what

Dora's Path to Yoga Nidra

32:40was your path? Like, did you have an earthquake? Did you go to a friend's class? Like, what did that look like for you? It's really funny, because I, you know, have been practicing yoga for a number of years before becoming a yoga teacher. And I was teaching for a number of years. And I actually hated meditation. It was just not for me. I couldn't get to us. I just couldn't do it. And then I felt like, oh, you know, did I fail as a yoga teacher, not being able to meditate. And then during that,

33:14you know, there was a particular time where there was just people keep saying, have you tried yoga nidra? Oh, I just took a class. It was amazing. And that was just, I just kept hearing about yoga nidra yoga nidra. And I'm like, what is that? And that was, you know, pretty new. And then so I thought, you know, it took me a while to come around and think, okay, I'll give it a go. Because I was just so just meditation never really was never really spoke to me before. And, and then I did have an opportunity to try a, an IRS yoga nidra workshop when I was in one of the yoga conferences

33:50a couple of years back. And, and I just love the practice. And I thought, oh, wow, I could do this. This is something I could do. Because yoga nidra is really accessible as well. So a lot of people that cannot meditate with other forms of meditation can actually find themselves quite happy in a yoga nidra practice. And then so that was sort of, that's what started my curiosity. And then I just started to, to learn more about it. And as soon as I started training with them, they have different

34:21levels of training, they have level one, level two, and then a certification program. I just nonstop, because it was just how much I love the teachings, it wasn't just about how can you relax the body, there's a whole depth of wisdom around the philosophies and why we do each thing. The practice itself is so simple, it's, and yet there's so much depth to it. And so that's what I loved about the practice is that it's so accessible. Anyone can, well, okay, I won't say

34:54everyone, but most people can find it beneficial. And it's something that we're already kind of doing, like we sleep at night, but now we're doing it with more awareness, if you like. And for those people who are unable to sleep at night, and then they fall asleep in the meditation practice, that's the rest that they're getting. And so one of the things that I tell my students is that don't worry if you fall asleep. And now I've mentioned it at the beginning, so that they don't feel bad if they fall asleep. Because we are playing with being aware at different stages of consciousness,

35:30that sometimes we will fall into sleep. And curiously, for many students, even though they have fallen asleep, as I cue them to come out of the meditation, they do. So that just goes to show that there is an awareness there, because otherwise, how would they know that I'm telling them to come up? And even for those who do fall completely asleep, and I have to wake them that that's the moment they got, you know, really deep rest. And that's what they needed. And so whatever that needs to

36:05happen is perfect. And even if you fall completely asleep, and you have no awareness of me calling you back, that there is still an awareness there trusting that, because it has been shown that there are students that would fall asleep every class, and yet their depression is improved, and their anxiety is improved, and they're sleeping better at night. And so, you know, just there, there's also trusting in the process that whatever you receive is, is what you needed. Absolutely. And I think you bring up a good point to that for people who haven't tried yoga nidra may

36:38not realize this, because we're kind of, you know, it's a little bit different than meditation. But for people, it's like a helpful orientation to think of it that way. And you get guided through the entire practice, like, at least in my experience, like doing your class remotely, and with other practitioners and teachers, it's like, there's a voice that's like leading you through it the whole time. And I always find that really helpful, because it's not like me sitting there with like all of my thoughts, and trying to be like, there should be no thoughts, you know, like going through like that

37:09vicious meditation cycle. It's like, there's a focus point, and there's guidance. And there's somebody that's there with you, which is always just felt like, so comforting, and also really supportive for finding a way to drop in, whether that's falling asleep, or, you know, listening and staying present the whole time. Yeah, definitely. You know, having a guided meditation, even when people kind of float off and disappear for a little bit, that they have something to anchor them back into the practice. Another thing that I will say about yoga nidra is that it's a very permissive practice,

37:44meaning that we're not trying to make anything happen. We're not trying to clear out your thoughts. We're not saying you need to focus on this, or you need to focus on that. In fact, our philosophy is that how can you be open to all that is around? And curiously, what happens is that when you become open to what's around, it becomes background. So when we say, oh, you know, when I say get rid of your thoughts or stop your thinking, you won't, you're actually increasing that energy

38:16there. So it's almost like when I say, oh, don't think about a pink elephant. You know, that's what we can think about now is that it's a pink elephant, right? Yeah. Whereas when I say when I tell students that it's okay, if the thoughts are around, and in fact, we do go to one of the coaches is around thoughts. So we would even say, what are you thinking? What's coming up for you? But then we're learning to disidentify from the thoughts. So it's different from dissociating, we're not trying to pretend it's not there and get away from it. We're taking a step back and realizing that we're

38:47not just our thoughts, we are something else. And who I am, is aware that I have thoughts. So there's a just a different relationship to the different things that are coming up for us. And then so when I teach a class, I've taught a class where we had constructions, like in the room upstairs, and there's like hammering and drilling and everything. But the thing is, I'm like, this is perfect. You know, what are you sensing? How are you feeling when you take in all of these sounds? Can we be open to all of the sounds and not need it to be

39:21different or have it a different way? And funny enough, the students come up, come out and say, thank you for mentioning and being open to the sounds. As soon as they were able to allow that to be and they're not pushing it, the sounds away. They said they didn't even notice the construction throughout the rest of the practice. And so it's just the power of allowing and acknowledging, allowing. And then I think that calms the nervous system. It's like, okay, I've identified it.

39:54I know it's there and it's okay that it's there. Now you can relax and then you can focus on other areas in the practice. It's lovely. What a beautiful metaphor just for life in general, right? Can you stay present and allow what is and even if there's hammers and construction, all sorts of distractions around you. So I would love to dive a little bit more into your background, Dora, because you went, you know, you have a PhD in immunology. And now here you are deepening and

Dora's Background

40:29blossoming with all of these different yoga and Reiki and holistic offerings. What has your journey been? Yeah, I think that, you know, looking back, everything happened perfectly. Like the universe just, you know, couldn't have planned it better, I guess. It's, yeah, I started off getting into science and I enjoyed what I was doing. I thought that was my, my life purpose. And I thought that was my path. But what I, looking back, what I know now is that I actually never knew what I wanted to

41:04do. Um, I never, I never stopped to think about, oh, who, who, who am I? Who, who is Dora? And who, you know, what does she want? What is her heartfelt desire? What is her life purpose? I kind of went by what my family expected of me and what society expected of me. And so it was all of the, the conditionings that I had that I'm like, oh, um, I need to be successful. And to be successful means I have a good job and I have this title to my name and all of this. Right. And then,

41:36so I kind of just went ahead and I thought that was my path. And then, you know, I got all the way to, to PhD and I should be so proud and happy and, and all of that. Right. And, um, it just didn't really feel right when I had kids and kind of use them as excuse to stay at home. I mean, of course, I love spending time with them. I really treasured those times staying home with them. But I think part of that was also that I just didn't want to go back to science. It was just not

42:07where my heart was. And then eventually when it was time to, to find something to do again, I started to, you know, I went into the yoga teacher training just to play really. I didn't think I would teach. I just thought, oh, let's see what happened. And then literally as soon as I finished my training, the opportunities just started pouring in, I wasn't even looking to teach. And then once I started teaching, I just, I just kept going. I fell in love with it and I wanted to

42:38learn more. And so I started to, you know, get into all the different holistic modalities, which I think they integrate so well together with the nutrition piece, the energetic piece, the Reiki meditation and the physical practice and all of it just kind of came together. And I feel like, okay, this feels right. This is, you know, this is the path that I want to be on and continue to teach and to practice

43:09on my own and to share this with as many people as I can. That's beautiful. So what are your own practices, you know, to stay embodied? Obviously you're at a point in your career and in your life where you are, you know, your offerings include holding and creating spaces, you know, with other people with these different modalities. What do you do for yourself? What does your self-care look like? Yeah. So I think that what I love about the IRS practice is that it, while we have those 30 minute

43:43practices that you can take time out to, to do the really, the whole point of the practice is how can we bring the practice into your daily life so that they're not separate? Because one of the things that people do is that, oh, I'm going to have my life and then here's my spiritual life kind of, oh, my spiritual practice. And there's kind of almost like you take yourself out of life to have a moment of, you know, peace and tranquility. And then, okay, now I got to go back into life. And, you know,

44:15that kind of probably happens to all of us, you know, and it's good, you know, maybe even just taking a vacation, taking us out of the stressful setting, having a bit of a time away and coming back. That's great. And I think we should have that in our lives. But at the same time, what if we can take the practice and integrate it into our lives so that we are more able to deal with our daily challenges instead of getting so stressed out that you have to take the time out to restore and then

44:45come back and then do the same. And so the way that I approach my practice is that, you know, I try my best to have some longer practices. I have recordings and I attend other teachers' sessions and workshops. But the most important thing that I do is how can I remind myself to come back to center and having those micro practices, which may not take very long. It might just be two or three breaths in where I remind myself that, okay, I can stay grounded. I can come to my inner resource,

45:21my inner safe space. Can I just take a moment to just be? Because sometimes, especially when I notice myself getting a little bit anxious about something, can I just take a moment and reconnect with the deeper, my deeper self and find that inner peace and then go back into the world. And part of the IRS practice, even though it's a guided meditation, and you can take bits and pieces out of that meditation and apply them into your daily life. And one of the things that we do and I teach students

45:55to do is, can we be more aware of whatever it is that you're doing? Can you be a witness of your experience? So that instead of just having an emotion or having a thought that comes up, can we learn to take a step back? And instead of saying, oh, I am frustrated, even just changing the way we talk to ourselves. What if instead of I am frustrated, you say something like, I sense frustration arising. So even that very subtle difference, now you're not fused with frustration. Now you are, you know,

46:31you are your essential nature witnessing that frustration is arising in your body. Wow. And that helps to just, you know, give you a bit of a wider perspective of where you are. And when you're not so fused with your thoughts or emotions, you're now able to have that space where you have just a little bit more time so that you can discern, oh, where is this coming from? Is this helpful? Is there a different way I can approach this? What is the next appropriate step moving forward?

47:06And so then we are more able to come from a place of constructive responding to our situation rather than reacting to our situation. And so all of this is what I try to incorporate into my daily life. And that whenever a challenge comes up, whether it's big or small, I see it as, oh, this is another chance for me to practice or to put my practice into practice. And so I feel like I'm always always practicing in that sense.

47:41This is reminding me, you know, Jen Lowe as well. And this is reminding me on her episode, she was like, life is practice, you know, and I feel like you two are like echoing the same sentiment. And I love that reminder. So thank you for it. So when you are going to like other people's classes, or maybe a workshop, or you're getting like Reiki or something done on yourself, how do you discern who to work with or learn from? Yeah, I think sometimes well, okay, so what the

48:13IRS practice really teaches to be teaches us to be a ching to ourselves. So that is the practice in itself is does it feel right? Does it not feel right? It's just as simple as that. And sometimes, yeah, I think a lot of us needs a little bit of refining in that because we're like, oh, I'm not sure what my intuition is. And you know, when it is that it's my intuition telling me something or whether it's fear that's telling me something, and I'm like, just oh, I need to have this. And then so there's a practice there. But then once you get more confident in trusting yourself, then,

48:49then I trust that. So I'll come back to my intuition, my body, my heart space and think, okay, how do I feel about this person? And does it feel right for me to do this workshop or practice or whatnot? And that we never follow anyone blindly anyway. So just because I've had a session, I can assess afterwards and think how did I feel afterwards? Did it feel right? Did it feel like it was in alignment with what I wanted, with my purpose and my energy? And then if not,

49:24you know, we can do further increase, you can meditate more, or you can just take it as a no, maybe this is not the person I want to work with again. And that's okay, too. And so I think that I'm just finding being open to meet different people and different practitioners being open to experience and try their practices. And then also, it's a wonderful way to practice openness and welcoming and acceptance, which is also a practice of IRS. And that is understanding where my attachments

49:57are. So I love the IRS practice. And I know many of the senior teachers of IRS, and I love to do their workshops. And I know that they are knowledgeable and experienced. But at the same time, I want to be open to other people that are maybe outside of the IRS community, that may or open to other types of meditation, and kind of use my experiences to say, Oh, am I judging? Am I attached to my practice?

50:29Can I truly be open to this other person's way of teaching? And all of that is a learning experience, because part of the IRS practice also is to teach us how to be with discomfort. And so it's always about finding people that are completely aligned with you, and that everything is perfect, and you're twins, or whatnot. And sometimes we want that, you know, and sometimes we need that. But then also, can we truly open to life? Or are we so stuck in our own beliefs,

51:01and how, you know, things need to be? So I like to experience different people and different practitioners, also to see where I am at, you know, where am I in my practice? Am I open? And of course, there are certain things that I may have may think differently, but that's okay. Like, you know, can I still have get value from this experience in various ways? I love that. Thank you. And if you could go back and tell a younger version of you that was like,

51:31PhD immunology, Dora, just starting out before your healing arts journey, what would you tell her? I tell her that everything will be okay. Everything will be okay. And it's funny, because if I were to be able to tell myself that I can, I'm very aware that at that, the younger version of myself was not ready to hear anything more than that.

51:58That's wise. I think that, you know, I had a lot of support around me that I could have reached out for help, but I was not ready for a spiritual journey, or anything like that back then. So keeping that in mind, I think that all that I could tell her is that everything is going to be okay. And that, to be honest, I don't think I would have changed anything. And so I think I would have wanted her to go through everything that she went through, because it brought me to where I am now. And so I'm really

52:34grateful to be where I am now. So I don't think I would change anything. That's beautiful. And so wise. I love the wisdom that you're sharing. Thank you.

Rapid Fire Questions

52:46So we're going to move into some rapid fire questions. Just want short and sweet answers. The first thing that comes up for you. You ready? Okay. What is your human design? Generator. Cool. What is your favorite place in nature to be in? I think any place in nature is beautiful, but I'm surrounded by mountains right now. And so I'm really loving that.

53:11What is your beverage of choice right now? Herbal teas are my go-to. Do you have a favorite one? I have a few and I kind of feel like I just have to see what mood I'm in. Today I'm having rose. Rose tea. Oh, I love rose tea. What is your top tip for good energy hygiene? I think really, again, just taking that time to tap into yourself. Because I think for most people

53:43can benefit from slowing down and just taking breaks. But if you're in tune with yourself, you'll know when you need to take breaks and when you need to get moving. So I would just say that that connection with self will always tell you what you need. And how do you define healing? I think healing is an integration of all aspects of yourself. My heart is so happy hearing that.

54:13So Dora, what services do you offer and where can people find you? I do group classes. I do group meditation and yoga asana classes. And I do them in person. If you're in Santa Barbara, look me up. But I also do online classes. Every month, I do a community free class online for a restorative yoga class and actually have one coming this Sunday. What else? I yeah, and I do private one on one sessions with clients. I focus mostly on stress and anxiety and how to build

54:48resilience. I look at everything in a holistic view or hopefully I have tried to bring in as a holistic as possible of a view and work at a program incorporating yoga, meditation, Reiki, coaching, and more into my practices. And you'll find all of my information on my website. So including all my group classes and events that I might have running. And I'll be doing some workshops actually coming up in the new year, both in the San Francisco Bay area, and in Santa Barbara. And I'm hoping to do something

55:23online as well, just so that I can reach some of my community that are not in my local area. And if you have any questions, I offer us a free 30 minute consultation so that, you know, we can have a chat and see where you're at and what you're interested in. And we can learn more about each other. And can you tell us your website and your Instagram? Like where, where would people search? We'll put it in the show notes too, but just so they can hear it. Perfect. So my website is

55:53dorachanyoga.net. And you can find me on social media on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube at dorachanyoga. I love it. Love it. Go out there. If you're curious about iRest, you're curious about yoga nidra. If anything resonated with you, go check out Dora's offerings and yeah, reach out to her. Dora, I am over the moon with how this episode went today. Thank you so much for co-creating it. I just, I'm like excited to be shedding more light and building awareness of yoga nidra and inviting

56:26people to explore and experience some of the other non-asana limbs of yoga. Like they're, it's so important, like you said, for coming back to who you are to have like a holistic and well-rounded program. And I also am just really appreciating your wisdom and your eloquence and how you strike this beautiful balance of like trusting in the unknown and also like appreciating the, you know, the scientific method approach as well and understanding that people need that sometimes.

56:58So thank you for being here with me. And I'm just so deeply appreciative to get to co-create this with you. Thank you so much, Beth. It's been such a pleasure and I really appreciate you inviting me. It's been so enjoyable and wonderful to talk about this topic. Thank you. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Exploring Healing Arts podcast. I hope that our words, our stories, and the wisdom shared on today's episode inspire you and support you in feeling connected. If you loved this episode,

57:32please leave us a five-star review so we can reach more people. And as a thank you for listening, join me for a mini course on energy hygiene. You get three simple practices you can do anywhere, anytime to support you in feeling more grounded, connected to yourself, and confident in your energetic boundaries. Sign up at energyhealingelizabeth.com slash energy hygiene. Thanks for being here today. And I look forward to being with you again soon.

58:07The primary purpose of the Exploring Healing Arts podcast is to inspire and educate. As a reminder, the information and opinions shared on this podcast are not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. We encourage you to speak with your doctor for professional medical advice or treatment. Opinions offered on this podcast are just that, opinions.