Here's what past Give It a Rest participants have to say about the online spiritual boot camp for getting sleep back by letting it go:Please note that most past participants wish to be anonymous. I'm not using cute pseudonyms or initials, but simply posting the results they're happy to share with no names attached. These human beings live in various places in the U.S. from coast to coast.
Quotes offered cover these four topics:
Gains from class in terms of lying awake in a new way and/or getting sleep back: My sleeplessness has been transformed beyond anything I could have imagined or hoped for. Sleeplessness is no longer a burden. It no longer fuels anxiety. It is an opportunity to meet consciousness (awareness), to be grateful for my body, my breath, the rest I receive in my comfortable bed. Middle of the night wakefulness is now a most relaxing time to be alive. So often when I wake up in the night, my brain engages quickly and thinks of things to worry about, plan, or figure out. Having tools that help me to notice what’s happening in my brain, and redirect it to breath, boredom, and sleep has been SO HELPFUL! Almost like taking a sleeping pill, with only wonderful life-affirming side-effects! [From someone awakened by PTSD] With these tactics, I have awoken with pounding heart at times and have been able to breathe through it, not judge (!!), and just be with me until I sleep again. Before the class, I felt basically tortured, deficient, alien, and like I was just enduring the price I pay to be here. Afterwards, I felt part of a community even at night when sleepless and physically alone—like I was part of the human race, resilient, and equipped to handle what came my way. Lying awake became restful, rarely stressful. When stressful reactions did happen, I was able to come back to a balanced place much more quickly. Such sweet relief! Through the class, I learned some very practical, helpful tools for getting myself back to sleep with much less drama, but more importantly I began taking more care with my strong emotional reactions and began accepting that my nervous system and energy field were trying to get my attention. Before, my bed was the enemy. After, my bed is bliss-land!!! (3 months after class was over): I had a bad night the other day and when I was tuning in to how I felt the next day, I realized, Oh my God, I used to feel this way all the time! I caught myself later talking about how bad I felt and I reminded myself, No. I'm not going to do this. I got through the day just fine and slept the next night. Jaya as a presenter
I love your transparency and no-nonsense approach. No attempt to sugar-coat, a lot of respect in your teachings and responses, and your love and compassion are always obvious. Your humor and irreverence see-saw with your compassionate understanding. It is quite the wonderful ride. I loved how welcoming and respectful your invitations to speak were and also your reception of when we spoke up. I thought it was great when someone would say something painful and you were all joyful about what a great question it was—not something shameful or awful. The tone was bliss. I still hear your voice when I’m calming myself. What I love and tell people about you as a presenter is that you are a wise, no-bullshit, truth-teller. In this class, I loved how you led us in your natural voice at a connected and soothing pace. You relate all of your teachings to real fucking life. This is not heady, fluffy stuff that you teach —you have a way of making it all so applicable and tangible and practice-able. Life always feels a bit softer and it makes a lot more sense after listening to you. How the spiritual principles applied to sleep challenges
translate to all of life The spiritual boot camp approach really resonated with me. It felt empowering and really highlighted that we were working on a much larger thing than just sleep. I feel like I’m now in a deep and loving relationship with myself, connected to my inner guidance, and making decisions that are really GOOD for me. It's all about playing with the possibility that there's never a problem. No matter what. It really is life-changing. I carry the spiritual principles doc in my backpack and have snapshots of it in my phone! I especially gained from the idea that I am equipped to handle things (framed for the class about when tired, but I worry I am not equipped all the time). Even if it looks like something one could perceive as bad, there is no problem and I can manage. Such a relief from my usual feeling that things are barely held together and the other shoe is about to drop. While working with the material in this class, all of my spiritual practices deepened and solidified. I am prioritizing my well-being in a way I never have before. I’m not beating myself up, worrying incessantly, or getting caught on things I can’t control nearly as often. I’m able to, instead, choose presence in the moment, meeting consciousness, and showing compassion for myself. That is making all the difference. The benefits of this course reach far beyond the sleepless night to the place that tempts me to bypass my own peace and buy into this culture of frenzy and discord. Loved boot camp. No need to go to a monestary, because I already had the fertile ground to work on spiritual issues through sleeplessness! What I normally thought of as a problem was a gift, something I could leverage. I just needed your guidance to figure out how to use it that way. Once I had that, I was able to do so much. Facebook group support
I loved the short video responses to our specific questions and issues. Felt like a mini-coaching moment. Those were very helpful. I felt like you went above and beyond in the FB group. Love looking in your face [in the FB videos] and listening to your kindness, acceptance, self-love encouragement. [A Jaya post from the group] FUNNY OF THE DAY: So someone who shall not be named who's behind on the class audios declared this: "I actually find the first call really helpful in making me sleepy! I think I will use it as a meditation to fall asleep in the future." Um ... I'm now trying to figure out whether this, in bold caps, should lead all my publicity on this class henceforth or whether I should bury it and claim no one ever wrote such a thing. But, it's a compliment—right? A sign of a HIGHLY EFFECTIVE class on sleep? It was a huge support to have real-time interaction with the principles being discussed. |