WELCOME TO THE YOGA NIDRA COURSE
with Melanie Cooper & Jennie Wadsten Sharma

Welcome to the Yoga Nidra course - your journey starts here! We’re so happy to welcome you and look forwards to seeing you on the course! We’ve put all the useful info here in one place but please feel free to email us if you have any questions info@yogatreat.co.uk

First things first! Dress code! Pyjamas! Lounge around in soft pants and messy hair if you like! The main thread throughout the training is NO PERFORMANCE.

The most important thing is that you take care of yourself - and we are here to support you and inspire you and give constructive feedback - not to judge you as good/bad, successful/unsuccessful, etc. You can NEVER FAIL with Yoga Nidra.

And remember for the course and the homework there is no pass and fail. There is no need for any performance anxiety! Just show up and enjoy!

TIME

9 am – 5.30 pm UK time
12.30-1.30 lunch
.... but we’ll have many breaks and nidra sessions, so we won’t be looking at screens all days!

We will send out a more detailed schedule nearer the time.

ZOOM LINK

A few weeks before the course the zoom link will be sent via email. The link will be the same every day.
We suggest that you log in 5 minutes before the course starts so that we can help you resolve any technical issues.

TEACHING PRACTICE

During the course we will divide the class into smaller groups, so you can practice teaching Yoga Nidra - but you don’t have to do it in front of the whole class. You will have the opportunity to try out breakout rooms before the teaching practice starts. We will give you “ready-made” scripts for the teaching practice.

There are different ways to do the teaching practice:
1) Breakout rooms with 2 - 4 participants in each room. You could also choose to have a breakout room with a friend or family member at home.

2) Another option is that you record your practice teaching with someone in real life: for example, a family member or friend. Send us an audio recording and we will give feedback and support. (Only Melanie and Jennie will listen to the recording). Please note that there’s a fee for this option, £25, because it takes extra admin time.

3) If you just want to be a student in the zoom rooms, and not practice teaching at all, you are welcome to do this too: just let us know. (If you want a certificate, one teaching practice is required – but you can send an audio recording to us if you don’t want to teach on zoom. See point 2.)

COURSE MATERIAL

You will receive a manual e-mailed to you as a PDF two days before the course starts. If you also want a printed copy, this is available at cost price.
Note! Please don’t share the manual with anyone. It is subject to copyright law.

FACEBOOK GROUPS

We have two Facebook groups:
- One is just for you, where we post course material both during and after the course. Notify us if you do not have Facebook and we will send it by email instead. We will email you the link a few weeks before the course.

- Our other group, Yoga Treat Community, is a lovely group for all the wonderful people who have been attending our courses for the past two years. Here we offer free live classes and post inspiration and new research articles, etc. Join if you like!

ATTENDANCE

In order to get a certificate, attendance is required for all sessions* - but you can choose to be more or less "active" during the sessions: if you feel that you sometimes just want to sit and listen and not participate in discussions etc: talk to us and we can arrange this for you in our session planning.

*- It’s ok if you miss half a day or less: just let us know beforehand and we will find a solution for completing the hours. This won’t affect your certificate.
- If you miss more than a full day: you need to make it up to get a certificate, but you can easily do it with another group for just an admin fee of £50.

We appreciate if you have your video switched on during the sessions, so that we can see you, for better communication and it builds a stronger community. But if you for any reason don’t feel comfortable with it you can switch it off of course but let us know beforehand.

We will NOT be recording the sessions, for GDPR reasons and with respect for the participants. The training is interactive, which means that you have the opportunity to ask questions and share your thoughts and experiences - and to record what is said means that some participants might not feel comfortable expressing themselves. Everything we go through is in the manual and if there are any additions, these are posted in the Facebook group.

PHOTO POLICY

For the same reason, we ask you NOT to record anything.

...but then there’s also the aspect of PR for your business! Yoga & Business is a strange subject – but important. Every time our students post in social media that they are doing a course in Yoga Nidra – with a photo of a Nidra practice - they have got comments such as “Wow this looks amazing! I want to come to your class!” – and they get bookings. So do tell your students that you are doing the course, for example by posting photos of a yoga mat with cozy blankets, pillows etc: people LOVE that! The intention is to let people know that you’ll be offering Nidra classes – so that you’ll get bookings – and let us know if we can help by writing a recommendation or commenting on your post to boost it in social media. We’re here to support you.
Note: if you take photos of other students: please ask them for permission before posting the photos on social media.

ADMIN

We’d also like you to “meet” our lovely assistant Christina. She’s handling questions regarding Yoga Alliance, Certificates and Manuals: info@yogatreat.co.uk

HOMEWORK

If you want to receive your certificate (30 hours) straight after the course, your homework needs to be submitted by the day the course ends. But no stress at all: you can also submit it later, and then you will receive the certificate when this is completed.

If you also want to do the optional homework of 10 extra hours: please do this AFTER the course and send it to us. (No deadline!) Meaning: after the course you can dive deeper into a subject of your choice, send us an remove? additional homework – and you’ll get an additional certificate. Scroll down for more information about the homework.

If you are doing this course just for yourself and do not DON'T want a certificate:
- you don’t have to do the homework
- you don’t have to participate in the teaching practice (unless you want to!).

If you later decide that you would actually like a certificate after all, you can do so by submitting your homework and recording of you teaching a Nidra. (Audio is enough and you can record it with your phone.)

HOMEWORK PART 1: BEFORE THE COURSE

REQUIRED: YOGA NIDRA PRACTICE

Practice Yoga Nidra on a regular basis before we meet.There is no substitute for practicing. We can learn a lot from reading books but if we don’t practice we don’t get to fully understand a technique. So the homework is to practice Yoga Nidra 3 times per week, 20 – 40 minutes – or whatever works for you.

There are several different styles of Yoga Nidra and we recommend that you try different styles and teachers – and then pick the ones that resonate with you and stick to them for a while. Choose your favourite Nidras, any style, or click here for more suggestions.

Note: let us know if you have PTSD or any other trauma or feel any mental discomfort when you practice and we will advise you accordingly.

We are not asking you to read anything at this stage - in fact try to resist the temptation to read so you can dive deep into the practice with no expectations and no intellectual analysis. In the training we will go into detail about what Yoga Nidra is, the history, the benefits, and break down the different sections of the practice looking at the how and why and what. The aim of the homework is for you to get a deeper understanding and explore the practices. And remember: no exams, no pressure.

ASSIGNMENT

Choose 4 – 5 Nidras. For each Nidra: write a few sentences about your experiences: what resonated with you and why? Was there anything that didn’t resonate with you and why? Please note that this is not about judging things as good or bad. Rather – to see what works for you, to inspire you to find your authentic expression as a yoga nidra teacher. We’re interested in your experience and not in a critique of different styles so please don’t include the name of the teacher.

That ́s it! This is not a pass/fail test, all we want to know what YOU think and feel.

Please send your homework in a separate email to info@yogatreat.co.uk
Deadline: please send it to us on the last day of the course at the latest if you want the certificate straight after the course. (You can send it later if you like – and then you’ll get the certificate at a later date.)

HOMEWORK PART 2: AFTER THE COURSE

OPTIONAL

This section is optional and can be done AFTER the course. After completion, you will receive another certificate with the extra 10 hours: “Further studies in Yoga Nidra” The reason we ask you to wait until after the course to complete the homework is that we prefer that you don't go into analyzing Yoga Nidra too much before the course. We'd like you to ENJOY the homework of practicing YN without getting into the thinking mind. :-)

INSTRUCTIONS: 

Write approx. 500 words about the subject that you have chosen. We are not interested in an academic essay: we want to know what YOU think and feel. This is not a pass/fail test, this homework is for you to get the chance to learn more about a subject of your choice, with our support. (Of course you can write more if you like: but only 500 words are needed for the task to get approved.) References are not needed. There is no deadline.

Suggestions: Choose one of these subjects or come up with your own:

a) How to motivate stressed students to do Yoga Nidra.

What would you tell them? How can you encourage them if they feel resistance to “take a break to just do nothing”? How do you motivate yourself? Maybe that can inspire the students too?

b) Your own practice and experiences

How has Nidra helped you in the past? How is it helping you now? Do you set aside time for it, or is it tricky to fit into your daily routine? If so – how could you change that? Which Nidra (style or recording) resonate the most with you at the moment and why? As teachers, although I’m sure we all love teaching: it’s normal to sometimes struggle with inspiration and motivation to teach (for various reasons) – and that’s where this exercise comes in handy: a) as a reminder that we are doing this for a good reason b) and to remember to do our own practice: to stay healthy and grounded.

c) If you want to dive deeper into science instead of the above subjects:

Choose a subject, for example “Yoga Nidra & brain waves – and see what research you can find – and write about your findings. We will go through the science of Yoga Nidra in the course, but since it’s a three day course only we can only fit in the basics, but we’re here to support you both before, during and after the course and especially if you have a subject that you want to explore further.

We very much look forward to meeting you, and if you have any questions in the meantime, we are here and will be happy to answer.

Much Love,

Jennie & Melanie