Did you know that your emotions are not just feelings but powerful messengers guiding you toward deeper self-awareness?

In today’s episode, I have invited Julie Lucas, an I-Rest and Yoga-Nidra instructor, to explore the transformative journey of connecting with our inner resources.

Stay tuned to discover how embracing the full spectrum of emotions can lead to greater awareness, ease, and lightness in your life.

In this podcast episode, Julie takes us through:

- Julie's transition from analytical footwear designer to Yoga Nidra practitioner.

- Interoception: learning to feel the body from the inside out.

- Treating emotions as messengers to convey inner state rather than obstacles.

- The journey of self-discovery: from feeling stuck to achieving awareness and aliveness.

- Using "inner resource" practice to find safety and ease in the body.

- Redirecting attention inward as a powerful tool for transformation.

- Connection between feeling "homesick" and bodily disconnection.

- Simple techniques for nervous system regulation.

- The ultimate goal of cultivating ease and lightness by fully engaging with and understanding our emotional landscape. And so much more!

As a designer and certified iRest® yoga nidra teacher, I help people get out of the mind maze and into a life they love from the inside out.

I had my first experience with Yoga Nidra almost a decade ago. Even as I write this, I can feel what a pivotal encounter it was…a Wizard of Oz kind of moment when life shifted from shades of grey to full spectrum color.

Prior to that day, I had slowly, unknowingly set up camp in my head; life had started to feel robotic and lifeless. The daily grind of analyzing, comparing, judging, and overthinking had become my new normal. During and after the yoga nidra class, everything changed…I felt drastically more alive, lit up, and full of sensations that previously had been drowned out by the noise of my mind. All of the sudden I could feel tingling in my fingers, a full body pulsation, and a playfulness that I now know as innate and ever-available.

In awe of its ability to bring me home to myself, I felt called to study and share this transformative practice. As a certified iRest® yoga nidra teacher, I create space to explore our moment to moment experience with wonder and curiosity – gracefully remembering the truth of our wholeness.

In classes and 1:1 sessions, I help people to meet anxiety and pain as messengers.

As we allow our inner landspace to be seen, felt, and heard, we make space for all this “friction” to be digested and begin to move through us naturally. There’s no longer a desperate need to over-analyze… your inner knowing rises to the surface, and the way forward reveals itself.

The practice builds interoception, resilience, and fluency of emotions…with a sensitivity to each person's unique experience and history.

Weaving together her training in iRest, Mindful Schools, and Imagination Yoga, Julie offers practices for both adults and children, in-person and virtually. Whether she's teaching in a 7th grade homeroom, a backyard yurt or an elementary gymnasium, Julie brings her whole heart to the collaborative adventures. Her background in both design and posture therapy informs her creative, body-centered approach to the practice.

Book Julie’s 4-session Embodiment Series or Discover How Embodied You Are With A FREE Online Assessmenthttps://www.withinwonder.com/

And find her collection of kids' meditations on Zenimal and Insight Timer. https://insighttimer.com/within.wonder/

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Learn more about Aimee Takaya, Hanna Somatic Education, and The Radiance Program at⁠ ⁠www.freeyoursoma.com⁠⁠