Jeanne Dillion, is the diirector of a therapeutic yoga studio in Boise, Idaho, a Certified Yoga Therapist and a Certified iRest® Teacher, who has studied with psychologist and yogi Richard Miller.  Dillion offers yoga nidra (deep yoga relaxation) iRest practices on her website for adults. However unique to the iRest yoga nidra genre, are her practices for children. What parent or grandparent wouldn’t appreciate a gentle way to ease the active child into a calmer frame of mind or a good night’s sleep?  The 20 minute practice moves through the iRest protocol and includes awareness of sensation, breath, and a joyful dip into bliss– “a great big heart of love that’s inside and outside and all around you”–before sending the practicing child off to sleep–”My body and mind are sleeping now, all through the night.”  The practice prepares the child for sleep, and for waking up in the morning feeling rested, remembering the “special, happy, peaceful, true part of me that is always here.” Dillion guides the practice with the child comfortably tucked in, under the covers, with total permission to fall asleep.  Adults can certainly do this practice, too, but would need to modify the breath count, as Dillion appropriately leads the breath faster for children’s smaller lung capacity.

In the ten minute iRest called “Green Grassy Meadow,” Dillion uses guided imagery–the meadow, an eleven step golden staircase in which she leads the listener down, one step at a time on each exhalation.  At the bottom of the stairs is a scene of animals by a pond.  The variety of images, along with a specific question to the listening child, “Do you see other animals in or around the pond”? would likely keep the listening child alert through most of the practice.  Towards the end of the track, the sun is setting and all the animals are going to sleep.  Dillion cues the listening child to sense her own tired feeling and to settle in for a rest.  This CD is a gift for both parents and children. Try it together at the end of a busy day!  You can order the CD by mail from Dillion’s website or download the mp3.

To order a copy of the LifeForce Yoga Nidra CD for sleep and relaxation click here.