Walking, Sleep & Habits | June Newsletter

Welcome to the fourth edition of the Learn with Ivo Newsletter. Enjoy!

✨ Something by Ivo

My latest creative work — including reflections on life, meditation teachings, guided meditations, and more.

I finally got to create again! Two guided walking meditations for daily life, a short post with some reflections on mortality, and post number 6 of my 2022 travel blog (with more to come soon).

🛠️ Something to Use

A helpful tool or resource I recommend.

Yoga Nidra

This is my number one tool for improving sleep: yoga nidra. I use it when I wake up in the middle of the night to fall back asleep, to help me drift off in the evening (especially when I’m unsure if sleep will come easily), or for naps in the (first half of the) afternoon.

My go-to is: I AM Yoga Nidra™ led by Liam Gillen, which I’ve downloaded and saved to my Google Drive so it’s always available offline.

I also recommend Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR): A Science Supported Tool for De-Stress and Relaxation. If you're curious to explore more, search for “NSDR” or “Yoga Nidra” on YouTube.

I picked one and stuck with it, because I think this way my body-mind system has learned it’s time to sleep as soon as I hear the first words. I recommend doing the same if it feels good to you.

💡 Something to Reflect On

Content that inspired me.

James Clear, Atomic Habits — Simple Strategies for Building (and Breaking) Habits, Questions for Personal Mastery and Growth, Tactics for Writing and Launching a Mega-Bestseller, Finding Leverage, and More (#648)

Our habits have a huge impact on our lives — both mentally and physically. In fact, one of the reasons I practice meditation is that it helps me build healthy mental habits.

This podcast episode is about habits. Several insights from it have stuck with me for years, and I still use them in my life and when supporting others. One that stood out: “Change the scope, not the schedule” when establishing a habit.

🧘 Something on Meditation

Meditation-related inspiration.

Science and Practice of Dark Retreats – Andrew Holecek

I recently listened to a fascinating conversation between my meditation teacher Mark Miller and Andrew Holecek about dark retreats. There’s a lot of depth and insight in it.

🎵 Something Beautiful

A quote, poem, or other beautiful piece.

Do not ask your children to strive

by William Martin

Do not ask your children
to strive for extraordinary lives.
Such striving may seem admirable,
but it is the way of foolishness.
Help them instead to find the wonder
and the marvel of an ordinary life.
Show them the joy of tasting
tomatoes, apples and pears.
Show them how to cry
when pets and people die.
Show them the infinite pleasure
in the touch of a hand.
And make the ordinary come alive for them.
The extraordinary will take care of itself.

(Thanks for sharing this, Charlotte!)

Thank you for reading and best wishes!

Ivo

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