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Just relax!' So easy to say, so hard to do...without a little help. And that's exactly what Yoga Nidra can do. It can help you to relax, help you to sleep and help you to reduce stress. It can help you be calm in a frantic world. It can help you find more energy for all the things you need to do...and want to do.
So what is Yoga Nidra?
Yoga Nidra is a special kind of yoga that focuses solely on relaxation - specifically 'guided relaxation'. If you have attended yoga classes, you may have experienced something a little like it if your teacher has asked you to lie down and to listen to their voice while they talk you through visualisations for example. Although this doesn't take you as 'deep' as yoga nidra, for many, it is still the highlight of their yoga session - guided relaxation is a wonderful, calming experience. Whether you are highly stressed or not, yoga nidra can make a huge difference to your life, helping you make the most of every day.
However, there are some people for whom yoga nidra can be particularly powerful: that is people who suffer from high stress or who have problems sleeping. Sleep and stress are inextricably linked. The more we are stressed, the harder it is to sleep. The less well we sleep, the harder we find it to manage stress. It's a vicious cycle that many find hard to break.
If you take less than five minutes to go to sleep at night, then you are almost certainly not getting enough sleep. A ‘normal' sleep pattern would see you taking between ten and fifteen minutes and being over tired as a result of poor sleep has been associated with anything from increased road accidents to the Challenger space shuttle disaster. All sorts of factors can lead to poor sleep from what you eat in the last hour or two before bed to the noise and temperature levels around you. Even if you don't actually wake up, research has shown that noise, particularly just after you've fallen asleep and in the hour or two before you wake can affect you. And research has also found that the temperature range within which we can sleep comfortably gets narrower as we get older. When we're younger it can be anywhere between 18 and 30 degrees, but as we age it can reduce to as little as 23-25 degrees.
And the symptoms of not getting enough sleep are all too familiar to many people – you feel low on energy, less alert, sometimes moody and your physical and mental abilities are reduced. Indeed, some studies have made direct comparisons between the loss of ability caused by sleep deprivation, and the loss caused by drinking alcohol.
But Yoga Nidra can help. Yoga Nidra is used by many of the founder of Yoga for the Mind's students as a means to not only relax, but quite literally to 'send them to sleep'.
One of them said recently; "You have changed my life. For the first time since my second child was born I have found a way to sleep when I want to. And having slept, I am dealing so much better with the childrens' asthma, schools ...everything! Thank you so much. You're a life saver!"
Making the Yoga for the Mind yoga nidra available on cd or as an mp3 download has made it possible for more students to enjoy the benefits at home as well as when they are in class. In fact, as your name can be recorded into the audio of the yoga-nidra, it really is like having a private class at home.
GIA certified diamonds set the standard in the gemological industry. While they are not necessarily more valuable than other diamonds they have been thoroughly authenticated versus non-certified diamonds that have unknown backgrounds. The Gemological Institute of America is bowed down to by all others in the diamond industry.
The GIA is a non-profit research and educational institution which has a guiding mission of upholding integrity in the diamond industry. All GIA certified diamonds come with a diamond grading report that tells you more than you probably ever want to even know about the 4 Cs of that little slice of heaven.
There are some additional advantages to purchasing GIA certified diamonds. When shopping around engagement ring. She and her husband put together the website: doing price comparisons, you can compare the characteristics of GIA certified diamonds to the retailer's pricing. Also, if your future wife convinces you to upgrade the ring in the future, it will be easier to find stones with comparable characteristics. God forbid the ring is lost or steal, it may be helpful in its recovery or for insurance purposes, to have the GIA certificate which indicates the diamond's exact properties.
Diamond Characteristics of GIA certified diamonds are documented in the GIA Diamond Grading Report for diamonds over 1 carat in size and in the Diamond Dossier Report for those under 1 carat. They Diamond Grading Report indicates some of the following:
The diamond dimensions in millimeters. The measurements for round diamonds help you determine symmetry. For fancy shapes like the marquise or pear shapes, the overall length-to-width ratio is important because certain proportions are more visually appealing.
The weight of diamonds in carats. Many people think of carat weight as the size of a diamond. However, if a diamond is cut deep and narrow, it will look much smaller than another diamond of the same weight that is cut shallow and wide
A grading which evaluating the absence of color. Colorless is the most desired status, with other grades exhibiting increasing degrees of color. A few, very rare diamonds exhibit other "fancy" colors, such as pink, green, blue, intense yellow, etc.
Clarity grade. Diamond clarity is the measure of a diamond's flaws (inclusions). Every diamond has some inclusions, even a diamond with a flawless clarity grade
A grade cut. This actually refers to both the overall shape and how well the shape is cut
Grades that represent a diamond's surface and facet placement. This is a good indicator of the care taken to make the diamond as beautiful as possible.
Color when diamond is viewed under UV light: One technique that gemologists use to help identify and separate diamonds from the diamond look-alikes is by putting the gem under a UV lamp. If it fluoresces (glows) blue, it is almost certainly a diamond.
Overall smoothness of the diamond surface. A diamond can be polished to have the most perfect, reflective surfaces. This is one reason why diamonds are known for their brilliance. Polish grades range from Ideal to Poor
The shape, alignment and placement of the diamonds facets in relation to another as well as the evenness of the outline. Poor facet alignment will allow light to leak out before it reflects back resulting in less brilliance.
A map of the inclusions as viewed under a microscope. If a diamond has a clarity grade of VS1 or better, you will not see any flaws with your naked eye. If the clarity grade is VS2 or less, examine the plot to see the placement of the major flaws.
The GIA certificate that is issued has microprint lines, holograms, and security screens to make counterfeits more readily identified. The only other certification that can hold a candle to the GIA is the American Gem Society Laboratories. The AGSL is highly respected and also issues an objective, in-depth report with each diamond that is inspected in their lab.