The opportunity to teach yoga nidra (YN) throughout 2020 at Naples Community Hospital’s (NCH) two wellness centers in Naples is a dream come true for Yvette Sechrist McGlasson, founder of Escape Hatch 2 Wellness, in Naples. The certified Integrative Amrit Method Yoga Nidra (IAM) teacher, who is also certified in yoga therapy, leads guided meditations for individuals that are members of Dr. John N. Briggs Wellness Center and the Whitaker Wellness Center, which is temporarily closed for renovations.  She also substitutes for the wellness center’s regular yoga teacher. 

A Blue Zones connection proved to be the catalyst that opened the door for the functional medicine certified health coach and Naples resident who formerly served as the Amrit Yoga Institute program manager, as well as a teacher and mentor for students in training for their certification at the Amrit Yoga Institute, in Salt Springs. 

Sechrist McGlasson’s mind/body/spirit approach, aligned with her teaching platform of yoga nidra (YN) meditations and therapeutic yoga, puts any new student’s trepidations to rest. “First-time students are curious to experience the difference between yoga nidra and other guided meditations. First, I tell them that it has nothing to do with yoga. YN means yogic sleep, and the practice is the equivalent of three to four hours of restorative sleep. It’s also the ultimate mindset shifter on the planet because it helps individuals stick to their goals. Consistent practice plants goals deep into the psyche. The more you practice, the more the mind accepts the goal as reality,” she says.

YN also helps individuals with emotional issues. “Students who have experienced talk therapy with a psychotherapist tell me that YN is extremely helpful because it doesn’t require tearing scabs off of old wounds. Practicing self-acceptance doesn’t mean toleration of your behavior, it means I recognize that I’m behaving this way and I have the power to choose how I am in these moments,” explains Sechrist McGlasson, who also teaches privately. “Some of my students need a either a personalized experience or more than one or two classes a week.”

Sechrist McGlasson’s explanation of yoga therapy helps students understand how our bodies hold every memory since we were in our mother’s womb. “We carry into life the emotional rollercoaster our mom experienced while pregnant, then we store the emotions of everything that is said to us and about us in our physical body. Those memories create blocks in our lifeforce, and we can eventually end up in pain. In yoga therapy, I work with the body’s psychology helping it to free itself of old, limiting beliefs,” she advises.

During her one-year anniversary evaluation, Sechrist McGlasson was delighted to hear that one of her students complimented NCH for choosing to take a more holistic and integrative approach to wellness.

Escape Hatch 2 Wellness is located in Naples. For more information call 615-739-7264 or visit EscapeHatch2Wellness.com  See ad, page39.