Celebrating The RelaxAbility Handbook

Jessica Sarfaraz Berger was my friend before I took some of her yoga classes, so I wasn’t surprised by her positive and gentle approach to calmness and fitness. Now she’s put some of what she’s learned in twenty-five years of helping people feel better as a registered nurse, a personal fitness instructor, and teacher of yoga and dance into a book called The RelaxAbility Handbook: 66 Easy-to-Use Stress Reduction Techniques for All Walks of Life.
 
In a party to celebrate the launch of a book she not only wrote but published herself, with the help of some friends and especially her husband, Dan Berger, there was a lot of laughter.  Here's Jess (on the right) with big-hearted hosts, Aaron and Debra Vega who oversee and teach at Vega Yoga studio in Holyoke, MA. (and if you click on the photo, you can see Dan beside Jess. Sorry about that, Dan; the formatting gods are eluding me today.)

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There are short, clear methods to reduce stress quickly. Some techniques draw more from the mind, some from imagination, and some from the body. Some seem serious and some are designed to elicit that wonderful stress relief of laughter. Jess offers ways to cope with insomnia, pain, chronic anxiety as well as daily sorts of stress through doing simple exercises (I’m a fan of Legs Up the Wall), making art, doing meditation, breathing techniques, or chanting: Jess mentions Om, but also Yum. Really there’s something for everyone. Jess suggests that those who think they’ll never repeat a mantra may be doing it all the time, and it’s often a negative one about who we are that was slipped or kind of stabbed into our minds at childhood. Jess sometimes introduces exercises with examples from her life, and mentions a sad lie that she carried around for years. Much better to go with Om, Yum, or Jai!  Or get together with friends.

 
It was fun to meet people who inspired Jess, as she inspires and cheers so many. For book or cd ordering information, please click here.