"Work-life balance isn't a thing... it's about work-life harmony." In a world obsessed with digital efficiency and quick fixes, the real currency of a meaningful life remains independent thought, presence, and intentional effort.
In this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times, host Chris Schembra sits down with Ayla Nova, founder of Yoga Nidra & Beyond and creator of The Peace in Rest Program. From navigating life-altering health crises and traumatic brain injuries to guiding listeners worldwide toward restorative sleep and mental clarity, Ayla breaks down the science, psychology, and spiritual practice of non-sleep deep rest (NSDR). She shares key lessons on managing internal tension, unlearning limiting beliefs, and using intentional stillness to unlock human intuition and creative genius.
10 Memorable Quotes:
- "Surrender to something bigger than yourself, lean into discipline to do positive work for our world, and you'll have the power to make the world a better place tomorrow." — Chris Schembra
- "Discipline is a ring on the door... when you show up for yourself in that way, then the opportunities start knocking." — Ayla Nova
- "We get so busy in the doing that we forget that the answer is being." — Ayla Nova
- "Yoga Nidra is true surrender, but it's also a practice for integrating your reality so that you can bring it out into the world when you're complete." — Ayla Nova
- "The present moment is flawless." — Ayla Nova
- "When you're being honest with yourself, where do you feel the tension in your body? And what would be the opposite of that experience?" — Ayla Nova
- "If AI helps you stand and run fast, and meditation helps you sit with your thoughts, Yoga Nidra is done laying down on the floor." — Chris Schembra
- "A leader's act of self-care means to be regulated from a capacity standpoint yourself so that then you can pour that capacity positively into others." — Chris Schembra
- "Learning is not differentiated... the hard thing that requires discipline is the unlearning part that comes from surrender." — Chris Schembra
- "Gratitude doesn't change your circumstances; it changes your capacity to carry them." — Chris Schembra
10 Key Takeaways:
- The Healing Power of Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR): How Ayla used Yoga Nidra to heal and rebuild her life through severe health crises, loss of mobility, and a traumatic brain injury.
- Navigating the Tension of Opposites: Learning to hold space for contrasting internal states—such as uncertainty and trust—to discover a grounded middle path.
- Unlocking Intuition over Artificial Logic: Accessing Vijnanamaya Kosha (the inner wisdom body) through intentional rest to make creative decisions from intuition rather than forced analytical logic.
- Shifting from Reactive to Responsive Leadership: Regulating the nervous system to cultivate essential leadership traits: discernment, patience, clarity, and acceptance.
- Broadening the Cognitive Periphery: Stepping back from narrow, task-oriented focus to view broader data points, connect disparate ideas, and make wiser long-term strategic choices.
- The Metaphor of the Ground and Surrender: Using Savasana (corpse pose) to quiet the ego, let go of performative busyness, and reconnect with fundamental human truth.
- Reallocating Time with "Einstein Time": Overcoming the illusion of calendar scarcity by being fully present in current moments, effectively creating expansive time elsewhere.
- Integrative Mental Health Practices: Moving beyond passive escapism and digital input to engage in conscious rest that processes stored emotional tension.
- The Power of "Unlearning": Recognizing that modern growth requires unlearning old mental models through stillness before relearning new frameworks.
- Daily Discipline as Self-Trust: Embracing consistency and structured self-care routines to build deep internal trust and model integrity for others.
About our Guest: Ayla Nova is a trauma-informed Yoga Nidra guide, teacher trainer, and the founder of Yoga Nidra & Beyond, a global platform for Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR) that reaches listeners each week through her podcast, YouTube channel, and the Nova Nidra Community. Her work centers on the conviction that awareness is the key to remapping the mind and that deep rest is the doorway to nervous-system regulation, emotional healing, and radical self-acceptance. Through her signature Peace in Rest Program and 2026 Teacher Training, she certifies the next generation of Yoga Nidra guides.
Ayla began her yoga journey in 2011 and earned her 200-hour yoga teacher certification in 2015 at Shri Kali Ashram in Goa, India, followed by trainings in Ashtanga and Kaula Tantra. In 2018, when diagnosed with a rare form of biphenotypic leukemia, she turned inward, making Yoga Nidra her therapy. She trained with the School of Sankalpa and in Integrative Restoration (iRest) with certified yoga therapist Barbara Eastham, and she is a lifetime Vedic Meditation practitioner. Today, Ayla lives and teaches in Calgary, Alberta, where her sessions are known for their trauma-sensitive framing, seasonal and archetypal themes, and sanctuary-like voice, guided by her refrain: rest well, be well.
