Most people think that relaxation is very simple, just recline and close your eyes. You are tired so you go to bed and think that is relaxation. But unless you are free from muscular, mental and emotional tensions, you are never relaxed. Even while sleeping, thoughts and worries revolve in the mind, so that the tense person wakes up feeling exhausted. In order to relax completely, the inner tensions of the body, emotions and mind must be released, then the actual state of relaxation dawns. The practice of yoga Nidra is the scientific method of removing these tensions.
What is Yoga Nidra?
Yoga Nidra (Sanskrit for Yogic Sleep) is a powerful technique from the Tantra Yoga tradition.
It is a specific practice which induces a deeper, more relaxed state of being. The mechanics of practice are easy to understand and define, but the state of being will be experienced differently by the various people.
Yoga Nidra is a state of “dynamic” sleep where we train ourselves to reduce and eliminate the stress burdens and triggers from within the psych to attain a more blissful state of awareness, a relaxation much more intense than one can accomplish with “ordinary” sleep with some remarkable additional side benefits.
Once the Nidra practitioner reaches the deepest state of physical and mental relaxation, the mind becomes receptive to new concepts. By reaching this stage through the specific sequence of mind-visualisations, one will access the subconscious part of the mind which is in fact our controlling aspect. This gives us a unique opportunity to effectively implant an affirmation of our choice.
Moreover, yoga Nidra is a more efficient and effective form of psychic and physiological rest and rejuvenation than conventional sleep. A single hour of yoga Nidra is as restful as four hours of conventional sleep. In fact, the capacity to sleep and dream consciously in Yoga Nidra is an evolutionary process which has been utilised by many exceptional people throughout history, paving the way to greater inspiration and achievement in their lives.
One such historical person is
Napoleon – he would retire to his tent and enter Yoga Nidra at the very height of pitched battle.
Exactly 20 min later he would emerge, fresh, invigorated and inspired, remount his horse and inevitably lead the French army to a decisive victory.
Why should you practice Yoga Nidra?
The 3 main traditional aspects of the Yoga Nidra Practice are:
- A systematic method of inducing complete mental, physical and emotional relaxation while maintaining awareness at deeper levels
- A way to manifest any desire (physical, mental or spiritual)
- A method of altering karma and finding Moksha (Liberation)
Yoga Nidra can be classified as an extremely safe practice and quite possibly the easiest to follow in a regular basis with the minimum of effort.
Therefore, when you practise yoga Nidra, you must completely relax, because this is not a practice in concentration. If you keep following the instructions of the person who is guiding you in yoga Nidra, it is possible to open the doors to your personality. Instructions should be followed spontaneously without too much effort. The secret of successful yoga Nidra is to flow with the sound of the voice. Therefore, if you happen to miss a few instructions it does not matter; what is important is that you keep on listening to the voice.
Even if you do fall asleep during the practice, you will receive peripheral benefits as your subconscious mind remains aware of everything that you take in with your sensory inputs (including sounds). Falling asleep during the practice, particularly in the beginning, is very common so do not get discouraged.
A Definitive Guide to Practicing Yoga Nidra
Yoga Nidra usually takes from
20 to 45min to complete and can be divided into the following
8 stages:
- Relaxation – preliminary preparation of the body, lying on the back in shivasana, the corpse pose, eye lightly closed, arms kept with palms facing upwards and breathing natural and quiet;
- Affirmation (Sankalpa) – a personal goal previously declared silently / a short simple statement of your personal aim;
- Rotation of Consciousness –rotation of awareness through all the parts of the body, external and internal;
- Respiration Awareness – a period of awareness of the breath at special positions of the body;
- Manifestations of Opposites – pairs of feelings and emotions are expressed / awareness of feelings;
- Creative Visualisation – various archetypal images are visualised mentally;
- Affirmation (Sankulpa) is repeated and, in a highly suggestable state of consciousness, is programmed into the subconscious mind;
- Return to Full Awareness – a careful and gradual return to a normal state
Instructions for yoga Nidra can be given in three ways:
- Directly from a teacher,
- From a tape recording, or
- By your own mental commands.
It is best to learn yoga Nidra directly from a teacher first so that the instructions can be modified to suit your individual needs. When the correct method is firmly imprinted on your mind, however, you can practise alone either by self-instruction or listening to a tape recording of your teacher’s lesson.
Benefits of Practising Yoga Nidra
- Physical stresses and tensions are removed;
- Mental stresses and unwanted impressions are removed;
- Emotional balance is restored;
- The faculties of imagination and visualisation are practiced and enhanced;
- The subconscious is focused on and able to manifest any personal goal, be it physical, mental, emotional or spiritual;
- Mental stresses and unwanted impressions are removed;
- The faculties of imagination and visualisation are practiced and enhanced;
- It can assist in the achievement of a state of so called self-realisation (complete self-awareness). Yoga Nidra helps in restoring mental, emotional and physical health by way of relaxation, and makes the mind more conductive to pratyahara – withdrawing senses from their objects, dharana – concentration, and meditation. The practice helps harmonise the two hemispheres of the brain and the two aspects of the autonomous nervous system (sympathetic and parasympathetic).
- It can assist in the achievement of a state of so called self-realisation (complete self-awareness). Yoga Nidra helps in restoring mental, emotional and physical health by way of relaxation, and makes the mind more conductive to pratyahara – withdrawing senses from their objects, dharana – concentration, and meditation. The practice helps harmonise the two hemispheres of the brain and the two aspects of the autonomous nervous system (sympathetic and parasympathetic).
Conclusion
The ancient practice of yoga Nidra is a simple and extremely effective alternative to tranquilizers which enables stressed individuals to attain for themselves deep relaxation of body and mind, breaking the vicious circle of which stress accumulates, worries compound upon themselves and tension multiplies from day to day.
Yoga Nidra is a practice which can be widely applied in the modern world to improve the quality and increase the happiness of human life. Yoga Nidra is the simple, yet profound technique of yogic sleep which has been found useful in the following areas:
- Induces deep and permanent relaxation of the entire body, mind and personality;
- Brings about the state of meditation;
- Eradicates deep rooted psychological problems, complexes, neuroses, inhibitions, etc;
- Helps to remove a vast number of psychosomatic ailments such as high blood pressure;
- Acts as a non-chemical tranquilizer that quickly removes insomnia and induces deep sleep;
- Rejuvenates the whole human organism on all levels – physical, pranic and mental;
- Opens up the potential of the mind and awakens the faculty of intuition;
- Increases the memory and learning capacity of students. Brings extraordinary improvements in the absorption and retention of information from external sources as well as the internal knowledge within one’s own mind.
The best way to learn the practice of Yoga Nidra & Meditation is to learn with an experienced mentor through guided sessions - like TTCs.
Interested in our Yoga Nidra & Meditation TTC? Reach out to us at
info@yogangahealing.com or Call -
+91 - 9557815895
