In this article I will explain why I chose Yoga Nidra, what to expect in a Yoga Nidra session and tips for success.
WHY I CHOSE NIDRA
It was the gong that first called my attention. I initially connected to Nidra because I found a script that included the gong. Students loved it as a complement to our Kundalini Yoga classes. This was something I would share a couple times a year, on a special day or event.
Many years later, Yoga Nidra came into greater focus at a time I was exploring the hypnogogic state through yogic dreaming, with a deep interest in the subconscious realm including the practice of psychoanalysis.
I began to realize that Yoga Nidra has the ability to take us to a state where we can change our thoughts and create new patterns of being. At the time I was beginning my studies in Biosonic Healing which is strongly rooted in science, psychology and alquemy to assist reprogramming our old patterns so that we can put things together in new ways through sound.
To change old ways of thinking and being, we must first get into a relaxed and meditative state. Yoga Nidra + sound is the perfect SOULution! This is why I decided to become certified in Yoga Nidra. I have loved applying maximum creativity and spiritual sparkle to writing new scripts and sounds ever sense!
Listen to the story HERE!
WHAT IS NIDRA?
Yoga Nidra means literally yogic sleep. Although it’s called yogic sleep we don’t actually sleep but rather surf the interface between waking and sleeping where there is still an awareness of one’s surroundings. Practitioners of Yoga Nidra may appear to be asleep, but our consciousness is operating at a deep level of awareness. This level of consciousness is accompanied by a profound sense of relaxation.
The calm inner stillness induced by yoga nidra is an effective stress management tool as well as a means for attaining greater receptivity to personal resolutions, where you drop the resistance due to habitual thinking. These resolutions can range from the goal of achieving self-transformation, enhancing creativity, or improving one’s learning ability. In everyday non meditative states your current beliefs will block new ways of thinking which is why Nidra is so important to making substancial and beneficial changes in our life. In the nidra state your old beliefs will not block your dreams and goals, and thus you can plant the seeds for the life you dream of.
Additionally, Yoga Nidra promotes beneficial changes in physiological and mental health.
Nidra practitioners indicate that 1 h of Yoga Nidra practice equates to about 4 h of sleep. This has led to the suggestion that Yoga Nidra is a “third mental state,” related to both sleep and relaxation. Nidra practitioners suggest that with time, the practice can produce a major transformation of the self, one that extends to the promotion of physical, emotional, and spiritual health and well-being. Yoga Nidra can also take us into deep states of meditation.
Yoga Nidra provides a profound state of relaxation where you can explore ever deepening levels of meditation to connect to your true essence where you can discover greater peace, harmony, health and joy!
WHY RELAXATION IS IMPORTANT
Yoga Nidra’s primary goal is complete relaxation. As such, it is suitable for everyone, from beginners to advanced practitioners of yoga.
We live in a world where relaxation may seem to be a luxury. And, what many of us call relaxation is not truly relaxing the body and mind. The truth is that it can seem like an impossible task to relax. Yoga Nidra contains all the tools to guide the most anxious mind into a deep relaxed state with ease!
For the body to relax we must have a healthy, functional nervous system in parasympathetic mode which allows the body systems to relax and repair. In addition to activating the parasympathetic nervous system for relax and repair, Yoga Nidra also activates the pineal gland.
In a true relaxed state:
· our body can HEAL
· we are open to INTUITION
· we can REPROGRAM our thoughts and beliefs to create a life we love
· we can evolve our MEDITATION practice
Dear Student, The key to transformation is not in working harder, nor in accumulating more courses or knowledge. The key to transformation lies in deep relaxation accompanied by relaxed focus on processes that bring you into a natural state of harmony and wholeness, guiding you to your inner radiant Self. xoxoxox!
YOGA NIDRA CONNECTS YOU TO YOUR TRUE SELF
Yoga Nidra takes us into a depth of release that goes beyond simple relaxation. Nidra relaxation takes you to higher consciousness.
During the deepest part of the state of Nidra, we are re-aligned with the most spiritual part of our inner nature. While yoga nidra in some ways resembles a sleep or a dream state, it is, in fact, neither of these. The practice is closer to the altered state known in yoga as Samadhi (the ultimate enlightenment).
"Yoga nidra is a state between sleep and samadhi."
- Swami Rama
THE STAGES OF YOGA NIDRA
Yoga Nidra is defined by well-defined stages that take us step by step into deep relaxation and meditation that is done laying down in a relaxed position. These first stages are introduced always after balancing and calming the nervous system and to slow down the brain waves into first into alfa and then gradually lower.
-Arrival Introduction to Nidra and preparation for the session.
-Body Rotation/Rotation of awareness to relax the brain and body. This practice will assist us to move from the alert state of consciousness into the energetic layers of the body. Our Nidra sessions are infused with powerful Nyasa as we rotate our loving awareness around the body, mimicking the REM movement of the eyes to induce the first step of relaxation.
Originating from the tantric ritual practice of ‘nyasa’ meaning “to place”; a practice in which a numinous sound, word or image are placed and felt at different parts of the body. Sometimes loosely referred to as a bodyscan – however if done correctly and with spiritual insight, it’s more than a simple body scan.
-Pranayama Conscious breath technique to relax the nervous system. The mind follows the breath. Here we slow down our breath pattern and slow down the mind.
-Pratyahara Nidra can be considered both a pratyahara and a meditative practice. Pratyahara means releasing sensory focus which supports us to enter in meditative states.
Moving between two opposites can facilitate a trance state as the mind considers two seemingly opposite positions. The mind seeing it is doing something that is usually impossible, accepts the altered state and allows itself to accept ideas that it wouldn't usually consider.
We often work with opposing emotions to create emotional resilience and create a habit of balance and harmony regardless of surroundings. Working with opposites trains us to reside in neutrality where we can keep calm, make good decisions and shift gears. This is a practice of equanimity that allows us to incorporate more peace and right action into our life.
-Visualization Visualization is an ancient tantric technique to train the mind which gives us the ability to control our own mind and direct thoughts that put us on the path towards greater excellence. All things are created twice: first in the mind and then in reality. The power of visualization is practiced by all humanities greatest inventors and leaders and is a powerful tool to create change in your life. I create visualizations for Nidra sessions which allow students to experience higher states of wholeness, health, creativity, intuition and consciousness. In this phase students often receive intuitive guidance. From this deep state of meditation, I offer sound (sonic ceremony).
(There are schools that use little visualization or that do not have a formal image phase and incorporate visualization in other stages)
-Sankalpa - Sankalpa is a sanskrit term meaning seed. It’s a phrase ore idea we plant into the subconscious. In our Unisom sessions, I frequently offer very powerful “good words” and fuzzy logic that are able to bypass the conscious mind so that you can re-program your conscious mind for success. You may also mentally state your personal resolve (ie sankalpa) at the beginning and end of the session. In this case the resolve would be a well crafted once sentence phrase in most cases. (Sankalpa is not a required stage)
-Return and conclusion - A transition back into wake state gradually. We finish each session in Unisom with elevating mantra.
SOUND AND GOOD WORDS
Yoga Nidra places us in a unique receptivity, where we can clear old patterns that block us and cultivate new patterns of health, joy, harmony and abundance within the subconscious mind. I include Biosonic Healing (an elaborate Sound Healing practice) as well as "good words" also called transformative words of power to direct the subconscious mind towards success.
Sound supports us to deepen into greater levels of relaxation and works both on the physical and energetic levels. Sound can help connect us to new realities and dimensions. Good words are specially crafted to pass through the conscious mind and enter into the subconscious realm to facilitate change.
Both sound and good words facilitate transformation as we upgrade the subconscious mind and access new higher states of consciousness. Sound allows us to release old patterns so that we can put together ideas, experiences and energy in new and surprising ways, with good words to reconfigure our life according to new specifications.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION – A complete arrival script
The recommended posture for yoga nidra is lying down on your back however you are free to be sitting as well. What is most important is that you are comfortable.
I will guide you through the practice of Yoga Nidra - this means "Yogic Sleep". It's a guided relaxation that might put you on the border between being awake and being asleep – this is the hypnogogic state which is a place where you can rest deeply and get all kinds of benefits like stress relief, creativity and intuition. A short Nidra session can be 20-30 minutes. My Nidra sessions often last an hour or more.
Although it's called Yogic Sleep we're not planning to actually go asleep; we're hoping to surf the interface between waking and sleeping. But if you do fall asleep that's fine - it's part of the process and maybe it's what you really need more than anything else at the moment.
If you fall asleep and snore loudly - I will come and wake you so you don't disturb everyone else. I'll do this by gently tapping on the floor next to your head - if that's not ok for you let me know now and we can sort something else out.
If you become uncomfortable and really have to move - then go ahead and move - but please try to do it as quietly as possible so you don't disturb the whole class. Sometimes the urge to move might just be resistance to going deeper – so, try observing the urge to make sure you really do have to move.
If anything in the Nidra makes you feel uncomfortable and you want it to stop - all you have to do is move your fingers and toes and open your eyes and you will come out of the Nidra state.
During the practice there may also be small pauses so that you can have your own experience and deepen the practice. If you get distracted or have thoughts during the nidra practice, it happens to everyone and is NORMAL. It's not a failure - in fact there is no such thing as failure in Yoga Nidra. When you get distracted by thoughts - then gently guide the awareness back to the practice. Be really gentle .
I’ll guide you through the practice, but you don’t have to listen to everything I say. It’s perfectly fine if you drift off sometimes – so that my voice just becomes a gentle sound in the background. It means you have gone to the "place beyond words" and can stay there and enjoy! And if you always hear my words that is also perfect- it means your focused. Every time we experience Nidra may be different - and there is now better way to experience Nidra, no right or wrong way to experience the practice.
YOGA NIDRA BECOMES MORE EFFECTIVE WITH PRACTICE
Quieting the mind can be a challenge so it may take a few sessions of practice. Be patient with yourself. The deeper layers of mental activity become more accessible to us in yoga nidra with prolonged practice.
The foundation of Yoga Nidra is knowledge of one's complete personality (annamaya kosha), which is attained by simply resting one's joyful awareness as we relaxing each physical part and biological function. As a result, the component of one's psyche that involves the breathing process, nerve centers chakras, and nadis, experiences tranquilly and clarity.
Realizing one's natural, and tranquil personality has a positive impact on the mind, allowing shades of ignorance, anger, and anxiety to fade away. This beneficial effect on the mind and all mental formations lead to the realization of one's true potential. As a result, one can naturally progress to finer and higher levels of spirituality to achieve inner bliss and serenity. Shaivite and Buddhist Tantric texts say, Yoga Nidra is describes as a "place beyond words," a place to receive secret knowledge.
HISTORY
Yoga Nidra, is a based on a form of an ancient tantric relaxation technique, and also draws on several other traditions. Yogis, psychologists, hypnotists, chemists, and therapists all contributed to what we now call Yoga Nidra.
The foundation of Yoga Nidra is derived from 'pratyahara,' one of the eight ashtanga (eight-limbed) branches of the yoga system as conceptualized in Patanjali's (an Indian sage who lived circa 200 B.C). Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses), entails gradually dis-identifying oneself emotionally from one's body and mind. It corresponds to the higher levels of Raja Yoga.
While several components of the practice have been known since ancient times, it was not until the 1960s that an updated and systematized system of practice was introduced to the public through the writings of Swami Satyananda Saraswati.
MAKE SURE IT’S THE REAL DEAL!
There are 4 main schools of Yoga Nidra and each has a specific approach, however all Yoga Nidra practices involve specific and deliberate steps that are very well crafted to relax the nervous system and mind, while gradually slowing down the brain waves and accessing specific parts of the brain to evolve and refine the personality. It is a process that carries us effortlessly into deep relaxation and meditation.
Teachers can be creative in the way nidra is presented, that’s something I love! And at the same time, it is critical to receive instructions and perform Yoga Nidra practices correctly to get the full benefits. Make sure you practice with a certified teacher who follows the true practice and understands the potential of Nidra so that you get the most out of it.
EXTRA SUPPORT TO RELAX
Lavender or any other essential oil may support your relaxation.
If you are online, I recommend using headphones. This helps to cut out external noise.
A blanket and pillows to support you and make you feel comfortable.
Low lighting.
Try sandbags.
Let’s relax together and explore new possibilities! 😎🏝️
JOIN US IN UNISOM TO EXPERIENCE THE YOGA NIDRA STATE HERE!
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