Yoga Nidra is a guided relaxation experience, where our body experiments a deep sleep and become increasingly aware of our inner world. Do you want to know what it is? Keep reading to find it out.
It’s a meditation technique that comes from the tantric practice of Nyasa in India, but like most of the disciplines of modern Yoga, it has been modified and westernized.
It was Swami Satyananda Saraswati along with his master Swami Sivananda who began to study the Tantric scriptures and created a system of relaxation that stood between wakefulness and sleep. Although Yoga Nidra means Yoga of the psychic dream, it has nothing to do with falling asleep. In fact, the goal of Yoga Nidra means to achieve deep conscious relaxation.
The mind has three dimensions: conscious, subconscious, and unconscious. The Nidra state reveals at the conscious level the mental impressions (Samskaras), which are stored in our subconsciousness and unconsciousness. For this reason, Yoga Nidra is an instrument of mental purification. The practice of this yoga variates progressively & induces states of interiorization, relaxation, and meditation.
How to practice Yoga Nidra?
Unlike other meditation practices, Yoga Nidra is practiced laying on the ground in Shavasana: Lying in the Mat with your eyes closed.
During the entire session, you must remain in the same position, it will make you feel comfortable. If any part of your body bothers you, you can put a blanket or pillow underneath to protect yourself. Eyes should be closed throughout the session and you can accompany yourself with a blanket.
No, you should focus on the present moment. Put aside what you have done so far or what you have left to do throughout the day. The important thing is to be here and now.
It’s also important to be alert to avoid falling asleep. You can feel sleepy due to relaxation. If you are a beginner, this is natural, but do not use the sessions to fall asleep, try to finish the classes and then go to sleep.
Regarding the room where you practice Yoga Nidra, create a meditation space where you can always perform your sessions. It’s better to have a place that you can keep in semi-darkness, which any noise won’t bother you. During the nesting session, and you may feel cold and that’s because your body temperature drops often.
About the Yoga Nidra sessions
The sessions can range from 20 minutes to 45 minutes, depending on the practitioner’s level. Yoga Nidra must be guided, because it requires the relinquishing of the mind to guide the meditation. It’s also possible to do a self-guided session, but for that, you have to be an advanced yogi.
Benefits of Yoga Nidra:
The “Yoga of sleep” has many benefits, some of them are:
- Reducing tension and stress.
- Relaxing the mind and body.
- Revealing significant parts of the unconscious and purify your mind.
- Stimulating creativity and clearing the mind.
- Improving memory and learning.
- Increasing willpower.
- Improving insomnia and sleep quality.
- It has been used in post-traumatic stress disorder treatments.
Practicing Nidra is an easy to do exercise of attribution and meditation if we do it well. Maybe it’s not easy to know each other and to discover who we really are. But at the same time, this can be the most pleasant experience you’ll ever have.
Remember that Yoga Nidra is a state of consciousness that seeks introversion in-depth, not just an exercise for relaxation. It can be performed by anyone, except for those who have suffered or are suffering from epileptic episodes or psychotic outbreaks as they have to deal with different traumas.