What is Yoga Nidra? Yoga Nidra is a form of guided meditation also known as “yogic sleep” or “effortless relaxation”. The majority of the time, a teacher leads the session while the student is on their back.
Through practice, we learn to shift between the awake and asleep states, where our bodies find their natural state of balance (homeostasis), the breath balances and become quiet, the conscious and unconscious aspects of our minds become clear, and we naturally enter a deep state of blissful awareness.
Keep reading to discover how Yoga Nidra might be the solution if you’re looking for a simple, pose-free way to relax and recover from the stresses in your life.
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Origin Of Yoga Nidra
Yoga Nidra has its roots in a philosophy called Sankhya that was first written down around 700 Patanjali and the Buddha are two of its most well-known proponents. Over the course of centuries, people have practiced and developed these teachings. These teachings were expanded upon in the Advaita Vedanta philosophy, which means “not two” or “non-dual,” and, about a century or so later, in the Kashmir Shaivism teachings.
All of these point to a single, uncomplicated truth: that at our core, we are the stillness of awareness, and that when this inner light is explored, it leads us into the macrocosm and the understanding of our unity. All of these theories are included in the practice of Yoga Nidra, which develops into an experiential map of the development of meditation.
Who Is Yoga Nidra For?
Although Yoga Nidra is open to everyone, those who have trouble letting go (I believe many of us have occasionally “fought” through meditation!) find it to be very appealing.). Additionally, those who experience any degree of sleep deprivation, trauma, anxiety, or depression can greatly benefit from it. It’s also ideal for people who have always been interested in the deep states of meditation that they may have read about or even experienced for themselves but have never been able to duplicate.
The type of Yoga Nidra that I practice and instruct is called iRest, and research has shown that it is effective at reducing the symptoms of the conditions mentioned above and at boosting well-being.
I treat a large number of patients in my private practice, and they are frequently shocked by the effectiveness and power of this method. Yoga Nidra has paradoxically filled a void in my toolkit for yoga therapy because it doesn’t try to fix anything. Instead, a great deal of physical and mental issues can be brought into harmony and resolved through attentive, heartfelt listening and welcoming. The paradox that we can truly transcend what we can be with is one that I enjoy explaining to students. This is the essence of yoga and what it means to live an enlightened life: to accept things as they are and feel a profound surrender to life and ourselves.
Benefits Of Practicing Yoga Nidra
1. Anyone Can Do Yoga Nidra
Everyone is not suited to challenging vinyasa flows and protracted asana holds. But anyone can practice yoga Nidra, from young children to the elderly. Any age can easily follow it. Your body only needs to lie on the ground. You can still practice this exercise while sitting up if you are unable to lie on the floor.
2. You Cannot Practice Yoga Nidra Incorrectly
All you need to do in savasana, where you are supported, is listen to the voice directing you. You might only recall some of the meditation while forgetting some of it. Every time you visit the practice, you have a fresh experience, and none of them are bad. It’s acceptable to doze off because you will still benefit from the practice while your unconscious mind is taking it in.
3. Yoga Nidra Is Easy To Incorporate Into Your Daily Life
Trying to focus, clear the mind, or return attention to the breath while seated during a meditation session can be challenging. There is never intense thinking or wondering why you are staring at a blank wall in yoga Nidra because it is always guided. Yoga Nidra sessions can last anywhere between five minutes and an hour. The length is up to you. Making a yoga Nidra practice a regular part of your bedtime routine might prove to be the most convenient way to fit it in. Put on the headphones, do some practicing in bed, and then go to sleep. Even though it’s not the most traditional method, if you’re going to be lying down anyhow, there’s no reason you shouldn’t practice yoga Nidra.
4. It’s A Simple Way To Reduce Stress
Yoga Nidra encourages restful sleep and relaxation in a way that traditional meditation doesn’t. It is possible to practice the stages of body scan and breath awareness alone to calm the nervous system, resulting in less stress and better health.
5. Yoga Nidra Offers The Opportunity To Learn About Yourself Intimately
While some practitioners use the safe, nonjudgmental environment that yoga Nidra offers as a window into themselves, others crave the profound relaxation that this practice instills. Yoga Nidra gives you the chance to explore your current needs as well as to work on letting go of repressed feelings. During Yoga Nidra, you are able to experience an emotion and come “face to face” with what you want to overcome, without “diving into it” completely—meaning without feeling the emotion so completely that you become overwhelmed. You progress deeper into the practice as time goes on as you continue to feel the emotion and its corresponding feelings.
How To Practice Yoga Nidra?
You can practice yoga Nidra at home with the aid of YouTube or a meditation app, though some yoga studios do offer it. You don’t even require expensive equipment. With a bolster or pillow supporting your lower back, spine, and head, you can lie flat on your back on a yoga mat or blanket. You could even place a pillow or blanket under your knees.
A yoga Nidra practice, according to Bar, has ten stages. These steps are outlined by Richard Miller in his “10 Stages of Yoga Nidra.”
- Make a connection to your heart’s most profound desire. Concentrate on a long-term objective or an issue related to your well-being. Imagine achieving this goal and experiencing the happiness that follows.
- Set an intention. Consider the purpose of your practice: to center yourself, to schedule some time for self-care; whatever it is, keep it in the foreground throughout your yoga Nidra sessions.
- Look within for resources. In order to feel safe and comfortable while practicing, this entails tapping into a safe space within the body.
- Scan your body. You’ll be instructed to concentrate on particular body regions or sensations during the body scan. This is intended to aid in easing tension so that you can unwind.
- Pay attention to your breathing. Observe the airflow through your body as it enters and exits. Note how it enters your nostrils and how your abdomen rises and falls during the experience. You may find it easier to relax and breathe normally as a result.
- Embrace your emotions. If you had a difficult day, accept it. However, by acknowledging it, you can also consider the polar opposite of the emotion you are experiencing to help bring things back to balance. Tough situations don’t have to be ignored.
- Behold your thoughts. Similar to step six, you should simply observe your thoughts as they arise without passing judgment or attempting to block them out. If you find yourself thinking anything bad about yourself, try to focus on the bright side to reduce stress.
- Experience joy. When you begin to experience bliss, embrace it and allow it to fill your entire being.
- Observe your “self.” Be conscious of your personality and any potential emotions. In other words, your sense of “I-ness.” So consider yourself an observing witness. Your awareness and awareness of your feelings will increase as a result of this.
- Think back on your technique. When the session is over, reflect on how you feel and what you were able to access. Then, consider how you can incorporate any peace or joy you may be experiencing into your daily life, regardless of how things are going. Don’t leave your practice right away. Spend some time readjusting to being awake.
Tips For Practicing Yoga Nidra
Yoga Nidra may appear to be much simpler than traditional yoga, but Bar says you still need to practice, particularly if you’re not used to meditation or clearing your mind. She advises practicing in a room with less light and away from distractions. If you need to, you can block out light by wearing a sleep mask. The bar also advises wrapping up in a blanket because resting causes the body to cool down.
Yoga Nidra can be performed in a chair or even in bed if lying on the floor for some time would not be comfortable for you. Additionally, you need not begin with a lengthy session. Work your way up to 15 or 20 minutes at first. Additionally, it’s not necessary to practice yoga Nidra during the day. You may be able to sleep soundly for the majority of the night with the aid of nighttime practice.
And as with most things, keep trying even if your first session is difficult. It’s more difficult than you might imagine to stop thinking and just be. Spend some time practicing yoga Nidra. It won’t take you long to get the hang of it, especially if your body and mind are in need of some downtime.
How Does Yoga Nidra Differ From Meditation?
Yoga Nidra calls for relaxation and a slower pace. While some individuals tend to combine them, meditation and mindfulness are actually two distinct practices.
“Yoga Nidra is like meditation, but yet it’s not,” says yoga therapist and yoga program manager, Judi Bar. “There are significant differences as well as overlapping areas. With yoga Nidra, your objective is to enter a deep state of conscious awareness sleep, which is a more profound state of relaxation with awareness, while you are lying down. In this condition, the conscious mind passes from being awake and conscious to dreaming, not dreaming, and then back to being awake and conscious.” According to Bar, this practice is structured but guided, like some meditation techniques.
“When you meditate, you sit still and are awake while maintaining mental focus and allowing passing thoughts. We can enter the theta state through meditation, which is the state that precedes the delta state, the stage of the sleep cycle where we are at our deepest. Deep healing takes place in the delta state. We are using yoga Nidra to help us reach that place. In this state, the consciousness is awake while the body and mind are at rest.”
Related Reading: What Is Yoga Meditation?
Yoga Nidra VS. Shavasana
Shavasana is a yoga pose for relaxation in which the physical body and mind are supposed to be silent and still, and the breath is supposed to be easy and gentle. ‘Shav literally translates to “dead body” or “corpse,” so the pose is called Corpse Pose. The total stillness deeply soothes the body and mind. Corpse Pose appears to be a simple pose, but many practitioners find it particularly difficult because it calls for them to relinquish control over their body’s various parts and instead allow their breath to slow and their minds to calm.
Generally speaking, one to five minutes are spent in shavasana. People frequently fall asleep during extended Shavasana, such as the final relaxation after an asana practice. But the goal is to simply calm the mind, the breath, and the senses as if one were dead.
In Yoga Nidra, the practitioner guides his students to lie down comfortably. Shavasana is the most effortless and balanced resting position, so it is preferred that the students lie down in it. However, having students lie on their sides or backs is also very popular and acceptable. The instructor leads the class through a specific and detailed script. At the beginning of the instructions, you are asked to set a Sankalpa or make a resolve to yourself, or call upon the deepest desire.
Perhaps you have had the experience of feeling as though your brain is dozing off while you are only half asleep. Yoga Nidra can put you in a state of consciousness that is halfway between being awake and asleep.
So, to summarize; Shavasana is a yoga asana, a posture. Yoga Nidra is a state of consciousness, in between sleep and awake. The body is totally relaxed, but the mind is awake. Yoga Nidra can be experienced with proper Shavasana technique, but the two ideas stand alone. Yoga Nidra does not require Shavasana, and doing Shavasana does not guarantee that one will have an experience of Yoga Nidra.
Yoga Nidra VS. Hypnosis
The body is extremely relaxed and the subconscious is very active during hypnosis as well as Yoga Nidra. But these are the only points in common.
Many people believe that Yoga Nidra is a type of hypnosis because both hypnosis and yoga Nidra can be used to affect the mind. However, there are significant differences between the method and the goal. While both begin with guided relaxation, Yoga Nidra moves in one direction while hypnosis moves in a different one. However, it is true that you may experience hypnosis when your senses and mind are calm. You can avoid that state if you remain conscious of the current process.
Because of this, the teacher frequently asks you to pay attention or repeats yourself. Try to stay awake during Yoga Nidra. You want to sleep even though you are deeply relaxed. You are aware that Yoga Nidra is what you are doing right now. In contrast to hypnotism, where the consciousness is frequently suppressed and you might no longer remember what you experienced, yoga Nidra allows the conscious mind to remain active and take control at any time.
The teacher’s job in yoga Nidra is to lead you and help you reach a deep state of awareness. In hypnosis, the therapist frequently seizes control of your conscious mind to access your subconscious.
Yoga Nidra VS. Relaxation
We need to unwind when we’ve worked hard or been active all day. The majority of people engage in activities like reading, taking walks, watching TV, listening to music, and so forth. This is a diversion, not a means of relaxation. Here, we divert our attention to more enjoyable pursuits.
The body, mind, and five senses must all be at peace in order to relax properly. For instance, we are unwinding when we are dreamlessly asleep. The body, mind, and senses all become totally relaxed during deep sleep. The only time the body can heal, repair, and grow is when we are relaxed, so it is absolutely essential. However, consciousness vanishes at this point. Consequently, we are unaware of what occurred while we were asleep.
The relaxation part of yoga Nidra is just the beginning; it goes much further. While the relaxation of the body, mind, and senses is a key component of Yoga Nidra, it is not the main objective. The consciousness is awake and alert during a Yoga Nidra session. You are paying attention to your body, mind, and senses even though your brain goes into a deep state of relaxation.
Final Words
Yoga Nidra is a subtle but incredibly effective practice. Learning how to practice Yoga Nidra will help you relieve stress in your daily life.
However, the practice has the capacity to bring about a great deal more healing and growth because it can direct our awareness toward our truest selves and help us release long-standing traumas.
Read More: What is Tantric Yoga?