The effects of accumulated stress on the human body are something that endangers all of us today. We are drowning in cortisol and adrenaline.
Yoga Nidra is a profoundly healing, transformative practice in which we experience deep relaxation on every level of our being.
Yoga Nidra is understood as yogic sleep. However, the yogi’s definition of sleep is not as we understand define it here. Ordinary sleep occurs when we are unconscious. It rejuvenates the body and may or may not refresh the mind. It doesn’t necessarily relax the body if you just consider how many people grind their teeth at night. However there is a moment just prior to falling asleep (and again just prior to waking) when the brain operates in the alpha wave state. For these short moments the body does indeed become totally and completely relaxed, in fact we feel paralyzed. If we stayed conscious during these few moments (and we’re usually not) it might be experienced as ‘bliss’. Yoga Nidra seeks to recreate this blissful state and keep you consciously aware at the same time. You are neither asleep or awake….a paradoxical state that balances our deepest self.
During yoga nidra long held tensions (in the body and the mind) are released. Samskara’s dissipate. Creativity is enhanced, vitality is stimulated, and the ability to manifest our highest potential becomes possible. Time stops when we experience alpha waves and this in itself allows the body to relaease tension. In fact, one hour of Yoga Nidra is more beneficial than four hours of regular sleep.
Research shows that yoga nidra, used as a therapeutic technique,can bring about significant changes with psychological disorders like depression, anxiety, hostility, insomnia etc, psychosomatic diseases, as well as: asthma, coronary heart disease, cancer, hypertension, ptsd, etc. In our present modern lifestyle, where psychological and psychosomatic problems are on the rise, the technique of yoga nidra may serve as a safe and easy practice to promote health and wellness for all.
For those on a spiritual path, yoga nidra helps us to release karmic residue. The yogi’s believe that our unconscious minds hold all of the unresolved patterns from past lives. These patterns affect our self-concepts, personal biases & belief systems creating a distorted view of ‘who we really are’. When the physical, energy, mental & emotional bodies are in synergy then a state of wholeness or unity is created bringing an expanded sense of self. Yoga Nidra can create a paradigm shift by bypassing the linear, logical approach thereby becoming a powerful tool to eliminate karmic stress along with unconscious fears, beliefs and habits.
Information on how to best prepare for a yoga nidra workshop is here.