What is Yoga Nidra?

In Yoga Nidra, we remain in the space between the waking and sleeping states of consciousness, known in neuroscientific circles as the hypnagogic state. In this borderline state, we are able to absorb new pathways of change, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.  Mental phenomena that occur during this "threshold consciousness" phase include (but are not limited to) lucid thought and lucid dreaming. It is a form of "going within" during which we enter a profound state of relaxation whilst remaining alert and aware throughout the process.

Why Practice Yoga Nidra?

Yoga Nidra has been shown to provide the following benefits:

• Relaxation: it’s the most permanent way of inducing deep relaxation

• Psychological problems:  works directly in eradicating deep-rooted psychological complexes neuroses, inhibitions and is an advanced psychiatric tool

• Physio-psychological rejuvenation.  The physical, pranic and mental levels are directly recharged.

• Meditation: it is a technique

• Psychosomatic ailments: helps to remove numerous ailments (mental in cause)

• Sleep: induces and improves sleep

• Awakening and Mind Exploration: awakens the faculty of intuition

• Enables one to receive intuitions from the subconscious mind, which enables one to find within himself the answers to all problems

• Allows one to re-wire the subconscious mind releasing bad habits

• Allows one to enter the “Flow State”, where creativity is activated, and most scientific discoveries are made

• Can be used for directing the mind to accomplish anything 

• Restructuring and reforming of the personality from within

• Soothing of mental tension

• Rejuvenating to the body and the mind

• Helps with insomnia in cases of sleep troubles, but also reduced the amount of required sleep

• Is a great preparation for kriya and meditation practice

• Is a great preparation for any type of creative practice, such as writing, and art.

• Enhances the learning process

• Brings joy and wellbeing

• Awakens the human potential

• Aids in recovery of headaches, asthma, diabetes, migraine, hypertension, rheumatism, cancer, hormonal imbalances - just to name a few

• Helps to harmonize pranic flows (the mind controls prana, and mental awareness on a specific part of the body induces flow of prana to that area which helps to improve health and relieve ailments).

• Mental Health: Traumas, subconscious memories can be released in deep states of relaxation, and this is common to occur through the use of Yoga Nidra. Confrontation of mental impressions leads to neutralization of their emotional content. 

• Yoga Nidra can also be used to illuminate psychosomatic diseases

• Increases ones ability to absorb data from outside sources (which can be helpful for learning, especially in children)

• If practiced correctly, can lead directly to meditation and is in fact a very powerful meditative technique as it induces pratyahara (sense withdrawal) systematically.

Other physiological changes have been documented to occur and scientifically measured, during the practice of Yoga Nidra:

• Reduction in the lactate level in the blood (correlated with stress)

• Dramatic reduction in oxygen requirements in the body

• Reduced metabolic rate

• Reduction in heart beat and blood pressure

• Measurable decrease in brain wave frequency (from beta to alpha activity and sometimes theta)

• Reduction in activity in the sympathetic nervous system

Many psychosomatic illnesses arise from tensions in the body and the mind, and even though modern conventional science and medicine have been trying to solve these issues, they’ve unfortunately only been successful at treating symptoms, most of the time with pharmaceutical medications, with numerous side effects.  Tensions appear in our body in the form of muscular tensions, mental tensions and emotional tensions.  Imbalances in the nervous system and endocrine system result in muscular tensions.  Every psycho-physiological disturbance, and negative and destructive emotion causes conflict in the brain.  This interferes with our normal muscular rhythm and keeps our body physically in a state of tension, which drains the body of energy. 

Yoga Nidra enables us to dive deep down to the root of the problem, into the subconscious mind and relax tensions in the physical, emotional and mental bodies.  Repressed emotions become deeply rooted and cause emotional tension. These deep rooted samskaras (which include painful memories, unfulfilled desires, fears etc), condition our thoughts and compel us to act in certain ways.  The process of Yoga Nidra allows us to purge these samskaras, purifying the consciousness. With so many things to think about, and do in the world just to maintain oneself,  excessive mental activity is the norm in society. Not only that, but due to life’s pressures, we are continuously living in ‘survival mode’.  When we are in ‘survival mode’ the body is chemically altered  - the sympathetic nervous system automatically activates the adrenal glands to mobilize enormous amounts of energy. Because our thoughts continuously trigger the human stress response, we turn short term stresses into long terms ones and this eventually leads to chronic illness.   With tension, the whole endocrine system is also affected, and forced to operate at a high level, which in turn leads to many chronic illnesses. 

As the body becomes weaker through tension, it simultaneously becomes less able to fight off bacterial infections and becomes the target for the onset of disease.  If we really get into it, the root causes of chronic tension lies in the emotional reactions to people and surroundings, and our reactions are determined by our conditioning.  So why not re-wire our conditioning?  

This is what Yoga Nidra is capable of.  

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