Yoga Nidra or the psychic sleep is a state between wakefulness and dream. Infact, didn’t we all do Yoga Nidra during our childhood at bedtime. In the state of half consciousness, our body used to be asleep but our mind was still caught up between the jungles and mountains of the fairy tale stories that our parents or grand parents narrate to us.
I feel Yoga Nidra is a bedtime story for adults 🙂
Tracing its roots to the periods of Hinduism and Buddhism; Yoga Nidra is a 30-45 minutes deep relaxation technique that is actually more powerful than the real sleep. Yes! try it to believe it! Not only does it brings relaxation to the body and mind, it also helps in changing the behavioural patterns in the most effortless way. This change can be initiated in the Sankalpa or the Resolve which is taken at the start of this practice and repeated at the end of the sleep. In between, there are three stages to this practice
- Stage 1: Body Parts Awareness – Rotation of concentration / focus on all the body parts
- Stage 2: Breath Awareness – Becoming a silent observer of your breath
- Stage 3: Ending the practice by coming back into the real time moment
Key benefits of Yoga Nidra include:
- It reduces anxiety and stress
- Helps in management of stress by activating para sympathetic system (rest and digest response)
- Helps reduce high blood pressure
- Yoga Nidra is better than actual sleep if done consciously
- Improves concentration and listening skills
- Brings deep relaxation to the body and mind
- If you are struggling with introducing a change to your life, Yoga Nidra can come to your rescue
Who should practice it?
Interesting, right from school children to adults to elderly, Yoga Nidra can be practiced by anyone except the patients of depression . Making the experience of Yoga Nidra most rewarding for the participant should be the utmost priority of the instructor. While, the voice, tone and clarity of the instructor play an important role;certain ambiance requirements cannot be ruled out including noise free, clean room and comfortable mats. No or Light Music can be played in the background but should not interfere with the instructor’s guidance.
If you follow yoga or not, try the Yoga Nidra to come closer to experiencing a blissful state in the most effortless way…
Read about Yoga Nidra here….
Stay Joyful!
Varuna
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