Relaxing Yoga Nidra

How it Works?

Yoga nidra, a state between sleeping and being awake, is an exciting practice in my experience. No need to sit in lotus asana or tediously educate your mind. During yoga nidra, the instructor's voice leads consciousness into peaceful and harmonious state. An audio recording and listening to the directions is all that is needed. This practice allows one to free oneself from bodily, emotional, and psychic tensions. The intellect becomes more creative and productive after yoga nidra. Thus, new options for dealing with difficulties and implementing intelligent ideas emerge. The relaxation gets to the deepest levels of the subconscious mind.

Yoga nidra is derived from the authentic traditions of Indian yogis. The practice's name means "yoga of sleep" or "yogic dream". When sleeping, our senses (hearing, seeing, smell, taste, and touching) do not limit our perception. Therefore, psychic clarity increases. Relaxation of the body and mind allows the blockages of vital energy to withdraw. One can overcome various habits, fears, and disorders this way. What usually causes these problems are mainly mental tensions, which accumulate constantly due to the hasty tempo of our everyday life. "All illnesses are triggered by stress" is quite a legitimate saying. Speaking from my experience, I have noticed the incredible transformation of how I feel after the yoga nidra session. I could fathom the weight of tensions I had stockpiled.

The Process of Yoga Nidra

During practice, you lie down, close your eyes, and listen to the instructor's voice reading the instructions. It may be either a live session or an audio recording. The essence of yoga nidra is to perform in one's mind the pronounced tasks.

Yoga nidra consists of the following:

- Moving one's consciousness to different body parts. It helps to stay alert and follow the coming tasks. One should not nod off. Yoga of sleep is not a hypnosis.

- Conscious breathing. A practitioner should observe their natural breath while not trying to control it.

- Counting of breaths in reversed order.

- Projecting of opposite sensations. E.g., hot and cold, pleasure and pain, heaviness and lightness. This helps to control one's emotions and restores inner balance.

- Visualization. The mind roams in the world of symbols. A practitioner must imagine the sea, the mountains, the flower, the tree, the fireplace, the well, etc. He or she becomes more calm and less fearful and stressed. One's rational mind harmoniously merges with the subconscious level.

The short and precise intention is pronounced at the session's start and end. In Sanskrit, it's called sankalpa.

Effect on Health Disorders and Memory

As I have already mentioned, yoga nidra is profoundly relaxing, and therefore, it alleviates stress, which causes and aggravates many of our problems. The symbols employed for healing mental disorders allow one to free oneself from psychological traumas of the past lurking in the subconscious mind. Yoga nidra helps with anxiety, fear, aggression, bad habits, and mental blocks. After successful testing, yoga nidra has been used in Miami, Chicago, and other USA cities to heal soldiers after participating in military operations. The participants confirmed that their post-traumatic stress (undue alertness, anxiety, and poor sleep) was gradually decreasing.

Yoga nidra can heal migraine, asthma, heart disorders, high blood pressure, colitis, stomach ulcers, alcoholism, and drug addiction and reduce various aches. During a Pittsburgh (USA) hospital research of yoga nidra effects, patients had their headaches reduced by 81% during 6-week therapy. A group of youths diagnosed with severe asthma completely recovered after 7 months of yoga nidra sessions (pediatric research in Texas, USA). The healing effect of this practice is mainly due to the deep relaxation of body and mind. Besides that, studies have shown the impact on the pituitary gland, which plays a role in reducing pain, levels of cholesterol, and the amount of "stress hormones."

Another field where yoga nidra helps to achieve significant progress is learning. During the practice, one's perception vastly increases, allowing one to absorb the information effortlessly. Memory becomes spontaneous while boredom fades out. Knowledge is integrated on a subconscious level and is instantly reproduced after regular repetition. Bulgarian psychiatrist Georgi Lozanov (1926–2012) developed the method of sugestopedia according to this model. Studies have shown that sugestopedia makes learning languages and other subjects at least twice quicker.

In conclusion, yoga nidra is a universal practice. It does not depend on any system or religion. Anyone willing to regain one's health and discover inner peace can do yoga nidra. The recordings for yoga nidra sessions can be found on the internet. I had a wonderful experience with yoga nidra and hope you can also receive many benefits.