4/11/2021 4 Comments Yoga NidraWhat is Yoga Nidra?Yoga Nidra - often referred to as ‘Yogic Sleep’, ‘Psychic Sleep’, or a ‘Yogic Nap’ is... a deep form of relaxation, a state of consciousness between waking and sleeping, typically induced by guided meditation. The literal Sanskrit translation of the word (Sanskrit being the ancient Indo-European language of India in which key classical yoga texts are formed) is as follows: 'Yoga’ (derived from ‘Yuj’) = to join or unite ‘Nidra’ = sleep Yoga nidra can take many forms using a variety of yogic meditation, visualisation, and relaxation techniquesIn the Gitananda tradition of yoga 'Yoga Nidra' typically focuses on visualisation-based relaxation. For example, visualising sun | moon energies, golden light | silvery light, and taking our awareness with the mind-body to sensations of warmth and coolness flowing up and down the body. These visualisations can be joined together with ‘pranayama’ (rhythmic breathing / energy control) at the beginning or during the visualisation to enhance the calming effects of the practice, helping to release tension, and let go into a meditative and relaxed state. Swami Gitananda Giri talks of ‘four-fold relaxation’ including: *Part-by-part relaxation 'marmanasthanam kriya' *Alternate segmental tensing & relaxing 'spanda-nispanda kriya' *Dynamic relaxation 'kaya kriya' & *Positive body image 'a visualisation of and/or using affirmations' Benefits of Yoga NidraJust like getting a full 8-9 hours sleep a night, Yoga Nidra has been proven to have many healing and stress-relieving benefits. “Relaxation is an essential prerequisite for healing to occur, and we cannot heal when we’re stressed. Conscious relaxation facilitates self-healing.. It is all about inducing the “relaxation response”. This, in turn, reduces [vascular] peripheral resistance, enhances tissue performance, and facilitates the body system’s harmony and holistic healing.” Lee Majewski - ‘Yoga Therapy as a Whole-Person Approach to Health’ Many yoga experts agree that: 'just 20 minutes of Yoga Nidra is equivalent to 2-4 hours sleep' Research shows that by using guided meditation and yoga nidra techniques over time we can actually “change our brains on physical and functional levels. We can become calm and collected while standing in the eye of the storm.”- Lee Majewski How amazing is that?! How Yoga Nidra is PerformedYoga Nidra is best practiced at the end of your asana practice, to really enhance the balance of our active movement with our calming stillness, to fully let go and release any tension. Yoga Nidra is usually practiced in shavasana / corpse pose as a position most conducive to deep relaxation, however any comfortable resting posture can be taken. Yoga Nidra can also be a practice in its own right for deep grounding, tension-relief, or much-needed mental, emotional and physical balancing. Practicing the guided Loma-Viloma Visualisation helps balance our pranic (sun energy) and apanic (moon energy) positive / negative ions, masculine / feminine, warming healing and cooling calming energies. Guided meditation and Yoga Nidra works in:
Practice Today: Yoga Nidra Guided Meditation to RelaxNow that you know all about Yoga Nidra, it’s time to put it into practice in your life today. Find a comfortable resting posture, ideally lying on your back in shavasana, and follow the 15 minute guided practice with me: I’d love to know how you find it in the comments! (and if you enjoy, please remember to subscribe to my YouTube channel)
Wishing you a blissful day and restful nights sleep ✨ Namaste, Hazel x
4 Comments
Tracy Buckle
9/1/2022 08:05:22 pm
The perfect Sunday reset for the week ahead. I will be making this part of my weekly routine.
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Blog posts written by me: Hazel Parsons | Hazel Lily YogaMore blog posts coming soon :) ... Archives
November 2023
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