What psychological picture does the phrase “yoga” conjure for you? In all probability a spandex-clad particular person in downward canine or balancing on one leg in tree pose. Or perhaps they’re in an advanced full-body knot that requires 5 occasions extra flexibility than you’ve ever had? Does it appear like onerous work?
That’s actually one model of yoga, the type that dominates the trendy notion of yoga within the West, however it’s in no way what we’re speaking about right now.
What if I advised you that there’s one other sort of yoga, one through which you don’t transfer in any respect? You don’t even sit or stand; you lie down the entire time. That’s yoga nidra. “Yoga nidra” actually means “yogic sleep,” typically translated as “acutely aware sleep.” The purpose of yoga nidra is to attain an altered state of consciousness the place you’re neither awake nor asleep however in a liminal house in between—or perhaps surpassing each. (Technically, the time period refers back to the state of consciousness past wakefulness or sleeping. That’s, “yoga nidra” is the vacation spot, not the journey it takes to get there. However in frequent parlance, folks use it to imply your entire observe.)
Yoga nidra gives the chance to step exterior your physique, ideas, and feelings. It’s a state of deep leisure and, say proponents, of deep therapeutic the place your unconscious turns into extra open to studying and establishing new thought and conduct patterns, stress dissipates, and you progress in direction of bodily well being and homeostasis. “Equal to fours hours of deep sleep!” is a standard promoting level.
The latter might or will not be true, however it’s clear that yoga nidra has loads to supply by means of selling leisure, higher sleep, and even restoration from main stress and trauma. There isn’t an individual working within the trendy world who couldn’t profit from slowing down and deliberately tapping into enjoyable, restorative practices. Is yoga nidra best for you?
A Transient Historical past of Yoga Nidra
Fashionable yoga nidra practices have roots tracing again into many historic yoga and meditation traditions. In historic texts, yoga nidra or yoganidra typically referred to that non-sleep, non-waking degree of consciousness or to the goddess Yoga Nidra Shakti. Yoga nidra was usually described as the next state of being, one through which regular psychological and bodily actions ceased, and the yogi achieved a state of bliss.
The kind of yoga nidra observe you’re prone to encounter right now was most likely impressed by nineteenth and twentieth century “relaxationists” and hypnotists who have been fascinated about harnessing the therapeutic energy of relaxation, based on students, however it actually acquired its kickstart because of the teachings of Swami Satyananda Saraswati. Starting within the Nineteen Sixties and 70s, Satyananda devised a way of utilizing respiration strategies and physique scans to attain progressive leisure and faucet into yoga nidra. In the event you take a yoga nidra class right now, there’s an excellent likelihood you’ll be following his technique, or one thing fairly prefer it.
Yoga nidra has since loved a surge in recognition, in addition to tutorial curiosity. Within the 2000s, scientific psychologist and yoga scholar Dr. Richard Miller developed his iRest protocol—a model of yoga nidra—and institute of the identical identify to assist folks coping with points starting from “regular” stress to extreme PTSD, sleep disturbances, and power well being points. Extra lately, Stanford neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman coined the time period “non-sleep deep relaxation” (NSDR) to embody practices that may promote stress launch, neuroplasticity, extra environment friendly studying, and higher sleep, amongst different advantages. Huberman counts yoga nidra, hypnosis or self-hypnosis, and napping as varieties of NSDR.
What Occurs Throughout a Yoga Nidra Observe?
Yoga nidra entails a guided, meditative observe designed to attain a deep state of leisure the place you transcend waking, sleeping, and dreaming states to reach at a deeper degree of consciousness. You stay conscious of the surface world (in contrast to once you’re asleep), however you’re completely indifferent from it. You’re conscious however not likely awake. There however not-there. In a real state of yoga nidra, you reportedly expertise not solely profound leisure however a way of interconnectedness with the universe.
That is the place yoga nidra differs from conventional meditation in an vital approach. With meditation, you’re often sitting up and cultivating intense focus, typically on the breath, a chant, or a psychological picture. You’re very a lot awake, and your acutely aware consciousness could be very a lot “on.” In yoga nidra, acutely aware thought is “turned off,” changed by an consciousness that’s neither centered nor intentional. As yoga students Dr. Stephen Parker and Swami Veda Bharati describe it, “Neither ideas nor photographs are current, and the practitioner experiences acutely aware, deep, dreamless sleep, possessing consciousness of the environment however neither enthusiastic about them nor interacting with them.”
Like all types of yoga or meditation, the particulars of your observe will depend upon who’s guiding you. Relying on how your information or trainer was educated, they might observe a script or they might faucet right into a extra intuitive move throughout the session. Both approach, it should most likely contain the same sequence of steps, one thing like this:
- You start by mendacity in your again in savasana, or corpse pose.
- Set an intention, or sankalpa, for the observe. This is likely to be one thing easy like “I’m going to loosen up,” or it could possibly be one thing larger you are attempting to attain like, “I’ll sleep nicely at night time” or “I’ll cease ingesting alcohol.”
- Subsequent comes a sequence of visualization and respiration workouts. The aim is to maneuver you thru completely different layers of the self towards a state of yoga nidra. Sometimes you’ll begin with a physique scan, transferring your consciousness to completely different factors round your physique, adopted by directions to convey consciousness to your respiration, your senses, and your ideas, usually with particular visualization cues. Finally, you arrive within the desired state of deep leisure.
- Lastly, you reaffirm your intention or sankalpa earlier than returning to a waking state.
Advantages of Yoga Nidra
In response to conventional knowledge, yoga nidra is a deeply therapeutic state. Yoga nidra is very touted as an efficient option to alleviate stress, sleep higher, and enhance general well-being. And there are many research to help these assertions, for instance:
- Yoga nidra decreased stress and nervousness amongst school college students, nursing college students, and professors.
- Adults with power insomnia have been randomly assigned to obtain cognitive behavioral remedy or do yoga nidra at residence (utilizing a recording) for 5 weeks. Each teams’ complete sleep time and sleep effectivity improved, however yoga nidra outperformed CBT when it comes to adjustments in slow-wave sleep and complete insomnia severity.
- 4 weeks of yoga nidra was more practical than progressive muscle leisure for bettering sleep high quality in male athletes (although each have been useful).
- Two research discovered that despair and nervousness decreased, and psychological well-being improved, amongst girls with menstrual well being issues after six months of yoga nidra. (Apparently,yoga nidra additionally appears to have an effect on reproductive hormone ranges.)
- Yoga nidra could also be an efficient device for serving to veterans (and doubtlessly others) address PTSD signs. The U.S. Military Surgeon Basic has endorsed yoga nidra as an efficient technique for ache administration.
Scientific research (small although they’re) present some proof concerning the physiological results underlying sthe psychological and bodily well being advantages practitioners observe.
- In response to one examine, for instance, yoga nidra can activate the parasympathetic, rest-and-digest nervous system, as evidenced by larger coronary heart charge variability (HRV).
- One other set of researchers put eight skilled yoga academics in a PET scan and had them do a yoga nidra observe, throughout which they confirmed a 65 % enhance in dopamine launch within the mind.
- Different research recommend {that a} common yoga nidra observe can scale back blood stress, irritation as measured by CRP, and blood glucose ranges.
Getting Began
There’s no query that every one types of yoga and meditation can supply great bodily, psychological, and even non secular advantages for individuals who observe commonly. Nonetheless, different types of yoga have boundaries to entry—issues that you simply may not be sturdy sufficient or versatile sufficient, for instance—that may scare folks away. And lots of people hand over on meditation as a result of they discover it too onerous to quiet the monkey thoughts and obtain the specified focus (though that does get simpler with time).
The great thing about yoga nidra is that it may be practiced anyplace by anyone. No particular gear nor bodily health capabilities are required. There are many free yoga nidra workouts on-line, and plenty of yoga studios supply in-person courses. Some are as brief as 10 minutes, that are nice when it’s essential to take a fast break. To actually faucet into the advantages, although, most yoga nidra practices will final 30 to 45 minutes or so.
If the concept of disconnecting from the acutely aware thoughts whereas nonetheless retaining consciousness, of “browsing the interface between sleeping and waking consciousness” (a standard tag line of yoga nidra) feels a bit too summary for you, I’d encourage you to offer it a attempt however. All you must do is lie nonetheless and take heed to the trainer’s voice. Take into account it a observe of deep leisure to start out. Who couldn’t profit from that?
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