Experience the Powerful Practice of Yoga Nidra

Yoga Nidra can be somewhat of a game-changer for some of us. A guided meditation done entirely lying down in savasana where we are gently encouraged to explore layers of rest, release and repair. Yoga Nidra is a powerful practice of meditation and guided imagery. It is a practice of Pratyahara, the Sanskrit word for conscious withdrawal of the senses, where consciousness can be separated from external focus, senses, and sleep. It is considered to be a dynamic sleep with full conscious awareness (the body sleeps while the mind witnesses).

I personally was first introduced to the practice while attending my teacher training program at a yoga university/ashram – Yoga Vidya Gurukal – in Trimbak, India in 2009. The facilitators at Vidya Gurukal (VG) inserted yoga nidra as a daily practice in our curriculum and it soon became the talk of the ashram. Every day for a month we would all lie down in our smoldering yoga room and rest and be guided through this body meditation. Every day I would drift and float and ‘sleep’ and move through different realms of consciousness. Every day I felt lighter and much more aware of how hard I had been driving my body, how out of control my brain activity was and how physically tense I was.

It was absolutely staggering to literally witness and feel the effects the practice was having on my physical, emotional and mental body. I went through an unraveling of sorts and a significant disarmouring of the grandest kind. At this point in my life it had been five years since coming out, two years since my undergrad stint at U of T (where directly after I dove into working full time in the hectic, chaotic and often overwhelming film and television world) and I was two years post testicular cancer. I was exhausted and beneath the surface I was riddled with anxiety and stress and a powerful undeniable force, only known now to me as PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).

In 2010 I returned to Vidya Gurukal and completed the Yoga Therapy diploma course and again engaged with daily Yoga Nidra work. Again it felt like the best medicine for me. Such sweet surrender, release, plumping and such a lasting impact that I was able to have VG pass along the audio reading of the practice and upon returning to Toronto and igniting a full time yoga career I have practiced Nidra every other day for nearly 2 years and I continue to do so on a regular basis.

It is a hotbed for healing for me. It has given me an outlet for easing tension and refocusing my mind. It has helped release repressed matter, and whenever I practice Nidra it reveals and garners a quiet and yet ferocious willpower to REALLY live to my fullest. I highly recommend the practice on so many levels and truly believe that it can be a powerful complimentary therapeutic tool. Nidra is also the perfect remedy to the everyday cerebral, hectic, go-go-go mentality that runs so rampant in our urban environment. Give yourself permission to receive this incredible experience.

“Yoga Nidra is a specific set of breath, body, mindful and relaxation practices that induces alpha wave dominance in the brain. Alpha waves occur when one is closest to sleep yet not asleep. It is characterized by mental relaxation. In western psychology this state is called ‘hypnagogic’ and is a state most closely associated with increased receptivity and decreased reactivity. By training the mind with the Yoga Nidra practice, it is possible to access a brain state between asleep and being fully alert, a state where one’s mind becomes open to all its potential. When complete relaxation is achieved, our receptivity is not influenced by our conscious mind and its perceived limitations; it becomes open to the limitless possibilities and potentials for healing.” Cynthia Neal Herzog

Here is a casual list of the potential power of the practice:

1. Yoga Nidra is “a proven antidote to anxiety and restlessness” – Katherine Griffin
2. Yoga Nidra is a powerful meditation and relaxation tool.
3. Yoga Nidra trains the brain to deeply relax the body and release emotional, mental and physical tensions.
4. Yoga Nidra allows one to alter deeply held unconscious beliefs (samskaras) which help us change entrenched emotional responses and long standing limiting beliefs and behaviors.
5. Yoga Nidra builds resilience and helps build internal resources for coping with life stress. Developing resilience and internal coping mechanisms contributes to positive self-esteem.
6. Yoga Nidra has been found to be a powerful tool to treat PTSD – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
7. Yoga Nidra can be an effective pain management tool and further an effective treatment for addictions – especially when used in conjunction with other therapies.
8. Yoga Nidra can be used to ‘visualize’ new habits and positive healthy behaviors.
9. Yoga Nidra enhances memory and learning capacity. Both hemispheres of the mind are open in Yoga Nidra, therefore information can be planted directly to the subconscious mind.
10. Yoga Nidra is a bridge between the conscious and unconscious mind and can therefore be a powerful way to increase creativity.
11. Yoga Nidra allows one to become emotionally responsive and less reactive.
12. Yoga Nidra can engender a profound sense of Joy and Well-Being.