Yoga Nidra

Photo by Lachlan Dempsey

Yoga Nidra, the yogic sleep. Sleep… does that sound good to you? I bet it does. Sleeping, one of the most natural needs in life like breathing, eating and drinking. We cannot function without it. We need to recharge to be ready to take lifes daily challenges. And those are getting more and more in our hectic, modern lifestyle. Remember when afternoon naps where part of your life? Sounds so sweet and tempting, right? But also like a waste of time. Maybe? Somehow the freedom of being a grown up is staying up late, naps are for kids. When was the last time you allowed yourself to nap, at daytime? Cannot remember apart from being sick and recovery is taking its toll?

Is Yoga Nidra for me?

If you feel like I’m natural born chiller, you can sleep everywhere, give me a pillow or anything to rest my head on and I crash, but still keen to try out other styles to chill, Yoga Nidra is for you. If you think I could need some excuse why to pause, as society expects us to be active, Yoga Nidra is active sleep, so it’s for you! If you find yourself restless rolling around at night but sleep is not coming, then Yoga Nidra is for you as you will learn slowly by slowly to let go and to find rest again. Studies have shown that the practice of Yoga Nidra, which can last from 20 to 40 minutes, has the same benefits to your body as 4 hours of ones deepest sleeping phase, so when you come out of Yoga Nidra we feel deeply at peace and super refreshed.

Find balance

What we usually do when we find spare time in our stuffed schedules we go for work-outs, no criticism here, I count myself in big time. With our sitting culture in front of computers, thinking a lot we find our brains exhausted our bodies aching from all the sitting, so it is just a logic conclusion to get the body strong to deal with sitting all day. Anything from spinning, HIIT, triathlon, power yoga or any vigorous yoga style seems like the perfect counterbalance.

The ancient yogis knew about the magic of deep relaxation and its effects on our mind and body. But how is this sleep different from my nights rest or nap? What makes sleep yogic?
Yoga Nidra might become your gatekeeper into the world of yoga even though it is different from all the other yoga techniques you can find, different from the physical asana practice and different from meditation. It’s different from normal sleep. In Yoga Nidra there is no discipline or exercise for your physical body. It is a practice to relax, there is no previous yoga experience required. You rest your body on the floor, completely relaxed, with no muscular tension at all and send your body, your physical body, to sleep while your mind stays awake and give yourself permission to be guided on a journey through your body.

Into the zone

You send your body into a state between awake and asleep, a state you might have experienced before when you were about to fall asleep and you found your mind in a space of vast freedom and creativity, while your body was already asleep. These situations come randomly, we cannot control them, it’s our mind showing us a sneak peek of its potentials. With Yoga Nidra we consciously send our mind and body into that state of deep relaxation, so our mind can unwind instead jumping from one thought to the next. You sink beyond the conscious, controlling mind.
Yoga Nidra is for you, if you are seeking for relaxation from your busy life, if you are suffering from anxiety, burn out, or insomnia this practice can be a tool to allow your unsteady mind to rest.

You can practice Yoga Nidra anytime you wish, just make sure to block out any outer distractions, turn off your phone, some like to use it as a lullaby to fall sleep at night, find a spot you feel comfortable and safe. If you want to try it, click here and enjoy the flow.