Yoga Nidra

Yoga Nidra also knows as yogic sleep or cosmic sleep with whole attention on your breath and parts of the body. Though it is not exactly sleeping it is the state between awake and asleep, where you are in the realm of your subconscious state. Allowing deep relaxation and a sense of wellbeing through awareness and the welcoming of all that is present.

Yoga Nidra started with Sankhya philosophy - a dualist philosophy which taught that there was separation between the witness (purusha) and that being witnessed (prakriti) such as thoughts, objects, feelings and other beings. Sankhya taught that the key to happiness was to become aware of this dualism. Centuries later the philosophy of Advaita Vedanta and the Tantric teachings of Kashmir Shaivism developed this to say that these “objects” we experience are not, in fact, separate but are a projection of our witnessing and that we are connected to them.

By exploring objects in our awareness, we can experience this connectedness - these are non-dualist philosophies. It is said that the history of Yoga Nidra is as old as yoga itself, as the first mention of Yoga Nidra is in the Upanishads.[2] Lord Krishna is associated with Yoga Nidra in the epic Mahabharata:[6]

In Hinduism, the cosmic dissolution (Mahapralaya) takes place when the cosmos goes beyond redemption due to the destruction of Dharma (as in the present period which is characterized by lack of moral and ethical values). This is not an end but a positive change or death before rebirth. This cycle is repeated endless times. After the cosmic dissolution, there is a period of stillness.

Vishnu reclines over the still cosmic waters on the endless coils of the serpent Ananta Sesha, which represents Time. Everything that existed before the Mahapralaya lies around Him in the still primeval waters. This cosmic sleep is known as Yoga Nidra. Here He is focused on the Infinite Reality of His own identity.

Yoga Nidra originated in the ancient understandings of India where it was focused on raising the human consciousness by differentiating between the body, mind, and spirit. Later other studies evolved into various techniques to experience the truth through Yoga Nidra. These early teachings were practiced and expanded upon over the centuries through the non-dualist philosophy of Advaita Vedanta and the Tantric teachings of Kashmir Shaivism’s of Advaita Vedanta and the Tantric teachings of Kashmir Shaivism.

Yoga Nidra can be practiced at any time, except right after eating, as you may be more inclined to fall asleep then. You may consider practicing in the morning, after asana or meditation, or before you go to sleep. It makes a nice prelude to sleep by relaxing the body and unwinding the mind for deeper, more restful slumber. No time limit requires in the duration of the practice. You can always start from 30 min to 60 min of relaxation and then further exceed in the practice.

The first key of the practice is developing relaxation finding a comfortable state of mind and also the place and environment help to ease down the functions which are running in mind and body. One can do while sitting on the chair, couch, bed, floor. To have the deeper relaxation of the body one needs to find a flat surface on the yoga mat with disturbances around which helps to achieve a deeper meaning of Yoga Nidra.

Another aspect that is really important is to be consciously aware of the breathing coming in and out. The flow of the breath, the temperature of the breath and free-flowing air passing through the nose to each part of the body till the lower abdomen and how they consciously creating stimulation and relaxation.

Inhalation and exhalation have to be really slow and deep in a very subtle way through the nose all the time while practicing Yoga Nidra.

Another important key one can include in the practice is to create several visions of shapes, forms, colors, symbols, scenes, object identified to a particular way of thinking to change or to heal in specific regards to place these visualizations sources to train the subconscious mind.

Moving the conscious while in the practice on the sensations and vibrations present in the body at that moment which could be hot and cold, pain and not painful, light and heavy. Witnessing these sensations through the body without analyzing or judging them. The purpose is to simply observe them all over the body.

The most important key which you can perform during the practice is to set out the intention in the practice. This intention could be anything which you would like to bring in your life from the practice. The intention has to be set in order to bring some positive aspect in your life. Sankalpa, the resolution should be simple, short, in clear language, with frank expression, with faith.

Resolves made before and after Yoga Nidra are sure to become a truth and reality in your life. Anything in life can fail but not the resolve made before and after Yoga Nidra. The same resolve, in the same language, with the same understanding, and with the same background, must be repeated day after day. Which will help the one to become better in dealing with emotions, feelings, intellectual understandings or functions of the body or anything which you will like to have on your path.

Rotation of consciousness in the physical centers as quickly as possible. The awareness is to jump from point to point, to rotate from point to point. Of course, you have to name it mentally. You have to say it in your head and move the conscious to that region of the body. Scanning the body completely from left to right, from top to bottom going all around the body in 360 degrees covering all the dimensions of the bodily parts.

Psychic energy centers chakras present in the body can also be used to concentrate and raise their efficiency. Moving the awareness from the lower chakra to the higher chakra in the body. Witnessing them in the regions of the body will help to improve their function and role.

• Yoga Nidra offers many benefits, including activation of the relaxation response in the body. This soothing of the central nervous system improves the functioning of the endocrine system and supports cellular regeneration and repair. Gives complete body relaxation including joints, ligaments, muscles, organs, mind, heart, lungs, vital systems of the body and so on…
• Yoga Nidra helps in pratyahara (Withdrawal of senses), or it can be said as the best pratyahara practice. There are impressions in the subconscious mind that are accumulated from childhood.
• Reduces Stress and depression: Yoga Nidra is useful in reducing tension and anxiety this additionally acts on the opposite symptoms of high anxiety sort of a headache, chest pain, palpitations, sweating and abdominal pain.
• Improve your concentration: With regular follow of Yoga Nidra, you become focused and it improves the concentration power by transportation peace to the mind. People practicing Yoga Nidra has better memory and learning ability.

• Repairs our cells: Yoga Nidra helps to repair our cells. This state extracts the energy from each conscious and unconscious mind and extracts this energy and provides this energy to every and each cell. This in turn, better working of the body.
• Bring Joy In our Life: The apply of Yoga Nidra has some pretty powerful psychological edges likewise. It will assist in healing psychological wounds and assists those in addressing depression and dependency.
• Connect with yourself: Taking this one step more, Yoga Nidra is additionally some way to attach along with your deeper, Spiritual self. It restores the body, senses, & mind to their natural perform and awakens a subconscious awareness that permits you to feel no separation.

In many ways, Yoga Nidra is similar to meditation. The benefits are similar and the reasons why people practice are similar. But there are some distinct differences; here are the biggest ones that I can identify:

• Physical Position: Meditation is typically a seated practice, where your body is comfortable, yet upright and alert.

• Attention: During meditation, you consciously place your attention on one anchor—usually the breath or a mantra, although there are many different types of meditation, some including various forms of guided meditation to help you focus.

• State of Consciousness: In meditation, people can experience multiple states of consciousness within a single meditation. Many stay in what’s known as the waking state of consciousness, which is the state of consciousness where the majority of us humans spend most of our waking hours. There are certain meditation techniques that take you into transcendental consciousness, and even beyond—into higher states of consciousness.

• Physical Position: Yoga Nidra is generally practiced lying down so you can let go completely. Props, pillows and blankets are commonly used, as well as anything that will help you get into a totally comfortable, restful position.

• Attention: A typical Yoga Nidra practice is highly guided, and takes your attention to specific places through a series of steps (mentioned below). In many ways, the specific instructions make it easier to relax than in meditation.

• State of Consciousness: During Yoga Nidra, you move into the state of conscious deep sleep. You are no longer in the waking state of consciousness, but you also move past the dreaming state of consciousness and into the deep sleep state. However, your mind is actually awake, so it’s often discussed as the state between being asleep and awake. This is why it is said that Yoga Nidra is so restorative for the body. In both practices, the mind is conscious; in Yoga Nidra, the body is in a more restful state.

“Lucid Dream”, is a state or type of dream when we are aware of the happenings as a dream and also sometimes, we have our “decision making” effect the dream sequence. This is the result of a dream which comes at a certain point of our sleep (at waking stage) when our Body & Mind have had its rest after the deep sleep. It is Involuntary in nature and possesses no extra benefit than usual sleep.

But “Yoga Nidra” is a state of sleep (Meditative sleep) we voluntarily enter into to Rejuvenate the Spiritual & Mental energy level. In “Yoga Nidra” we do not dream but, possess complete awareness of the Physical world around us. The only similarity between “Lucid Dreaming” and “Yoga Nidra” is the awareness, but again “Lucid Dreams” don’t possess complete control and/or awareness about it, and also the center of the event is some Involuntary dream sequence.