Yoga Nidra (Sanskrit for Yogic Sleep) is a powerful technique from the Tantra Yoga tradition. It is both a name of a state and of a practice which creates an altered state of consciousness allowing the practitioner to relax and heal their being, expand the faculty of their imagination, enter the middle state between sleep and wake, the realm of subconscious, the superconscious, and use the power of the subconscious to manifest a personal intention.
Yoga Nidra on the Body– Yoga Nidra is often referred to as Sleep Yoga because it is deeply restful. During Yoga Nidra the mind is guided into a state of relaxation which replenishes the nervous system and allows the body to release tension and recharge. Yoga Nidra is thought to be more revitalizing than regular sleep.
Yoga Nidra on the Mind– Yoga Nidra has been shown to have a variety of benefits to the brain. Yoga Nidra reduces the stress response, and is used in recovering from PTSD and healing from trauma. Regular practice of Yoga Nidra improves memory, focus, and sensory awareness.
Benefits
-Everyone can practice. Even beginners who have no experience with meditation.
-Physical stresses and tensions are removed.
-Mental stresses and unwanted impressions are removed.
-Emotional balance is restored.
-The faculties of imagination and visualization are practiced and enhanced.
-The subconscious is focused on, and able to manifest any personal goal be it physical, Mental, Emotional or Spiritual.
– It can assist in the achievement of a state of so called self-realization (complete self-awareness) Yoga Nidra helps in restoring mental, emotional, and physical health by way of relaxation, and makes the mind more conducive to pratyahara -withdrawing senses from their objects, dharana -concentration, and meditation. The practice helps harmonize the two hemispheres of the brain and the two aspects of the autonomous nervous system (sympathetic and parasympathetic). The impressions in the subconscious are brought to surface, observed, experienced and removed. Thus, the fixation of awareness on the body is replaced with the awareness linked to subtler aspects of prana (the life force) and spiritual dimensions allowing for maximizing of the pure yet unmanifested potential within. Above all Nidra is a fantastic tool for manifesting change in one’s life.
