This yogic practice drawn from the Tantric tradition takes you into a deep state of relaxation, just above the level of sleep. 

It is an experience not only of rejuvenation and healing, but also helps shape your destiny as you seed your intention at the deepest level of consciousness.

If you enjoy the final relaxation at the end of a yoga class, you will love Yoga Nidra

 This practice is first described in the Tantric Shastras, and has recently resurfaced in the yogic world.  What a blessing!  We all need support during this time of enormous personal and global stress.   For most of us there is simply not enough time to do all that needs to be done.  Not enough time to process the big traumas and little shocks that beset our every day. We are over-stimulated with not enough time to put it all down and relax.  In short, we live with too much input, and not enough output!   What happens when we carry trauma in our systems?  We feel irritable anxious and our bodies ache.  Our sleep is erratic and our health suffers.  It is not a pretty picture!

In shavasana or corpse pose, we consciously relax all the muscles that have worked in the asana practice.  In Yoga Nidra, also known as the yoga of sleep, we do exactly that, and a whole lot more.  Imagine lying comfortably on your back for anything from 25 minutes to even an hour or two.     Imagine entering a place of deep relaxation, hovering in the deepest recesses of your own consciousness, just above the level of sleep.   Imagine that, with practice, you can be asleep and conscious at the same time!  Imagine being able to heal your body, release unwanted habits, and create new neurological pathways leading to the fulfillment of your deepest longings. Yoga Nidra takes you back to the sanctuary of your own Soul.

Practicing yoga Nidra is profoundly therapeutic.  Aside from relaxing the muscles, normalizing blood pressure, and enhancing the immune system, yoga Nidra allows the brain to relax so deeply that we feel we have had a good night’s sleep even after a 20 minute practice.  We are left feeling invigorated and refreshed.  And should you practice yoga Nidra at bedtime, it is likely that you will not complete the whole journey, but will awaken in the morning feeling marvelous! 

Is it difficult to do?  Perhaps at first it is.  If you struggle to relax in shavasana, it might take you some practice to relax in yoga Nidra. The mind needs to be very relaxed, yet focused. It learns to become single-pointed, instead of its habitual activity in many directions at once.  It is best to begin your practice with a teacher-guide offering the verbal instructions to lead you inwards.  With practice you will be able to guide yourself sequentially through  various stages. 

Not only does Yoga Nidra, help us relax, it can also help us ease into our power.  Whatever changes, or healing or accomplishments we would like to see in our lives we can formulate as a sankalpa or affirmation. By planting this affirmation of intent, like a seed, into the depth of our consciousness, during the time of relaxation, we are most likely to see this seed grow and come to fruition.  Affirmation during yoga Nidra has enormous power in contrast to intellectual resolves which rarely bring results.  We have the power to change our own mental structure with this practice.  Practice yoga Nidra and you have uncovered the secret tool of the ancient yogis for manifestation!

I have a Yoga Nidra CD available for purchase.