Relaxation & Yoga Nidra

Throughout my yoga journey of both practising and teaching, yoga nidra has begun to weave its way into my life. It has become a valuable tool to help me and my students understand how to consciously engage into a deeper state of relaxation. It's ideal after a yoga session bringing a sense of restoration for both mind and body.

What is relaxation ?

In short according to the Oxford dictionary, is a state of being without tension or anxiety.

Wikkipedia describe relaxation from a psychological perspective where the emotional state is of low tension with the absence of arousal from anger, fear, anxiety.

Relaxation is a sense of mild exctasy whereby our backward cortex sends signals to the frontal cortex of the brain giving a mild sedative effect. When we are relaxed we are engaging the para-sympathetic nervous system, rather than the sympathetic system of fight or flight. Relaxation helps us cope with stress and stress is a major cause of mental and physical problems.

Of course there are many different ways to relax depending on the individuals needs, preferences and response mechanisms. What works for one person doesn't necessarliy work for another.

Meditation, autogenics and progressive muscle relaxation are considered methods in which to gain a state of relaxation....For the everday person perhaps sitting in a comfy chair with a glass of wine and a book is a form of relaxation or is it a sensory diversion ?

Let's explore how yoga nidra fits into this by asking...

What is Yoga Nidra ?....

Yoga Nidra is a technique where you learn to relax consciously with awareness, turning inwards, away from outer experiences. If the consciousness can be separated from external awareness and from sleep, it becomes very powerful and can be used to develop memory, increase knowledge and creativity or even transform one's nature. Yoga nidra is the conscious space between wakefulness and dream.

Why practice Yoga Nidra ?

Both yogic philosophy and modern psychology recognise three basic types of tension responsible for the dis-eases of modern life :

1/ Muscular tension – the physical body, nervous system and endocrinal imbalances. These can be easily removed by the deep relaxation achieved in yoga nidra.

2/ Emotional tension – from the dualities such as love / hate, success / failure, profit / loss, happiness / un-happiness etc. If we cannot express or recognise these emotions freely they become repressed. The resulting tensions get deeply rooted and ordinary sleep and relaxation wont relaz such tensions where as yoga nidra can tranqulize the entire emotional structure of the mind.

3/ Mental tension – excessive mental activity drawing from past and future, fantasies and confusions. Life experiences are registered by our consciousness and are stored in the mental body. These can explode affecting our body, mind and behaviour – often generalised as 'stress'. Yoga nidra enables us to delve deeper into the subconscious mind releasing such mental tensions, establishing harmony.

Unless you are free from muscular, emotional and mental tension, you are never relaxed !

A yoga nidra session is a more effective and efficient form of psychic and physiological rest than conventional sleep. One hour of yoga nidra is as restful as four hours of sleep !! Isn't this great for those who are time poor !

There are many different styles and techniques, guided and self guided. Here's a simple one to get you going:

How to do Yoga Nidra ? 

A self guided 20 minute practice

• Lie down in savasana, make sure you're comfy, warm and undisturbed, in a quiet place.
• Allow your body to sink downwards with gravity, releasing every tissue in your body.
• Start to draw you minds awareness onto your breath. Notice the sensations around the nostrils and how the breath moves chest and belly
• Start to scan your body from head to toe systematically, gently naming in your head every part of the body. Start with the right side – right thumb, finger middle finger, fourth finger, little finger, palm of the hand, back fo the hand, right wrist, lower arm, elbow, upper arm, shoulder, right chest, waist, hip, thigh, knee, calves, ankle, top of the right foot, sole of the right foot, big toe, second toe, third toe, fourth toe, little toe. Then move to the left side and repeat the same. Then move to the back body parts – shoulds, upper back, mid back, lower back, buttocks, legs, feet. Then to the front body – chest, belly, hips, thighs, calves, ankle, feet..
• Return to your breath, notice how the belly rises and falls on in breath and out breath. Notice how the chest expands and contracts on in breath and out breath. Notice how the breath feels in your throat and then through the nostrils.
• Start to gently come out of your nidra by moving fingers and toes, hands and feet. Bring your legs together, bend the knees to the chest and hold for a few breaths. Roll gently to your right hand side and stay a while, slowly coming to a seated position when you're ready. Sit a while and soak up your relaxation.

REPEAT AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE !