Yoga Nidra is a systematic process of complete relaxation. We live in a time when stress seems to underlie our every action and even when we consciously relax there are tensions on all levels. Yoga Nidra takes you deeper, it releases tensions but also releases the causes of the tensions.
It is a technique, refined and developed by Swami Satyananda, which takes one through a deep rotation of awareness, taking the attention around all parts of the body, relaxing the entire body. When the body is relaxed we explore different areas of the mind in a deeply relaxed state. “Nidra” means sleep, so this is a conscious form of sleep where one remains aware and in control.
In Yoga Nidra we relax to such an extent that we can penetrate the subconscious and make positive suggestions for changes to our patterns of behaviour.
“I took the Satyananda training at a very young age. I found Yoga Nidra to be one of the most valuable techniques I was taught. So I did it a lot through my teenage years. I used it to help me navigate my adolescent mental workings and enhance my creativity. I used it to consolidate information when studying. I used it to help me pass my driving test. I felt more in control of myself than I would possibly have been without it.
Later I experimented with a friend who was a hypno-analyst who was amazed how quickly I could put myself into trance, and how much deeper I could go than he was familiar with. I was practised at being on the borderline between sleep and wakefulness.
I still use it to gain insight; if I have a question in life that I can’t answer I find one Yoga Nidra session can turn the problem on its head and give a new and effortless way of answering it.”
Sakar (Yoga Teacher)
The resolution (sankalpa) one makes in Yoga Nidra resonates at such deep levels it can help one to transform life patterns or simply get through a challenging event
“When I first experienced yoga nidra over 35 years ago I had no idea what a profound positive impact it would have on my daily life.
Today I frequently reflect on how the practice has enabled me to both deal with challenging aspects of life and helped me to embrace more positive experiences more fully. Looking back I have no idea how I would have managed the demands of child rearing, with minimal sleep, without that 20 minute absorption that refreshed me and gave me the energy and focus to continue.
Complex decisions at work and in my personal life felt, and continue to feel, less over-whelming when approached with the clarity and calmness of a post yoga nidra mind. The exhaustion of anxiety driven sleepless nights has frequently been relieved by a day-time yoga nidra and today I invariably follow a strenuous cycle ride or run with a physically and mentally restoring yoga nidra.
I have the practice on my phone and it comes with me across the country, and indeed the world. There was an occasion when, during a working day, I lay under a table at lunch time to listen to the yoga nidra in order to get through the afternoon. I estimate that I have benefitted from yoga nidra six days out of seven for the last 35 years and my life would certainly have been more challenging and less enriched had I not discovered this practice. It's a real gem!”
Dr Karen Stone (Yoga practitioner)
It’s the simplest thing to do…All you really have to do is give yourself a little time and lie down. It’s great to do with a teacher or with a recording at home. What you can gain is a better grasp of relaxation and sleep along with a much more fruitful and engaged experience of life when awake.