Yoga
nidra is one of the deepest possible states of relaxation while still
maintaining full consciousness. In Mandukya Upanishad Yoga nidra is
referred to as ‘Prajna’, which means conscious awareness of the deep sleep
state. It is a state of consciousness between waking and sleeping, like the
"going-to-sleep" stage. Here the body is completely relaxed, and the
practitioner becomes systematically and increasingly aware of the inner world
by following a set of verbal instructions.
Meditation vs Yoga nidra
Yoga
nidra is for systematically relaxing the body and mind while maintaining
awareness. It's done on the floor on your back for the best effects. Meditation
is for training the mind using a particular point. It is done sitting up, with
erect spine to facilitate movement of prana.
In
meditation, concentration on a single focus is required. It is essentially
a practice of attaining awareness of your own thoughts. In order to achieve so,
you need to sit, close your eyes and turn inward. You need to watch your
thoughts.
In yoga
nidra the practitioner remains in a state of light withdrawal of the 5 senses
(pratyahara) with four of his or her senses internalised, or withdrawn, and
only the hearing still connects to the instructions. Yoga nidra is a state of consciousness,
in between sleep and wakefulness. It is complete relaxation of the body, while
the mind stays awake.
Yoga
nidra promotes deep rest and relaxation that isn't found in your average
meditation practice. The stages of body scan and breath awareness alone can be
practiced to calm the nervous system, leading to less stress and better health.
How does yoga nidra work?
During
the sleep cycle, from alpha, you go into a deep alpha and high theta brain-wave
state, the dream state, REM sleep. In theta, your thoughts slow down to 4 to 8
thoughts per second. Here, emotional integration and release happen, structures
in the brain change, leading to super learning. Kids and artists experience a
lot more theta activity in their brains. At this stage you begin to enter the
gap of nothingness.
After
theta, you are guided to delta, where your thoughts are only 1 to 3.9 thoughts
per second. This is the most restorative state, when your organs
regenerate and the stress hormone cortisol is removed from your system.
In
the current time, very few people are going into the deep states of sleep like
theta and delta on a regular basis. So the bodies are not powering down and
getting the chance to restore themselves. Depressed people go to beta (beta
waves are those associated with day to day wakefulness) and alpha states, but
rarely go to theta and delta.
From
delta, the guided yoga nidra experience takes you down into
an even deeper brain-wave state—one that can’t be reached through conventional
sleep. At this stage, your brain is thoughtless, like a complete loss of
consciousness, but you are awake. Not everyone who practices yoga nidra touches
this state, but the more you practice, the more you’ll receive glimpses of it.
As
you are guided back to a waking state, you bring a bit of peace back to your
waking, daily brain state. So, in your routine life, you begin to rest more in
the space between emotions and thoughts, and this resting space gives you a
sense of freedom. And you find you are not agitated so much by the incidences
happening around you.
During
yoga nidra, we bring our attention the third eye, behind which lies the pineal
gland. This gets stimulated when you bring your attention there, releasing the
hormone, melatonin. And it is widely known that melatonin is a powerful agent
for reducing stress, inducing more restful sleep, and boosting the immune
system, which helps prevent illness, promote healing, and slow premature aging.
Time to experience Yoga nidra
now, are you ready?
In the following yoga nidra, you need to state an intent, which can be any desire you are having at this moment. Think of it in a small sentence, which you will have to repeat thrice when asked for.
Be ready with it before starting to listen. Enjoy the session!
Click on the youtube link, or on the image below.
Click on the youtube link, or on the image below.
References:
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