(Sanskrit for Yogic Sleep) A guided meditation that is a powerful technique from the Tantra Yoga tradition. It is a practice which creates an altered state of consciousness allowing the practitioner to relax, heal their being, and expand their faculty of imagination. This practice cleanses the mind as well as aids in manifesting goals and changes in one's life. Certain karmic debris can be lifted and the path to enlightenment is set.
Yoga Nidra, although Tantric in origin can be classified as a part of the Eight Limbs of Yoga, the well-known codification system of Yogic practices by Patanjali (an Indian sage who lived around 200 B.C.). In fact no less than three of the eight limbs of yoga can be seen in this practice:
Pranayama: Control of breathing through specialized exercises + the subsequent ability to amass, control + direct Prana, the life energy force.
Pratyaharya: Control over the sensory mechanisms of the physical body specifically through exercises which deal with willful withdrawal of the senses + influences of the mind.
Dharana: Concentration, cultivation + heightening of inner perceptual awareness.
Sankalpa: An important part of Yoga Nidra is making a resolve at the beginning and at the end of the practice. The deep relaxation induced by Yoga Nidra allows the subconscious mind to be very open + receptive— this is a remarkable way to change old mental patterns and habits. Your resolve can be anything from "I will honor my body" to "I am a kind and enlightened being". By making a resolve we send our greatest aspirations deep into the mind to plant the seed of change within.
Benefits of Yoga Nidra:
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.
Effective in alleviating anxiety disorders (including depression and insomnia).
Helps to combat drug addiction and alcoholism.
It can assist in the achievement of a state called Self-Realization (complete self-awareness)
To summarize, 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.
"Be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe. No less than the trees and the stars. In the noisy confusion of life keep peace in your soul" -Max Ehrmann