A world of tensions

A major “dis-ease” in today’s society is stress.

Most of the tensions that we develop in our bodies are self-imposed. We think too much, we work too much, we don’t sleep enough …

Tensions accumulate at the muscular, emotional and mental levels. When we are taking a nap, reading a book or doing some activities, this kind of relaxation is only sensory. The tensions remain present at all levels. We are never completely relaxed until we are free from our muscular, mental and emotional tensions. Yoga Nidra practiced on a regular basis can help to gradually dissolve the tensions, stress, and anxiety that have been “piled up” for a long time in our body.

What is Yoga Nidra?

The Sanskrit term “Nidra” means “sleep.” The Yoga Nidra is often called “Yogic Sleep” or the Yoga of conscious sleep.

This is a very ancient technique of Tantric Yoga that dates back to 1000 years before the Common Era for the first oral teachings and 700 years before the Common Era for the first written teachings.

Swami Satyananda Saraswati, who was a discipline of the great master Swami Sivananda, studied these ancient texts and created, in the 1940s, the modern Yoga Nidra system as it is taught today.

Yoga Nidra is a deep and conscious relaxation technique that regenerates the mind, the brain, the nervous system, the senses, and the body. Hence, the quality of rest in Yoga Nidra is far more complete than a regular night of sleep. It is estimated that 30 minutes of Yoga Nidra is equivalent to 2 hours of sleep.

How does Yoga Nidra really work?

Yoga Nidra places the person who practices it in a state of consciousness between the waking and the deep sleep state. It is a very receptive state that activates the intuition within oneself. When the relaxation is deep and complete, the receptivity of the subconscious is greater.

The analytical and rational conscious mind withdraws itself to make room for the subconscious mind. This is where the seeds of the “sankalpa” are being sown during the Yoga Nidra. By activating the receptivity of the subconscious mind, we are not only relaxing, but we are also restructuring and transforming our personality from within.

During Yoga Nidra, attention is focused on the sound, on the voice of the instructor, which helps the student to disconnect from the other senses and to break away from other stimuli. In this way, the conscious mind becomes quieter, which increases the sense of well-being.

Yoga Nidra is a tool of transformation

In its most common form, Yoga Nidra is used as a powerful tool of transformation. Swamiji Satyananda describes in his book Yoga Nidra the time he went to give a session of Yoga Nidra to uncontrollable prisoners. The session was terrible he wrote! The prisoners were laughing, talking to each other. He decided not to return the next day. But the next day the director of the prison insisted that Swamiji must come back. The prisoners were quieter. The director asked Swamiji what had he done? Did he cast a spell on the prisoners? Swamiji went back to the prison and continued the sessions with the prisoners whose behavior improved drastically.

Learning new skills with Yoga Nidra

Swami Satyananda recalls that a very turbulent young boy came to his ashram to receive his teachings. Swamiji began to sing to him one of the chapters of the Bhagavad Gita just after he fell asleep. The Gita as it is often called is one of the most important Hindu scriptures about life and the spiritual path of Yoga.

In the morning when the boy got up, Swamiji made him read the same passage he had sung the night before. After a week, the boy was able to recite the entire chapter by heart. The Swami continued to read to him other sacred texts and had him learn several languages all through Yoga Nidra. This young boy became his actual spiritual successor, Swami Niranjananda Saraswati.

The stages of Yoga Nidra

A Yoga Nidra session follows a precise structure that can contain up to 8 stages during which nothing is random. Some stages work on the physical level, others on the emotional or mental level.

• Preparation with an initial relaxation
• Sankalpa
• Body rotation
• Breath awareness
• Sense perception (in the intermediate and advanced practice)
• Visualization
• Sankalpa is reinforced
• Externalization

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The Sanskrit word “sankalpa” means determination. At this stage, the student is invited to make a solemn vow, a specific intention related to personal growth. Once the “sankalpa” is said mentally, the same vow is repeated at the end of the practice and for all the other practices of Yoga Nidra until it becomes a reality.

During the body rotation and the visualization, the enumerations are voluntary said at a fast pace in order to prevent the mind from dwelling on one point too long. Yoga Nidra is not an exercise of concentration, but a practice to develop our visualization skills and our ability to perceive things differently.

The images used in the visualization stage, for example, a boat, a rose, a temple, carry powerful and universal symbols linked to our subconscious mind. These images are deliberately chosen to work on the imprints recorded within that create our tendencies and other profound patterns in our behavior. During this process, tensions stored in the subconscious mind are released.

Some instructions before starting a Yoga Nidra session

• Best to practice early evening
• Avoid to practice when you are too tired (you will fall asleep) Practice regularly at the same time
• Practice before eating or two hours after having a meal
• No need to concentrate too much on the instructions and on the images, it will block the natural flow of consciousness that wants to move towards a deeper state.
• To remain awake during the whole time

I have started to record a few sessions all developed according to the teachings of Swami Satyananda Saraswati and Swami Niranjananda Saraswati (Bihar School of Yoga).

As for now, they are only available in French.

English might follow along during 2019.

If you don’t understand French, just type “Yoga Nidra Satyananda or Niranjananda” on YouTube to experience the traditional Yoga Nidra.

Are you new to Yoga Nidra or a regular practitioner?

Want to share your experience?

Happiness and serenity,
Nathalie