Yoga Nidra introduction

“Yoga Nidra is a great place to start your journey into more advanced meditation practices such as Prana Nidra and Chakra Nidra”

Yoga Nidra, which is also called yoga sleep and Nidra Yoga, is a wonderful relaxation meditation technique developed by Swami Satyananda of the Bihar School of Yoga. It provides you with deep rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation. The form of Yoga Nidra he developed (Satyananda Yoga Nidra), is one of the most popular and powerful yoga relaxation-meditation techniques in the world today.

Yoga Nidra is initially used for deep rest, recuperation from stress, management of illness and rejuvenation.

More advanced forms of this relaxation meditation technique enable you to explore the deeper human dimensions via psychic awakening (the cultivation of deep inner wakeful states) and activation of the chakras.

What does Yoga Nidra mean?

The word yoga means union or connection. Nidra means sleep. Yoga Nidra means the state of conscious awareness during the sleeping state.

For most people sleep is unconscious. For the accomplished yogi, sleep is a portal into another dimension of inner experience, into the deep unconscious psyche which is full of meaning and purpose.

To achieve the state of Yoga Nidra, practice the technique, starting your journey with Introduction to Yoga Nidra and Meditation MP3.

Learning Sequence

It is important to understand that Yoga Nidra is a passive relaxation meditation while Chakra Nidra is an active yoga tantra meditation practice. This is the best sequence to learn Yoga Nidra:

1. Yoga Nidra – Relaxation, Stress Reduction and Reuperation – use this to rest deeply and recharge
2. Yoga Nidra – Sensations & Chakra Rotation – introduces more elements of Yoga Nidra
3. Chakra Yoga Nidra – focuses on Chakra Visualization

Yoga Nidra is both a technique and a state of being

It is important to remember that Yoga Nidra (like all meditation practices) is both a technique and an awakened state of higher consciousness.

1. Technique – It is an easy and enjoyable technique that guides you to create a highly relaxed, deeply restful state in which you restore energy in your body and mind, balance your personality, and purify and activate your psyche.
2. Awakened state – It is also an awakened state of higher consciousness that arises from the continuous practice of the technique. The state of Yoga Nidra is one in which you can remain self-aware for a prolonged period while on the threshold of sleep and not drift into unconsciousness. If you persist, you can remain aware even during the deep sleep state.

The stages of Yoga Nidra

Stage 1 – The first stage of Yoga Nidra has become extremely popular because it enables people to relax, recharge and rejuvenate quickly and easily. You remove the negative effects of stress. It does not require any prior knowledge of yoga or meditation to give you quick and reliable results. The practice is so relaxing that most people fall asleep. They then emerge back into waking consciousness at the end of the half-hour or so feeling relaxed, rejuvenated, recharged and refreshed. After some time, you will recharge your batteries and, being less exhausted, will not need to sleep during the practice.

Many people think that this is all there is to this amazing practice. However, there is much, much more

Stage 2 – While the first phase of Yoga Nidra focuses on relaxation and rejuvenation, the second phase focuses on diving deep into yourself to attain a deep meditation experience. It is now that Yoga Nidra becomes a powerful meditation practice enabling awareness to travel into the depths of the Self. It is now that you can start to practice the more advanced Yoga Nidras, such as Yoga Nidra – Awareness of Sensations and Chakras and Chakra Yoga Nidra. In these Yoga Nidra meditations, you place your awareness onto the chakras, the psychic centres located in the spine. Just bringing awareness into chakras starts the process of transformation and awakening.

What happens in Yoga Nidra technique

Yoga Nidra is a passive meditation technique in which you take your awareness through the layers or sheaths (koshas) of your body. You move through the:

• Physical sheath (annamaya kosha) – You direct your awareness from one part of your physical body to another
• Energy sheath (pranamaya kosha) – you become aware of the subtle dimensions of your breath
• Mental sheath (manomaya kosha) – you calm your thinking and emotional mind
• Psychic sheath (vijnanamaya kosha) – you access deep powers and dormant strengths and abilities
• Spiritual or bliss sheath (anandamaya kosha) – you become fully enlightened.

Progressing through the sheaths enables you to explore the dimensions of your being and discover hidden strengths and weaknesses.

You can then remove tensions and blockages that impede optimal health and functioning.

Introductory Yoga Nidra techniques such as Introduction to Yoga Nidra and Meditation MP3 (see below) take you through the first three sheaths.

More advanced Yoga Nidras such as Yoga Nidra – Awareness of Sensations and Chakras and Chakra Yoga Nidra guide you into the psychic sheath.

What is the difference between Yoga Nidra and meditation?

The state of meditation is a joyful and powerful state of being that arises from any process that cultivates self-awareness.

Meditation occurs when a meditator meditates on the object of meditation. Ultimately, the meditator experiences union with the object of meditation. 

Yoga Nidra is a form of meditation, both technique and state of being. As a relaxation meditation technique, it cultivates deep rest, enlightenment and self-realization.

In the profound meditative state of Yoga Nidra, the final accomplishment of practice, you remain self-aware even while you are asleep.

This concept, of retaining awareness while unconscious and sleeping, is difficult to grasp, as the state is extremely rare. Even the idea is foreign to most of us.

To experience the difference between meditation and Yoga Nidra, use this Introduction to Yoga Nidra and Meditation MP3. It contains three MP3s, 1. a Lecture on Meditation, 2. an Introduction to Meditation and 3. Yoga Nidra.